NEW ULM — Derek Johnson has been named the new head coach of the New Ulm Eagles girls hockey team.

Johnson replaces Jeremy Reed, who resigned from that position after last season.

Johnson grew up in Forest Lake, Minnesota, where he played prep hockey for the Rangers. Coaching hockey was not on his docket after graduation from high school, however.

“I went to college to get a Journalism degree and wanted to focus on sports,” he said. “I wanted to try and get into sports broadcasting or sports writing. While doing that I got into coaching hockey at the youth level.

“The older I got the more I enjoyed it, so I started coaching more and more and did less Journalism stuff. Several years back I started working at Minnesota Made Hockey in the Twin Cities, which is a private hockey training company and that was where I was working.”

New Ulm’s Justin Remus, whose son played on one of Johnson’s summer AAA teams he coached, encouraged Remus to apply for the New Ulm girls coach position.

“I felt it this would be a good opportunity to grow my coaching career,” Johnson said. “I grew up in a small town and I enjoy the small-town atmosphere — I am hoping this is a long-term thing where I can bring myself into the community. I am in the process of moving to New Ulm.”

Johnson said that he likes to stress the defense, but he does run a couple of different offensive systems.

“I grew up playing a defenseman, so I like the low-scoring 2-1 game than a high-scoring game,” he said. “I want the girls to play with high energy and to stay focused on the game.”

Johnson said that they are still currently looking for assistant coaches for the staff.

Girls hockey practices begin on Monday, Oct. 27.