By Vince Muzik

The player cut twice by the Minnesota Gophers hockey team is now the man in charge.

University of Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle made it official Thursday in a press conference at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, introducing Austin native Bob Motzko as the new Golden Gophers men’s hockey team. The East Side kid who once walked through the Winter snow to play hockey at East Side Lake has grown into the seat once held by Minnesota hockey legends John Mariucci and Herb Brooks.

���I remember that period. Bob was very distraught. He really wanted to play for the Gophers” said Paul Notermann, who grew up playing with Moztko and whose nephew, Luke, will be a junior on the Gophers team next year. In the press conference Motzko referenced that period in his life: “Tried out at two colleges. Played at one.”

That one was St. Cloud State, his alma mater, who eventually hired him to be its head coach in 2005. In 13 years he turned the Huskies into a national power resulting in the No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament. In his tenure there they won three conference regular season titles, recorded their first NCAA tournament win (2010) and first Frozen Four appearance (2013). Motzko, en route to a 276-192-49 record including eight NCAA tournament appearances, was named coach of the year four times, two in the WCHA  (2006 and 2007) and two in the NCHC (2014 and 2018).

The opportunity to take over the Gophers came quickly. While still nursing the pain of having his team’s season end last Friday night in the NCAA West Regional at the hands of Air Force coached by good friend Frank Serratore, Minnesota called the next morning. Sunday night he was sitting in an interview for their coaching vacancy. By early Tuesday morning he was texting Notermann at 3:42 a.m. to let him know he was the new head coach of the Gophers.

Notermann texted him back: “I think you are going to need some sleep.”

Motzko takes over for Don Lucia who was in the audience at the press conference. Motzko had no reservations about what he faces as the head coach at Minnesota.

“I might be off by a coach, but I believe every coach since Glen Sonmor has played for a national championship,” Motzko said. “This is a pretty powerful program.”

In the post-game press conference after his team beat St. Cloud State, 4-1, last Friday, Serratore said emphatically, “I hired Bob and Mike (Gibbons, Motzko’s assistant) when I was at Denver (1990-94) because they are great coaches.”

It just took a little time for the rest of the world to figure out what he knew. Motzko lived the nomadic assistant coach life with stints in Mason City, Iowa; Oxford, Ohio; Denver; back to Oxford; Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Minneapolis before settling in St. Cloud.

“Bob is one of the best coaches in the world,” said Lou Vairo, former coach of the Austin Mavericks and a U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who has known Motzko since he was a teenager. “All high level coaches know how to train, teach and motivate their charges. Bob knows how to let them grow and develop their confidence and explore their God-given talents. They are allowed to have fun; his teams enjoy playing. He does not what I call ‘over coach.’ He trusts his players, and they appreciate that trust.”