DON LUCIA
Game 555 | October 27, 1999 | Don Lucia
In April1999 Lucia was named to succeed Doug Woog as Gopher hockey coach. He came to Minnesota from Colorado College where he led that team to its first WCHA title in 37 years. A standout high school player at Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Lucia spent six years at the University of Alaska Fairbanks before taking the job at Colorado.
Game 593 | November 20, 2001 | Don Lucia
In his third year coaching the hockey Gophers, Lucia finished with a record of 32-8-4 and won the NCAA Frozen Four with a 4-3 overtime victory over Maine at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul. It was the Gophers' first NCAA title in 23 years. Jordan Leopold and John Pohl were named first-team All-Americans, and Leopold won the Hobey Baker Award. Senior goaltender Adam Hauser became the WCHA's all-time leader with 83 career wins.
Game 610 | November 12, 2002 | Don Lucia
Coming off a National Championship season, Lucia's hockey Gophers were expected to go through a rebuilding process. On the contrary, the team finished 28-8-9 and won a second straight Frozen Four, this time defeating New Hampshire 5-1 in Buffalo, N.Y Newcomer Thomas Vanek became the first freshman since 1969-70 to lead the team in scoring with 31 goals and 31 assists. Troy Riddle, Keith Ballard and Matt Koalska shared the / scoring load, and defenseman Paul Martin was named second team All American.
Game 625 | October 23, 2003 | Don Lucia
In Lucia's fifth year, coming off back-to-back National Championships, this team finished fourth in the WCHA, but roared back to win the conference Final Five before losing to Minnesota Duluth in the Midwest Regional NCAA finals. Thomas Vanek, in his second and final year with the Gophers, led the team in scoring with 51 points.
Game 642 | October 6, 2004 | Don Lucia
With all three of its top scorers gone from the year before Lucia's hockey Gophers improved with age. Finishing tied for third in the WCHA, they pulled out overtime victories over Maine and Cornell before losing to North Dakota in the Frozen Four at Columbus, Ohio. Sophomore Kellen Briggs was strong in goal, and Tyler Hirsch, Danny Irmen, Ryan Potolny and Gino Guyer led the team in scoring.k.
Game 665 | October 25, 2005 | Don Lucia
Winners of the MacNaughten Cup, this Gopher hockey team won the WCHA title with a conference record of 20-5-3. Although heavily favored, they lost to unranked Holy Cross in the firSt round of NCAA post-season play. Ryan Potolny, Phil Kessel, Alex Goligoski and Danny Irmen were the leading scorers.
Game 685 | November 29, 2006 | Don Lucia
Born in Harvey, North Dakota, Kutz rode more than 2,800 winners at Canterbury Downs. Beset by numerous injuries, Kutz, diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999, returned to Canterbury to win his 2,000 race in 2001. He died in 2004, and the Memorial Chapel at what is now Canterbury Park carries his name. Hutchinson was the leading trainer at Canterbury in the early years of the track.
Game 706 | October 24, 2007 | Don Lucia
Featuring a team made up entirely of players from the state of Minnesota, Lucia's team finished 9-12-7 in conference play and finished seventh in the WCHA. They lost to Boston College in the opening round of NCAA Tournament play. Blake Wheeler and Ben Gordon were the team's leading scorer.
Game 746 | November 11, 2009 | Don Lucia, Brad Frost
Both the men's and women's Gopher hockey coaches talked about their prospects for the 2009-2010 season. Coach Lucia pointed out that Olympic years used to be disruptive to college teams, but the decision to use only professional players has made things easier for college coaches.
Game 767 | January 6, 2011 | Don Lucia, Brad Frost
The Gopher hockey coaches talked about their teams and the decision to launch a Big Ten hockey league. Lucia's men's team finished fifth in the WCHA and lost to Alaska Anchorage in the first round of the playoffs. Frost's women's team finished 26-10-2 and advanced to the NCAA Regionals. Frost introduced Dunkers to defenseman Anne Schleper; a first-team All-WCHA player from St. Cloud.
Game 784 | January 10, 2012 | Don Lucia, Brad Frost
Lucia's men's team made it to the Frozen Four in 2012 for the first time since 2005, losing 6-1 to Boston College in the semi-finals. The team won the McNaughton Cup (best record in the WCHA) for the third time in the last seven years and finished with a season record of 23-14-l. Frost's women's team won the NCAA Championship for the third time in the history of the event. Megan Bozek and Amanda Kessel were both named All-Americans.
Game 801 | December 4, 2012 | Don Lucia, Brad Frost, Zac Budish, Beth Brausen
Both hockey teams entered the season ranked number one nationally and both got off to great starts. Guest forwards, Zac Budish and Bethany Brausen, both juniors, talked about playing against both strong opponents and high expectations. The men were 11-3-3 at the time of the meeting and the women were 18-0. They had scored 104 goals while allowing just ll and had been behind for only 39 seconds so far.
Game 818 | January 9, 2014 | Don Lucia, Joel Johnson
Men's Coach Don Lucia talked about switching from the WCHA to the new Big 10 hockey league. His team went on to win the first conference title and lost to Union 7-4 in the finals of the NCAA Hockey Championship. Senior forward Nate Condon, a guest that day, finished the season with 25 points. Johnson, chief assistant to Gopher Women's Coach Brad Frost, talked about the team's record 62-game winning streak and the pressure of back-to-back national championships. The team finished the season with a 38-2-1 record and lost 5-4 in the NCAA Championship final game to Clarkson. Two-time captain Bethany Brausen spoke on behalf of the team.
Game 839 | March 17, 2015 | Don Lucia
Accompanied by senior forward Seth Ambroz, Coach Lucia talked about rebuilding a team that finished second in the nation the year before and sent a half dozen players on to the National Hockey League. The 2014-15 Gophers, in their 15th year under Lucia, won both the Big Ten Regular Season and Championship titles. They lost 4-1 to Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA first-round games with Ambroz scoring the only Gopher goal in his final game.
Game 859 | March 9, 2016 | Don Lucia
Gopher hockey coach since 1999, Lucia's team finished the 2015-16 season with a 20-17 record while winning the Big Ten title for the third straight season. The team did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Game 875 | February 28, 2017 | Don Lucia
Coach Lucia was entering his 30th season as a college hockey head coach. He came to Minnesota for the 1999-00 season and coached his team to back-to-back National Championships in his third and fourth seasons with the Gophers. He is the longest tenured hockey coach in Gopher history. His 2016-17 team won the Big Ten Regular Season title for the fourth straight year.
(LtoR) Pete Kostroski, Don Lucia, Randy Handel (physician)
Game 892 | February 12, 2018 | Don Lucia
The 2017-18 season proved to be the 19th and final season for Lucia. He stepped down after the end of the season, finishing a career that saw him coach teams to the National Championship in both 2001-02 and 2002-03. He finished his Gopher career with a record of 457-248-73, and his career victories are number one in the history of the program.
(LtoR) Dave Mona, Andrea Hjelm (physician), Don Lucia, Nancy Lindahl
WIKIPEDIA: Don Lucia
