UPDATE: Gopher Hockey Lures Larson Away From St. Cloud State University

UPDATE (9:15 a.m. TUESDAY): Larson has been hired as the new head coach of the University of Minnesota men's hockey team, per The Athletic and other sources. 

The University of Minnesota is looking for a new men's hockey coach following Bob Motzko's retirement and a familiar face may be heading to Dinkytown.

Nearly a week after Motzko stepped down as the Gophers coach following eight seasons behind the bench, multiple sources are calling St. Cloud State University head coach Brett Larson the front-runner for the job.

READ MORE: MOTZKO OUT AS GOPHERS COACH 

Motzko himself left St. Cloud State after 13 seasons with the Huskies in 2018 and spent eight seasons with the Gophers. In those eight seasons, Motzko led Minnesota to five NCAA Tournaments and two Frozen Fours, but was unable to get them over the hump.

Larson has been with St. Cloud State since 2018 after being an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth under Scott Sandelin for six non-consecutive years. Larson has led the Huskies to four NCAA Tournaments and reached the national title game with SCSU in 2021.

LARSON A FRONT-RUNNER FOR GOPHER JOB 

According to College Hockey News, Larson was given a second interview on Sunday along with former Northern Michigan coach (and Gopher alum) Grant Potulny.

The Athletic quoted Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle as saying the decision to part ways with Motzko was realized after a 'day or two' of talking about the future of the program.

The story adds that Coyle wants to act 'very quickly' to hire a replacement, due to the transfer portal opening on April 13th.

Larson is just the third coach for the Huskies in the Division I era, following Craig Dahl (1988-2005) and Motzko (2005-2018).