Don Lucia

Don Lucia
Sport(s)	Ice hockey
Current position
Title	Head Coach
Team	Minnesota
Biographical details
Born	August 20, 1958 (age 65); Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987–1993	Alaska-Fairbanks
1993–1999	Colorado College
1999–Present	Minnesota
Head coaching record
Overall	660-364-105
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	2002 NCAA National Championship; 2003 NCAA National Championship; 1988 Great West Conference Championship; 1994 WCHA Championship; 1995 WCHA Championship; 1996 WCHA Championship; 2006 WCHA Championship; 2007 WCHA Championship; 2012 WCHA Championship; 2013 WCHA Championship; 2014 Big Ten Championship; 2015 Big Ten Championship
Awards
	1994 Spencer Penrose National Coach of the Year 1994, 1996 and 2006 WCHA Coach of the Year 2014 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year

Don Lucia (born August 20, 1958) is the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's hockey team.^[1] He has twice led the Golden Gophers to the NCAA National Championship title, in 2002 and 2003.^[2] Under Lucia, the Golden Gophers have won four MacNaughton Cups (awarded to the WCHA's regular season champion), the Broadmoor Trophy three times (awarded to the WCHA playoff champion),^[1] and the Big Ten regular season championship in each of that league's first two seasons. He has coached one Hobey Baker Award winner, Jordan Leopold.^[3] He is one of 10 coaches to record more than 600 NCAA men's ice hockey wins, and one of four to win national titles in consecutive years.^[4] Lucia graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1981, where he played defense for the school's hockey team.^[1]^[4] He is married to his wife Joyce, with whom he shares 4 kids: Allison, Jessica, Tony, and Mario.^[5]

Personal information

Lucia has two sons who have been picked in the NHL Entry Draft. Tony Lucia (born 1987), who is currently playing in the American Hockey League with the Worcester Sharks, was selected in the 6th round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks;^[6] and Mario Lucia (born 1993), who is currently playing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey team in the NCAA's Hockey East, was selected in the 2nd round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild.

During the 2008–2009 season, Lucia was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, but only missed four games while battling the autoimmune disease. This illness, combined with a growing number of college hockey players taking their talents to the NHL, led Lucia's Gophers to a 17–18–2 record during the 2009–2010 season. This season was Lucia's only year with a losing record with the Gophers, and his first since coaching Alaska-Fairbanks in the 1991–1992 season.^[4]

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Alaska Nanooks (Great West Hockey Conference) (1987)
1987–1988	Alaska-Fairbanks	21–10–2	5–3–0	1st
Alaska Nanooks (Division-I Independent) (1988–1993)
1988–1989	Alaska-Fairbanks	21–12–3
1989–1990	Alaska-Fairbanks	10–20–9
1990–1991	Alaska-Fairbanks	17–16–2
1991–1992	Alaska-Fairbanks	7–27–1
1992–1993	Alaska-Fairbanks	23–12–2
Alaska-Fairbanks:		99–97–19
Colorado College Tigers (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) (1993–1999)
1993–1994	Colorado College	23–11–5	18–9–5	1st
1994–1995	Colorado College	30–12–1	22–9–1	1st	NCAA Round 2
1995–1996	Colorado College	33–5–4	26–2–4	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1996–1997	Colorado College	25–15–4	17–11–4	T-4th	Frozen Four
1997–1998	Colorado College	26–13–3	16–10–2	3rd	NCAA Round 2
1998–1999	Colorado College	29–12–1	20–8–0	2nd	NCAA Round 2
Colorado College:		166–68–18	119–49–16
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) (1999–2013)
1999–2000	Minnesota	20–19–2	13–13–2	6th
2000–2001	Minnesota	27–13–2	18–8–2	3rd	NCAA Round 1
2001–2002	Minnesota	32–8–4	18–7–3	3rd	NCAA Champions
2002–2003	Minnesota	28–8–9	15–6–7	T-2nd	NCAA Champions
2003–2004	Minnesota	27–14–3	15–12–1	T-4th	NCAA Round 2
2004–2005	Minnesota	28–15–1	17–10–1	T-3rd	NCAA Frozen Four
2005–2006	Minnesota	27–9–5	20–5–3	1st	NCAA Round 1
2006–2007	Minnesota	31–10–3	18–7–3	1st	NCAA Round 2
2007–2008	Minnesota	19–17–9	9–12–7	7th	NCAA Round 1
2008–2009	Minnesota	17–13–7	12–11–5	5th
2009–2010	Minnesota	18–19–2	12–14–2	7th
2010–2011	Minnesota	16–14–6	13–10–5	5th
2011–2012	Minnesota	28–13–1	20–8–0	1st	NCAA Frozen Four
2012–2013	Minnesota	26–9–5	16–7–5	T-1st	NCAA Round 1
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten Conference) (2013–present)
2013–2014	Minnesota	28–6–6	14–3–3	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
2014–2015	Minnesota	23–12–3	12–5–3	1st	NCAA Round 1
Minnesota:		395–199–68	232–126–45
Total:		660-364-105
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References

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↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Borzi, Pat. "Once-Embattled Coach Has Gophers Golden Again." New York Times 8 Feb. 2013: B11(L). Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
↑ "SURVIVING STORMY DAYS; Don Lucia's charmed life hit a rough spell over the past couple of years, particularly when the Gophers hockey coach was hit with a rare disease that affected his even-keeled personality." Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN] 19 Dec. 2010: 1C. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
↑ http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=18008

