ORONO, Maine – After just a few weeks, Molly Engstrom knew the situation wouldn’t work.
The Siren native spent four seasons as an assistant coach for the St. Cloud State women’s hockey team before applying for the top job on the bench when the position opened at the end of the 2021-22 season. But the two-time Olympic medalist with Team USA was bypassed for another candidate and it soon became evident remaining an assistant coach wasn’t an option.
“I was a finalist for the job and actually was in the top 2,” Engstrom said. “I didn’t get it but I knew the guy they hired (Brian Idalski). I knew it wasn’t going to work and I actually quit my job before I had anything else lined up.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to get a coaching job.”
Since the upcoming 2022-23 season was soon approaching, Engstrom figured she would have a season off. Most programs, if not all, already had complete staffs and she was leaving the desirable post within driving distance to her hometown.
Fortunately for her, one women’s hockey program was in need of a coach mere weeks before the season was to start. But it seemed unfortunate that the opening was on the east coast, where she’d played multiple seasons in Boston and Connecticut.
“I had no intention of going back to the east coast,” Engstrom said. “When I got the job at St. Cloud, I was so happy to be near home and didn’t expect to go back to the east coast, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
Engstrom accepted the coaching job at University of Maine and therefore started the next chapter of her hockey life story, along with likely the busiest month of her life.
“I had two weeks to get to Maine and within that two weeks I had to hire two assistant coaches – and who’s available at the start of September?” Engstrom said. “I got there late Friday night, ran a practice on Saturday morning and then drove to Boston to recruit.
“That’s how the next seven months went.”
In one of the multiple cases of irony, one of the available potential assistant coaches was Kirsti Hussey – a former Dartmouth College player with a connection to Engstrom.
“She ended my college career,” Engstrom jokingly said about Hussey, who was on the 2004-05 Dartmouth team that defeated Engstrom and University of Wisconsin-Madison, preventing them entry to the 2005 Frozen Four to conclude Engstrom’s senior season.
In the span of a month, Engstrom went from expecting a season off to being the head coach of an NCAA Division I program with a full staff. But the work of coaching during the season, along with all that comes with it, was about to start.
“It’s a lot of everything,” Engstrom said. “Managing everything from practices to scheduling and overseeing all the travel and hotels … this was an interesting year.”
It was also a somewhat familiar season for the Black Bears. Despite having just weeks to prepare and literally no time to put her mark on the roster, Engstrom coached the team to the same win total of 15 it had the year prior.
“We had just about the exact same season,” she said. “From what I understand, the difference was they had outstanding goaltending last year but maybe weren’t as organized from a player standpoint.
“This year was a little opposite. The goalie graduated and we were trying to find traction with that position.”
Maine finished the season with a 15-19-1 overall record and Engstrom now has a complete off-season to work on the team’s roster and properly prepare for the 2023-24 season. Those efforts already have led to another bit of irony.
Engstrom’s recruiting efforts certainly have included a scouring of Wisconsin, leading her to the St. Croix Valley girls hockey team and Kendall Sundby – winner of the ‘Molly Engstrom Award’ as the top defenseman in Wisconsin for girls high school hockey.
“Not only the best defenseman in the state, but also the best player,” Engstrom said, referring to Sundby. “We also signed two other kids from Minnesota and actually got a kid from Plover in the transfer portal.
“We’re just going to focus on continuing in the direction we’re going. We did the best we could have this season and it went okay, now we’re excited for what’s to come.”
