According the
Pioneer Press the University of Minnesota is going to give Minnesota Golden Gophers head hockey coach Don Luica a contract extension. That Gopher fans that I know have to be beside themselves after this announcement, when I first saw the link to this article posted on Twitter.com earlier today I thought that it had to be an April Fools type joke but I realized that it was only the 15th of March and that I have half month to go before it’s the first of April.
Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi is working on a contract extension for Don Lucia, and the men's hockey coach said this afternoon there is no doubt he will sign it.
"I want to be here, and someday when I leave here, I want to leave when it's going good," Lucia said this afternoon. "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."
Lucia led the Gophers to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03 but has struggled to keep pace in a new era of college hockey, one in which top players are lured early to pro hockey by NHL clubs looking to save money.
Minnesota's season ended last weekend with a first-round loss to Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA playoffs, marking the third straight year the Gophers (16-14-6) failed to make the NCAA tournament, and the second straight year they missed the WHCA Final Five, which starts Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.
Maturi and Lucia met Monday and for the first time discussed an extension. Lucia has one year left on his contract.
