Hockey Staff
Head Coach Bob Motzko
Bob Motzko prepares for his seventh season as head coach of the University of Minnesota men’s hockey program in 2024-25. He’s returned the Maroon and Gold back to national prominence with back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2021-22 and 2022-23, including a runner-up finish in 2023, and a fourth-straight season with at least one NCAA Tournament victory a year ago.In his first six years with the Gophers, Motzko has registered a 136-71-17 record. He enters his 20th year behind the bench as an NCAA head coach with a 412-263-66 all-time record, having previously spent 13 full years coaching at his alma mater St. Cloud State.
Motzko’s squad made a fourth-consecutive postseason trip and reached the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Final in 2023-24 after battling to third in the Big Ten Conference standings. It also was the fourth time in as many years that the Gophers won at least 23 games under his tutelage. Minnesota was well represented on the B1G postseason awards list as a league-best 10 different players were honored, including Jimmy Snuggerud, a first team selection.
Thanks to a trip to the national championship game and a 29-10-1 overall record, he was named the 2023 Spencer Penrose Award winner, given annually to the CCM/AHCA Men’s Hockey Division I Coach of the Year. He’s the first Minnesota coach to earn the award since the legendary John Mariucci back in 1953. Motzko also landed his third Big Ten Coach of the Year honor, and second straight, behind a record-breaking Big Ten Conference regular season with 19 B1G wins and 57 points, both of which were the most in the league’s 10-year history. The Maroon and Gold also spent 12 weeks as the nation’s top-ranked team in one of the two national polls and were the No. 1 overall seed at the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
For the second time in team history and first since 1954, the Gophers had three first-team All-American selections in a single season with Logan Cooley, Brock Faber and Matthew Knies earning the distinction in 2022-23. Meanwhile, both Cooley and Knies were named Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalists and were joined by Snuggerud as part of the highest-scoring line in college hockey, combining for 152 points. Faber and Knies also picked up major postseason awards from the B1G being chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively.
The previous year, it was Big Ten Player of the Year and Gophers captain Ben Meyers that led a late-season charge as the team won the final eight games of the regular season for a conference title. Regional wins over UMass and Western Michigan earned Minnesota its first NCAA Frozen Four berth in eight years. Meyers was named a Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalist and selected to the All-America First Team, while Faber earned B1G Defensive Player of the Year honors.
The 2020-21 season saw the Gophers claim the B1G tournament title and make a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Minnesota started the year on a 10-game winning streak for the second time in program history and eventually earned a No. 1 national ranking in both polls for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign. Minnesota was led by Mike Richter Award-winning goaltender Jack LaFontaine, one of three All-Americans, along with Sampo Ranta and Jackson LaCombe (all three also were First Team All-Big Ten selections).
In his first season behind the Minnesota bench in 2018-19, Motzko coached Rem Pitlick to First Team All-America and First Team All-Big Ten honors, while his second campaign with the Gophers saw him earn Big Ten Coach of the Year honors, although the season ended prematurely due to COVID-19.
A native of Austin, Minn., Motzko was an assistant coach at Minnesota from 2001 to 2005, a stretch where the Gophers captured back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003. He worked with Hobey Baker Award winner Jordan Leopold, as well as six All-Americans, and was on the bench when the Maroon and Gold claimed back-to-back WCHA tournament titles in 2003 and 2004.
Following his four years assisting the Gophers, Motzko spent 13 seasons building St. Cloud State into a championship program. The Huskies advanced to the NCAA Tournament eight times under his leadership, including a run to the Frozen Four in 2013. While at St. Cloud, Motzko helped develop Hobey Baker Award winner Drew LeBlanc and eight All-Americans.
He previously coached at Miami (OH) and Denver, helping Miami win the CCHA title as associate head coach in 1993. He also served as an assistant under Herb Brooks at his alma mater for one season.
During his college head coaching career, Motzko has been recognized as a conference coach of the year seven times, winning the award twice in the WCHA (2006, 2007), twice in the NCHC (2014, 2018) and now three times in the Big Ten (2020, 2022, 2023).
USA Hockey tasked Motzko with leading the U.S. National Junior Team twice at the IIHF World Junior Championships. In 2017, he led Team USA to an unbeaten run at the tournament, which culminated in a gold medal, the fourth all-time for the Americans. Motzko returned as head coach in 2018, leading the squad to a bronze medal.
Twice he has led teams in the United States Hockey League (USHL) as head coach and general manager. He spent four years with the North Iowa Huskies, leading his 1989 team to the Junior A national championship, earning the league’s coach of the year award. He also led Sioux Falls for the team’s first two seasons of existence and was named the league’s GM of the Year in 2000 for his work with the Stampede.
Motzko graduated from St. Cloud State in 1987 as a two-time men’s hockey letter winner.
