Ron Mason

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Ron Mason
Sport(s) Ice hockey
Biographical details
Born (1940-01-14) January 14, 1940 (age 84)
Blyth, ON, CAN
Playing career
St. Lawrence University
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1967–1973 Lake Superior State
1974–1979 Bowling Green
1980–2002 Michigan State
Head coaching record
Overall 924–380–83 (.696)

Ronald Mason (born January 14, 1940) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, head coach and university executive. A head coach of various American universities, most notably Michigan State University (MSU), he was the most successful coach in NCAA ice hockey history between 1993-2012 with 924 wins, until Jerry York (Boston College) become the new winningest coach with his 925th career win on December 29, 2012.[1] Mason was athletic director at MSU from 2002-08. He currently serves as senior advisor for the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks.[2] On December 2, 2013, Mason was inducted into the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame.

Family

Ron Mason was born the son of Harvey Mason, a salesman, and Agnes Mackay Mason, an elementary school teacher. He married the former Marion Bell on June 8, 1963. They have two daughters, Tracy (born 1964) and Cindy (born 1968) and two grandsons, Tyler and Travis.[3] Travis is a sophomore defenseman on the Michigan State University hockey team.[4] Mason has one sister, Marion Mason Rowe.

Education

Mason earned a B.A. in physical education from St. Lawrence University in 1964 and a Masters in physical education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965. Michigan State University awarded Mason an honorary Doctorate in 2001.[5]

Career as player

Mason played junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey Association’s Peterborough Petes and the Ottawa Junior Canadians. From there Mason enrolled at St. Lawrence University in the upstate town of Canton, New York where he lettered in hockey for three years. In his first season at SLU in 1960-61, Mason and the Skating Saints were NCAA national finalists.[1] In 1961-62, Mason and SLU won the school's first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference championship and made the NCAA Frozen Four.[1] In his final season, SLU won a school-record 20 games[1] finishing 20–6–1. Mason lead the team in scoring twice[1] earning back-to-back first-team all league honors. Mason was St. Lawrence's only player to earn that distinction until T. J. Trevelyan was named all league in 2005 and 2006.[6]

Career as coach

Mason coached one NAIA program, Lake Superior State, and two NCAA programs, Bowling Green State and Michigan State in 36 seasons from 1966-2002. He won two national titles: NAIA in 1972 with Lake Superior State and NCAA in 1986 with Michigan State.[7] Ron Mason finished his coaching career as the all-time career victories leader in college hockey history with 924 wins. Boston College's Jerry York surpassed Mason's win total on December 31, 2012. Mason is also the career coaching victories leader at Michigan State with 635 wins. He is Bowling Green State's winningest coach by percentage winning over 71 percent of his 229 games at BGSU.

Mason had 33 seasons with a winning record, 30 seasons winning 20 or more games and 11 seasons winning 30 or more games. Mason won ten CCHA regular season championships and a record 13 CCHA tournament titles. He advanced his teams to the NCAA tournament 22 times—six times as the No. 1 seed—making the Frozen Four eight times. Mason was the CCHA coach of the year six times. He won the Spencer Penrose Memorial Trophy as the national coach of the year in 1992.[8]

On January 26, 2002, a media report stated Mason would step down as coach at Michigan State to take over the athletic director position at MSU. On January 28, 2002, Mason made it official he would leave his post as head ice hockey coach to become athletic director.[9]

Lake Superior State

Mason started the hockey program at Lake Superior State University in 1966. In seven seasons at LSSU he produced four 20-win seasons and never lost more than 10 games. He guided the Lakers to the 1972 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship.[3]

Bowling Green State

In 1973 he moved to Bowling Green State University where he won three Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular season titles and three consecutive CCHA tournament titles in six seasons. In 1977 Bowling Green State earned their first berth in the NCAA tournament. The berth was a first for a team not from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association or Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference[10] in the NCAA tournament's 30 year history. It was the first of three consecutive NCAA tournaments under Mason. BGSU won the third-place game over defending national champion Wisconsin in the 1978 NCAA Frozen Four. In 1978-79 Mason coached BGSU to a then NCAA record 37 wins.[11] The record would be broken in 1984-85 by Mason's own Michigan State team.[12]

