The State News

Mason's next milestone is 800 victories

EAST LANSING - If you have 800 of anything, that's a lot.

If you have $800, you can buy a great deal of food, electronic equipment or whatever. If you score 800 on each half of the SAT, you can gain entrance into virtually any school in the country.

If you have 800 career victories, you have more victories than Michigan State hockey coach Ron Mason has.

For now.

FILE PHOTO Michigan State hockey coach Ron Mason can reach the 800-victory plateau by guiding the Spartans to victory in one of their two games against Michigan this weekend.

Mason, the coaching guru of college hockey, has 799 victories under his belt - far and away more than any other coach, active or retired. The next closest is Bemidji State's Bob Peter, who had 700 entering the season.

The head Spartan can reach the 800-win milestone with one little victory over Michigan this weekend. But he knows a victory over Michigan really isn't ever "little."

"It's something the crowd looks forward to, as do the coaches and players," Mason said. "It's the highlight game each year on your home schedule."

As important as this weekend is for both teams and their seasons, there are few things that Mason hasn't seen or hasn't experienced as a coach. For 32 seasons, Mason has been the standard of excellence in coaching. On March 12, 1993, Mason passed former Boston College coach Len Ceglarski with a 6-5 CCHA playoff victory over Kent to become the winningest coach in college hockey with 674 victories.

A year later - on March 18, 1994 - he became the winningest coach in North America, surpassing Alberta coach Clare Drake with 698. The list of accolades for the coaching legend continues: a record 17 NCAA tournament appearances, four regular season CCHA titles and seven tournament titles with the Spartans, a 1992 national coach of the year award and an NCAA championship in 1986.

In recent years, though, Michigan coach Red Berenson has overshadowed Mason's success. The Wolverines have made five NCAA tournament appearances in the past six seasons. While the majority of the 1980s belonged to Mason, the 1990s have belonged to Berenson.

"I've been here 19 years so I've seen both sides of the coin," Mason said. "I look back in the middle '80s and we were a dominant team then. So it doesn't surprise me that Michigan's program is where it's at (now). They should be good and they definitely went through an era where they just had strong teams for the last four years.

"They were able to keep their team intact, and that's the critical issue."

The Blyth, Ontario, native played college hockey at St. Lawrence. After graduating in 1964, he promptly headed for Sault Ste. Marie. Lake Superior did not have a hockey team at the time, so Mason started his own - from scratch.

"I still feel a real part of Lake Superior because I started the first team in '66," Mason said. "Starting a program from the grass-roots level, involving the community - I still have a lot of great friends there."

Mason led the Lakers to an NAIA championship in 1971-72, and departed to Bowling Green after the following season. He coached the Falcons from 1973 to 1979, and during his six seasons, he earned national attention - especially after the 1978-79 season, when he won a then-NCAA record 37 victories.

"I took over a program at Bowling Green and brought it to national prominence, and I have a lot of friends there, also," Mason said. "But it's not like starting the first program"
like at Lake Superior.

But for most Michigan and Michigan State hockey fans, Mason is and has always been a Spartan.

"And here, now that I've been here 19 years, I've pretty well established myself in both the athletics and in the community," Mason said. "So I feel a real part of this mid-Michigan area."

At Michigan State, Mason is 510-347-63 coaching the green and white. In 1986, he captured his only NCAA title when the Spartans defeated Harvard in the title game.

And at the onset of this season, expectations were as high as ever in East Lansing. For the first time in nearly four seasons, No. 3 Michigan State is favored to win the CCHA.

Both the preseason coaches' poll and the media poll picked the Spartans to finish first in the conference.

But Mason has enough experience to not believe what others predict. He voted for Miami (Ohio) to finish first, followed by Michigan.

"We set a national record with wins on a team that didn't even make it to the final four," Mason said. "I've been there before. You've got to take each and every series one at a time. I certainly like to think that this team is a better one than we've had in a while. They deserve it on what they've done, how hard they've worked. But that's no guarantee."

For an example of sure things failing, Mason doesn't have to look very far. Michigan State's closest rivals were in a similar position last season, but fell short.

"Last year, I thought Michigan had by far and away the best team in the country - I still believe that," Mason said. "But they didn't win the national title."

02-19-98