Contract runs through the 2025-26 season
Gallery
Associate Head Coach Steve Miller
With three NCAA National Championships already on his resume, Steve Miller looks to add to that total as he joined the University of Minnesota men’s hockey program as its associate head coach in July 2022.
Miller was honored with the American Hockey Coaches Association’s (AHCA) Terry Flanagan Award in 2009, which recognizes an assistant coach’s career body of work. In all, he has been a part of three NCAA titles, 20 NCAA appearances, six regular season conference titles and six playoff championships during his collegiate tenure.
Motzko and Miller coached together on the international stage guiding Team USA to a gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship with an undefeated 7-0 record. They added a bronze medal leading the team in 2018. Miller has continued to coach at the event, adding a silver medal in 2019, two more gold medals in 2021 and 2024, and will be on the staff for the eighth time in 2025. They also served on the same coaching staff at Miami University from 1991-93.
In his first year with the Maroon and Gold, Miller helped the Golden Gophers reach the NCAA Championship game after winning a Big Ten Conference regular season title. Thanks to a deep and talented defensive corps guided by Miller, Minnesota held opponents to the nation’s sixth-best goals against per game at 2.3, while the group combined for 147 points on 30 goals and 117 assists offensively. The blue line featured three players that stepped into the National Hockey League the next season in Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild), Ryan Johnson (Buffalo Sabres), and Jackson LaCombe (Anaheim Ducks).
The Gophers reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many seasons under Miller’s tutelage, falling in the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional final in 2023-24. On special teams, Minnesota recorded the third-fewest power-play goals allowed in program history, giving up 18 in 39 total games. He has coached three All-Americans, 15 All-B1G selections, and five B1G All-Freshman honorees since joining the Maroon and Gold’s coaching staff.
A native of Sun Prairie, Wis., Miller most recently served at Ohio State as its associate head coach for five seasons (2017-22) and helped the team to an NCAA Frozen Four appearance in 2018, his first campaign with the program. The Buckeyes claimed their first B1G regular season title in 2019 and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. The next season, OSU was 10th in the PairWise rankings and poised for a program-record, fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance before the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled for the COVID-19 pandemic. While at OSU, he coached All-Americans Tanner Laczynski and Mason Jobst, who is also the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten conference games, along with 18 players that earned All-B1G honors.
Prior to joining Ohio State in 2017, Miller enjoyed successful stints with both the Air Force Academy (2015-17) and Providence College (2014-15). As director of hockey for Air Force, he helped the Falcons capture the 2017 Atlantic Hockey Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regional final. At Providence, he was the associate head coach and helped the Friars claim their first-ever national championship with a 4-3 victory over Boston University in the 2015 title game.
Miller spent 19 and a half years as an assistant and associate head coach with Denver as the team won back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2004 and 2005. During his time at DU, the team won three WCHA regular season championships and claimed the WCHA Final Five title four times. With the Pioneers, Miller coached and recruited 45 NHL draft picks, 65 all-league selections, 17 All-Americans and two Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners, Matt Carle (2006) and Will Butcher (2017). The 2004 Denver team also was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame Class of 2014. While not on the Pioneers’ staff for their national championship in 2017, he was an integral part of building the team as he coached or recruited 18 players on the squad.
Miller began his coaching career at his alma mater, St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn. The squad won the 1989 MIAC playoff championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
He moved from there to Miami University, where he spent three seasons under head coach George Gwozdecky. Along with Motzko, an assistant coach, the Redhawks won their first CCHA title in 1993 and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
As a student-athlete at St. Mary’s, Miller played three years of varsity hockey. He was named the team’s Most Inspirational Player as both a sophomore and senior and earned Most Improved Player honors as a sophomore. In 1988, he helped the Cardinals to their first MIAC Championship in 23 years and the team set the school record for victories in a season (22), a mark that still stands.
Miller, who was inducted into the Sun Prairie High School Wall of Success in 2008, and his wife, Heidi, have three children, a daughter, Alexis, and sons, Cole and Connor.
Assistant Ben Gordon
Golden Gopher hockey alumnus Ben Gordon begins year seven as an assistant coach for the Maroon and Gold, a role he took on starting in 2018.
Under Gordon’s guidance, Minnesota made a fourth-consecutive postseason trip and reached the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Final in 2023-24. The Gophers were well represented on the Big Ten Conference postseason awards list as a league-best 10 different players were honored, including Jimmy Snuggerud, a first team selection.
It was a banner year for Minnesota in 2022-23 as the team won its second-straight Big Ten Conference regular season title and earned a trip to the NCAA Championship game. The Gophers were the highest-scoring offense in the nation, averaging 4.2 goals per game, and had a pair of 50-point freshmen in Logan Cooley and Snuggerud leading the charge. Cooley and Matthew Knies were named Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalists, while Brock Faber joined the pair as All-American First Team selections, the second time in program history with three first-team honorees.
