June 2, 2009

Courtesy of St. Cloud State Athletics

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - St. Cloud State University Director of Athletics Dr. Morris Kurtz has announced that Husky men's hockey coach Bob Motzko has signed a six-year contract extension, which will keep Motzko at the helm of the program through the 2014-15 season.

"St. Cloud State University is delighted to have Bob (Motzko) signed up for the next six years as the head coach of our men's hockey program," Kurtz said. "He has certainly built on the foundation established by Craig Dahl and we are pleased with his teams' athletic and academic accomplishments over the past four seasons. I fully intend to do everything in my power to make sure that he finishes his coaching career at St. Cloud State."

Motzko recently completed his fourth season at SCSU in 2008-09. At St. Cloud State, Motzko has charted an impressive 81-58-19 overall record and he was named the WCHA Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007. His teams have advanced to the WCHA Final Five three times, and the Huskies gained bids to the NCAA Division I tournament in 2007 and 2008.

At St. Cloud State, Motzko has coached two Hobey Baker Award top 10 finalists and SCSU athletes have earned All-America honors in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2007, SCSU's Andreas Nodl was named the Hockey Coaches Association (HCA) Division I Rookie of the Year and Ryan Lasch was the WCHA scoring champion in 2008. Motzko has also seen several of his former players make an impact in the NHL including Nodl (Philadelphia), Joe Jensen (Carolina), Nate Raduns (Philadelphia), Andrew Gordon (Washington), and Casey Borer (Carolina).

"I was very fortunate four years ago to have the opportunity to return to St. Cloud State University as the Huskies' head coach," Motzko said. "Today, I feel very fortunate to be able to continue building on what we have started at St. Cloud State. I am more excited than ever about the future of this University and the men's hockey program. I am really looking forward to a long future with this program."

St. Cloud State University will kick-off the 2009-10 season on Oct. 4, with a 5:07 p.m. exhibition game against the University of Lethbridge at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. St. Cloud State will then open its regular season on Oct. 9-10 with a trip to Miami University (Ohio). The Huskies regular season home opener at the NHC will take place on Oct. 16-17 against Union College.

For complete ticket information, please call 1-877-SCSUTIX or 320-308-2137.