Minnesota Hockey Seeking New Head Coaches

The University of Minnesota is now looking for two new hockey head coaches.

The men's program has parted ways with Bob Motzko after eight seasons. The Austin, Minn, native had guided the Golden Gophers since 2018-19 after 13 seasons at the helm of his alma mater, St. Cloud State. Motzko, 65, complied a record of 172-104-24 while at Minnesota, including three Big Ten regular season titles, one Big Ten tournament crown, and five NCAA tournament berths, including a national runner-up finish in 2023. Minnesota finished 11-22-3 this past season, falling in the Big Ten tournament to Penn State. For his NCAA Division I career, Motzko has put together an overall head coaching mark of 448-296-73, including 13 trips to the NCAAs.

On the women's side, Brad Frost was not retained after 19 seasons at the Minnesota helm, following five years as an assistant and one as an associate/interim head coach. A Bethel College product and former men's team captain, the Burlington, Ont. native fashioned a 554-133-43 mark with the Golden Gophers, including 17 NCAA tournament appearances, eight WCHA regular-season titles, five WCHA tournament crowns, and four national championships since he took over in 2007-08. Frost, 52, led Minnesota to a 26-12-1 overall record this past season, which ended with a loss to Northeastern in the NCAAs.

Motzko Moves on to Minnesota

A week after Don Lucia stepped down after 19 years at the helm, the University of Minnesota has a new men’s hockey head coach.

Long-time St. Cloud State University mentor Bob Motzko, a former Minnesota assistant, will be the next head coach of the Golden Gophers, according to multiple sources. 

Motzko, 57, coached at SCSU from 2005 to 2018, registering a 276-192-49 (.581) overall record. He led the Huskies to three regular-season titles, the 2015-16 NCHC championship, and eight NCAA Tournament berths. The Austin, Minn. native’s best campaign came in 2012-13, when he led SCSU to a 25-16-1 overall mark, the WCHA regular-season crown, and its first NCAA Division I Frozen
Four ever. SCSU senior forward Drew LeBlanc also won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award that year, as the nation’s top player.

A 1987 SCSU graduate and a two-year letterwinner with the Huskies, Motzko first served one year as an assistant coach at his alma mater before embarking upon a five-year stay as general manager and head coach of the USHL’s North Iowa Huskies. He spent the next six years as an NCAA Division I associate/assistant coach, five with Miami (Ohio) and one with Denver, before a two-year stay as general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede.

Motzko then worked as an assistant coach at Minnesota from 2001 to 2005, and helped the Golden Gophers to two NCAA national championships (2002, 2003) before he took the reins at SCSU.

Preliminary U.S. World Juniors Roster Announced

Minnesota-Duluth led all NCAA Division I schools with five selections among the 28-man preliminary U.S. National Junior Team roster for this season's IIHF World Junior Championship, as announced today.

Boston University, Harvard and Michigan had three players selected apiece, while Minnesota had two players picked and Boston College, Maine, Notre Dame, Penn State, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan, Wisconsin and Yale had one each chosen. The full roster is available here.

A total of 24 of the 28 players chosen came from the current NCAA ranks, including three goaltenders, 10 defensemen and 11 forwards. Six college players also return from last year's triumphant American squad that won gold in Quebec by defeating runner-up Canada in a shootout for Team USA's fifth-ever WJC title.

The roster will be pared down to its final total of 23 players following training camps in Columbus, Ohio and Jamestown, N.Y., along with two preliminary games, later this month, according to USA Hockey. The U.S., which will again be helmed by head coach Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State), will seek to defend its WJC title at the 2018 competition in Buffalo, which begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 5, 2018.