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| McLeod with former MSU coach Troy Jutting/WCHA photo |
The Fort Frances, Ontario, native and former Minnesota Duluth player oversaw a highly successful era that included eight WCHA teams winning national championships and 10 players winning Hobey Baker awards, a lucrative Final Five event for the last 13 years as well as the advent of a women's hockey hockey. It was also under McLeod's watch that Minnesota State was admitted to the league in 1999.
"The opportunity to get to know and to work alongside so many outstanding coaches and administrators, to become acquainted with so many marvelous student-athletes, and watch our sport grow and prosper has been a blessing," McLeod said in a statement issued by the WCHA. "I will forever be a fan."
"The opportunity to get to know and to work alongside so many outstanding coaches and administrators, to become acquainted with so many marvelous student-athletes, and watch our sport grow and prosper has been a blessing," McLeod said in a statement issued by the WCHA. "I will forever be a fan."
However, the era's final years included with the flight of eight programs from the league, including two to the Big Ten and six to start up the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. He helped piece the league back together, bringing in the teams leftover from the now-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Conference and Alabama Huntsville.
In a WCHA statement, Minnesota State president Richard Davenport, chair of the WCHA board of directors said: "We will forever be grateful for the commitment, loyalty and leadership of commissioner McLeod. His integrity, work ethic, unselfishness and enthusiasm for both the WCHA and the sport of college hockey shine through in everything he does. Bruce has led the league to tremendous successes over his 20 years, all the while keeping the focus on the member institutions, student-athletes and staffs. We also are indebted to him for the tremendous efforts and leadership he put forth during the recent transition period in college hockey, where he was instrumental in making certain the WCHA remained a leader and a competitive and successful organization. We wish him the best in retirement."
Read the full WCHA press release here.
1 comment:
Did anybody else know that former Maverick, Mick Berge, is now an assistant coach with the USHL's Lincoln Stars? He played junior hockey for the Stars, but I had no idea he was back with them as an assistant coach. Pretty cool.
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