MSU to Name Munn Ice Surface for Ron Mason

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.

Doug Ross (1951-2022)

Longtime University of Alabama-Huntsville hockey head coach Doug Ross (Bowling Green) passed away today at the age of 70.

Ross mentored UAH from 1985 when it was a club program, until his retirement in 2007, after starting his career at Ohio University and then Kent State University. He coached the Chargers to four NCAA Division II tournament berths and two national titles at that level, along with an NCAA Division I tournament appearance in his final year after UAH won the College Hockey America postseason tournament. He also oversaw eight Chargers teams in all that won 20 or more games in a single season, and finished with a personal overall record of 376-255-42 (.590) at UAH. 

As a player, Ross skated for three years at BGSU at forward, after one season at the NAIA level with Lake Superior State. A Detroit native, he posted two 30-goal campaigns with the Falcons, while helping them to the CCHA playoff tournament crown in 1973. He earned First Team All-CCHA status in 1974-75 after notching 34 goals and 29 assists for 63 points, and finished his career at BGSU with 65-64⁠—129 points in just 74 games in all.

Ross then skated for the 1975-76 U.S. National Team. He recorded 10-23⁠—33 points in 34 outings on the pre-Olympic tour, before adding a goal and two assists in six games at the XII Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria as Team USA finished in fifth place. He was later inducted into the UAH Athletic Hall of Fame is 2020 as part of its inaugural class.

UAH Hockey has been on hiatus since the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, awaiting acceptance into a conference. The program played as an independent from 1985 to 1999, and again from 2010 to 2013. The Chargers went 3-18-1 in their final campaign, as part of the now-dissolved men's component of the WCHA.

Mason, Guerin, Weight and Curley Among 2013 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees

Four of the five inductees into the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minn. this year have strong ties to the college game.

Ron Mason (pictured) won 924 games between 1966 and 2002 as head coach with Lake Superior, Bowling Green and Michigan State, and retired as the NCAA's all-time winningest hockey coach. A former St. Lawrence forward, he also won an NAIA national title with LSSU in 1972 and an NCAA championship with MSU in 1986. He led BGSU to three CCHA titles and three NCAA Tournament berths, and then guided MSU to 10 CCHA crowns and 19 NCAA berths. He then went on to a nearly six-year stint as athletic director with the Spartans, and now serves as a senior advisor to the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Former Boston College forward Bill Guerin had 40 goals and 30 assists for 70 points with the Eagles from 1989 to 1990, and helped BC to a Hockey East title and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He then collected 429-427—856 points in 1,263 NHL games between 1992 and 2010 with the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, according to hockeydb.com. He added 39 goals in 74 points in 140 NHL playoff games, and won Stanley Cups with the Devils (1995) and Penguins (2009). A three-time U.S. Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006), he now works in the Pittsburgh organziation as player development coach.

Former Lake Superior State forward Doug Weight collected 50-94—144 points in two campaigns with the Lakers, while helping them to two NCAA berths and a CCHA championship. He then notched 278-755—1,033 points in 1,238 NHL outings with the New York Rangers, Edmonton, St. Louis, Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks and the Islanders from 1991 to 2011. He added 23 goals and 72 points in 97 NHL playoff contests, and won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006. A teammate of Guerin's with Edmonton, the Islanders and the U.S. Olympic Team, he now serves as an assistant coach and a special assistant to the general manager with the Islanders.

Cindy Curley starred at Providence College from 1981 to 1985, where she tallied 110-115—225 points with the Lady Friars. She ranks among PC's top five in all three categories, according to Providence's 2012-13 media guide, and also played in three IIHF World Championships with the U.S., including the inaugural women's tournament in 1990. She has since worked in a number of administrative capacities with USA Hockey.

The fifth and final inductee this year is Peter Karmanos, Jr., owner of the NHL's Hurricanes and OHL's Plymouth Whalers, who has also long sponsored the Compuware youth hockey organization in Michigan.

More on each of the inductees can be found here on the USA Hockey site.