Ronald Herbert Mason (January 14, 1940 – June 13, 2016) was a Canadian
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 ...
player, head coach, and university executive. A head coach of various American universities, most notably
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
(MSU), he was the most successful coach in
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
ice hockey history between 1993 and 2012 with 924 wins, until
Jerry York (Boston College) became the new winningest coach with his 925th career win on December 29, 2012.
Mason was athletic director at MSU from 2002 to 2008. He then served as senior advisor for 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 ...
Muskegon Lumberjacks
The Muskegon Lumberjacks are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They play in Muskegon, Michigan, at Trinity Health Arena. The Lumberjacks replaced the International Hockey League fr ...
.
On December 2, 2013, Mason was inducted into the
United States Hockey Hall of Fame
The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials an ...
.
Family
Ron Mason was born the son of Harvey Mason, a salesman, and Agnes Mackay Mason, an elementary school teacher. He married the former Marion Bell on June 8, 1963. They had two daughters, Tracey (born 1963) and Cindy (born 1968) and two grandsons, Tyler and Travis.
Travis was a defenseman on the
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
hockey team until his graduation in 2016.
Mason had one sister, Marion Mason Rowe.
Education
Mason earned a B.A. in physical education from
St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,100 undergraduate and 100 graduate students.
Though St. Lawrence today is nonsectarian, it was founded in 1 ...
in 1964 and a Masters in physical education from the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
in 1965.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
awarded Mason an honorary doctorate in 2001.
Career as player
Mason played junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey Association’s
Peterborough Petes
The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. ...
and the Ottawa Junior Canadians. From there Mason enrolled at
St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,100 undergraduate and 100 graduate students.
Though St. Lawrence today is nonsectarian, it was founded in 1 ...
in the upstate town of
Canton, New York
Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administrative divisions of New York#Villa ...
where he lettered in hockey for three years. In his first season at SLU in 1960–61, Mason and the
Skating Saints were NCAA national finalists.
In 1961–62, Mason and SLU won the school's first
Eastern College Athletic Conference
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...
championship and made the NCAA
Frozen Four
The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...
.
In his final season, SLU won a school-record 20 games
finishing 20–6–1. Mason led the team in scoring twice
earning back-to-back first-team all-league honors. Mason was St. Lawrence's only player to earn that distinction until
T. J. Trevelyan was named all-league in 2005 and 2006.
Career as coach
Mason coached one
NAIA program,
Lake Superior State, and two
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
programs,
Bowling Green State and
Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
in 36 seasons from 1966 to 2002. He won two national titles: NAIA in 1972 with Lake Superior State and NCAA in 1986 with Michigan State.
Ron Mason finished his coaching career as the all-time career victories leader in college hockey history with 924 wins. Boston College's
Jerry York surpassed Mason's win total on December 31, 2012. Mason is also the career coaching victories leader at Michigan State with 635 wins. He is Bowling Green State's winningest coach by percentage winning over 71 percent of his 229 games at BGSU.
Mason had 33 seasons with a winning record, 30 seasons winning 20 or more games and 11 seasons winning 30 or more games. Mason won ten CCHA regular season championships and a record 13 CCHA tournament titles. He advanced his teams to the NCAA tournament 22 times—six times as the No. 1 seed—making the
Frozen Four
The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...
eight times. Mason was the CCHA coach of the year six times. He won the
Spencer Penrose
Spencer Penrose (November 2, 1865 – December 7, 1939) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He made his fortune from mining, ore processing, and real estate speculation in Colorado and other parts of the West. He founded the Utah Copp ...
Memorial Trophy as the national coach of the year in 1992.
On January 26, 2002, a media report stated Mason would step down as coach at Michigan State to take over the athletic director position at MSU. On January 28, 2002, Mason made it official that he would leave his post as head ice hockey coach to become athletic director.
Lake Superior State
Mason started the hockey program at
Lake Superior State University
Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...
in 1966. In seven seasons at LSSU he produced four 20-win seasons and never lost more than 10 games. He guided the Lakers to the 1972
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA) national championship.
Bowling Green State
In 1973 he moved to
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...
where he won three
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in the Midwestern United States that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previ ...
regular season titles and three consecutive CCHA tournament titles in six seasons. In 1977 Bowling Green State earned their first berth in the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
tournament. The berth was a first for a team not from the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association
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 me ...
or
Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference in the NCAA tournament's 30-year history. It was the first of three consecutive NCAA tournaments under Mason. BGSU won the third-place game over defending national champion Wisconsin in the 1978 NCAA
Frozen Four
The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...
. In 1978–79 Mason coached BGSU to a then NCAA record 37 wins.
The record would be broken in 1984-85 by Mason's own Michigan State team.
Michigan State
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
Athletic Director
Joseph Kearney hired Mason to replace the retiring
Amo Bessone on April 1, 1979.
In his third season at MSU, Mason guided Michigan State to their first NCAA tournament in 15 seasons. Four seasons later in 1986, Mason led Michigan State to the school's second national title.
Michigan State returned to the championship game the following season but lost to
North Dakota
North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...
