When teams succeed the players are the first to be congratulated and put on posters, but when they fail it is usually the coach’s fault.

DU Head Coach George Gwozdecky has coached in the college ranks for over 25 years and is in his 12th season at the University of Denver. He has a career 338-255-52 (.564) record in 16 head coaching seasons.

“He is a fun guy. He brings a great atmosphere to the dressing room and he is just one of the guys that you love to have as coach,” said senior Gabe Gauthier.

Gwozdecky grew up in the frozen tundra of Thunder Bay, Ontario where at the age of 4, his dad took him to the frozen lakes to learn how to skate.

Just like any other young kid, Gwozdecky was a big NHL fan and wanted to grow up to play for the Detroit Red Wings, admiring his favorite player, Gordie Howe.

“I think the speed of the game, the physical nature of the game, the emotion of the game and the intensity of the game for it to be played at to be successful combines for the greatest sport in the world in my mind,” said Gwozdecky

Gwozdecky played junior hockey in Thunder Bay and looked at going to Minnesota-Duluth or Wisconsin, but choose to go to Wisconsin to play hockey.

“I liked the atmosphere surrounding the hockey program, the enthusiasm around the program and it seemed to me that there was a better opportunity for me to get a chance to play there,” he said.

Gwozdecky played four years of hockey for the Badgers and helped lead them to a NCAA championship in 1977, his junior year.

Gwozdecky first heard of Denver in his days playing for the Badgers and both teams being members of the WCHA.

“When I was a young kid growing up in Thunder Bay, one of the guys four or five years older than me played at Denver, and he was a phenomenal player,” he said.

Gwozdecky graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Wisconsin and then went on to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where he got his masters in education. Also at UW-River Falls, Gwozdecky began his college career as a graduate assistant and then moved up to head coach.

He said, “I think that was as important of a time period in my coaching career as there ever has been.”

As head coach at River Falls, Gwozdecky learned all of the ropes of being in a college athletics department.

At such a small college as River Falls, he did everything from being the arena director to being the equipment manager to doing most of the recruiting.

“It was invaluable to me, because it allowed me to see exactly what you have to do and how much work there is in being these different positions. I was fortunate to be young and single and I loved what I was doing,” he said.

Gwozdecky would often be in his office until midnight and then walk down to the coach’s locker room and spent the night in there and then walk back up to his office in the morning. In three years at UW-River Falls he compiled a 67-30-2 record and won a NAIA Championship in 1983.

After UW-River Falls, Gwozdecky moved to Michigan State where he was an assistant coach and helped lead the Spartans to a NCAA Championship in 1986.

He said, “The first time you win a championship it is always the most memorable. I have been fortunate to have been with teams that have won championships.”

After his stint with Michigan State, Gwozdecky moved to Miami of Ohio where he started his first division one job.

At the time he was hired, the Red Hawks were at the bottom of the CCHA and considered an after thought of making the NCAA tourney.

At Miami, Gwozdecky led the team to back-to-back CCHA titles in 1991-1992 and 1992-1993 and compiled a 83-94-19 record over five seasons. In the 1992-1993 season, Miami made the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history and Gwozdecky was named the national coach of the year.

“I think the one hockey memory that I cherish the most is the championship of the CCHA that we won at Miami. With how many obstacles those young kids had to overcome, we were considered one of the has nots in the CCHA at the time,” he said.

The team did most of its recruiting up in Thunder Bay and would take the eight hour drive after games on Saturday and would drive back Monday morning.

“Those young guys that we first recruited that helped us win a championship, they took the term ‘if you don’t have the best of everything, make the best of everything you have.’ They took that term to heart,” said Gwozdecky.

The athletics director at the time, Jack McDonnell, asked Gwozdecky to come look at Denver, but he said no. McDonnell asked again a few months later and finally Gwozdecky said yes and fell in love with the campus.

In his first year at Denver, Gwozdecky once again turned around a program that was at the bottom of the conference. He took the position as head coach after the team finished ninth the year before. In his first year as head coach, the Pioneers made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tourney and Gwozdecky was named WCHA coach of the year.

None of the players on that team had ever been part of a winning season, and when selection Sunday came, it was down to the last of 12 teams to be selected and Denver was still not on the board.

“The 2004 national championship here was thrilling. I recall our first year here in 1994-1995, and we had a lot of guys on that team that were on teams that really struggled. The kids advanced to the final five for the first time ever,” said Gwozdecky.

He was back in Thunder Bay to care for his sick mother and watched the reactions of his players on the news when they were selected and he could not have been more proud.

He said, “They were almost jumping through the roof they were so excited. And it was probably the first time I realized what an accomplishment and memory it would be for them.”

Since then, Gwozdecky has most recently won back to back NCAA Championships with the Pioneers and will arguably go down as one of the best coaches in NCAA hockey history. “Its always been more important for me to enjoy the feelings of others, enjoy watching others celebrate and walk across the stage on graduation,” said Gwozdecky.Gwozdecky has no plans for the NHL anytime soon and loves coaching at the college level, especially at Denver. “He is such a great coach because he gives you an opportunity to play as a freshman,” said Gauthier.He added, “Most schools don’t let their freshman play as much. He brings out the best in you no matter what position you are or what you do.” Paul Stastny, Ryan Dingle, Gauthier and Peter Mannino are all important to winning a championship. But the man behind the bench is equally important. With two national championsips, it is evident Gwozdecky done a great job making the University of Denver one of the premier hockey programs in the country.”I always went into coaching with the idea that I really wanted to help, I wanted to pass on what I had learned, I felt that I had some things to give back to the game.”