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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

. He currently works as a pro scout for the

Utah Mammoth The Utah Mammoth are a professional ice hockey team based in Salt Lake City. The Mammoth compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Career

Guentzel played four years at

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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 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 and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

. 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 Junior ice hockey#Tier I, 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 Ra ...

. In 1994 he returned to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

as an assistant coach, serving under first Doug Woog 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 began play in the 2021–22 NCAA D ...

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

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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

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

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

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 sea ...

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 * Jake, a member of the band Enhy ...

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 Doug Woog 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 Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Minnesota Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players Ice hockey players from Minnesota 20th-century American sportsmen