Michigan State

Michigan State University Athletic Director Joseph Kearney hired Mason to replace the retiring Amo Bessone on April 1, 1979.[13] In his third season at MSU, Mason guided Michigan State to their first NCAA tournament in 15 seasons. Four seasons later in 1986, Mason led Michigan State to the school's second national title.[14] Michigan State returned to the championship game the following season but lost to North Dakota. On March 12, 1993, with a 6-5 win over Kent State, Mason passed former Boston College coach Len Ceglarski to become college hockey's all-time winningest coach with 674 wins.[15] While at MSU, Mason won a conference-record 10 CCHA tournament championships, including a conference-record four straight from 1982-85. In addition, MSU under Mason won seven CCHA regular season titles, earned 19 NCAA tournament appearances, and earned seven NCAA Frozen Four appearances.

Career as athletic director

Ron Mason began his duties as athletic director on July 1, 2002.[16] Before he officially became athletic director, Mason chose Rick Comley as his successor as hockey coach.

On November 4, 2002, after a disappointing season and a series of off-the-field incidents with players, Mason fired head football coach Bobby Williams with three games left in the season. Mason hired John L. Smith as head football coach on December 20, 2002.[3] Mason fired John L. Smith four years later on November 2, 2006 leaving controversy amongst critics over whether Mason had been effective making his first major hire as athletic director.Following that episode, Mason hired Mark Dantonio as head footbal coach on November 27, 2006 and has since redeemed his coach selection capability.

While athletic director, the Michigan State hockey team won the school's third national title in 2007. Mason is the only person to have won NCAA ice hockey titles as head coach and athletic director.

Mason placed a priority seat licensing program in Spartan Stadium based on years of holding season tickets, contribution to the Ralph Young Fund, and a licensing fee for better seats on top of the price of season tickets. Further updates to increase revenue in Spartan Stadium included a $64 million USD expansion and improvements which include:[3]

  • 24 luxury suites
  • 800 club seats
  • The "Grand Entrance" featuring high ceilings, glass walls, marble floors and a new home for the original Sparty statue
  • 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) luxury concourse
  • Office space for the MSU alumni association and Spartan Athletic Office
  • State of the art recruiting lounge
  • Upgraded stadium wide bathroom and concourse renovations
  • An increase of 3000 seats, bringing the total stadium capacity to 75,005

In September 2006, Michigan State University's Board of Trustees approved a contract extension for Mason extending his contract as MSU's athletic director through June 2008. He retired from the post of athletic director at Michigan State University on January 1, 2008, and was succeeded by Mark Hollis.[13]

Legacy with the CCHA

In addition to his success as a coach, Mason helped the CCHA grow to what it is today.[7] When Mason began coaching in 1966 there were only two major conferences in the NCAA, the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Helping build the ice hockey program at Lake Superior State, Mason was left without a conference. In 1972 Mason, along with Bowling Green State University's Jack Vivian, St. Louis University's Bill Selman, Ohio State University's Dave Chambers, Ohio University's John McComb and the CCHA's first commissioner Fred Jacoby, formed the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.[10] Mason's tenure at Bowling Green State produced the CCHA's first NCAA tournament berth, first appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four and the first national No. 1 ranking.[10]

For his contributions in helping build the CCHA, the conference renamed their tournament trophy the Mason Cup in 2000–01.[7]

Philanthropy

Mason volunteers with the Sparrow Foundation where he established the Ron Mason Fund for Pediatric Rehabilitation which helps children with disabilities. The fund has raised $675,000 for the foundation since 1998.[5] He was also honorary chairperson for the Children's Miracle Network which has raised $19 million plus since 1989.[5]

Notable players coached

In his 36 years, Mason coached a number of outstanding players.

