BOB MOTZKO WILL NOT BE BACK TO COACH GOPHERS!

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I think it was the right time. That 2023 season was great, seeing the arena full was awesome and it was nice to be in the NCAA Tournament regularly. However, looking at this season and the last one, I think it was clear the program was on the decline.

I think in some cases, an argument could be made to keep a coach with Motzko's type of resume on after a down year. But there are some things to consider, one, it didn't seem like the program was getting back to its level of production that 2022-2023 had.

To be honest, both 2024 and 2025 tournaments, it almost seemed like the Gophers were in a sort of "just happy to be there" vibe. There didn't seem to be much momentum toward something better. This past year kind of cemented that stagnant position.

Another factor is his age. Don Lucia had a slump, too, from 2009-2011 after his first run of success. However, that was when he was still in his early 50s. So, there wasn't a sense that the game had maybe passed him by or that he was approaching retirement.

It made sense to keep him on considering his overall resume, the fact that he had in fact won two national championships, and was still relatively young. That ended up being the right choice with that 2012-2015 era with Kyle Rau, Adam Wilcox and company.

With Motzko, meanwhile, he's already 63 at this point, he doesn't have a national championship on his belt, so there's less leeway. Plus, one also has to consider how the loss of his son has also impacted him.

All that considered, I'd say it's the right move. That's also not to say Motzko's hire was a mistake. Hopefully we get a great new coach and can look at the Motzko era as a solid, albeit imperfect, bridge from the Lucia time to a new one.
 



Here's the press release from the U of MN:
University, Motzko Mutually Agree to Part Ways

NOTE: Mark Coyle will be available to speak with the media on Monday, March 23. An exact time and additional details will be sent in the next few days.

University of Minnesota Thomas O. Moe Director of Athletics Mark Coyle announced that the University and men's hockey coach Bob Motzko have mutually agreed to part ways.

Motzko coached the Gophers for eight seasons and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year three times. He was the 2023 Spencer Penrose Award winner as AHCA/CCM Men's Hockey Division I Coach of the Year and is the 23rd winningest coach in men's college hockey history. On the national stage, Motzko led Team USA to a gold medal in 2017 and a bronze medal in 2018 at the World Junior Championships.

Statement from Mark Coyle
"I want to thank Bob for leading our team for the last eight seasons. In addition to winning Big Ten titles, the team advanced to the Men's Frozen Four twice and played in the national championship game in 2023.

"Bob coached 15 All-Americans and three future Olympians at Minnesota. He is a great coach and we wish him well in the future.

"We will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next head coach."

Statement from Bob Motzko
"This was my 42nd year in coaching, and at this stage in my career, now is the right time for new leadership. I have dedicated 14 years to this program as a head coach, assistant coach and student. I am grateful for every minute of it. In addition to working with so many incredible student-athletes, it was great to see the arena full again and the passion restored to our program. One of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of my eight years was reconnecting with and uniting our alumni and having them involved with our program. It was a tremendous honor to be part of this incredible University."
 





I'm good with this.

The OT loss in the Nattie to Quinnapiac in 2023 was never erased in the last 3 seasons. Make your excuses now, but that was a gross embarrassment that exposed his program. This year was the icing on the embarrassment cake.
 
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Ewert86PC said:
I'm good with this.

The OT loss in the Nattie to Quinnapiac in 2023 was never erased in the last 3 seasons. Make your excuses now, but that was a gross embarrassment that exposed his program. This year was the icing on the embarrassment cake.
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Read that aloud to yourself. You consider it a gross embarrassment to lose in overtime of the Nattie. This is the epitome of entitlement. Q won 34 games that year. They beat Michigan 5-2 in the semis and an outstanding OSU team to get to the frozen 4. Link everyone was disappointed that we couldn’t finish it off after being up in the third period but to call that is an embarrassment is ridiculous.
 

phifo said:
Read that aloud to yourself. You consider it a gross embarrassment to lose in overtime of the Nattie. This is the epitome of entitlement. Q won 34 games that year. They beat Michigan 5-2 in the semis and an outstanding OSU team to get to the frozen 4. Link everyone was disappointed that we couldn’t finish it off after being up in the third period but to call that is an embarrassment is ridiculous.
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It's not embarrassing when you leave Brock Faber on the bench to start overtime? Why isn't your 1st line defense on the ice?

Why did he refuse to try to put the puck in their zone and play prevent in the 3rd period? His 1st line was an NHL caliber line. Pathetic.
 

TruthSeeker said:
It's not embarrassing when you leave Brock Faber on the bench to start overtime? Why isn't your 1st line defense on the ice?

Why did he refuse to try to put the puck in their zone and play prevent in the 3rd period? His 1st line was an NHL caliber line. Pathetic.
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No, its not embarrassing given how exhausted he was. As far as our 3rd period offense is concerned I think the main complaint was we played it too safe instead of the other way around. Again, I refuse to call losing on OT of the Nattie an embarrassment.
 






TruthSeeker said:
It's not embarrassing when you leave Brock Faber on the bench to start overtime? Why isn't your 1st line defense on the ice?

