Gophers’ Motzko named 2023 Coach of the Year

Add another one to the list of awards for the University of Minnesota men’s hockey program this year.

Wednesday, the league announced Gophers Head Coach Bob Motzko as the winner of the 2023 Spencer Penrose Award winner, given each year to the CCM/AHCA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year.

The program says Motzko is just the second Minnesota coach to ever win the award in its 73-year history, joining John Mariucci in 1953.

Motzko was also a finalist for the award last year but got the win this year after leading Minnesota to its sixth Big Ten Conference championship and its 23rd all-time appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four.

Motzko was also named the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year.

The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, where the first 10 NCAA championship hockey tournaments were played.

The award will officially be presented on April 26.