# Rick Gotkin

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.

## 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.
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). 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. 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.
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. Gotkin signed a 5-year extension that will keep him with the team through the 2020 season.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (ECAC West (D-III)) (1988–1992) ||||||
| 1988–89 | Mercyhurst | 11–16–1 | 5–12–1 | | |
| 1989–90 | Mercyhurst | 18–8–4 | 16–3–2 | | ECAC West Semifinals |
| 1990–91 | Mercyhurst | 19–12–1 | 15–3–0 | | NCAA Quarterfinals |
| 1991–92 | Mercyhurst | 19–12–0 | 13–8–0 | | ECAC West Runner-up |
| Mercyhurst: | Mercyhurst: | 67–48–6 | 49–26–3 | | |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (ECAC West (D-II)) (1992–1999) ||||||
| 1992–93 | Mercyhurst | 18–10–0 | 15–3–0 | | NCAA Runner-up |
| 1993–94 | Mercyhurst | 12–13–0 | 6–4–0 | | ECAC West Semifinals |
| 1994–95 | Mercyhurst | 23–3–2 | 6–1–1 | | NCAA Runner-up |
| 1995–96 | Mercyhurst | 18–7–2 | 5–4–0 | | ECAC West Semifinals |
| 1996–97 | Mercyhurst | 16–9–2 | 5–5–1 | | ECAC West Semifinals |
| 1997–98 | Mercyhurst | 17–9–1 | 4–5–1 | | ECAC West Semifinals |
| 1998–99 | Mercyhurst | 16–10–2 | 3–4–1 | | ECAC West Runner-up |
| Mercyhurst: | Mercyhurst: | 120–61–9 | 44–26–4 | | |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (MAAC) (1999–2003) ||||||
| 1999–00 | Mercyhurst | 23–10–4 | 19–6–2 | 2nd | MAAC semifinals |
| 2000–01 | Mercyhurst | 22–12–2 | 19–6–1 | 1st | NCAA West Regional Quarterfinals |
| 2001–02 | Mercyhurst | 24–10–3 | 21–2–3 | 1st | MAAC Runner-up |
| 2002–03 | Mercyhurst | 22–13–2 | 19–5–2 | 1st | NCAA West Regional semifinals |
| Mercyhurst: | Mercyhurst: | 91–45–11 | 78–19–8 | | |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (Atlantic Hockey) (2003–2024) ||||||
| 2003–04 | Mercyhurst | 20–14–2 | 16–7–1 | 2nd | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals |
| 2004–05 | Mercyhurst | 18–16–4 | 14–7–3 | t-2nd | NCAA East Regional semifinals |
| 2005–06 | Mercyhurst | 22–13–1 | 19–8–1 | 2nd | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals |
| 2006–07 | Mercyhurst | 9–20–6 | 9–15–4 | t-7th | Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals |
| 2007–08 | Mercyhurst | 15–19–7 | 11–10–7 | 5th | Atlantic Hockey Runner-up |
| 2008–09 | Mercyhurst | 22–15–3 | 17–8–3 | 3rd | Atlantic Hockey Runner-up |
| 2009–10 | Mercyhurst | 15–20–3 | 15–10–3 | 4th | Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals |
| 2010–11 | Mercyhurst | 15–18–4 | 12–13–2 | 7th | Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals |
| 2011–12 | Mercyhurst | 20–16–4 | 15–8–4 | t-3rd | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals |
| 2012–13 | Mercyhurst | 19–17–5 | 12–11–2 | 6th | Atlantic Hockey Runner-up |
| 2013–14 | Mercyhurst | 21–13–7 | 17–4–6 | 1st | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals |
| 2014–15 | Mercyhurst | 19–16–4 | 14–11–3 | 5th | Atlantic Hockey Runner-up |
| 2015–16 | Mercyhurst | 17–15–4 | 15–9–4 | 4th | Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals |
| 2016–17 | Mercyhurst | 15–20–4 | 11–13–4 | t-6th | Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals |
| 2017–18 | Mercyhurst | 21–12–4 | 16–8–4 | 1st | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals |
| 2018–19 | Mercyhurst | 13–20–5 | 11–13–4 | 7th | Atlantic Hockey first round |
| 2019–20 | Mercyhurst | 5–29–2 | 3–23–2 | 11th | Atlantic Hockey first round |
| 2020–21 | Mercyhurst | 8–12–1 | 7–8–1 | 7th | Atlantic Hockey first round |
| 2021–22 | Mercyhurst | 16–19–4 | 10–13–4 | 7th | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals |
| 2022–23 | Mercyhurst | 10–23–3 | 9–14–3 | 8th | Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals |
| 2023–24 | Mercyhurst | 9–22–4 | 7–15–4 | 9th | Atlantic Hockey First Round |
| Mercyhurst: | Mercyhurst: | 329–369–81 | 260–228–67 | | |
| Mercyhurst Lakers (AHA) (2024–present) ||||||
| 2024–25 | Mercyhurst | 4–27–4 | 4–19–3 | 11th | AHA First Round |
| Mercyhurst: | Mercyhurst: | 4–27–4 | 4–19–3 | | |
| Total: | Total: | 611–550–111 | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||