Aug. 29, 2026
Cloquet, MN/Eveleth, MN
For immediate release
Minnesota Wilderness assistant coach and assistant general manager Patricia “Paddy” Elsmore-Sautter will soon be taking on a new challenge in her coaching career. Elsmore-Sautter has accepted an offer to become an assistant coach for the Syracuse University Women’s Hockey team.
Elsmore-Sautter joined the Wilderness staff in the 2024-25 season when she was hired as an assistant to Ben Johnson who held the coach/general manager position at the time. After Johnson was replaced by current head coach/GM Chris Ratzloff in December of 2024, Elsmore-Sautter stayed on and remained with the team through the 2025-26 campaign.
By going to Syracuse, Elsmore-Sautter returns to the college level where, as a player, she excelled as a goaltender with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs from 2000-01 to 2004-05. With the Bulldogs, Elsmore-Sautter was part of two NCAA championship teams in 2002 and 2003.
“I’m super excited to get back to coaching at the college level,” said Elsmore-Sautter who previously worked as an assistant at St. Scholastica and North Dakota.
She’ll be joining a staff led by the man who hired her for her first college coaching stint. Brian Idalski is Syracuse’s head coach and he was the head coach at the University of North Dakota when Elsmore-Sautter joined his staff as a volunteer goalie coach for one season in 2007-08.
Syracuse hired Idalski in July. Elsmore-Sautter will be one of two assistant coaches, and will be responsible for developing the defense, goaltenders and penalty kill.
Elsmore-Sautter also served as a goaltending coach at Cloquet-Esko-Carlton before spending two seasons as head coach of Rock Ridge High School’s girls team.
Elsmore-Sautter credits Ratzloff’s guidance in helping her get back to the NCAA.
“Chris has been great to work with; he has me prepared and comfortable with taking the next step.”
Along with her duties with the NA3HL squad, the Wilderness will also miss Elsmore-Sautter due to her contributions to the NAHL team. She spent part of the 2025-26 campaign helping with the business and gameday operations.
“it’s been great learning the different parts of a hockey operation,” said Elsmore-Sautter. “Being able to work on different things has been really good.”
In the meantime, the Wilderness has brought in former Duluth East Bantam head coach Dylan Erickson as the NA3HL team’s new assistant coach.