COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After winning a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, USA Hockey announced Tuesday that the entire coaching staff would return for the 2025 U.S. National Junior Team, with two National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) head coaches again leading the way.
 
Denver head coach David Carle, who guided both his own Pioneers squad and the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team to titles this year, will once again be the bench boss for the U.S. National Junior Team in 2025. St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson, who also won a gold with the 2024 U.S. squad, will return as an assistant coach for Team USA at next year’s World Junior Championship, as well.
 
Team USA will play in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Canada from December 26, 2024 through January 5, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario.
 
Carle and Larson led this year’s U.S. National Junior Team to a first-place finish at the 2024 World Junior Championship in early January. Team USA defeated host Sweden, 6-2, in the gold-medal game. Denver freshman defenseman and NCHC Rookie of the Year Zeev Buium was also a member of this year’s gold medal-winning squad and will be eligible for the 2025 team, as well. The 2024 title was Team USA’s sixth gold medal all-time at the World Junior Championship.
 
"I'm beyond honored to be asked to represent our country again," Carle said. "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 recently completed his sixth season as head coach of the Denver Pioneers and will be behind the U.S. National Junior Team bench for the second time. The Anchorage, Alaska native led DU to an NCAA Division I men’s hockey record 10th National Championship back on April 13 in Saint Paul, Minn. It was Carle’s second national title as head coach, both coming in the last three years (also 2022).  
 
In addition, Carle guided the Pioneers to the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff title in March on the same ice he won the 2024 national championship. Previously, he led DU to back-to-back Penrose Cups as NCHC regular-season champions in 2022 and 2023. Carle owns a 148-62-16 all-time record as the Pioneers bench boss and his .690 winning percentage is presently the best all-time among Denver hockey coaches.
 
Larson also wrapped up his sixth season as head coach at St. Cloud State, guiding the Huskies to a third-place finish in the NCHC and a spot in the Frozen Faceoff this year. He was the 2018-19 NCHC Herb Brooks Coach of the Year after guiding SCSU to the Penrose Cup in his first year behind the SCSU bench. Larson has compiled a 123-76-21 record at SCSU, leading the Huskies to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2021.
 
Along with the 2024 World Juniors, Larson previously served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2020 World Junior Championship. The Duluth, Minn. native was also the head coach for the U.S. Junior Select Team that won the 2012 World Junior A Challenge. Prior to taking over at SCSU, Larson was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Minnesota Duluth, helping the Bulldogs to the 2018 National Championship.
 
In addition to the two NCHC head coaches, Denver director of hockey operations Travis Culhane will once again serve in a similar role as the video coach for Team USA in 2025. Culhane, who won gold with the U.S. in 2024, finished his third season with the Pioneers this year and has now been director of operations for six seasons at three different NCHC schools.
 
Along with Larson, former St. Cloud State player and assistant coach Garrett Raboin is back on the staff as an assistant coach for Team USA in 2025. Raboin, now the head coach at Augustana University, will serve as an assistant with the U.S. National Junior Team for the second time and second straight year in 2025. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater, SCSU, for six seasons from 2012-18, with the final five coming in the NCHC. Raboin starred for the Huskies from 2006-10 in the WCHA, twice serving as a team captain.
 
At the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, the U.S. is in Group A alongside Finland, host 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.
 
Several other NCHC head coaches have previously served on U.S. National Junior Team coaching staffs: Former St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko (2017 and 2018 head coach); Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin (2019 assistant coach and 2020 head coach); Colorado College head coach Kris Mayotte (2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 assistant coach – only 2022 while at CC); and Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweiler (2023 assistant coach).
 
By winning gold in 2024, Carle joined Motzko (in 2017) and former North Dakota and Omaha head coach Dean Blais (in 2010, while at Omaha) as NCHC head coaches to win a gold medal with the U.S. at the World Junior Championship. Mayotte won gold medals as an assistant coach with Team USA in 2017 and 2021, prior to taking over at CC.
 
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.
 
Current/Former NCHC Head Coaches on U.S. National Junior Team Coaching Staffs
2017 – Bob Motzko (head coach), *Kris Mayotte (assistant coach)
2018 – Bob Motzko (head coach), *Kris Mayotte (assistant coach)
2019 – Scott Sandelin (assistant coach)
2020 – Scott Sandelin (head coach), Brett Larson (assistant coach)
2021 – *Kris Mayotte (assistant coach)
2022 – Kris Mayotte (assistant coach)
2023 – Pat Ferschweiler (assistant coach)
2024 – David Carle (head coach), Brett Larson (assistant coach)
2025 – David Carle (head coach), Brett Larson (assistant coach)

* prior to coaching in NCHC