Hobey Baker Award winners

Ryan Miller 2001 Goalie Michigan State Won award as a sophomore goaltender. Cousin of 1990 winner Kip Miller.[17]
Kip Miller 1990 Forward Michigan State Michigan State's first Hobey Baker Award winner.
George McPhee 1982 Forward Bowling Green State Mason recruited McPhee to BGSU and coached him for one season.[18]

Hobey Baker Award finalists

Ron Scott 1982 and 1983
Kelly Miller 1985
Craig Simpson 1985
Mike Donnelly 1986
Bobby Reynolds 1989
Bryan Smolinski 1993
Anson Carter 1995
Chad Alban 1998
Mike York 1998 and 1999
Shawn Horcoff 2000
Ryan Miller 2002

AHCA All-America

Don Muio 1972 Goalie Lake Superior State College Division
Jim Wiley 1972 Forward Lake Superior State College Division
Ken Morrow 1978 Defense Bowling Green State
Ron Scott 1982 Goalie Michigan State
Ron Scott 1983 Goalie Michigan State
Dan McFall 1984 Defense Michigan State Second Team
Dan McFall 1985 Defense Michigan State
Kelly Miller 1985 Forward Michigan State
Craig Simpson 1985 Forward Michigan State
Gary Haight 1985 Defense Michigan State Second Team
Mike Donnelly 1986 Forward Michigan State
Don McSween 1986 Defense Michigan State Second Team
Mitch Messier 1987 Forward Michigan State
Don McSween 1987 Defense Michigan State Second Team
Kip Miller 1989 Forward Michigan State
Bobby Reynolds 1989 Forward Michigan State
Kip Miller 1990 Forward Michigan State
Jason Muzzatti 1990 Goalie Michigan State Second Team
Jason Woolley 1991 Defense Michigan State
Joby Messier 1992 Defense Michigan State
Dwayne Norris 1992 Forward Michigan State
Bryan Smolinski 1993 Forward Michigan State
Steve Guolla 1994 Forward Michigan State Second Team
Anson Carter 1995 Forward Michigan State Second Team
Chad Alban 1998 Goalie Michigan State
Mike York 1998 Forward Michigan State
Tyler Harlton 1998 Defense Michigan State Second Team
Sean Berens 1998 Forward Michigan State Second Team
Joe Blackburn 1999 Goalie Michigan State
Mike York 1999 Forward Michigan State
Mike Weaver 1999 Defense Michigan State Second Team
Shawn Horcoff 2000 Forward Michigan State
Mike Weaver 2000 Defense Michigan State
Ryan Miller 2001 Goalie Michigan State
Ryan Miller 2002 Goalie Michigan State
Andrew Hutchinson 2002 Defense Michigan State Second Team
John-Michael Liles 2002 Defense Michigan State Second Team

CCHA Player of the Year

Mike Liut 1977 Goalie Bowling Green State
John Markell 1978 Forward Bowling Green State
Ken Morrow 1979 Defense Bowling Green State
Kip Miller 1990 Forward Michigan State
Dwayne Norris 1992 Forward Michigan State
Chad Alban 1998 Goalie Michigan State
Mike York 1999 Forward Michigan State
Shawn Horcoff 2000 Forward Michigan State
Ryan Miller 2001 Goalie Michigan State
Ryan Miller 2002 Goalie Michigan State

NHL first round draft picks

Craig Simpson 1985 Pittsburgh Penguins 2nd
Joe Murphy* 1986 Detroit Red Wings 1st
Jason Muzzatti 1988 Calgary Flames 21st
Rod Brind'Amour 1988 St. Louis Blues 9th
Bryan Smolinski 1990 Boston Bruins 21st
Michael Stewart 1990 New York Rangers 13th
Jim Slater 2002 Atlanta Thrashers 30th

Joe Murphy was first ever NCAA player selected first overall[5][19]

