St. Cloud State dedicates seat at National Hockey Center to Mack Motzko
The St. Cloud State hockey team dedicated a seat at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center to Mack Motzko Saturday night. Mack was killed in late July in a crash near Orono.
MINNEAPOLIS - The St. Cloud State University men’s hockey team opened its 2021-22 season Saturday night with a 12-2 win over the University of St. Thomas, and the Huskies used the night to pay tribute to Bob Motzko and his family.
St. Cloud State dedicated a seat to the memory of Mack Motzko, his 20-year-old son, who was killed in a car crash near Orono in late July. Bob Motzko and the Gophers were set to open their regular season on Saturday against Alaska, but the game was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Alaska program.
Bob Motzko coached for 13 seasons at St. Cloud State before taking the job at Minnesota. Mack sat in the same seat for every game Bob coached with the Huskies, and that seat was dedicated in Mack’s honor during Saturday’s game. Huskies' players are also wearing helmet stickers to honor Mack this season, as are players with the University of Minnesota football team.
The driver in the late July crash that took Mack’s life, 51-year-old James Blue, has been charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide in the incident. The charges accuse Blue of driving drunk, in excess of 100 miles per hour and indicate he had drugs in his system.
Mack Motzko graduated from St. Cloud Cathedral, and was set to start junior hockey before the crash.