Gophers hockey: Big stakes, big jobs for men’s and women’s coaches
· Yahoo Sports
The goals for Gophers hockey are not nuanced. It’s essentially, win big or go home. Compete in national championship games or find another job.
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Minnesota is the deepest breeding ground for hockey talent, and the men’s and women’s teams at the state’s largest educational institution were once the paragons of what college hockey should be.
It was with that expectation that athletics director Mark Coyle introduced Greg “Boom” May to succeed Brad Frost as the women’s head coach, and why he still hasn’t pulled the trigger on someone to succeed Bob Motkzo as the men’s coach.
As May put it, “One thing that is evident to me, and sometimes I feel we need a reminder, this program set the standard for what women’s hockey is today across the country.”
That goes for both programs. They’re both rich in national titles, Olympians and NHL and PWHL stars. That’s the expectation, and Coyle said he was looking for candidates whose “knees wouldn’t buckle” when hearing that.
May officially stepped in on Monday, officially promoted from associate head coach after agreeing to terms on a four-year contract. The men’s opening remains unfilled, but that should change soon.
Coyle said he has talked to multiple candidates, and it’s possible some of them might be preparing for the NCAA tournament starting Thursday. Asked if he might have an announcement on a men’s coach in hours or days, the Gophers’ AD said he honestly didn’t know. It’s a tough vacancy to fill.
“It is a job,” he said. “There’s a lot that comes with it.”
The men’s program is one of five that receive direct payments from the $20.5 million NCAA revenue pot, and one of three that currently make money for Minnesota, the others being football and men’s basketball.
Asked if winning is important because it can bring in more money, Coyle said, “One hundred percent,” adding that the women’s basketball team’s NCAA tournament home games at Williams Arena was a bonus money-maker for a program projected to finish next season around $7 million in the red.
“It’s a critical piece for all 22 of our programs,” Coyle said.
In seven years as the Gophers men’s coach, Motzko led two teams to the 2022 and 2023 Frozen Fours, finished runner-up in 2023, and brought crowds back to 3M Arena at Mariucci. Last season, however, was the program’s first losing season since 1998-99, leading to “several honest conversations” between Coyle and Motzko that resulted in a mutual split.
During 19 seasons as the women’s head coach, Frost’s teams won four national titles, but none since 2016. His teams remained an NCAA tournament mainstay, but the Gophers haven’t been in a title game since 2019.
Finishing a season with a championship, and maybe sometimes a few goals or bounces short, is the standard. Anything else, as Frost found out when his contract was not renewed last week, is not enough.
That suits May fine.
He said he’s ready to make the changes that he believes held the Gophers back while their WCHA sisters at Wisconsin and Ohio State passed them by, combining to the past seven NCAA championships.
“Maybe I’m crazy,” he said, “but I love it.”
An associate head coach under Frost the past three years, he believes he sees places to change, and has the flexibility to do it.
“I’ve been here three years, but not 20 years,” he said.
The biggest thing the Gophers need, he said, is an identity. It used to be fast and skilled and needs to remain that way, but the missing component, he said, has been an edge — an aggressive style that Nadine Muzerall instilled at Ohio State and has resulted in two national championships. The Gophers beat the Buckeyes and Badgers this season, but didn’t win any of those series.
The Badgers, May said, have the best talent in hockey, hands down. Ohio State has something else — an edge the Buckeyes sometimes cross that was instilled by Nadine Muzerall, the Gophers’ career scoring leader until being passed this season by Abbey Murphy. She signed a five-year extension last week, and the Gophers must come to grips with matching the Buckeyes’ intensity.
“That’s how we want to play,” May said. “I want teams to come in here and when it’s over, say, ‘I don’t want to play those guys again.’ ”
As for the men’s team, the new coach will have to tackle widened recruiting opportunities in the Canadian major junior leagues, plus managing the program’s portion of revenue while bringing the program back to the level it was when Motkzo won three Big Ten Coach of the Year awards.
The Gophers beat the top two Big Ten teams, Michigan and Michigan State, one time each, but overall were completely outclassed by their NCAA tournament-bound conference rivals.
“If we’re winning the Big Ten,” Coyle said, “then we’re competing for NCAA tournaments and Frozen Four appearances.”