According to a report in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota head coach Don Lucia and the university are in talks to give Lucia a contract extension.
Minnesota AD Joel Maturi told the paper that even with the Gophers failing to make the NCAA tournament for the third straight season this year, Lucia’s job was never in jeopardy.
“I wanted to make sure he knew I wanted him as our hockey coach,” Maturi said this afternoon to the Press. “There is a lot of anger and frustration out there; he’s hearing it and I’m hearing it. But I’m still the AD today and I want him to be coaching our men’s hockey team.”
“I want to be here, and someday when I leave here, I want to leave when it’s going good,” Lucia added in the same report. “I want to win another national title; I don’t want to just make the Frozen Four. I want to walk away when we’re on top, and I want to get that back. That’s my goal.”
Over his 24-year career that has also included stops at Alaska-Fairbanks and Colorado College, Lucia is 555-324-90, winning back-to-back national titles with Minnesota in 2002 and 2003.
