Matt Loen enters his 19th season as UW-Eau Claire's Head Men's Ice Hockey Coach in 2025-26.
Loen is one of the most successful men's hockey coaches in the history of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He is a national champion, having steered the Blugolds to an NCAA Division III national title in 2012-13 in Lake Placid, New York. Loen was named the USCHO and D3Hockey.com National Coach of the Year that season, and also earned NCHA Coach of the Year honors in both 2011 and 2013.
Loen has guided UW-Eau Claire to three WIAC championships, topping the league's regular season standings in 2013, 2016 and 2020. The Blugolds have also won four WIAC Commissioner's Cups under Loen, capturing the conference tournament title in 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2022. He is a six-time winner of the WIAC Coach of the Year honor and ranks third in all-time victories among WIAC coaches. He is UW-Eau Claire's all-time leader in wins, entering 2024-25 with 269 victories.
Under Loen, a number of Blugolds have earned post-season honors. He coached 10 first team All-NCHA and 12 NCHA honorable mentions recipients, with a total of 34 NCHA All-Academic honorees. He has coached 33 first team All-WIAC players and 26 All-WIAC honorable mentions. His program has produced three WIAC Scholar-Athletes. He has coached 13 All-Americans and one Academic All-American.
Loen played in over 500 games professionally. He was named Rookie of the Year in the United Hockey League (UHL) for the Madison Monsters. He played for Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League (AHL), the top farm team for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League (IHL), the top team in Nashville Predators’ farm system. He is a multiple-time minor league All-Star.
Loen graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1995. He was a first team All-American and the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Player of the Year in 1994-1995. In 1994 and 1995 he was a first team All-NCHA selection and in 1994 he was an All-Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC) selection.
Loen is married to Carla and the couple have one son (Max) and one daughter (Emma).
