Before the puck drops on the inaugural Augustana men's hockey season, the fledgling program's head coach received a particularly impressive honor as it was announced the Garrett Raboin has been added to the staff for the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team. He will serve as an assistant coach under the University of Denver's David Carle at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in December.

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Raboin was named Augustana's first head coach after completing a successful four-year run with the University of Minnesota as an assistant coach to Bob Motzko that saw the Gophers reach the Men's Frozen Four in 2022.

This will be the first national team duty as a coach or player for the 38-year-old Detroit Lakes, Minnesota native.

The Augustana coach spent the last year recruiting and building up the program ahead of the 2023-24 season which will see the Vikings hit the ice for the first time as a division I men's hockey program and a member of the CCHA.

The Vikings open the season Oct. 7 at Wisconsin, but will return to South Dakota to open its home slate on Oct. 14, which you can catch right here on FloHockey.

The U.S. National Junior Team will enter the 2024 tournament as one of the favorites to take home the gold medal with a high number of returning players led by the likes of Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers), Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens) and Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis Blues) among others.

Raboin will join Carle's staff that includes St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson, Minnesota assistant coach Steve Miller, USA Hockey goalie coach David Lassonde and video coach Travis Culhane of the University of Denver.

"I'm extremely fortunate to have been offered the opportunity to represent our country. This is one of the most exciting tournaments in our sport, and I look forward to joining Coach Carle, his staff, and our players in Sweden," Raboin said in a statement.

The World Junior Championship opens Dec. 26 in Gothenberg, Sweden. 

While with the national team, Raboin could miss up to three series for the Vikings including at Alaska-Fairbanks Dec. 15-16, at Notre Dame Dec. 30-31, and at home against Minnesota State Jan. 5-6, depending on how long USA remains in the tournament which runs through Jan. 5.