# Rube Bjorkman

Reuben Eugene Bjorkman (born February 27, 1929) is an American former head coach of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey men's team. A graduate of Roseau, Minnesota High School, where he led his team to a state championship in 1946, Bjorkman was a member of the US Olympic teams in 1948 and 1952 (silver medalists). He was a three-year letter winner at the University of Minnesota.

## Career

Bjorkman's high school coaching career began at Greenway High School in Coleraine, Minnesota. His 1962 team competed in the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament. His first college coaching season (1963–1964), at RPI, culminated with his team finishing third in the NCAA Championships. Following that season he was hired as the Head Hockey Coach at the University of New Hampshire where spent four years before accepting the position at the University of North Dakota.
In 1982 Bjorkman was honored by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association when he was named the recipient of the Cliff Thompson Award, given for long-term, outstanding contributions to the sport of hockey in Minnesota. In 1997 The American Hockey Coaches Association recognized Bjorkman with the John "Snooks" Kelly Founders Award. Named after the Boston College coach, this award honors those people in the coaching profession who have contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of ice hockey in the United States.

## Head coaching record
### College

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Rensselaer Engineers (ECAC Hockey / Tri-State League) (1964–1969) ||||||
| 1963–64 | Rensselaer | 18–8–0 | 12–6–0 / 1–3–0 | t-6th / 3rd | NCAA third-place game (win) |
| Rensselaer: | Rensselaer: | 18–8–0 | 12–6–0 / 1–3–0 | | |
| New Hampshire Wildcats (ECAC 2) (1964–1966) ||||||
| 1964–65 | New Hampshire | 6–14–0 | 6–9–0 | | |
| 1965–66 | New Hampshire | 11–12–0 | 11–5–0 | | |
| New Hampshire: | New Hampshire: | 17–26–0 | 17–14–0 | | |
| New Hampshire Wildcats (ECAC Hockey) (1966–1968) ||||||
| 1966–67 | New Hampshire | 18–7–0 | 5–4–0 | 7th | |
| 1967–68 | New Hampshire | 22–7–0 | 7–6–0 | | |
| New Hampshire: | New Hampshire: | 40–14–0 | 12–10–0 | | |
| North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA) (1968–1978) ||||||
| 1968–69 | North Dakota | 18–10–1 | 15–7–0 | 3rd | WCHA West Regional semifinals |
| 1969–70 | North Dakota | 14–15–1 | 12–13–1 | 5th | WCHA East Regional semifinals |
| 1970–71 | North Dakota | 14–17–2 | 10–15–1 | 7th | WCHA East Regional Finals |
| 1971–72 | North Dakota | 21–14–1 | 18–10–0 | 3rd | WCHA second round |
| 1972–73 | North Dakota | 17–17–2 | 13–15–2 | 7th | WCHA first round |
| 1973–74 | North Dakota | 10–23–1 | 8–20–0 | 10th | |
| 1974–75 | North Dakota | 6–28–2 | 4–26–2 | 10th | |
| 1975–76 | North Dakota | 15–21–0 | 12–20–0 | t-7th | |
| 1976–77 | North Dakota | 19–19–0 | 16–16–0 | 5th | WCHA first round |
| 1977–78 | North Dakota | 15–22–1 | 13–19–0 | t-5th | WCHA first round |
| North Dakota: | North Dakota: | 149–186–11 | 121–161–6 | | |
| Total: | Total: | 224–234–11 | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||