April 12, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jenny Potter has been named the head coach of the Ohio State women’s hockey team, Shaun Richard, associate athletics director for sport administration, announced Sunday. One of the most decorated female hockey players of all time, Potter brings the experience of four Olympic medals, including one gold, to Columbus as the third head coach in program history.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Jenny Potter to the Ohio State family as the head coach of the women’s hockey program,” Richard said. “Her experience in the sport of hockey as a highly decorated player both at the NCAA and Olympic level will give the student-athletes an instant `winners’ mentality.
Potter recently completed her second season at the helm of the Trinity College women’s hockey program. She led the Bantams to their first conference championship and second NCAA tournament berth in program history, as the squad concluded the 2014-15 campaign with an overall record of 18-7-2.
“Jenny has had the opportunity to learn from so many mentors in this game and will pull from her recent experience of winning a NESCAC championship at Trinity College to be a successful head coach in the WCHA. She also has over a decade of involvement coaching and training high-level athletes. We are excited our student-athletes will have the chance to learn and grow as hockey players with her guidance.”
A native of Eagan, Minn., Potter was a standout student-athlete at the University of Minnesota Duluth for three years and the University of Minnesota for one year. Earning All-America honors in all four seasons, she won an NCAA title with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in 2003.
“I am very excited for this opportunity,” Potter said. ”The Ohio State University has a storied tradition of academic and athletic excellence, and I look forward to contributing to this standard of excellence. I am proud to be a Buckeye, and I look forward to coaching and mentoring these young women.”
A Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and three-time Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, Potter ranks as the Bulldogs’ all-time leading scorer and shares the NCAA record for goals in a game with six. In 1999-00 season, she not only led the nation in scoring, but also was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s Most Valuable Player, an accolade she again received in 2002-03. A member of the WCHA All-Decade team for the 2000s, Potter earned her bachelor’s degree from Minnesota Duluth in organizational management.
Potter, a longtime player and contributor for the United States national team, began making a name for herself on the international stage as a player in the first Olympic women’s hockey tournament. Registered as the second-youngest player on Team USA, she helped guide the United States to a gold medal at the 1998 Olympic Games. Potter went on to skate in three more Olympic Games following her winning introduction, claiming silver medals in 2002 and 2010 and a bronze medal in 2006.
A veteran for Team USA at the 2010 Olympic Games, Potter was appointed as the team’s captain and athlete director. En route to a silver medal finish in 2010, she led the U.S. in scoring, became the first Olympic player to net hat tricks in back-to-back games and set a U.S. single-game record with five points.
In addition to her Olympic appearances, Potter helped Team USA win World Championship titles in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011. In all, she competed in eight IIHF World Championships and seven Four Nations Cups. Potter was also named the Player of the Year for Canada’s Western Women’s Hockey League in 2009.
Drawing from her plethora of experience as a world-renowned athlete, Potter transitioned into coaching with roles in the Community Olympic Development Program. She furthered her coaching development at Maple Grove High School and Coon Rapids High School in her native Minnesota.
In 1998, Potter and her husband, Rob, founded Potter’s Pure Hockey, a development program for high school and professional athletes. Through Potter’s Pure Hockey, she has trained and coached more than 30 women for the women’s national and Olympic hockey teams, as well as approximately 600 male and female athletes who advanced to collegiate, NHL and Olympic teams.
Jenny and Rob Potter have two children, Madison and Cullen.
Coaching Experience
· 2013-15 — Trinity College head women’s hockey coach
· 1998-Present — Potter’s Pure Hockey co-owner
· 2010-15 – Maple Grove High School assistant girls varsity coach and head JV coach
· 2004-10 — Coon Rapids High School girls hockey coach
· 1997-2000 — Community Olympic Development Program hockey coach
Athletic Accomplishments
· 2014 University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee
· 2011 World Champion
· 2010-11 Team USA Captain
· 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist
· 2010 Olympic Records: Consecutive Hat Tricks; Most Points in a Game
· 2010 Athlete Director Team USA
· 2010 Bob Allen Award for International Play
· 2009-10 Team USA Assistant Captain
· 2009 World Champion
· 2008 World Champion
· 2006 Olympic Bronze Medalist
· 2005 World Champion
· 2003-04 WCHA All-Academic Team
· 2002-03 NCAA National Champion
· 2002-03 WCHA Most Valuable Player
· 2002-03 WCHA All-Academic Team
· 2002 Olympic Silver Medalist
· 1998-2004 Four-Time All-American (Three First Team, One Second Team)
· 1999-2000 WCHA Most Valuable Player
· 1999-2000 NCAA Leading Scorer
· 1999 Bob Johnson Award for International Play
· 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist
