U men’s hockey: Guentzel worried about son before saying yes to CC
Posted on September 4th, 2008 – 3:13 PMBy Roman Augustoviz
Before taking an assistant coaching job with Colorado College, Mike Guentzel talked with his son, Gabe, about his decision.
Gabe, a freshman defenseman, had accepted a scholarship from CC in the offseason.
“Gabe went to CC because he wanted to be independent, he wanted to do his own thing,” said Mike Guentzel, a Gophers assistant for 14 years before he resigned in April.
“We had to talk it through. He wanted a normal college experience. … But he realized this was too good for me to turn down.”
Mike Guentzel took his son to orientation at CC, talked with Scott Owens about an opening on his staff that recently occurred and, in four, five days the deal was done.
“The reality is, [Gabe] understands I coach for a profession and this is what I like to do. This is a unique situation. I will treat him like a son away from the rink, but at the rink, I’m a hockey coach.”
Guentzel said he looked at a few other jobs this summer but did not get too far in the discussions on any of them. … The reality is there are only 55 Division I programs and there is not a lot of movement.”
When he resigned from the U staff last spring, Guentzel said he wanted to be a head coach.
That didn’t happen, but Guentzel said he is joining a quality program and sees his new job as a positive challenge.
Gabe will be Guentzel’s second son on a Division I roster. Ryan was a freshman forward last season for Notre Dame, the NCAA runner-up.
Asked if he was upset the Gophers did not sign either one of them, Guentzel said he was not. He said a coach’s son has to come in and be able to play on one of the top two lines.
”Colorado College was a good fit for [Gabe],” his father said.
And, he hopes, it will be for him too.
