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Guentzel back with U as associate head coach

Three years after being let go, the longtime Gophers assistant returned to Minnesota to be Don Lucia's top aide.

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Mike Guentzel returned to the Gophers men's hockey team Wednesday as associate head coach.

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Mike Guentzel will be on the Gophers bench again this season.

Guentzel, a former assistant coach with the men's hockey program for 14 seasons, has been rehired with a promotion. Guentzel, who signed a multi- year contract to be the associate head coach, started work Wednesday.

He had been gone since April 2008. Publicly, Guentzel said then that he resigned to pursue a head coaching job. But, according to two sources, he was fired by head coach Don Lucia, which makes this full-circle comeback even more improbable.

"Don made a very attractive offer to me, and the U was very supportive," Guentzel said. "To come back means a lot to me. And in Don's situation, he had nine good years [before] with Mike Guentzel. It's a healthy situation."

Guentzel, 48, was a defenseman for the Gophers from 1981 to '85 and an assistant from 1994 to 2008. He worked with 23 eventual NHL players, including defensemen Keith Ballard, Alex Goligoski, Jordan Leopold and Paul Martin. The Gophers had success as a team, too, when Guentzel was on the staff, appearing in 11 NCAA tournaments and winning NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003.

Guentzel was a Colorado College assistant coach in 2008-09, the head coach and general manager for Des Moines of the USHL in 2009-10 and a Nebraska Omaha assistant last season.

"Don made it known to me he is open to ideas and suggestions," Guentzel said, "and I'm a better coach now. I have a different focus and priorities. So let's reconnect with the alumni and boosters and get some positive energy in the program."

Guentzel fills the vacancy created by the departure of assistant coach John Hill.

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