Select NHL players

Rod Brind'Amour Michigan State 21 seasons
Anson Carter Michigan State 12 seasons
Danton Cole Michigan State 7 seasons
Jim Cummins Michigan State 12 seasons
Bob Essensa Michigan State 12 seasons
Steve Guolla Michigan State 6 seasons
Adam Hall Michigan State 10 seasons
Shawn Horcoff Michigan State 11 seasons
Andrew Hutchinson Michigan State 6 seasons
Duncan Keith Michigan State 6 seasons
John-Michael Liles Michigan State 8 seasons
Mike Liut Bowling Green State 13 seasons
Chris Luongo Michigan State 4 seasons
Brian MacLellan Bowling Green State 10 seasons
George McPhee Bowling Green State 7 seasons
Kelly Miller Michigan State 16 seasons
Kevin Miller Michigan State 12 seasons
Kip Miller Michigan State 12 seasons
Ryan Miller Michigan State 9 seasons
Ken Morrow Bowling Green State 10 seasons
Joe Murphy Michigan State 15 seasons
Rem Murray Michigan State 9 seasons
Craig Simpson Michigan State 10 seasons
Jim Slater Michigan State 7 seasons
Bryan Smolinski Michigan State 17 seasons
Mike Watt Michigan State 5 seasons
Mike Weaver Michigan State 10 seasons
Peter White Michigan State 10 seasons
Jim Wiley Lake Superior State 4 seasons
Neil Wilkinson Michigan State 10 seasons
Jason Woolley Michigan State 14 seasons
Mike York Michigan State 10 seasons

Olympians

Bob Dobek 1976 USA
Doug Ross 1976 USA
Ken Morrow 1980 USA Gold
Mark Wells 1980 USA Gold
Gary Haight 1984 USA
Kevin Miller 1988 USA
Geir Hoff 1988 Norway
Brian Stankiewicz 1988 Austria
Jason Woolley 1992 Canada Silver
Geir Hoff 1992 Norway
Dwayne Norris 1994 Canada Silver
Geir Hoff 1994 Norway
Brian Stankiewicz 1994 Austria
Rod Brind'Amour 1998 Canada
Mike York 2002 USA Silver
John-Michael Liles 2006 USA
Jason Muzzatti 2006 Italy
Tony Tuzzolino 2006 Italy
Ryan Miller 2010, 2014 USA Silver ('10)
Duncan Keith 2010, 2014 Canada Gold ('10, '14)

Coaching tree

Many former and current college hockey head coaches can trace their lineage back to Ron Mason as shown below either as former players or former assistant coaches for Mason.

  • Rick Comley – former player and assistant coach – Lake Superior State
    • Head coach: Lake Superior State University 1973–76, Northern Michigan University 1976–2002, Michigan State University 2002–2011
      • CCHA champions: 1974, 1980, 1981
      • CCHA playoff champions: 1980, 1981, 2006
      • WCHA champions: 1991
      • WCHA playoff champions: 1989, 1991, 1992
      • NAIA National Champions: 1974
      • NCAA Tournament: 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
      • NCAA Frozen Four: 1980, 1981, 1991, 2007
      • NCAA National Finalist: 1980
      • NCAA National Champions: 1991, 2007
        • Currently involved in layer recruitment, Chicago Blackhawks
  • Bob Daniels – former player – Michigan State
    • Head coach: Ferris State University 1992–Present
      • CCHA champions: 2003, 2012
      • WCHA champions: 2014
      • NCAA Tournament: 2003, 2012, 2014
      • NCAA Frozen Four: 2012
      • NCAA National Finalist: 2012
  • George Gwozdecky – former assistant coach – Michigan State
    • Head coach: University of Wisconsin–River Falls 1982–84, Miami University 1989–94, University of Denver 1994–2013
      • CCHA champions: 1993
      • WCHA champions: 2002, 2005, 2010
      • WCHA playoff champions: 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008
      • NAIA National Champions: 1983
      • NCAA Tournament: 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
      • NCAA Frozen Four: 2004, 2005
      • NCAA National Champions: 2004, 2005
        • Currently assistant coach, Tampa Bay Lightning
  • John Markell – former player – Bowling Green State
    • Head coach: Ohio State University 1994–2010
      • CCHA playoff champions: 2004
      • NCAA Tournament: 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009
      • NCAA Frozen Four: 1998
  • Tom Newton – former player - Bowling Green State - former assistant coach – Michigan State
  • Shawn Walsh – former player – Bowling Green State - former assistant coach – Bowling Green State and Michigan State
    • Head coach: University of Maine 1984–2001
      • Hockey East champions: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1995
      • Hockey East playoff champions: 1989, 1992, 1993, 2000
      • NCAA Tournament: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001
      • NCAA National Finalist: 1995
      • NCAA National Champions: 1993, 1999

