By Jacob Messing

A failed bid to the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship is not how the Minnesota Golden Gophers envisioned their 2017-18 campaign to end. For a school in the backyard of American hockey country and with five national titles decorating its history, the sputtering finale was a severe disappointment.

Almost a month into the offseason, things have gotten even worse.

Two days after the failed bid, head coach Don Lucia stepped down after 19 seasons with the Gophers. Lucia took over the team in 1999 and led the team to consecutive NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003. Minnesota earned NCAA bids 13 times during Lucia’s tenure, losing in the semifinals in 2005 and 2012 and in the 2014 final.

The Gophers missed this year’s tournament by an incredibly narrow margin.

A few surprising conference winners forced some unexpected grief even the PairWise Rankings couldn’t predict. With just three weeks left in the season, Minnesota sat at No. 9 in the PairWise but failed to make the cut for the 16-team tournament. They went 3-2-1 in their final six regular season games, all against nationally ranked opponents.

On March 17, just one day before the NCAA selection committee cast its final votes, Minnesota was a virtual lock. But as the six final conference championships went the wrong way in a perfect storm against the Gophers, Minnesota’s season ended prematurely.

The 59-year-old Lucia, a two-time conference coach of the year (2006 and 2014), amassed a 457-248-73 record and will go down as the winningest coach in program history.

“The last 19 years have been better than I could have imagined,” Lucia said during his farewell press conference. “This is the right time for me to leave coaching and move on to the next phase of my life.”

Lucia added that he had texted a friend during the aforementioned perfect storm, telling him “if we lose all six of these games, the good Lord is telling me it’s time to do something else.”

Roughly 72 hours later, alongside Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle, Lucia reiterated that sentiment to a group of reporters, noting it was time for somebody else to take over.

Don Lucia, who led the #Gophers to back-to-back national championships and is the program's all-time wins leader, has stepped down as head coach after 19 years at Minnesota.

Release: https://t.co/ovHl3LxZb4 pic.twitter.com/e0eIQj5l6A

— Minnesota M Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 20, 2018

Additional Departures

Along with Lucia, seniors Mike Szmatula, Steve Johnson, Leon Bristedt, and Jack Glover all found their season coming to a disappointing end. Johnson, Bristedt, and Glover were all full-time pieces for four seasons while Szmatula sat out the 2015-16 season as a transfer from Northeastern University.

Szmatula had his worst offensive output in his four NCAA seasons, finishing sixth in team scoring with 15 points (9 G, 6 A) through 38 teams. It was a testament to the snake-bitten offense, which led to the Gophers’ discouraging 19-17-2 record this season.

Losing seniors is just a part of the job and Minnesota—like any other college team of any sport—has already addressed it with an incoming recruiting class.

But while former NHL draft picks are always a risk to bolt early for the next level, Minnesota has had to watch sophomore Ryan Lindgren and freshman Casey Mittelstadt leave as well.

Lindgren was a 2016 second-round draft pick (49th overall) of the Boston Bruins and an assistant captain for the Gophers this season. The defenseman’s NHL rights were traded to the New York Rangers at the NHL trade deadline. The Rangers inked the 6-foot, 198-pound blue liner to an entry-level deal on March 22, ending his career at Minnesota.

Just four days later, Mittelstadt signed with the Buffalo Sabres, who had drafted the forward eighth overall in 2017. A full-package center, Mittelstadt finished second in scoring for the Gophers in his freshman season with 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points in 34 games. In January, Mittelstadt scored four goals and 11 points in seven games for Team USA at the World Junior Championships as the tournament’s leading scorer and MVP.

Moving Forward

After missing out on the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons and losing 19-year head coach and two building-block players, Minnesota has a lot on its plate this summer.

The program has already found its replacement for Lucia in Bob Motzko. Motzko was an assistant under Lucia during the Gophers’ victories in 2002 and 2003.

#Gophers All-American and former team captain @lou_nanne shares his thoughts on new 'U' head coach Bob Motzko... pic.twitter.com/PWMcQvaPFD

— Minnesota M Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 28, 2018

He has spent the last 13 years with the St. Cloud State Huskies, leading the team to eight NCAA tournament appearances—they reached Frozen Four in 2013—including five in the past six years. Motzko went 276-192-49 during his 13 years with the Huskies.

This season, Motzko’s Huskies time as a top-five team and went 25-9-6 record as they earned the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies were upset by Air Force in the opening round of the tournament.

“I am excited and honored for the opportunity to lead Golden Gopher hockey,” Motzko said in a statement. “The rich history and tradition of this program is honored by so many in our state and around the country. We will work tirelessly to make those people proud.”

In 2018-19, the Gophers have nine players entering their senior season. Motzko’s success at St. Cloud State and the historic hockey program at Minnesota should help lure high-end recruits in 2019-20.

But with a new season, new coach, and new system, Minnesota faces serious obstacles in the way of their desire for a program turnaround. Under Motzko, Minnesota next year could be this year’s Michigan, which saw a drastic turnaround under new coach Mel Pearson.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.