Inside Stu Bickel’s rise to Wild’s AHL coach, from Mighty Ducks to MSG melee
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Stu Bickel laughs now, thinking about his movie cameo, when he sadly became an extra in the third Mighty Ducks movie.
Bickel, 39, who grew up in Chanhassen, Minn., was about 9 years old when Disney’s production of the Mall of America rollercoaster scene was shot. Bickel and his brothers were leading the way with one of these figures taken by 10 Ducks players. It was Bickels’ only time on the trip, and it was the take that made it into the movie.
“It wasn’t like something where we were called to add,” said Bickel. “We just got lucky, I just remember my mother saying, ‘Don’t be stupid, or they won’t use you.’
“So we were stoic.”
It’s one of Bickel’s many ties to the Twin Cities, from playing for Eden Prairie High and the University of Minnesota to spending two years on Bob Motzko’s Gophers staff. He played nine of his 76 NHL games with the Wild in the 2014-15 season and even had a memorable spat with current color analyst Ryan Carter in 2012.
But his approach to becoming the head coach of the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa last month also stemmed from his relationship with Iowa general manager Matt Hendricks, a former summer skating partner during their playing days. The Wild, looking for their third AHL coach in four years after Greg Cronin took the job on the St. Louis staff. Louis Blues, they hope to find a long-term answer to Bickel.
Bickel spent the last four years with the AHL Coachella (affiliate of the Seattle Kraken), going to four playoffs and two Calder Cup finals, and hopes to “build a winning culture” in Iowa. This is his first head coaching job. And trophy-winning coach Dan Bylsma, who has had Bickel on his staff at Coachella for two years, believes the former NHL defenseman is ready.
“He’s had three great coaches now, and those are important lessons in building who he is,” Bylsma said. “The first must always come, but you look at the development of coaches, it comes after a coach has a lot of experience with good teams and organizations that build his schtick and build head coaching standards over time, and Stu has put in that time.
“He’s ready for this jump, and I think he’s absolutely ready.”
We had a fun interview with new @IAWild coach Stu Bickel on the recent @FOTRshow.
When he wrestled with @Ryan_Carter22, his Mighty Ducks, his coaching influences and the Iowa “bred winners” came out #mnwild
Apple: https://t.co/SE9P4JiupO
YouTube: https://t.co/RIgCM8uSNQ— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) July 18, 2026
Bickel has said he wants to be a head coach since his first AHL stint as an assistant at Springfield in the 2021-22 season. He had to grind his way into the NHL, which he hopes will make him connect with the players. Bickel played for four AHL teams and two ECHL teams before breaking out with the New York Rangers in 2011-12. He played in 18 playoff games that season in New York’s run to the Eastern Conference finals.
Bickel calls then-Rangers coach John Tortorella one of his biggest influences. Tortorella became a sounding board during the last eight years in Bickel’s coaching search. They have had many phone conversations about different aspects of work and activities. Bickel uses many of the things Tortorella brought, including being upfront and honest with his players – even if they may not like the message at first.
He knows firsthand the impact that approach can have.
“When I made that team, (Tortorella) told me, ‘Honestly, I didn’t know who was going to come to camp,” Bickel recalled. That takes a lot of the open mind of a coach in the NHL to be open to the idea of, ‘Hey, maybe this guy can play a role on this team.’ I wasn’t a young first-rounder who was supposed to make it. For taking a chance on me, I owe him forever for that.”
Tortorella chuckled, thinking back to his line to Bickel, admitting he didn’t know much about the right-shooting defenseman. But he wanted a character too, “It’s written in Bick,” he said.
“He wasn’t a great skater, he didn’t have a good shot, he didn’t have everything offensive,” said Tortorella. “But the thing I liked about him was his determination. He was willing to fight. I liked his attitude. He didn’t play much in the National Hockey League. But those are the type of guys … these are great coaches. They go their own way to try to get there. They know what they have to do to try to stay and try to make it to the big leagues.
“It makes for a great coach, especially in the minor leagues, especially when those young players are waiting for their final step to the National Hockey League.”
One of the most memorable moments from the 2011-12 Rangers season came when Bickel was involved in a lineout altercation with the Devils after the opening game of March. Fans had to know something was coming when the 6-foot-4, 207-pound Bickel moved to center ice to take a snap against Carter.
