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 season, is a revival of an NCAA Division I men's hockey conference whose original version operated from 1971 to 2013 before folding in the wake of massive conference realignment in the sport.

Coaching career Lucia is best known for his 19-season tenure as head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's hockey team (1999–2018). He twice led the Golden Gophers to the NCAA national championship title, in 2002 and 2003. Under Lucia, the Golden Gophers won four MacNaughton Cups (awarded to the WCHA's regular season champion), the Broadmoor Trophy three times (awarded to the WCHA playoff champion), He is one of 10 coaches to record more than 600 NCAA men's ice hockey wins, and one of four to win national titles in consecutive years. Lucia graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1981, where he played defense for the school's hockey team. Lucia won the first 4 Big Ten titles, but could only garner 1 conference tournament championship (2015) and despite the success in the Big Ten, Minnesota was not considered a contender for the NCAA title most years.

Minnesota finished 5th in 2018 and with many of the fans unhappy with the direction of the program, Lucia resigned after 19 years behind the bench.

Personal life Lucia and his wife Joyce have four children.

Both his sons were drafted in the NHL entry draft. Tony was selected in the 6th round of the 2005 NHL entry draft by the San Jose Sharks and Mario was selected in the 2nd round of the 2011 NHL entry draft by the Minnesota Wild.

Head coaching record