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Lake Superior State University (Independent) (1966-67–1966-67)
1966-67 Lake Superior State 15-5-0
Lake Superior State University (ICHA) (1967-68–1971-72)
1967-68 Lake Superior State 21-3-2 15-1-0 1st NAIA Finalist
1968-69 Lake Superior State 21-5-0 12-4-0 2nd NAIA Finalist
1969-70 Lake Superior State 19-7-0 10-2-0 T-1st NAIA Finalist
1970-71 Lake Superior State 13-7-4 5-5-2 3rd
1971-72 Lake Superior State 20-8-2 12-0-0 1st NAIA Champions
Lake Superior State University (CCHA) (1972-73–1972-73)
1972-73 Lake Superior State 21-9-0 9-3-0 2nd NAIA Third Place
Lake Superior State: 130-44-8 64-15-2
Bowling Green State (CCHA) (1973-74–1978-79)
1973-74 Bowling Green State 20-19-0 2-6-0 3rd
1974-75 Bowling Green State 23-10-2 4-3-1 2nd
1975-76 Bowling Green State 21-9-2 11-4-1 1st
1976-77 Bowling Green State 28-11-0 10-6-0 2nd NCAA Play-in Game
1977-78 Bowling Green State 31-8-0 15-3-0 1st NCAA Third Place
1978-79 Bowling Green State 37-6-2 21-2-1 1st NCAA Quarterfinalist
Bowling Green State: 160-63-6 63-24-3
Michigan State (WCHA / Big Ten) (1979-80–1980-81)
1979-80 Michigan State 14-24-0 12-16-0 8th / 3rd
1980-81 Michigan State 12-22-2 7-20-1 10th / 4th
Michigan State (CCHA) (1981-82–2001-02)
1981-82 Michigan State 26-14-2 21-10-1 2nd NCAA Quarterfinalist
1982-83 Michigan State 30-11-1 23-9-0 2nd NCAA Quarterfinalist
1983-84 Michigan State 34-12-0 21-9-0 T-2nd NCAA Fourth Place
1984-85 Michigan State 38-6-0 27-5-0 1st NCAA Quarterfinalist
1985-86 Michigan State 34-9-2 23-7-2 1st NCAA Champions
1986-87 Michigan State 33-10-2 23-8-1 2nd NCAA Finalist
1987-88 Michigan State 27-16-3 18-11-3 3rd NCAA Quarterfinalist
1988-89 Michigan State 37-9-1 25-6-1 1st NCAA Third Place
1989-90 Michigan State 35-7-3 26-3-3 1st NCAA Quarterfinalist
1990-91 Michigan State 17-18-5 14-13-5 5th
1991-92 Michigan State 26-10-8 18-7-7 3rd NCAA Frozen Four
1992-93 Michigan State 24-14-2 18-10-2 4th
1993-94 Michigan State 23-13-4 17-8-5 3rd NCAA First Round
1994-95 Michigan State 25-12-3 17-7-3 3rd NCAA First Round
1995-96 Michigan State 28-13-1 22-7-1 T-3rd NCAA First Round
1996-97 Michigan State 23-13-4 16-7-4 3rd NCAA First Round
1997-98 Michigan State 33-6-5 21-5-4 1st NCAA Quarterfinalist
1998-99 Michigan State 29-6-7 20-3-7 1st NCAA Frozen Four
1999-2000 Michigan State 27-11-4 18-8-2 2nd NCAA First Round
2000-01 Michigan State 33-5-4 21-4-3 1st NCAA Frozen Four
2001-02 Michigan State 27-9-5 18-6-4 2nd NCAA First Round
Michigan State: 635-270-69
Total: 924-380-83

      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

See also

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1961–62
ECAC Hockey All-Tournament First Team 1962
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1962–63
ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Second Team 1963

References

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External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by CCHA Coach of the Year
1975–76
1977–78
1978–79
1984–85
1988–89
1989–90
1998–99		 Succeeded by
Bill Selman

Rick Comley
Bill Wilkinson

Jeff Jackson
Scott Borek
Preceded by Spencer Penrose Award
1991–92		 Succeeded by
George Gwozdecky
Sporting positions
Preceded by Michigan State Head Ice Hockey Coach
1979–2002		 Succeeded by
Rick Comley
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