St. Louis — MSU head coach Rick Comley has been picked apart by the media, fans and the public ever since he was named Ron Mason's successor in 2002.
He has dealt with two seasons in which the team failed to meet lofty preseason expectations, ultimately falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid.
But with Saturday's 3-1 victory over Boston College to give MSU its third national championship in program history, Comley has met those lofty expectations, silencing the critics in the process.
"I want to publicly thank Ron Mason," Comley said of MSU's athletic director. "These last five years have not been easy. But I knew when I came to Michigan State, I thought his greatest strength was his friendship and loyalty.
"To be able to do now what he's done in this same program means an awful lot to me, so I thank him very much."
With the win, Comley became the third coach in college hockey history to win a championship with two different schools. Comley won his first title behind the bench of Northern Michigan in 1991.
Mason told ESPN after the game that he knew Comley would succeed.
"I thought he'd be a winner like he was at Northern Michigan," he said.
"No question, he's proven that now and shut up any of the critics that thought, 'Oh, well, he couldn't do this or that.' I'm pretty darn happy for him, that's for sure."
It was family on the mind for Comley as the final seconds ticked off the clock. After making his way onto the ice to join the postgame celebration, he turned to the stands and signaled to his wife, Diane.
His son, Rick Comley Jr., was already on the ice celebrating.
"Words can't describe how proud of my father I am," said Comley Jr., who assisted his father in his first four years at MSU and is now an assistant coach with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League.
"I tear up thinking about it. Just to see what he's gone through, just the struggle, getting accepted. Like he'll say, he never wavered. He always believed in this team, this group of kids, and that's his proudest moment. He just kept battling through. That's the trademark he's passed onto this team," he said.
Comley is joined on the MSU bench by assistant coaches Brian Renfrew and Tom Newton.
Newton coached alongside Mason in three Frozen Fours (1992, 1998, 2001) but never saw the teams advance past the national semifinal.
MSU volunteer assistant Rob Woodward played in the 1992 Frozen Four but wasn't able to win it all.
"We got close in '92," Woodward said.
"We got to the Frozen Four, and that was it in the four years I've played here. For us to get here again. … I'm just a small part of the team, but just to be a part of it and to be back here."
