Northern Lakes’ Mike Randolph Now Winningest MN High School Hockey Coach

Northern Lakes boys’ hockey began their season last night, and the Aitkin, Crosby-Ironton, and Pequot Lakes co-op has a new bench boss, longtime Duluth East and former St. Thomas Academy head coach Mike Randolph.

As fate would have it, Randolph came into the game with 707 career wins, tied with retired Rochester Mayo head coach Lorne Grosso as the winningest coach in Minnesota high school hockey history, so a victory would give him sole possession of that title.

Northern Lakes got an emphatic 11-0 win at home over Prairie Centre to start the Lightnings’ season and the Mike Randolph era as he collected his record-breaking 708th career victory.

“My wife was in the building, my family was in the building – it meant the world to me. And to be honest with you, I want to put in running time so they could get home earlier,” Randolph said after the game, prompting laughter in the crowd, “because they have our grandkids with them, and it’ll be a special night we’ll never forget.”