Awards and achievements
Preceded by George Gwozdecky	Spencer Penrose Award 1993–94	Succeeded by Shawn Walsh
Preceded by Mike Sertich George Gwozdecky George Gwozdecky/Bob Motzko	WCHA Coach of the Year 1993–94 1995–96 2005–06 (co-winner with Jamie Russell)	Succeeded by George Gwozdecky Dean Blais Bob Motzko
Preceded by Award Created	Big Ten Coach of the Year 2013–14	Succeeded by Guy Gadowsky

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[:0-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Borzi, Pat. "Once-Embattled Coach Has Gophers Golden Again." New York Times 8 Feb. 2013: B11(L). Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[5] "SURVIVING STORMY DAYS; Don Lucia's charmed life hit a rough spell over the past couple of years, particularly when the Gophers hockey coach was hit with a rare disease that affected his even-keeled personality." Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN] 19 Dec. 2010: 1C. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[6] ttp://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=18008

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v t e Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Carlson Center (1990–present)
Head coaches	Alfred Bastress (1935–1939) Joe Gerlach (1940–1941) Jim Welsch (1949–1950) Coach Urick (1950–1951) Coach Gilhooley (1953–1954) Chris Christensen (1954–1955) Ken Smith (1956–1957) Bill Borland (1957–1958) Bill Daltri (1960–1963) Larry Bidlake (1963–1964) Jack Peterson (1964–1965) Ed Armstrong (1965–1966) Jim Perry (1967–1969) Fred Stevenson (1969–1971) Gary Weitz (1971–1972) Ray Korkiala (1972–1973) Bob Gaddis (1973–1974) Tim Homan (1977–1978) Ric Schafer (1981–1987) Don Lucia (1987–1993) Dave Laurion (1993–1999) Guy Gadowsky (1999–2004) Tavis MacMillan (2004–2007) Doc DelCastillo (2007–2008) Dallas Ferguson (2008–present)
Conference affiliations	Great West (1985–1988) CCHA (1995–2013) WCHA (2013–present)
Rivalries	Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
NCAA Tournament appearances	2010
University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK

v t e Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Broadmoor World Arena (1938–1994) Cadet Ice Arena (1994–1998) World Arena (1998–present)
Head coaches	John Atwood (1937–1938) Garrett Livingston (1938–1942) C.E. Moore (1944–1945) Cheddy Thompson (1945–1955) Tom Bedecki (1955–1958) Tony Frasca (1958–1963) Bob Johnson (1963–1966) John Matchefts (1966–1971) Jeff Sauer (1971–1982) Mike Bertsch (1982–1988) Brad Buetow (1988–1993) Don Lucia (1993–1999) Scott Owens (1999–2014) Mike Haviland (2014–present)
Conference affiliations	Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) (1951–1958, 1959–2013) National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) (2013–present)
Rivalries	Air Force Falcons Battle for Pikes Peak Denver Pioneers Battle for the Gold Pan
All-time leaders	Dave Delich (285 Points) Ron Hartwell (112 Goals) Jeff Sanger (76 Wins)
National championships	1950 1957
Frozen Four appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1955 1957 1996 1997 2005
NCAA Tournament appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1955 1957 1979 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2008 2011
Conference Tournament champions	WCHA: 1978
Hobey Baker winners	Peter Sejna (2003) Marty Sertich (2005)
Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO

v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Williams Arena (1950–93) Mariucci Arena (1993–present)
Head coaches	I. D. MacDonald (1921–22) Emil Iverson (1922–30) Frank Pond (1930–35) Larry Armstrong (1935–47) Doc Romnes (1947–52) John Mariucci (1952–55, 1956–66) Marsh Ryman (1955–56) Glen Sonmor (1966–71) Ken Yackel (1971–72) Herb Brooks (1972–79) Brad Buetow (1979–85) Doug Woog (1985–99) Mike Guentzel (1996) Don Lucia (1999–present)
Seasons	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
Conference affiliations	WCHA (1951-2013) Big Ten (2013-present)
Rivalries and trophy games	North Dakota Wisconsin Minnesota-Duluth St. Cloud State Mariucci-Bessone Trophy with Michigan State Mariucci-Renfrew Coaches Trophy with Michigan
Culture & lore	Mariucci Classic North Star College Cup
All-time leaders	John Mayasich (298 Points) John Mayasich (144 Goals) Kellen Briggs (84 Wins)
National championships	1974 1976 1979 2002 2003
Runner-Up Finishes	1953 1954 1971 1975 1981 1989 2014
Frozen Four appearances	1953 1954 1961 1971 1974 1975 1976 1979 1981 1983 1986 1987 1988 1989 1994 1995 2002 2003 2005 2012 2014
NCAA Tournament appearances	1953 1954 1961 1971 1974 1975 1976 1979 1980 1981 1983 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2012 2013 2014
Conference Championships	WCHA 1961 1971 1974 1975 1976 1979 1980 1981 1993 1994 1996 2003 2004 2007
Notable players	Aaron Broten Neal Broten Kellen Briggs Mike Crowley Tim Harrer Jordan Leopold John Mayasich Pat Micheletti Todd Richards Robb Stauber
Hobey Baker Award winners	Neal Broten (1981) Robb Stauber (1988) Brian Bonin (1996) Jordan Leopold (2002)
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN

Don Lucia

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Personal information

Head coaching record

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