During the 2021-22 campaign, Gordon and the Gophers won the B1G regular season championship and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time since 2014. Minnesota made a late-season surge winning 11 of their final 13 games, including wins over Massachusetts and Western Michigan in the NCAA Northeast Regional.
The Gophers captured the B1G tournament title and returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21, ending a four-year drought, while the program won its first NCAA game since 2014 to earn an appearance in the NCAA West Regional Final.
A native of International Falls, Minn., Gordon returned to Minnesota following the 2017-18 season where he served as the associate head coach for the Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League (USHL). He previously served on the Gophers staff in 2016-17 as director of hockey operations when the Maroon and Gold claimed the 2017 Big Ten regular-season championship after helping the Tri-City Storm capture the 2016 USHL Clark Cup as an assistant coach. Gordon’s first foray into coaching came during the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach and later as interim head coach at St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Gordon was a four-year letter winner with the Gophers from 2004-2008 and recorded 98 points (39 goals, 59 assists) in 148 career games. The forward helped Minnesota to back-to-back regular season conference titles in 2006 and 2007 while adding a conference playoff title in 2007. Gordon was named the team’s Dr. V. George Nagobads Unsung Hero in 2006. Following his college career, he played in 362 professional games with 380 points over six seasons before transitioning to coaching.
Goaltending Coach Brennan Poderzay
Brennan Poderzay was promoted to the role of assistant coach for Minnesota men’s hockey in September 2023 and serves as the goaltending coach. He joined the staff prior to the 2021-22 season in a volunteer capacity and worked for two seasons before earning the full-time position with the Gophers.
Poderzay was vital to the emergence of Justen Close as one of the program’s best netminders over the previous three years. Close recorded 13 shutouts and a .924 save percentage, the best in the 103-year history of Minnesota men’s hockey, while his 2.18 goals against average ranks second all-time. A three-time All-Big Ten honoree, Close backstopped the Gophers to back-to-back appearances to the NCAA Frozen Four under Poderzay’s guidance with consecutive Big Ten Conference regular season titles.
A native of Tower, Minn., Poderzay came to Minnesota after spending six seasons in the same role at Minnesota State. With the Mavericks, he coached Dryden McKay for three seasons as the three-time WCHA Goaltending Champion and two-time All-American was named a Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick finalist, a Mike Richter Award finalist and the WCHA Player of the Year in 2021. In his six-year tenure in Mankato, MSU won five WCHA regular-season titles and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time in program history.
Poderzay previously served as a Minnesota Regional Goalie Scout and as a mentor for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He also worked as the goaltending coach for PWHL Minnesota during its inaugural season in 2023-24, helping the team claim The Walter Cup as league champions. Netmidner Nicole Hensley posted two shutouts in five games of the PWHL Finals to secure the title.
As a player, he spent three seasons at St. Scholastica before a six-year professional career. Poderzay earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from St. Scholastica in 2013.
Director of Player Development Paul Martin
Gopher hockey All-American alumnus and 14-year NHL veteran Paul Martin is in his fourth year on the Minnesota staff and second as a graduate manager. Martin returned to the Maroon and Gold as an undergraduate assistant for the 2020-21 season while completing his degree and is currently enrolled as a full-time graduate student heading into the 2023-24 campaign.
In his first season back on campus, Martin helped Minnesota win the 2021 Big Ten Tournament title and return to the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers then claimed back-to-back B1G regular-season championships and consecutive trips to the NCAA Frozen Four with a spot in the 2023 NCAA Championship game.
A native of Elk River, Minn., Martin was a three-year letter winner for the Maroon and Gold while recording 97 points (20 goals, 77 assists) in 127 career games. The defenseman, who was an all-conference selection in each of his three seasons of college hockey, helped the Gophers to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances including back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003.
Martin, who won the Broadmoor Trophy with Minnesota in 2003 as WCHA playoff champions, was a Second Team All-American in 2003, while earning his second-straight Second Team All-WCHA accolade. He also was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team in 2001. Martin remains 16th in Gopher Hockey history among defensemen with 97 points, while he is 13th among defensemen with 77 assists.
A second-round selection (62nd overall) by the New Jersey Devils in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Martin went on to play 14 seasons in the NHL with New Jersey, Pittsburgh and San Jose. He made 870 regular-season appearances and totaled 320 career points (50 goals, 270 assists). Moreover, he led his teams to a playoff berth in each of his 14 seasons with 122 Stanley Cup playoff games and 46 playoff points (six goals, 40 assists). With the exception of a short AHL stint in his final season on the ice and one season in Switzerland during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Martin played his entire professional career in the NHL before retiring in 2018.<
On the international stage, Martin was named to the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team three times in his career (2006, 2010, 2014). Prior to joining the Gophers, Martin closed out his prep career at Elk River High School as the Mr. Hockey Award winner in 2000 as the top senior high school boy’s hockey player in the state of Minnesota.
