Jerry Borough: 'Duluth east lost a great one and St. Thomas academy gained a great coach'

Minnesota hockey expert Jerry Borough on St. Thomas Academy's recently announced hiring of Mike Randolph, the third winningest high school hockey coach in Minnesota history, as its new boy's hockey coach: "Great pick. He had a great time coaching the (STA) JV team and co-coaching the varsity team last year. He is an on-ice coach and will spend most of his time there. Mike is 70 years old but he is probably in better shape than most 18 year olds and I see him coaching at St. Thomas Academy at least five years if not more. The players and parents love him, and I'm sure that was a big part of why St. Thomas Academy chose him. I can see coach Randolph bringing in some of his assistants from Duluth East to help out and even have his son Jake help out.

I know St. Thomas Academy will be a very young team with a lot of sophomores this upcoming year, but I see them fighting for the section championship at the end of year. There is no feeding program because St. Thomas Academy is a private school. My only question: is the alumni and coach Randolph's name recognition enough to bring in players or does he need to bring in an assistant to help out in that area? I believe the St. Thomas Academy community will help him out and he can spend his time coaching, which he loves to do. Duluth East lost a great one and St. Thomas Academy gained a great coach. His record speaks for itself. He doesn't need it, but I'm going to say it anyway with many other hockey people: Good luck, coach Mike Randolph."