Rick Gotkin enters his 37th season as head coach of the Mercyhurst University men’s hockey team. Since coming to Erie in 1988, Gotkin has spent more than three decades instilling a winning tradition in the men’s hockey program. Gotkin, the only coach in NCAA history to take a team to the NCAA Tournament at all three levels, has guided the Lakers to nearly 600 wins, six NCAA tournament appearances and five league championships. His teams have averaged 18 wins a season and have made the postseason in 34 of the 36 years he has been at Mercyhurst.
The 2023-24 season was one in which Gotkin reached another major milestone with the Lakers as he reached 600 wins for his career. The long-time head coach for Mercyhurst was able to reach the feat on November 11th in a 2-0 win on the road against RIT, becoming just the 16th coach in Division I hisotry to reach that mark while being the seventh to do so at the same school for each.
In the 2022-23 season, Gotkin recorded his 1200th game behind the bench during a 7-3 win over Army on the road. This success also established Gotkin as the longest-tenured active coach in all of NCAA Hockey and only the third in DI to reach this milestone, joining Red Berenson of Michigan and Jack Parker of Boston College.
In 2022, Gotkin began his appointment with the the NCAA DI Championship Committee, beginning his five-year commitment to the committee to help ensure the quality of the NCAA DI tournament, selecting destinations and teams for the tournament.
In August of 2017, Gotkin was appointed as a member of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee. Where he served a four-year appointment which began on Sept. 1, 2017.
In June of 2015, Gotkin was inducted into the Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Gotkin coached the Lakers to the Atlantic Hockey regular- season championship in 2017-18. Mercyhurst finished the season with a 21-12-4 record and had non-conference wins over No. 17 Penn State and No. 9 Wisconsin.
In 2015-16, the Lakers had an overall record of 17-15-4 and a conference record of 15-9-4. They defeated non-conference Colgate and Ohio State in the process. The Lakers reached the AHA Quarterfinals, before falling to RIT. Gotkin recorded his 500th win during Atlantic Hockey play against Air Force on Saturday November 7. After the season end, three of Gotkin’s players signed professional contracts, one being with the Washington Capitals of the NHL. In 2014-15, the Lakers won 19 games and defeated non-conference opponents Merrimack and Colgate in the process. Mercyhurst also played to a 2-2 overtime tie against Ohio State in early January at the Erie Insurance Arena. The Lakers reached the championship game of the Atlantic Hockey Conference playoffs before bowing to RIT. After the season, eight of Gotkin’s players signed professional contracts while 18 were named to the Atlantic Hockey conference All-Academic Team.
During the 2012-13 season, Gotkin became the 26th coach in NCAA history, at any division, to record 450 career wins when the Lakers defeated Army in game two of the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) playoffs. He guided the Lakers to a 19-17-5 overall record and helped Mercyhurst to the AHA title game for the first time since 2009.
During his tenure, Gotkin has produced seven All Americans, four ECAC Players of the Year, three ECAC Rookies of the Year, five MAAC First-Team selections, an AHA Player-of-the-Year, 24 AHA All-Conference selections, three AHA Rookies of the Year and one AHA Defenseman of the Year. In 2001, Gotkin was also a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award.
Gotkin has also been a featured speaker at many USA Hockey coaching clinics and symposiums. He has served on the Hobey Baker Award Committee and currently serves on five other national committees: the American Hockey Coaches Association Division I Committee, the US College Hockey Online.com National Poll Committee, the Division I East region advisory committee, and the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine College Hockey Poll.
In 1995, the varsity hockey team won the Sister Rita Panciera Award given annually to the Mercyhurst College group that “best exemplifies the values of mercy”. In March of 1998, the team was honored again, this time by the Erie Achievement Center for its work with the disabled.
Gotkin is married to the former Diane Kaminski of Erie, Pa. They are the parents of two children: Lindsey Ann was born September 2, 1991, and Brandon Reed arrived April 1, 1995. Lindsey, a Mercyhurst alum and four-year member of the Laker golf team, earned her law degree at DePaul and is now an attorney in Washington, D.C., while Brandon, a former member of the Laker men’s ice hockey team, is now coaching with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL.
