Despite anonymous University of Minnesota alumnus wanting Don Lucia fired from his job as Gophers men’s hockey coach, Lucia says he’s not going anywhere.
“I’ll be 58 this summer, I still love being with the kids,” Lucia said Tuesday, according to the Star Tribune. “Am I going to be coaching when I’m 70? No. But I still want to do it for a while longer. How long that is? I don’t know.”
A City Pages article last week questioned Lucia’s status as head coach, using quotes from unnamed U of M alumni to rip on the coach.
Lucia, a native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, believes a group of alumni want him fired because he attended Notre Dame. The same group tried to get him fired five years ago, he told the Star Tribune.
“It’s disappointing. To have alums go after us like that … there’s a select few that obviously have a bias,” Lucia told KFAN on Saturday. “It makes them look small – it hurts all the alums – it’s just not good for the program.”
Lucia’s son, Mario, a former standout at Wayzata High School and draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, collected his 100th career point at Notre Dame last week.
Minnesota is coming off a sweep of Michigan State. At 11-10 on the season (6-2 in the Big Ten), the Gophers are on a bit of a win streak heading into this weekend’s Big Ten showdown in Madison, Wisconsin, with the Badgers.
Proud of the way our guys battled for a sweep this weekend to get us back where we want to be. Border Battle up next in Madison.
— Don Lucia (@mncoachlucia) January 17, 2016
