Mike Guentzel (born August 23, 1962) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach and former

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. He currently works as a pro scout for the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

Career

Guentzel played four years at

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

before embarking on a short professional career. After hanging up his skates in 1986 he turned to coaching and joined the staff of the

St. Paul Vulcans The St. Paul Vulcans are a defunct Junior A ice hockey franchise that was based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The franchise was a charter member of the United States Hockey League (USHL) that started play with the 1979-80 season. The franchise was ...

of the

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

. After a year as an assistant he was named head coach, serving in that capacity for four campaigns before accepting the same position with the

Omaha Lancers The Omaha Lancers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Founded in 1986, the Lancers play at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ralston, Nebraska. Previous ...

. In 1994 he returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach, serving under first

Doug Woog Douglas William Woog (January 28, 1944 – December 14, 2019) was an American ice hockey coach and broadcaster. He was a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in 2002. Woog was coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Goph ...

and then

Don Lucia Don Lucia (born August 20, 1958) is an American former ice hockey head coach, who was named as inaugural commissioner of the second Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) on June 17, 2020. The CCHA, which is set to start play in the 2021– ...

after the former retired in 1999. Twice Guentzel served as head coach for Minnesota when Woog was suspended, first for the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

Title Game and a second time the following October. Guentzel helped the Golden Gophers win back-to-back national titles in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and stayed with the team until resigning to pursue other opportunities in 2008. Guentzel's first stop was at

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

as an assistant for the 2008–09 season. The following year, after coaching his son Gabe, he returned to the USHL to lead the

Des Moines Buccaneers The Des Moines Buccaneers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team has played in the Western Conference since the 2009–10 season. History The Buccaneers began USHL play during the 1980–81 season ...

but after a poor year he was back in the college ranks, this time with Nebraska–Omaha. Guentzel was again on the move after a year with the Mavericks and he returned to the Golden Gophers in the summer of 2011. Guentzel has remained with the Gophers since and was promoted to associate head coach in 2015.

Personal life

Three of Mike's sons, Ryan, Gabe and

Jake Jake may refer to: Name * Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer * Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach Animals * Jake (rescue dog), a ...

have all played college ice hockey with both Gabe and Jake playing professionally.

Head coaching record

College

†Guentzel served as interim coach for three games while

was suspended on two occasions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guentzel, Mike 1962 births Living people American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey defensemen Arizona Coyotes scouts Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players New Haven Nighthawks players Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota New York Rangers draft picks People from Grand Rapids, Minnesota Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players Ice hockey players from Minnesota