A Common Bond
Youth hockey parents coach their children, but at the collegiate level it rarely happens. The last two coaches at the University of Minnesota, however, have stood behind their sons.

By Glen Andresen

The dramatic turning point of the movie “Miracle,” takes place when Herb Brooks, the legendary coach of the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey team is putting his team through a rigorous skate. He mercilessly pushes his team to the brink of exhaustion following a dismal performance against Norway in an exhibition game.

Screaming at his team in a dark arena, Brooks shouts at his players about how the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back.
Of course, Brooks never had to coach a player whose name on the back of his jersey was the same as his. Two coaches that followed him at the University of Minnesota, however, know exactly what it’s like.

Current Minnesota head coach Don Lucia is coaching his son, Tony, who is enjoying a solid freshman season. Lucia’s predecessor at the head Gopher post, Doug Woog, coached his son, Dan, for four full seasons at the U.

The odds are that many youth games in Minnesota involve at least one coach with a son or daughter on the team.

As the youngsters become teenagers and young adults, the fathers tend to hand over the reins to longtime coaches who are being paid, but aren’t there to coach their kids.

That means moments like the one that happened on March 1, 1997, are extremely rare. The Gophers captured the MacNaughton Cup with a 7-3 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on the final day of the regular season. On the Mariucci Arena ice, Dan Woog celebrated on the ice with his father in one of the final games of his hockey career.

“That was a pretty key moment,” recalled Dan “Boomer” Woog. “That’s something I’ll cherish, knowing that something like that doesn’t happen too often for a father and son.”

It doesn’t happen often because not many players end up playing for their fathers at a college level. It’s a level where the top hockey players from around the country flock to schools in search of playing time, a national title and a chance to prove they can play at an even more advanced level. Even college players who do have a father coaching somewhere will often opt to go elsewhere to avoid the potential high expectations and complaints of favoritism.

They’re avoiding some potentially awkward situations at the rink, on the bus, or even at the coach’s house.

For example, when Tony Lucia was researching the schools that he might end up playing for, his dad sat him down and told him something that he may not have wanted to hear.

“I told him that I wasn’t going to recruit him,” said Don. “I wanted him to see what else was out there, and he had to make a decision that he felt was best for him.”

That didn’t matter to Tony, because there was one thing that the other schools in the country couldn’t offer that Minnesota could — a chance to play with his father.

“The bottom line for him, which I didn’t learn until later, was that his dream was always to play for his dad,” explained Don, who played football for his head coach dad in high school.

Lucia now has the opportunity to watch his son’s hockey career progress while being on the ice and in the locker room with him. It certainly is special, but it can pose sticky situations as well.

With other players battling for playing time, it can be difficult for the father and son if as a player the son is taking someone else’s ice. That hasn’t been an issue thus far, because with a solid showing in the first half of his freshman year, Tony has proved he belongs.

“I felt comfortable that he was good enough to play here,” said Lucia. “I think all in all, it’s been a good fit for him right now.”

The Woog family encouraged Don to welcome his son into the Gopher family. After all, it worked for them, although they acknowledged some of the feelings involved.

“It’s hard to see fault in your own kid sometimes, I don’t care what you do,” explained Doug Woog. “You want to see your kid do well, and get that feeling of internal encouragement. I think kids respect effort and intelligence. Not many players or coaches like dumb players. I think Tony’s got those things going for him.”

Dan Woog found a good fit, but it wasn’t because he was a highly sought-after recruit with his choice of schools. Woog wasn’t an offensive powerhouse, and unlike Tony Lucia, he wasn’t a jaw-dropping playmaker. Yet, similar to Tony, Dan fit right in with his Gopher teammates.

“He had a lot of basic skills, and he kind of had a coach’s son mentality about the game, but not real big and not explosive,” said Doug of his son. “People who watched him play at the ‘U’ here, will come up to me now and say, ‘Boy, I like the way that kid plays. He plays like your son. He plays really hard.’ Minnesota fans like somebody who gives it their all every shift, and every play.”

He added, “He kind of just fit in. Everybody liked ‘Boomer.’

Doug Woog shutters to think about what it would have been like had his son been a talented underachiever as opposed to a team player that overachieved on every shift.

“We didn’t have to deal with that,” said Doug thankfully. “He had limitations, but he cared and he played his heart out.”

The coach/father says everything was hunky dory. The player is in a different situation. He’s the player who is a teammate and friend of someone who may be unhappy with playing time, or may have gotten chewed out in front of the team after a bonehead play.

Boomer never had a problem with it.

“There were times when a player might complain to another about not playing on the bus or whatever,” he said. “But that stuff doesn’t bother me, and I realized the situation I was in. I certainly didn’t hold any ill feelings toward those people. I understand.”

As he recalled the days of playing for his dad, and realizing his dream of becoming a Gopher, Boomer can’t help but get emotional.

“It still just means so much to me, and I feel so much pride,” he said not only of his days as a Gopher, but his time with his father. “I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity, and I remember thinking during the anthems, ‘this is awesome.’ I had chills running down my spine and you can’t help but think about grandma and grandpa and how proud they would be to see this.”

It’s certain that they would be proud, considering their son and grandson are not just representing the name on the front of the jersey, but also the one on the back.