“I didn’t know he threw as hard as he did,” Bickel said of Carter. “He’s a tough guy in a sneaky way. When he was playing, he was a good player and he would just go out and fight against all odds. It wasn’t his game, but in his class and how often he fought, he was tough.
“He tagged me early in the fight, and I said, ‘Oh, he’s the one who brings the heat.'”
How about revenge – maybe for a charity?
“I’m ready for that,” Bickel said, laughing. “When I finished playing, I made a decision: I’m ready not to be hit in the head for the rest of my life.”
Bickel’s first taste of coaching came as an assistant to Motzko with the Gophers. Learned a lot about streamlining messages and getting “buy in” from players. He then spent one year as the head coach of the Minnesota Magicians in the NAHL, taking them to the third round of the playoffs.
Moving on to the AHL, he learned under the former coach of the St. Louis Blues Drew Bannister (Springfield), Bylsma (Coachella) and former NHL assistant Derek Laxdal (Coachella).
“Being an assistant in the American League for five years gave me the opportunity to work with three different coaches. That was good to be able to pick up things from each coach, see how they would handle different situations. You match that with your approach and your personality to get along,” said Bickel.
“I know the league and the next crop of players coming up – what makes these prospects the same, all those kinds of things that develop the good ones. I think you need to take your time in that process. Every step has given a different experience. That way the timing is very consistent – that I’m ready for this. I wanted to make sure I was ready before I went into it.”
Bickel has a tough challenge ahead of him in Iowa. The program has struggled, missing the playoffs the past three seasons. Iowa has played .600 hockey in the last 30 games under Cronin, showing some progress.
Bickel said his goal is to “breed winners” by creating an environment of competition and winning habits that ultimately lead to success, in the AHL and NHL.
“You have to try to develop a winning culture before you see winners,” he said. “A lot goes into that with our daily routines, our expectations, using our leadership team to convey some of our expectations and let them be part of the process and be accountable to that process. Those are all important things in developing a winning culture. To me, that’s the whole side of development. It’s not just about talent acquisition. It’s about doing things that will allow our team to win games.”
Bylsma said that what struck him about Bickel in his interview with him four years ago was his “confidence” in the game, his relationship with the players and his “great motivation” to improve.
“That’s the job of the American League,” Bylsma said. “It’s all about development. If you talk to him, you will quickly find out that he is a strong believer in the best way to develop players and the team is in a position to compete or, I would say, in a position to win.”
Bylsma saw Bickel’s detail and enthusiasm in his one-on-one work with Finnish defenseman Ville Ottavainen, a Kraken prospect who has spent three years with Coachella. The 6-foot-5 defenseman was “raw” and needed work on his credentials.
“Stu was in the trenches too,” Bylsma said. “I’ve seen the intensity in Stu, in training and in games and in individual players – that it’s all about business. One thing he believes you have to do in battle, in the heat of competition.”
Bickel said that of all the coaches he has worked with, he is the most similar to Bylsma in terms of the daily enthusiasm and life he brings.
He said that another example of injecting his personality into the team is that he will talk to the team managers about showing a lot of energy when they greet the players entering the building, since they are the first to see the players.
“It feels like a really small thing that shouldn’t affect the team,” Bickel said. “But when you do that every day, you bring that charisma and good energy to the rink.
“There are times when we have a cleanup video and it’s not going to be a positive message, it’s going to be a tough message, we’re going to need to change this place right now. This is how we get there. But if you look at the way Dan coaches, he’s very optimistic, and through a long season and a difficult time in the team, you stick together.”
Bickel and his wife, Lacey, were in the process of moving from their home in Southern California back to the Midwest. They have their hands full right now with their 8-month-old son, Banks, crawling. After what has been a revolving door for coaches at Iowa, Bickel believes this could be a long time coming.
“I want to build a winner in Iowa,” he said. “I want to make sure that we’re taking care of development, when we’re developing successful players in Minnesota. If you can do both of those things, that’s the highest level of success you can have in the American League. That process takes time.
“There are a lot of good things going on in this, and I think we can be successful. But it’s going to be a process, and I want to make sure we take it one step at a time.”