Why did he refuse to try to put the puck in their zone and play prevent in the 3rd period? His 1st line was an NHL caliber line. Pathetic.
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Based on how that play happened doesn't matter who the D were, the only way that scenario possibly changes is if someone else takes the draw and wins it
 

phifo said:

Too few remember the state of Gopher hockey when Bob took over.
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You can't make it up.

The previous 3 seasons before Bob took over:
Conference Winning Percentage: .623
Average Finish: 2/3rd

Bob's last three seasons:
Conference Winning Percentage: .555
Average Finish: 3/4th

You literally cannot argue that Bob inherited a mess and that he should not be fired. We have been significantly worse to end the Motzko era than we were to end the Lucia era. The state of Gopher hockey is in worse shape for the next coach than it was for Motzko.
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
You can't make it up.

The previous 3 seasons before Bob took over:
Conference Winning Percentage: .623
Average Finish: 2/3rd

Bob's last three seasons:
Conference Winning Percentage: .555
Average Finish: 3/4th

You literally cannot argue that Bob inherited a mess and that he should not be fired. We have been significantly worse to end the Motzko era than we were to end the Lucia era. The state of Gopher hockey is in worse shape for the next coach than it was for Motzko.
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Except you’re overlooking the fact that that conference is significantly stronger today than it was in 2018, and really it’s the last one season that skews those numbers above. Heck in 2024-25 we shared a big ten title and went into the tourney #5 in the pairwise. Lucia had multiple down years to end his tenure while Bob had one historically awful year.

So while yes it is time for Bob to go, your way of framing it is not exactly accurate. The bigger concern than the one year of bad on ice performance is the recruiting drop off.
 

Gophers1992 said:
Except you’re overlooking the fact that that conference is significantly stronger today than it was in 2018, and really it’s the last one season that skews those numbers above. Heck in 2024-25 we shared a big ten title and went into the tourney #5 in the pairwise. Lucia had multiple down years to end his tenure while Bob had one historically awful year.

So while yes it is time for Bob to go, your way of framing it is not exactly accurate. The bigger concern than the one year of bad on ice performance is the recruiting drop off.
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I'm not defending Lucia, I believe it was time for him to go. That said, your defense of Motzko (he wasn't far removed from really good team), is 100% true for Lucia. The year before Lucia's final year was almost identical to Motzko's. We had a share of the title and went to the tournament as the #4 in Pairwise.

I can even understand an argument that we should keep Motzko and should have kept Lucia. I just think it's logically incongruent to be outraged over Motzko's firing while also saying he walked into a dumpster fire.
 

Gophers1992 said:
Except you’re overlooking the fact that that conference is significantly stronger today than it was in 2018, and really it’s the last one season that skews those numbers above. Heck in 2024-25 we shared a big ten title and went into the tourney #5 in the pairwise. Lucia had multiple down years to end his tenure while Bob had one historically awful year.

So while yes it is time for Bob to go, your way of framing it is not exactly accurate. The bigger concern than the one year of bad on ice performance is the recruiting drop off.
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Agreed. That to me is the most troublesome. I am not anti Bob. I think he is a good coach. And I also think it was time to go. All the trends posted here and in other threads are great. But I think you have to be forward looking as well. Yes, this was a historically bad season. And I don't think Coyle was convinced that next year (maybe even two) was going to be markedly better. I think what really did Bob in though was his lack of recognition that this was coming. He actually thought we were going to have a good year. He said many times... "I really like what we have in our locker room" and "we're going to get better as the season goes on." I'm sure that was his message to Coyle too. Hard to believe that type of reasoning again. And I frankly believe the party line that this was a mutual decision.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'm not defending Lucia, I believe it was time for him to go. That said, your defense of Motzko (he wasn't far removed from really good team), is 100% true for Lucia. The year before Lucia's final year was almost identical to Motzko's. We had a share of the title and went to the tournament as the #4 in Pairwise.

I can even understand an argument that we should keep Motzko and should have kept Lucia. I just think it's logically incongruent to be outraged over Motzko's firing while also saying he walked into a dumpster fire.
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Yes agreed, calling it a dumpster fire would not be accurate at all. Well below gopher standards? Of course, but certainly not a dumpster fire. I hear you.
 



bonin21 said:
I know everyone has great memories of that line but you might not realize how good at hockey the 2023 line was.
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Idk my own hockey credentials are pretty solid , think I have a decent idea lol. Will see if Cooley and Knies have as good of careers in the show as Neal and Aaron. I will give those credit they didn't cherry pick at the redline like bonin did and were actually prepared to go to the NHL
 

phifo said:
Read that aloud to yourself. You consider it a gross embarrassment to lose in overtime of the Nattie. This is the epitome of entitlement. Q won 34 games that year. They beat Michigan 5-2 in the semis and an outstanding OSU team to get to the frozen 4. Link everyone was disappointed that we couldn’t finish it off after being up in the third period but to call that is an embarrassment is ridiculous.
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Your grasp of reality and reliance on using the word "entitlement" is also embarrassing.
 



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