The Sioux Falls Stampede on Tuesday drafted the oldest son of the club’s first coach, Bob Motzko, who is now the head coach at the University of Minnesota.
The Herd used their 14th round pick (out of 24 rounds) on Mack Motzko, who moved back to St. Cloud for his senior season after spending the prior year in Minneapolis suburb Minnetonka, where the family moved after his father left St. Cloud State to take over the Gophers.
Bob Motzko guided the Stampede to back-to-back playoff appearances in the team’s first two seasons starting in 1999, sporting a record of 77-28-6. He left to become a Gophers assistant in 2001 and in 2005 took the reigns at SCSU, leading the Huskies to five NCAA Tournament appearances in 13 seasons, including the 2013 Frozen Four.
So, it was in St. Cloud where Mack spent most of his youth and high school hockey career. He scored 13 goals and 18 assists in 25 regular season games as a sophomore. As a junior at Minnetonka, he had four goals and eight assists in 25 games.
Bob Motzko told the Duluth Tribune that Mack enjoyed his junior season in Minnetonka but, wanted to go where he considered home. Mack still lived with the family in Minnetonka and made the 50-minute commute to and from St. Cloud most days for hockey.
He had his best high school season as a senior, ranking third on his team in goals (27), assists (30) and points (57) in 24 games. He had three straight games with a hat trick (Jan. 27-30) during a seven-game stretch from Jan. 25-Feb. 8 in which he had 15 goals and 10 assists and scored two goals in the Crusaders’ section championship win.
In the Minnesota Class A state tournament, Mack posted a goal and an assist in an 11-2 quarterfinal win, but was not in the scoring summary of a 6-2 semifinal loss to Hermantown.
To check out the rest of the Herd’s 2020 draft picks, click here.
