Gopher men’s hockey coach Motzko wins Big Ten Coach of the Year

University of Minnesota men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in his second year on the job.

Before the remainder of the season was canceled due to COVID-19 health concerns, Motzko led the Gophers to a 16-14-7 overall record and had his team set to play the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.

Minnesota finished in second place in the Big Ten regular-season standings in 2020 and made its second straight trip to the conference tournament semifinals.

Motzko, a native of Austin, Minn., was also a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award as a national coach of the year candidate.

Motzko now has a 34-30-11 record as the head coach of the Gophers and owns a 310-222-60 career record. He is also the first Minnesota men’s hockey coach to win the award since Don Lucia won it in 2014.

Other Gophers on the team earned awards as well. Forward Ben Meyers, defenseman Jackson LaCombe and goalie Jared Moe all made it on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team while sophomore forward Sammy Walker and junior forward Brannon McManus earned spots on the All-Big Ten honorable mention team.