Sports fans tend to have long or short memories aligning with when it is convenient to have either, and Gophers men’s hockey fans are no exception.
The end of the Don Lucia coaching era, which saw the Gophers miss the NCAA tournament twice and get eliminated in the opening game the other two times in his last four seasons, tends to lead to a skewed view of the entirety of his tenure. Lucia did, after all, bring the Gophers back-to-back NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003, their first since 1979.
But it is fair to say that the shine was wearing off the program in those final Lucia years as fan interest dwindled. Bob Motzko, an assistant on those back-to-back championship teams before leaving for a successful run as St. Cloud State’s head coach, was brought in to restore that luster.
Motzko has certainly achieved that part of his mission: His Gophers have made four straight NCAA tournaments, losing twice in the region finals, once in the national semifinals and once, agonizingly, in the 2023 NCAA title game when the Gophers couldn’t hold a late lead against Quinnipiac.
With their built-in program advantages and long history of success, the Gophers are forever judged on national titles. The drought since their last one in 2003 is almost as long as it was between 1979 and 2002.
In a wide-ranging interview on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast, Motzko talked about those expectations, his personal journey and more.
Here are some of the highlights from that interview:
Q: This program has some advantages that have been earned over decades. Those are benefits, but they also create challenges and expectations. Everybody wants you to win a national title every year. How do you deal with everything that comes with that?