The ice surface at Munn Ice Arena at Michigan State University will be named Ron Mason Rink after the legendary Spartan head coach. The dedication will be held on Oct. 7, before MSU's 2023-24 home opener against visiting Lake Superior State.
Mason, from Blyth, Ontario, guided the Spartans from 1979 to 2002, where he fashioned an overall record of 635-270-69. That mark included the 1986 NCAA crown, plus 10 CCHA tournament titles and eight CCHA regular-season championships. He also led MSU to 19 NCAA tournament appearances, including a streak of nine consecutive berths to close his career. The CCHA's Mason Cup, awarded to the league's tournament champion in both its original and current incarnations, is named after him.
Mason also coached at Lake Superior, where he won an NAIA title, and at Bowling Green before spending 23 seasons at MSU, where he coached 35 All-Americans, and 50 former Spartans who went on to play in the NHL. At the time of his retirement, he was NCAA hockey's all-time wins leader with 924 victories, having compiled an overall record of 924-380-83 (.696) over 36 seasons, including 10 campaigns of 30 or more wins.
Following his coaching career, Mason spent six years as athletic director at MSU, and celebrated the 2007 NCAA title with the Spartans before retiring the following year. A member of the MSU Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and the 1992 AHCA national coach of the year, he passed away in June 2016 at the age of 76.
Munn Ice Arena, which seats 6,114 spectators, opened in 1974 as a hockey-only facility, and underwent a $26.7 million renovation over the last few years. The Spartans hosted an NCAA record 323-game regular-season sellout streak there from 1985 to 2004.
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