Minnesota and men’s hockey head coach Bob Motzko have agreed to a two-year contract extension.
The deal keeps Motzko with the Golden Gophers through the 2027-28 season.
“I am grateful to (director of athletics) Mark Coyle and the rest of the athletics administration for believing in me and our staff and our leadership of Gopher hockey,” Motzko said in a statement. “It has been exciting to be a part of our success and I am so appreciative of the incredible support we receive from our alumni, our students and all our fans.
“We have a tremendous staff and group of young men on this team, and I look forward to continuing to compete for championships with them.”
The Gophers have enjoyed a resurgence to national prominence since Motzko took over leading the program prior to the 2018-19 season. The 2023 Spencer Penrose national coach of the year award winner currently owns a 119-64-14 record after leading the Gophers to back-to-back trips to the NCAA Frozen Four and three straight 24-plus win campaigns. He also has earned the title of Big Ten conference coach of the year three times in the last four seasons thanks to consecutive B1G regular-season championships and a tournament title in 2021.
“Bob has been a tremendous leader of our men’s hockey program,” Coyle said. “His ability to build a culture of success with our staff and student-athletes has led to achievements on the ice and for our team academically and socially. I am thrilled to have Bob continue to lead our men’s hockey program into the future.”
The rising success of Minnesota men’s hockey has been showcased by holding a 6-3 record at the national tournament, increasing their all-time NCAA win total to 61, the most of any college hockey program. In five of the six seasons with Motzko at the helm, the Gophers have been ranked in the top five of the national polls for at least one week.
In the classroom, the program continues to thrive under Motzko’s leadership where 29 student-athletes have earned a college degree since 2018. Minnesota also has boasted nine of the program’s top 10 cumulative semester grade point averages during his tenure, including the highest spring semester ever (excluding the COVID-19 semester) in 2023 behind a 3.22 term GPA.