Off the ice, Martin created the Shine A Ligh7 Foundation in 2017. The Shine A Ligh7 Foundation is a non-profit organization raises awareness and reduces the stigma for those affected by bullying, depression, and mental health issues.
Martin completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 2021 and went on to finish a Master of Education degree in Youth Development and Leadership in 2023 through the School of Social Work.
Director of Operations Jacob Leroy
Jacob LeRoy enters his fourth season as the Director of Hockey Operations for the Golden Gopher men’s hockey program after joining the Maroon and Gold in August 2021.
Minnesota won back-to-back Big Ten Conference regular season championships in LeRoy’s first two seasons serving on staff, including a record-breaking 2022-23 campaign. The Gophers won 19 league games and had 57 points, both of which remain the most in the 11-year history of men’s hockey in the Big Ten. The ‘U’ also advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four in his first two years and earned a spot in the 2023 NCAA Championship game. Minnesota went on to win an NCAA Tournament game for the third-straight season of LeRoy’s tenure when it made the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Final in 2023-24.
A native of Dublin, Ohio, LeRoy spent four seasons on the staff at Ohio State serving as a student assistant of hockey operations. During his tenure with the Buckeyes, the program made two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the team’s second-ever Frozen Four berth in 2018, and was poised for a third trip to the national tournament in 2020 before the season was canceled due to public health concerns. Ohio State also added a B1G regular season title in 2019 for the program’s first league crown and second-ever regular-season conference championship. For his contributions to the program, LeRoy was awarded a varsity letter.
A 2021 graduate of Ohio State, LeRoy received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and specialized in finance.
Strength & Conditioning Coach Cal Dietz
Cal Dietz joined the Athletic Performance staff at the University of Minnesota in 2000. He is currently an Associate Director of Athletic Performance and works directly with the Men’s & Women’s Ice Hockey programs. Dietz has worked with several programs over the course of his career with the Gophers including Men’s Basketball, Men’s & Women’s Golf, Men’s Swimming, Track & Field, Baseball and Wrestling. Dietz’s athletes and teams have achieved numerous accolades including 11 NCAA National Championships, 35 B1G/WCHA Championships. 540+ All-American honors, 30 B1G/WCHA Tournament Championships, 22 NCAA Final Four appearances and several Olympic and World Championships.
The Shelby, Ohio native earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Findlay in 1996. Dietz was a 2-sport athlete at the University of Findlay and was part of 3 National Championships: 2 with Football and 1 with Wrestling. He was a 2 time NAIA All-American in Football and was the NAIA National Duals MVP in Wrestling. He was the NAIA College Sports Magazine Athlete of the Year in 1995 and was inducted into the University of Findlay’s Hall of Fame in 2005.
Dietz was a Graduate Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of Minnesota and completed his Master of Education degree in 2000. Dietz worked with the Gopher Football program and assisted with a majority of Olympic sports during his time as a GA.
Dietz worked briefly at the University of Findlay as the Strength Coordinator and oversaw 26 Men’s & Women’s teams prior to his return to Minnesota. He also was the Offensive Line coach with the Football program, coordinated the university’s fitness center and taught strength and conditioning classes.
Cal is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and is certified in Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR).
Athletic Trainer Jeff Winslow
Jeff Winslow joined the Athletic Medicine staff at the University of Minnesota in 2007. Jeff was appointed Assistant Athletic Director/Head Athletic Trainer for Olympic Sports in 2021. Prior to that, Winslow served as Head Athletic Trainer for Olympic Sports from 2018 – 2021, as an Associate Athletic Trainer from 2016-18 and as an Assistant Athletic Trainer from 2007-16.
Since 2009, Jeff has had clinical oversight of the Men’s Hockey program and Hockey Cheer Team. From 2007-09, Jeff provided athletic training services to the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams.
Jeff attended Winona State University in Winona, MN and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science with an Athletic Training emphasis. He then worked as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer at Syracuse University and graduated with a Master of Science degree in Exercise Science in 2007.
Winslow is a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) and MN State Licensed Athletic Trainer (LAT). He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association (GLATA) and the Minnesota Athletic Trainers Association (MATA). Jeff is proficient in Upper and Lower Body Active Release Techniques (ART®), holds certification in Graston Technique® M1 & M2, Blood Flow Restriction training (BFR) and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Jeff has presented at numerous local and international conferences/symposiums.
Jeff, a St. Paul, MN native, currently resides in Lake Elmo, MN with his wife, Holly, and two children, Isaac and Lucy.