If the rumor mill is on track, MSU has apparently lost its top candidate to replace Spartan hockey head coach Ron Mason.
Denver head coach George Gwozdecky held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to announce a long-term contract extension to stay with the Pioneers. He was believed to be the top choice to take over the Spartan program when Mason becomes MSU athletics director July 1.
Mason will hand pick his successor when the Spartan hockey season ends.
“I have no intention to coach at any other institution,” Gwozdecky said from Denver. “Since the rumors began, I have stated that Denver is the only place I wanted to be.
“I want to reconfirm to my current players and future players that I will be here to see them graduate. I’m honored and proud to be the Pioneer hockey coach.”
Denver (24-5-1) is the top-ranked team in the nation in this week’s USCHO.com poll and is in first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Gwozdecky, 48, has been with the Pioneers for eight seasons. He also spent four years as head coach of Miami (Ohio).
Pioneer officials described the extension as a pro-active move to keep Gwozdecky in Denver and out of the gossip circuit.
Gwozdecky was an assistant coach with the Spartans from 1984-89, including MSU’s last national championship team in 1986.
He also was rumored to be a candidate to replace the retiring Jeff Sauer at Wisconsin, his alma mater. He said speculation about his future was harming his players.
“There was a distraction that probably affected some players and we wanted to make sure that wasn’t an excuse as we approach the most exciting time of the season,” Gwozdecky said. “These rumors had a huge effect on our family for a short while, too.”
Gwozdecky denied having any formal talks with MSU or Wisconsin. He acknowledged that he talked to Mason soon after the MSU coach made his decision to become athletics director, but he said he was not offered the job.
He also never viewed himself as being in line for the Spartan post, although last month he called it, “maybe the top job in college hockey.”
“I have great friends and family members that live in East Lansing, Michigan, and I have deep roots as an alumnus of Wisconsin,” Gwozdecky said. “I have really strong feelings about both institutions and their hockey programs.
“But it’s tough to seriously consider something if you’re never a serious candidate. I mean, I’ve never seriously considered my candidacy for president of the United States.
“I was rumored to be a candidate for the positions, but I think that was more on the message boards and chat rooms than in reality. My whole concern and whole focus the whole time was on this team.”
Mason said he wasn’t surprised to learn of Gwozdecky’s new contract because he knows how much his former assistant loves his situation at Denver.
“It was kind of neat that the Wisconsin job opened before I had to make a decision here,” Mason said. “When the Wisconsin job opened up, I talked to him and he said it would be really hard for him to leave Denver.
“He was being mentioned as a candidate for here, and rightly so - he has all the credentials. But I’ve known him and his wife, Bonnie, for a long time, and I knew darn well how much they like it out there.”
Gwozdecky’s long-term deal scrambles the picture for the MSU job. Favorites seem to be former Spartan players and current NHL assistants Kelly Miller and Newell Brown, former Lake Superior State coach Jeff Jackson or MSU assistants Tom Newton and Dave McAuliffe, but Mason may also be sitting on a few surprise candidates.
