After 14 years coaching boys’ hockey at Blaine, Dave Aus sought a small town for his family and a program with big dreams. Brainerd provided both.

Aus, who brought Blaine to six consecutive state tournaments, told Bengals' players Friday morning he has accepted the Brainerd job. He recently finalized a teaching and coaching contract and will soon move two hours north into the heart of lake country.

Back in 2000, Aus took the helm of a Blaine program fresh off its first Class 2A state championship. Under his watch, the Bengals reached the state tournament six consecutive times from 2006 to 2011 but never finished higher than third.

Just reaching state would be huge for Brainerd’s program. The Warriors were section runners-up in 1991, 2012 and 2013.

Brainerd’s school board recently voted not to renew the contract of boys’ hockey coach Jim Archibald. He coached the program for the past seven seasons, winning six consecutive Central Lakes Conference titles.