Rick Gotkin
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Rick Gotkin
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| current_title = Head Coach
| current_team = Mercyhurst
| current_conference = Atlantic Hockey
| current_record =
| contract =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|11|07}}
| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = SUNY-Brockport
| player_years1 = 1980–1982
| player_team1 = SUNY-Brockport
| player_positions = Defenseman
| coach_years1 = 1982–1983
| coach_team1 = SUNY-Brockport (Assistant)
| coach_years2 = 1986–1988
| coach_team2 = Rensselaer (Assistant)
| coach_years3 = 1988–Present
| coach_team3 = Mercyhurst
| overall_record = 611–550–111 ({{winpct|611|550|111}})
| tournament_record = 0–3 ({{winpct|0|3}})
| 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
| coaching_records =
}}
Rick Gotkin aka “Richard Leonardo” (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.{{cite news|title=Rick Gotkin|url=http://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/coach/Rick-Gotkin/2319|publisher=College Hockey News|accessdate=2016-09-13}}
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.{{cite news|title=Rick Gotkin|url=http://www.hurstathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=420|publisher=Mercyhurst Lakers|accessdate=2016-09-13}}
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).{{cite news|title=Rick Gotkin Year-by-Year Coaching Record|url=http://www.uscho.com/stats/coach/mid,58/rick-gotkin/|publisher=USCHO.com|accessdate=2016-09-13}} 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.{{cite news|title=Timeline: Division I men's college hockey conferences through the years|url=http://www.uscho.com/faq/conference-timeline/|publisher=USCHO.com|accessdate=2016-09-13}} 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.{{cite news|title=Iona Next to Drop Hockey|url=http://www.uscho.com/2003/03/11/iona-next-to-drop-hockey/|publisher=USCHO.com|accessdate=2016-09-13}}
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.{{cite news|title=Mercyhurst Ice Hockey: Rick Gotkin earns 500th win|url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/article/2015-11-07/mercyhurst-ice-hockey-rick-gotkin-earns-500th-win|publisher=NCAA.com|date=2015-11-07|accessdate=2016-09-13}} Gotkin signed a 5-year extension that will keep him with the team through the 2020 season.{{cite news|title=Sisti, Gotkin - five more years!|url=http://www.mercyhurst.edu/news/sisti-gotkin-five-more-years|publisher=Mercyhurst University|date=2015-09-30|accessdate=2016-09-13}}
Head coaching record
{{CBB Yearly Record Start
|type=coach
|conference=
|postseason=
|poll=no
}}
{{CIH yearly record subhead
|name = Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey
|color = color:white; background:#006633; {{box-shadow border|a|#003366|2px}}
|startyear = 1988
|conflong = ECAC West
|conference = ECAC West (D-III)
|endyear = 1992
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1988–89
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 11–16–1
| conference = 5–12–1
| confstanding =
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1989–90
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 18–8–4
| conference = 16–3–2
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1990–91
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 19–12–1
| conference = 15–3–0
| confstanding =
| postseason = NCAA Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1991–92
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 19–12–0
| conference = 13–8–0
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 67–48–6
| confrecord = 49–26–3
}}
{{CIH yearly record subhead
|name = {{color|white|Mercyhurst Lakers}}
|color = color:white; background:#006633; {{box-shadow border|a|#003366|2px}}
|startyear = 1992
|conflong = ECAC West
|conference = ECAC West (D-II)
|endyear = 1999
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1992–93
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 18–10–0
| conference = 15–3–0
| confstanding =
| postseason = NCAA Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1993–94
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 12–13–0
| conference = 6–4–0
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference tournament
| season = 1994–95
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 23–3–2
| conference = 6–1–1
| confstanding =
| postseason = NCAA Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1995–96
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 18–7–2
| conference = 5–4–0
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1996–97
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 16–9–2
| conference = 5–5–1
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1997–98
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 17–9–1
| conference = 4–5–1
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1998–99
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 16–10–2
| conference = 3–4–1
| confstanding =
| postseason = ECAC West Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 120–61–9
| confrecord = 44–26–4
}}
{{CIH yearly record subhead
|name = {{color|white|Mercyhurst Lakers}}
|color = color:white; background:#006633; {{box-shadow border|a|#003366|2px}}
|startyear = 1999
|conflong = Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
|conference = MAAC
|endyear = 2003
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 1999–00
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 23–10–4
| conference = 19–6–2
| confstanding = 2nd
| postseason = MAAC semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = confboth
| season = 2000–01
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 22–12–2
| conference = 19–6–1
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason = NCAA West Regional Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| season = 2001–02
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 24–10–3
| conference = 21–2–3
