COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – David Carle (Anchorage, Alaska), who guided the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team to the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship, will serve as head coach of the 2025 U.S. National Junior Team it was announced today by USA Hockey. Having recently completed his sixth season as the head coach of the University of Denver men’s ice hockey program, Carle owns a 148-62-16 (.690) record at DU and has guided the Pioneers to two NCAA national titles in the last three seasons, including this year.
In addition, Carle will have his entire 2024 gold-medal staff back with him for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, including assistant coaches Brett Larson (Duluth, Minn./St. Cloud State University), Steve Miller (Sun Prairie, Wis./University of Minnesota), and Garrett Raboin (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Augustana University); goaltending coach David Lassonde (Durham, N.H./USA Hockey; and video coach Travis Culhane (Kalamazoo, Mich./University of Denver).
Team USA will play in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship December 26, 2024 - January 5, 2025, in Ottawa, Ontario. The U.S. is in Group A alongside Finland, Canada, Latvia and Germany and will play its preliminary round games at the Canadian Tire Centre. Group B, which includes Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Kazakhstan, will play its preliminary round contests at TD Place Arena.
“We are excited to have our whole coaching staff return, led by David Carle, who is among the most accomplished and highly regarded coaches in our country,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the 2025 U.S. National Junior Team and also assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “With so many great teams from around the world, it is never easy to win gold, but it’s a challenge we look forward to and one I know our coaching staff embraces.”
ABOUT CARLE
Carle, who earlier this month guided the University of Denver to its second NCAA title in three years, is serving as the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team for the second time after leading the U.S. to gold in the IIHF World Junior Championship this past January.
“I’m beyond honored to be asked to represent our country again,” said Carle. “We have a terrific staff and we’re all excited about the chance to work with the top players in our country, with the goal of winning back-to-back gold medals in the World Juniors for the first time in our nation’s history.”
Carle, who at 28 when he was hired by DU, was the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I men’s hockey. He became the fourth-youngest coach to lead a team to a national championship in 2022 when he was 32. In addition to two national titles, he has guided the Pioneers to four NCAA playoff appearances, two NCHC regular-season championships and one NCHC Frozen Faceoff title.
The Anchorage, Alaska, native spent four-and-a-half seasons behind the bench as an assistant coach at DU from 2013-2018 and helped the Pioneers to the 2017 national championship, two NCHC Frozen Faceoff titles, one NCHC regular-season title, and five NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Frozen Four.
Before his time in the Mile High City, Carle spent a season-and-a-half with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers as an assistant coach.
As a player, Carle was a standout defenseman at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, where he helped his team capture national titles in 2007 and 2008 and was recruited to play at Denver. He was, however, forced to retire from his playing career prior to attending DU due to medical reasons. Instead, Carle served four seasons as a student assistant coach with the Pioneers before graduating in 2012.
ABOUT LARSON
Brett Larson is the head men’s ice hockey coach at St. Cloud State University and will be serving as a coach on the international stage for the fifth time.
Most recently, Larson served as an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning 2024 U.S. National Junior Team at the IIHF World Junior Championship. He was also an assistant coach for both the 2022 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and the 2020 U.S. National Junior Team. In 2012, Larson served as head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team that won the World Junior A Challenge.
A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Larson has spent the last 16 years as a full-time coach, including two stints as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at his alma mater, University of Minnesota Duluth, where he helped the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA titles. He also spent two seasons as the head coach and general manager of the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL and two campaigns as associate men’s ice hockey coach at Ohio State University.
Since the 2018-19 season, Larson has served in his current capacity as head coach at St. Cloud State where he has led the program to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a spot in the 2021 national championship game.
ABOUT MILLER
Steve Miller, associate head coach of the University of Minnesota men’s ice hockey team, has influenced significant success both at the collegiate level and on the world stage during his time behind the bench over parts of the last five decades.
Miller has served as an assistant coach for seven previous U.S. National Junior Teams, with five medals to his credit, including gold three times (2024, 2021, 2017), silver in 2019 and bronze in 2018.
Over his more than 35-year coaching career, which began at St. Mary’s University in 1988-89, and has included stops at Miami University, University of Denver, Providence College, Air Force Academy, Ohio State University, and today Minnesota, Miller has three NCAA national titles to his credit, along with numerous conference regular-season and post-season championships, and NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native – who was honored with the American Hockey Coaches Association Terry Flanagan Award in 2009 recognizing an assistant coach’s career body of work -- has coached or recruited more than 20 players who have gone on to play in the NHL.
ABOUT RABOIN
Garrett Raboin recently finished his first season as the head men’s ice hockey coach at Augustana University. He will be an assistant coach of the U.S. National Junior Team for the second straight year.
Prior to arriving at Augustana, Raboin spent four seasons as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota with a trip to the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four in 2023. During his time with the Gophers, he helped lead Minnesota to a Big Ten championship in 2022, and three NCAA tournament appearances (2021, 2022, 2023).
Prior to joining the Gophers, Raboin spent six seasons as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach at his alma mater, St. Cloud State University, and helped guide the Huskies to five NCAA tournament appearances, including a spot in the 2013 Frozen Four, along with three regular-season NCHC championships.
As a player, Raboin was a two-time All-WCHA selection and led St. Cloud State to three NCAA tournament berths. He went on to play professionally in Europe for two seasons.
ABOUT LASSONDE
David Lassonde, the national goaltending coach for USA Hockey, has more than 35 years of coaching experience over parts of five decades, including time behind the bench for 14 international events.
Most recently, Lassonde was part of the coaching staff that helped lead the U.S. to gold in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team at the 2023 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship where Team USA won gold and was also on the coaching staff for the silver medal-winning U18 squad in 2022 as well as the 2021 team.
The Durham, New Hampshire, native also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games; three other U.S. National Junior Teams, including the silver medal-winning 2019 squad and gold medal-winning 2013 team; the 2015 championship-winning U.S. Under-17 Select Team; and the U.S. Under-18 Select Team that finished second at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
Lassonde boasts a 32-year NCAA Division I men’s hockey coaching career that includes stops at Dartmouth College, University of Denver, University of New Hampshire, Miami University and University of Wisconsin with 20 NCAA Tournament berths, including five appearances in the Men’s Frozen Four.
ABOUT CULHANE
Travis Culhane recently finished his third season with the University of Denver men’s ice hockey team as director of hockey operations and has contributed to the Pioneers capturing two nationals championships, including their NCAA record 10th this season.
Prior to his time at DU, he spent two campaigns at Colorado College as director of hockey operations for the men’s ice hockey program.
The Kalamazoo, Michigan, native is a 2017 graduate of Western Michigan University and served full-time as the director of hockey operations for the WMU men’s ice hockey team in 2018-19.
NOTES: For complete coverage of the U.S. National Junior Team, click here … Team USA has won a medal in seven of the last nine IIHF World Junior Championships, the best medal stretch in U.S. history. The six medals include three golds (2024, 2021, 2017), one silver (2019) and three bronze (2023, 2018, 2016) … The U.S. has won 22 of its 26 games over the last four World Junior Championships with two golds (2024, 2021) and bronze (2023) medal to its credit during that time … USA Hockey will host the World Junior Summer Showcase as part of its evaluation process for the 2025 U.S. National Junior Team in late July in Plymouth, Mich., at USA Hockey Arena. Canada, Finland and Sweden are anticipated to join to the U.S. for the event. Final dates and schedules will be announced at a later date.
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