Reusse Strikes AgainPatrick Reusse writes that Mike Guentzel (some Gopher fan friends of mine call him "Intensezel") was forced out of his assistant coach job and did not resign, as was previously reported. Excerpts:
A number of upperclassmen on this winter's team had tired of Lucia's haranguing. Guentzel was the coach on this staff with a positive personality and served as the Good Cop with the players.
Guentzel brought feedback from the players to Lucia, and The Don didn't like it when that feedback included criticism of him.
and:
The dilemma for Lucia is this: If Osiecki (Mark Osiecki, a former Badger player) replaced Guentzel, that would give the coach a full-time staff with no Gophers, which doesn't exactly fit the Pride on Ice model.
That last possibility is a curious one. Though Gopher loyalists could argue that Lucia has won two national titles and Guentzel was a holdover from the Woog regime. They could also point out that Lucia did not attend Minnesota, but would probably avoid doing so. Anyway, I just want to share my one good Guentzel story. It was during the Woog years and a second game loss in a series against the Badgers turned ugly. Nasty scuffles broke out in the third period and when the final buzzer finally sounded, Woog and the Gophers were headed off the ice to the locker room and were ignoring the customary series-ending handshake. Suddenly on TV I saw Guentzel on the ice at the Gopher bench yelling at his players: "Get out there! Get out there and shake hands!!" And the Gophers skated over to shake hands with the Badgers.