CEC taps former assistant Kennedy Houge as new head coach

CLOQUET — A familiar face within the Lumberjack hockey community is set to take the reins as the head coach of the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team

Former CEC assistant coach and St. Scholastica player Kennedy Houge, of Woodbury, will make her debut behind the bench during the upcoming 2022-2023 season after the Cloquet School Board approved the hire at its Monday, June 13 meeting.

Houge took over as an assistant prior to the start of the 2019-2020 season and remained in the position over the next three seasons.

Houge played high school hockey in Richfield for private school Hill-Murray before making the leap to the Division III level at CSS, where she played in 113 career games as a defenseman. In the years since, Houge was named to the CSS All-Decade team.

Houge follows in the coaching footsteps of her father, Steve Houge, who was recently named to the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame for the Class of 2021 for his success coaching the St. Paul Johnson boys program.