Trouble for Jay Woodcroft's brother

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Joshua Deeds
July 19, 2023 (10:24)

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Undoubtedly, Jay Woodcroft is an excellent coach for the Edmonton Oilers. Before leaping to the NHL, he began his coaching career in the American Hockey League with the Bakersfield Condors.

To Todd's credit, unlike Jay, he has worked his way up from his job in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild in 2000 as a video coach to his current position.

Todd Woodcroft has coached in multiple roles in professional, junior and collegiate hockey since 2000 when he was hired as a video coach of the Minnesota Wild � a role he held for five years. Between 2005 and 2014, Woodcroft worked for the Washington Capitals as a video coach and amateur scout, the Minnesota Wild as a pro scout, the LA Kings as a European Scout. He also had stints with the KHL's Dynamo Minsk as an assistant general manager and worked with Canada and Belarus' world cup teams.

In 2013, he was hired by the Calgary Flames as their director of scouting, a role he held for three seasons until the Winnipeg Jets hired him as their assistant coach. Woodcroft remained there until he accepted the head coaching role at Vermont in 2020. That same year, he worked with the Swedish World Junior team as a special assignment coach, and was the team's assistant coach last year

«The University of Vermont Athletic Department has high expectations for the conduct of our coaches and all involved with our department,» Schulman said in a statement. «After reviewing the findings of an investigation conducted by UVM's Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity that was completed this week, it is clear that Coach Woodcroft failed to meet those expectations.

«The specific conduct leading to the investigation involved inappropriate text messages with a UVM student on multiple occasions that failed to maintain professional boundaries.»

It has been a long journey for him since then having held multiple coaching positions and even traveled from Washington to Los Angeles and even to Minsk to work in various capacities within hockey.

Now that Woodcroft is the head coach of the University of Vermont Men's Hockey, he seems to have been embroiled in some serious trouble.

In a statement provided to Strang, Woodcroft's attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, said the investigation «lacked fundamental fairness and due process» and was «contrary to the facts and the law.»

«We vehemently disagree with the process and the findings of a proceeding that lacked fundamental fairness and due process,» Miltenberg said in the statement. «We strongly believe the University's decision was contrary to the facts and the law.

«We intend to pursue justice for Mr. Woodcroft, who has been an outstanding coach and community advocate for over two decades.»

University of Vermont Men's Hockey has terminated Woodcroft's employment following an investigation into improper text messages he exchanged with a student, according to a university statement.

There is no doubt that both the former head coach and his legal counsel strongly deny these allegations and claim that the university failed to follow due process in its judgment against him.

It has been stated that Woodcroft will be pursuing justice for his name in the mean time, as stated by his lawyer.

Two Edmonton Oilers prospects � 2021 3rd-round pick Luca Munzenberger and 2022 7th-round pick Joel Maatta � play for the UVM Men's hockey team.

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