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason = MAAC Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = confboth
| season = 2002–03
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 22–13–2
| conference = 19–5–2
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason = NCAA West Regional semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 91–45–11
| confrecord = 78–19–8
}}
{{CIH yearly record subhead
|name = {{color|white|Mercyhurst Lakers}}
|color = color:white; background:#006633; {{box-shadow border|a|#003366|2px}}
|startyear = 2003
|conference = Atlantic Hockey
|endyear = 2024
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2003–04
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 20–14–2
| conference = 16–7–1
| confstanding = 2nd
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference tournament
| season = 2004–05
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 18–16–4
| conference = 14–7–3
| confstanding = t-2nd
| postseason = NCAA East Regional semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2005–06
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 22–13–1
| conference = 19–8–1
| confstanding = 2nd
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2006–07
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 9–20–6
| conference = 9–15–4
| confstanding = t-7th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2007–08
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 15–19–7
| conference = 11–10–7
| confstanding = 5th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2008–09
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 22–15–3
| conference = 17–8–3
| confstanding = 3rd
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2009–10
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 15–20–3
| conference = 15–10–3
| confstanding = 4th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2010–11
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 15–18–4
| conference = 12–13–2
| confstanding = 7th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2011–12
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 20–16–4
| conference = 15–8–4
| confstanding = t-3rd
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2012–13
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 19–17–5
| conference = 12–11–2
| confstanding = 6th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| season = 2013–14
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 21–13–7
| conference = 17–4–6
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2014–15
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 19–16–4
| conference = 14–11–3
| confstanding = 5th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Runner-up
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2015–16
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 17–15–4
| conference = 15–9–4
| confstanding = 4th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2016–17
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 15–20–4
| conference = 11–13–4
| confstanding = t-6th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference
| season = 2017–18
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 21–12–4
| conference = 16–8–4
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2018–19
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 13–20–5
| conference = 11–13–4
| confstanding = 7th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey first round
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2019–20
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 5–29–2
| conference = 3–23–2
| confstanding = 11th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey first round
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2020–21
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 8–12–1
| conference = 7–8–1
| confstanding = 7th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey first round
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2021–22
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 16–19–4
| conference = 10–13–4
| confstanding = 7th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2022–23
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 10–23–3
| conference = 9–14–3
| confstanding = 8th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2023–24
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 9–22–4
| conference = 7–15–4
| confstanding = 9th
| postseason = Atlantic Hockey First Round
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 329–369–81
| confrecord = 260–228–67
}}
{{CIH yearly record subhead
|name = {{color|white|Mercyhurst Lakers}}
|color = color:white; background:#006633; {{box-shadow border|a|#003366|2px}}
|startyear = 2024
|conference = AHA
|conflong = Atlantic Hockey America
|endyear =
|}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2024–25
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 4–27–4
| conference = 4–19–3
| confstanding = 11th
| postseason = AHA First Round
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Mercyhurst
| overall = 4–27–4
| confrecord = 4–19–3
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
|overall = 611–550–111
|conference =
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|50em}}
External links
- {{hockeydb|66521|Rick Gotkin}}
- [http://www.eliteprospects.com/staff.php?staff=1823 Rick Gotkin's profile at Eliteprospects.com]
{{S-start}}
{{S-ach}}
{{succession box | before = Shaun Hannah | title=MAAC Coach of the Year | years = 2000–01| after=Paul Pearl}}
{{succession box | before = Dave Burkholder
Dave Smith | title=Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year | years = 2013–14
2017–18| after=Derek Schooley
Eric Lang}}
{{end}}
{{Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey navbox}}
{{Atlantic Hockey America coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotkin, Rick}}
Category:American ice hockey coaches
Category:Mercyhurst Lakers men's ice hockey coaches
Category:RPI Engineers men's ice hockey coaches
Category:Sports coaches from Brooklyn
Category:Ice hockey people from New York City