. On March 12, 1993, with a 6-5 win over
Kent State, Mason passed former
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
coach
Len Ceglarski to become college hockey's all-time winningest coach with 674 wins.
While at MSU, Mason won a conference-record 10 CCHA tournament championships, including a conference-record four straight from 1982 to 1985. In addition, MSU won seven CCHA regular season titles under mason, earned 19 NCAA tournament appearances, and earned seven NCAA Frozen Four appearances.
Career as athletic director
Ron Mason began his duties as athletic director on July 1, 2002.
Before he officially became athletic director, Mason chose
Rick Comley as his successor as hockey coach.
On November 4, 2002, after a disappointing season and a series of off-the-field incidents with players, Mason fired head football coach
Bobby Williams with three games left in the season and eventually hired
John L. Smith away from Louisville as his permanent replacement.
Mason fired Smith after three consecutive losing seasons, and Mason then hired
Mark Dantonio
Mark Justin Dantonio (born March 9, 1956) is an American college football coach and former player. His most recent head coaching position was at Michigan State University, a position he had held from 2007 to 2019.
He led the Michigan State Spar ...
away from Cincinnati, who brought the Spartans to football prominence.
While athletic director, the Michigan State hockey team won the school's third national title in 2007. Mason is the only person to have won NCAA ice hockey titles as head coach and athletic director. Mason also placed a priority seat licensing program in Spartan Stadium based on years of holding season tickets, contribution to the
Ralph Young Fund, and a licensing fee for better seats on top of the price of season tickets. Further updates to increase revenue in Spartan Stadium included a $64 million
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
expansion and improvements which include:
*24 luxury suites
*800 club seats
*The "Grand Entrance" featuring high ceilings, glass walls, marble floors and a new home for the original Sparty statue
* luxury concourse
*Office space for Career Services, University Advancement and the MSU Alumni Office
*State of the art recruiting lounge
*Upgraded stadium-wide bathroom and concourse renovations
*An increase of 3000 seats, bringing the total stadium capacity to 75,005
In September 2006, Michigan State University's board of trustees approved a contract extension for Mason extending his contract as MSU's athletic director through June 2008. He retired from the post of athletic director at
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
on January 1, 2008, and was succeeded by
Mark Hollis
Mark David Hollis (4 January 1955 – February 2019) was an English musician and singer-songwriter. He achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s as the co-founder, lead singer and principal songwriter of the band ...
.
Legacy with the CCHA
In addition to his success as a coach, Mason was involved in organizing the
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in the Midwestern United States that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previ ...
(CCHA) and helping it to grow into one of the most powerful college hockey conferences of the 1980s, '90s, and 2000s.
When Mason began coaching in 1966 there were only two major conferences in the NCAA, the
Eastern College Athletic Conference
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...
and the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association
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 me ...
. While building the ice hockey program at Lake Superior State to Division I status, Mason found that his team was left without a conference. In 1972 Mason, along with Bowling Green State University's Jack Vivian, St. Louis University's Bill Selman, Ohio State University's Dave Chambers, Ohio University's John McComb and the CCHA's first commissioner Fred Jacoby, formed the
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in the Midwestern United States that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previ ...
.
Mason's coaching tenure at Bowling Green State produced the CCHA's first NCAA tournament berth, first appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four, and first national No. 1 ranking.
For his contributions in helping build the CCHA, the conference renamed their tournament championship trophy as the
Mason Cup in 2000–01.
Honors
Munn Ice Arena ice rink was named October 7, 2023 for Ron Mason. The dedication of Ron Mason Rink came as the Spartans Beat Lake Superior State 5-2 – another school where Mason's legacy is a part of the fabric of the program's historical success. Mason is one of a handful of coaches to win national championships at two different institutions, as he led LSSU to the NAIA national championship in 1972 and MSU to the NCAA national title in 1986.
Philanthropy
Mason volunteered with the Sparrow Foundation, where he established the Ron Mason Fund for Pediatric Rehabilitation, which helps children with disabilities. The fund has raised $675,000 for the foundation since 1998.
He was also the honorary chairperson for the
Children's Miracle Network, which has raised $19 million-plus since 1989.
Death
Mason died on the morning of June 13, 2016, in Haslett, Michigan, after suffering a heart attack. He was 76.
Notable players coached
In his 36 years, Mason coached a number of outstanding players.
Hobey Baker Award winners
Hobey Baker Award finalists
AHCA All-America
CCHA Player of the Year
NHL first round draft picks
Joe Murphy was first NCAA player selected first overall
Select NHL players
Olympians
Head coaching record
See also
*
List of college men's ice hockey coaches with 400 wins
*
Mason Cup
Awards and honors
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Ron
1940 births
2016 deaths
Bowling Green Falcons ice hockey coaches
Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey coaches
Michigan State Spartans athletic directors
Michigan State Spartans ice hockey coaches
Ice hockey people from Huron County, Ontario
Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players
St. Lawrence Saints men's ice hockey players
United Hockey League coaches
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Sigma Alpha Epsilon members
United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees