Lucia steps down as Gophers hockey coach after 19 seasons

Published Mar. 20, 2018 2:56 p.m. ET

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the University of Minnesota will have a new men's hockey coach when it opens the season next fall.

The school announced Tuesday that head coach Don Lucia intends to step down after 19 seasons at the helm. The Gophers missed the NCAA tournament following a series of stunning upsets on the final weekend of conference tournament play, the second time in the last three seasons that Minnesota has failed to qualify.

Lucia intends to stay on as a special assistant to the athletics department through June 30, 2019. He has a year remaining on his contract, which carries a $315,000 buyout clause.

One of the winningest coaches in Division I history, Lucia leads all Gophers coaches in all-time wins with a 457-247-73 record. He succeeded Doug Woog in 1999, guiding the Gophers to back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003.

Lucia led the Gophers to eight regular-season titles, four conference tournament titles and five appearances in the Frozen Four. He coached at Alaska-Fairbanks from 1987-93 and Colorado College from 1993-99 before arriving in Minneapolis. Lucia's 736 career wins as a head coach rank eighth all-time in NCAA history.

The Gophers struggled at times in Lucia's final season at the helm, finishing fifth in the Big Ten with a 10-12-2 record in conference play (19-17-2 overall).

The list of potential candidates to replace Lucia includes several coaches with ties to the program. Mike Guentzel has twice served as a Gophers assistant. A former Gophers defenseman, Guentzel was an assistant from 1994-2008, then returned in time for the 2011-12 season, a role he has occupied ever since.

Former Gophers captain Grant Potulny recently completed his first season as head coach at Northern Michigan, guiding the Wildcats to a second-place finish in the WCHA and the WCHA tournament championship game. St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko was a Gophers assistant from 2001-05.