Colorado College head coach Don Lucia earned his 200th career victory Dec. 27 as his Tigers beat the Vermont Catamounts 6-0 at the Badger Hockey Showdown.
The win came in Lucia’s tenth season as a head coach, the last four at Colorado College, where he has won an unprecedented three straight WCHA regular-season crowns. The first of those, in 1993-94, earned Lucia the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year from the American College Hockey Coaches’ Association. Last season, the Tigers were national runners-up at the NCAA Tournament.
Before coming to CC, Lucia headed up the program at Alaska-Fairbanks, where he compiled four winning seasons in six years. His ten-year overall coaching record stands at 200-132-21, a .596 winning percentage. At CC, he is 97-35-11, a .725 pace.
Lucia’s playing background includes two state championships with Grand Rapids (Minn.) High School and four varsity letters with then-WCHA member Notre Dame. He graduated from ND in 1981, having served as team captain his senior year, and was immediately hired at Fairbanks as an assistant coach. He was also an assistant at Alaska-Anchorage for two years before returning to the Nanooks as head coach.
This season, the Tigers are 11-7-1 overall and 10-5-1 in the WCHA, good for third place in the conference and a No. 7 national ranking. CC takes on rival Air Force this Tuesday before returning to league play.
