Two days, and it appears Minnesota will need two new hockey coaches.
One day after the Gopher Athletic Director Mark Coyle decided to relieve women's hockey coach Brad Frost of his job after 19 seasons and four national titles, he is taking aim at the men's hockey program.
Wednesday, the University of Minnesota announced that men's hockey coach Bob Motzko is out after 8 seasons in Dinkytown. The University called it a "mutual decision.
The Athletic's Michael Russo is reporting Motzko has called a team meeting for Wednesday afternoon to inform Gophers players of his future after meetings with Coyle recently. Coyle is currently out of town, reportedly heading to to St. Louis for NCAA Basketball Tournament.
"I want to thank Bob for leading our team for the last eight seasons. In addition to winning Big Ten titles, the team advanced to the Men's Frozen Four twice and played in the national championship game in 2023," said Coyle in a statement. "Bob coached 15 All-Americans and three future Olympians at Minnesota. He is a great coach and we wish him well in the future. "We will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next head coach."
Coyle also said he was unavailable to speak to the local media until Monday.
It was a disastrous 2025-26 for the Gopher hockey program, traditionally one of the strongest in the nation. They finished 11-22-3, one of the worst in Minnesota history, missing out on the NCAA Tournament one year after a first round exit in the tournament.
Motzko was hired by the school before the 2018-19 season, following 13-years at his alma mater, St. Cloud State.
After the COVID year of 2020, Motzko seemed to have the program on solid ground. They went to five straight NCAA Tournaments, including two Frozen Fours. They finished as the national runner-up finish in the 2022-23 season.
But since then, it's gone progressively downhill for the Gophers. After last season's loss in the NCAA Regionals, the Gophers lost a number of key players and Motzko struggled to replace them, leading to a difficult 2025-26 for the program.
Motzko finishes his Gopher tenure with a 101–47–18 record, with at least a share of three Big Ten Championships.
The Gophers struggled mightily in 2025-26, finishing with one of the program's worst records in decades
