Rick Gotkin

Rick Gotkin (born November 7, 1959) is an American ice hockey head coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey team, a position he has held since 1988.[1]

Rick Gotkin
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamMercyhurst
ConferenceAtlantic Hockey
Biographical details
Born (1959-11-07) November 7, 1959
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Alma materSUNY-Brockport
Playing career
1980–1982SUNY-Brockport
Position(s)Defenseman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1982–1983SUNY-Brockport (Assistant)
1986–1988Rensselaer (Assistant)
1988–PresentMercyhurst
Head coaching record
Overall598–501–103 (.540)
Tournaments0-3 (.000)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1995 ECAC West tournament champion
2001 MAAC Champion
2001 MAAC Tournament champion
2002 MAAC Champion
2003 MAAC Champion
2003 MAAC tournament champion
2005 Atlantic Hockey Tournament champion
2014 Atlantic Hockey Champion
Awards
2001 MAAC Coach of the Year
2014 Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year

Career

Gotkin began attending SUNY-Brockport in 1978, managing to work his way onto the varsity ice hockey team in his final two years there before graduating in 1982. He spent one additional year with the program as an assistant the following season. By 1986 he was back in the college ranks as an assistant coach for Rensselaer. After two campaigns with the Engineers he received his first head coaching opportunity at Mercyhurst.[2]

When Gotkin arrived in Erie the college's ice hockey program was only a year old. He took over after Fred Lane led the team to a very good 16-7 mark the year before and while Gotkin's first season was disappointing at 11-16-1 he soon brought the Lakers to Division III prominence with at least 18 wins in four consecutive seasons. Mercyhurst made their first postseason appearance in his third year and their first National Championship appearance by year five (the Lakers by that time having moved up to Division II).[3] Gotkin would lead the Lakers to their first 20-win season two years later (as well as their second championship game) but wasn't able to push them any further for the rest of their time in D-II.

A year after the MAAC ice hockey conference was formed Mercyhurst was invited to join alongside Bentley and they became a Division I program for the 1999–00 season.[4] The Lakers started off strong, finishing with a second place finish in their inaugural year, before winning the conference tournament the following season and making their first NCAA tournament appearance. Gotkin would get the Lakers to three consecutive regular season titles from 2001 thru 2003 and a second NCAA berth in '03 but after the season the MAAC conference dissolved when founding members Iona and Fairfield dropped their programs.[5]

Fortunately for Gotkin and the rest of the programs, the remaining universities continued to support their teams and formed a new conference, Atlantic Hockey which began play in 2003–04. Gotkin and the Lakers weren't quite as successful in the second version as they were in the MAAC but he still helped the team to several 20-win seasons, a tournament title in 2005, a regular season title in 2013–14 and notched his 500th win during the 2015–16 season.[6] Gotkin signed a 5-year extension that will keep him with the team through the 2020 season.[7]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Mercyhurst Lakers (ECAC West (D-III)) (1988–1992)
1988–89 Mercyhurst 11–16–15–12–1
1989–90 Mercyhurst 18–8–416–3–2ECAC West Semifinal
1990–91 Mercyhurst 19–12–115–3–0NCAA quarterfinals
1991–92 Mercyhurst 19–12–013–8–0ECAC West runner-up
Mercyhurst: 67–48–649–26–3
Mercyhurst Lakers (ECAC West (D-II)) (1992–1999)
1992–93 Mercyhurst 18–10–015–3–0NCAA runner-up
1993–94 Mercyhurst 12–13–06–4–0ECAC West Semifinal
1994–95 Mercyhurst 23–3–26–1–1NCAA runner-up
1995–96 Mercyhurst 18–7–25–4–0ECAC West Semifinal
1996–97 Mercyhurst 16–9–25–5–1ECAC West Semifinal
1997–98 Mercyhurst 17–9–14–5–1ECAC West Semifinal
1998–99 Mercyhurst 16–10–23–4–1ECAC West runner-up
Mercyhurst: 120–61–944–26–4
Mercyhurst Lakers (MAAC) (1999–2003)
1999–00 Mercyhurst 23–10–419–6–22ndMAAC semifinals
2000–01 Mercyhurst 22–12–219–6–11stNCAA West Regional Quarterfinals
2001–02 Mercyhurst 24–10–321–2–31stMAAC runner-up
2002–03 Mercyhurst 22–13–219–5–21stNCAA West Regional semifinals
Mercyhurst: 91–45–1178–19–8
Mercyhurst Lakers (Atlantic Hockey) (2003–present)
2003–04 Mercyhurst 20–14–216–7–12ndAtlantic Hockey Semifinals
2004–05 Mercyhurst 18–16–414–7–3t-2ndNCAA East Regional semifinals
2005–06 Mercyhurst 22–13–119–8–12ndAtlantic Hockey Semifinals
2006–07 Mercyhurst 9–20–69–15–4t-7thAtlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
2007–08 Mercyhurst 15–19–711–10–75thAtlantic Hockey runner-up
2008–09 Mercyhurst 22–15–317–8–33rdAtlantic Hockey runner-up
2009–10 Mercyhurst 15–20–315–10–34thAtlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
2010–11 Mercyhurst 15–18–412–13–27thAtlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
2011–12 Mercyhurst 20–16–415–8–4t-3rdAtlantic Hockey Semifinals
2012–13 Mercyhurst 19–17–512–11–26thAtlantic Hockey runner-up
2013–14 Mercyhurst 21–13–717–4–61stAtlantic Hockey Semifinals
2014–15 Mercyhurst 19–16–414–11–35thAtlantic Hockey runner-up
2015–16 Mercyhurst 17–15–415–9–44thAtlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
2016–17 Mercyhurst 15–20–411–13–4t-6thAtlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
2017–18 Mercyhurst 21–12–416–8–41stAtlantic Hockey Semifinals
2018–19 Mercyhurst 13–20–511–13–47thAtlantic Hockey first round
2019–20 Mercyhurst 5–29–23–23–211thAtlantic Hockey first round
2020–21 Mercyhurst 8–12–17–8–17thAtlantic Hockey first round
2021–22 Mercyhurst 16–19–410–13–47thAtlantic Hockey Semifinals
2022–23 Mercyhurst 10–23–39–14–38thAtlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
Mercyhurst: 320–347–77253–213–63
Total:598–501–103

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References
  1. "Rick Gotkin". College Hockey News. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  2. "Rick Gotkin". Mercyhurst Lakers. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  3. "Rick Gotkin Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  4. "Timeline: Division I men's college hockey conferences through the years". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  5. "Iona Next to Drop Hockey". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  6. "Mercyhurst Ice Hockey: Rick Gotkin earns 500th win". NCAA.com. 2015-11-07. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  7. "Sisti, Gotkin - five more years!". Mercyhurst University. 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
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