The Minnesota Wilderness are bringing Chris Ratzloff back to the NA3HL.
The former bench boss of the Rochester Grizzlies has been named the new head coach/general manager of the Wilderness’ NA3HL squad. Ratzloff returns to the league where he spent four seasons – one where he won a Fraser Cup championship (in 2022) and coach of the year (in 2020-21) – both with the Grizzlies.
In his tenure with the Grizzlies, Ratzloff’s teams went a combined 142-28-11 over 181 regular season games. Each season, Rochester finished in first place in the Central Division and qualified for the league’s playoffs.
Ratzloff is a Rochester, MN, native who also won a championship in his playing career. He was with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls when the Falcons won a Division III NCAA title in 1994.
Ratzloff was most recently a head coach/GM in the NAHL with the Chippewa Steel. He was behind the Steel bench through all of 2023-24 and a portion of 2024-25. Over 86 games with the Steel, Ratzloff compiled a 40-37-9 record.
Ratzloff replaces Ben Johnson who had been the Wilderness head coach/GM for 20 games and eight as an assistant coach through the 2024-25 season. Johnson completes his tenure leading the Wilderness with a record of 8-9-3.
Through 28 games in their first season based in Eveleth, the Wilderness are tied for fifth in the West Division with a 12-13-3 mark.
Ratzloff will coach his first game for the Wilderness on Dec. 31, when they host the Willmar Warhawks at the Eveleth Hippodrome.