After 13 years as the bench boss for St. Cloud State University, Bob Motzko is
moving on from his alma mater to the National Champion Golden Gophers at the
University of Minnesota. Taking his place is Brett Larson, formerly of the
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. This move is a big chance for the two programs, one
of which is on the rise, and one that is already in their prime. With the
season looming and classes picking back up in August, it';s time to look at the
 move and ask what';s really next for the two programs and their new
coaches.Motzko Heading to the Twin Cities

It is no mystery what the Gophers are getting with the hiring of Motzko. With
his tenure in the NCAA and also the success with the US junior team, he';s
quite possibly the best coach in the NCAA. Last year he had some of his biggest
 success with St. Cloud when the team became a dominant force in both the NCHC
and entire NCAA. He expects to do the same with Minnesota, but with much
different systems.

"We are going to be skilled and we are going to add a whole lot of toughness to
 the way we play this sport," Motzko told the Pioneer Press. "I told the team
(Wednesday), the first thing we have to do is we have to be humble … and we
are going to roll up our sleeves and go to work."

Last season the Golden Gophers didn';t qualify for the NCAA tournament after
finishing as the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten conference and being eliminated at
the hands of No. 4 Penn State.

The 2018-19 roster has not finalized (nor has practice begun for the team) but
assuming the majority of the previous year';s roster carries over, a total of
sixteen players will be upperclassmen, something that can serve as a great
advantage in the Big Ten conference that';s as competitive as ever. After all,
three of the Frozen Four teams were from the Big Ten.Bob Motzko (Photo by
Maddie MacFarlane)

The Gophers will, however, be missing one of their top scorers in Casey
Mittelstadt who is locked up with a professional contract with the Buffalo
Sabres. The freshman scored 30 points (11-19), second best on the team. Rem
Pitlick registered the most points on the team with 31 (12-19) and will likely
be continuing on as a junior.

With the Gophers'; leading point-getters registering almost 30 fewer points
than the league-leader Adam Gaudette, Motzko';s going to have to fix every
detail to ensure the team is producing more.

Minnesota had one of the most miserable power play percentages at 15.o percent.
 However, the team was comfortably controlling the puck the majority of the
time on the PP, with a Corsi-For percentage (CF%) of 54.5%, so the problem
stems into not just getting shots and chances, but quality shots and chances.
This is also evident by the fact that they were in the middle-of-the-pack for
shot attempts in all situations.

Their possession numbers continued to be just adequate with their CF% never
peaking beyond 52% in any game situation. In comparison, St. Cloud';s numbers
stayed consistently around 54%. Motzko can better Minnesota';s numbers by
encouraging his players to pick up more rebounds, force more giveaways,
initiate takeaways and clean zone entries. While improving what might appear to
 be an arbitrary stat might seem ridiculous, the little things that go into
bettering the stat will better the performance of the team overall.

"Sometimes toughness isn';t defined by bigger," Motzko told the Grand Forks
Herald. "You';re watching the Stanley Cup playoffs right now and toughness is
the willingness to do all the little things and block shots and be disciplined.
 There are a lot of other ways, outside of being big and physical, that are how
 I define toughness in hockey. Those are the things we want to adapt into our
play."

And Minnesota knows Motzko will do whatever he can to make sure this team
succeeds as it appears this will be the last position he';ll hold. It';s been
a long-time coming for the man who got cut from the Gophers twice, and he';s
going to make the most of it with the expectation of making the tournament and
winning.Larson Coming to St. Cloud

Just this past April, Brett Larson was an assistant on the National Champion
Minnesota-Duluth bench. That title is the second of two he';s earned with the
team-one coming in his first stint with the team in 2008-11 and the recent one
from 2015-18. Much like Motzko, he';s leaving his alma mater for new horizons
just an hour away.

This will be Larson';s first sole head coaching position in the NCAA. The
previous highest experience he had was an associate head coach at Ohio State
from 2013-2015. In his time at Ohio, the Buckeyes had a combined record of
32-33-8.Brett Larson (Photo by Maddie MacFarlane)

Despite Larson having never held a head coaching position of his own, it';s
safe to say the systems will remain the same in St. Cloud.

Last year the Huskies were a bonafide speed demon, that outworked and outpaced
its opposition en route to their thirteenth NCAA Tournament appearance. The
Huskies were eliminated at the hands of the Air Force Falcons in the biggest
upset of the tournament, but not for a lack of effort. Motzko said in a press
conference after the loss that they just made a few mistakes that wound up
costing them in the long run.

So it';s not as if the shortcomings of the team would be a reason to change
systems under Larson. And in fact, Larson expressed how he coached Sioux City
of the USHL in a very similar fashion to the St. Cloud that was No. 1 in the
country.

"I';d say [Sioux City is] similar to Duluth and St. Cloud where I like to play
up-tempo with skilled players who compete. When you put together the
combination of skill, speed and compete, it';s usually a pretty good formula,"
Larson told the SC Times shortly after the program hired him.

You can put the fears of losing the stretch pass, speed and carry the puck in
systems to rest. That being said, with the hiring of Larson and most of
last year';s roster returning, St. Cloud will be looking to continue their
dominant run and hopefully claim the first NCAA Championship in the program';s
history.

And that';s, without a doubt, the goal in mind. The Huskies have few hurdles to
 jump to make the push for the Frozen Four and a title. As already one of the
best programs in college hockey, Larson has a lot on his plate.

The post Huskies & Gophers Coaching Changes Bring New Horizons appeared first
on The Hockey Writers.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheHockeyWrite...
--- SBBSecho 3.05-Win32
 * Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)