St. Cloud State University

The Bob Motzko Story

Bob Motzko will begin his fourth season as head coach with the Huskies in 2008-09.  The 2006 and 2007 WCHA Coach of the Year, Motzko has guided the Huskies to three consecutive WCHA Final Five appearances, and two NCAA Division I tournament appearances in 2007 and 2008.

The Huskies placed second in the always rugged WCHA in 2007, and placed fourth in the league in 2008. In three seasons with the Huskies, Motzko has charted an impressive 53-43-16 overall record and has seen the Huskies ranked among the nation's top 20 teams for much of the past two seasons (including a #7/8 national ranking in the final 2006-07 college polls and a top 15 ranking in the final 2007-08 polls).

In 2007-08, Motzko's Huskies posted a 19-16-5 overall record and a 12-12-4 WCHA record. SCSU gained home ice in the WCHA playoffs and also advanced to the WCHA Final Five for the third consecutive season. The success also led the Huskies to their second consecutive NCAA tournament bid in 2008. Forward Ryan Lasch became the Huskies' third Hobey Baker Award top 10 finalist, and he was also named an All-America award winner in 2008. Lasch also became the second SCSU player in team history to lead the WCHA in scoring.

In 2006-07, Motzko led the Huskies to a 22-11-7overall record and a second place record of 14-7-7 in the always rugged WCHA. SCSU advanced to the WCHA Final Five in 2007, and also gained the team's first NCAA bid since 2003. In 2007, Motzko saw SCSU standout Bobby Goepfert named a Hobey Baker Award top 10 finalist. SCSU freshman forward Andreas Nodl was named the 2007 HCA Division I Rookie of the Year and the 2007 WCHA Rookie of the Year. SCSU players have already gained All-America honors three times during Motzko's tenure.

In 2005-06, the Huskies earned a 22-16-4 overall record and a 13-13-2 WCHA record in 2005-06.  SCSU ranked 14th in the final national college polls in 2005-06, and the Huskies also advanced to the title game of the 2006 WCHA Final Five - marking SCSU's first trip to the Final Five since 2001-02.

A former SCSU hockey player and graduate of St. Cloud State, Motzko served as a men's hockey assistant coach at the University of Minnesota since 2001. He was part of two NCAA Division I national championship teams in 2002 and 2003, and helped the Gophers win WCHA playoff crowns in 2003 and 2004. His four recruiting classes at Minnesota were considered among the best in the nation, and Motzko helped produce one Hobey Baker Award winner, three first team All-Americans, two second team All-Americans and many All-WCHA honorees at Minnesota.

A 1987 graduate of St. Cloud State University, Motzko was a two-year varsity letterwinner for the SCSU hockey team from 1984-86. Motzko began his coaching career in 1986-87 as an assistant coach for the legendary Herb Brooks at SCSU - and also worked with former SCSU head coach Craig Dahl.

Motzko went on to serve as general manager and head coach of the USHL's North Iowa Huskies from 1987 through 1991. In 1989, Motzko led the North Iowa squad to a United State Junior A national championship and was named that year's USHL Coach of the Year.

In 1991, Motzko was named associate head coach at Miami University (Ohio), where he helped lead the RedHawks to a Central Collegiate Hockey Association title and an NCAA tournament berth in 1992-93. He served for one season as an associate head coach at the University of Denver from 1993-94, before returning to Miami University in 1994.

Motzko was named general manager and head coach of the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede in 1998. He led the Stampede to a 77-31-6 record in the team's first two seasons in the USHL, and in 2000, Motzko was named the USHL General Manager of the Year. At Sioux Falls, 26 players moved on to college programs around the United States including SCSU standouts Mike Doyle, Joe Jensen and Dave Iannazzo.

In over 20 years of coaching hockey, Motzko has worked with many of the top coaches and sports information personnel in the game including Brooks, Dahl, Don Lucia (Minnesota), Mark Mazzoleni (Harvard and Green Bay-USHL), George Gwozdecky (Denver), Tom Nelson (SCSU) and Frank Serratore (Air Force).

A native of Austin, Minn., Motzko and his wife Shelley are the parents of three children. They currently reside in St. Cloud, Minn.

Call Coach Motzko at 320-308-4806 or email the SCSU coaching staff at menshockey@stcloudstate.edu

The Motzko File

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