Chris Solari

Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING - Among the pantheon of Michigan State’s legendary coaches, Ron Mason ranks right there with Biggie Munn, Duffy Daugherty and Tom Izzo. His full head of silver hair, fit physique and bronzed tan provided the profile of a larger-than-life figure, one of the biggest and most well-known in college hockey history.

Mason collapsed and died early Monday morning in Haslett of an apparent heart attack. The former Spartan coach and athletic director was 76.

“I’m still stunned,” said current MSU hockey coach Tom Anastos, who played for Mason from 1981 to 1985. “Obviously, the loss of coach Mason comes as a huge shock to all of us. You’d always see him bouncing around with energy and with his intensity. To think we’re not going to see that is hard for me to get my arms around.”

The news was first reported by mihockeynow.com. Funeral services are pending.

The winningest college hockey coach when he retired from coaching in 2002, Mason led the Spartans to the 1986 NCAA national championship and had a 924-380-83 record over 36 career seasons between Lake Superior State, Bowling Green and MSU. His win total was surpassed by Boston College's Jerry York – Mason’s successor at Bowling Green – in late 2012.

After surviving his only two losing seasons in East Lansing during his first two years at MSU, Mason turned the Spartans into a college hockey juggernaut, going 635-270-69 in 23 seasons. He led them to the NCAA tournament 19 times, won seven CCHA regular-season titles and 10 league post-season tourney titles. The Spartans produced 35 All-Americans and more than 50 future NHL players under Mason, who was named the 1992 American Hockey Coaches Association’s coach of the year and the CCHA’s top coach seven times.

Mason was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and is a hall-of-famer at all three schools at which he coached, as well as at his alma mater St. Lawrence in upstate New York.

“The Xs and Os, the preparation, the program organization, just his details on a day-to-day basis were unbelievable,” said Lake Superior State coach Damon Whitten, who played for Mason at MSU from 1997 to 2001. “I didn’t always realize it then. But many years later, you look back, and it really makes so much sense about the way he ran his program. It was a big piece of why he was so successful as a coach.”

Mason retired from coaching to become MSU's athletic director after the 2001-02 season until Dec. 31, 2007. The school's athletic complex began to transform and grow during his tenure, with the west side expansion project at Spartan Stadium completed in 2006. He also took a lead role in the planning, fundraising and early phases of the building of the Skandalaris Football center and the renovations at Old College Field.

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“Coach Mason defined what it means to be a Spartan,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said in a release. “His relentless quest for excellence on and off the rink made everyone around him better. He truly created a Spartan hockey family in which the focus was on collective success rather than worrying about who received credit. That drive translated into great accomplishments on the ice and in life for all those fortunate enough to work with or play for him.”

Mason also helped hire his successor Rick Comley, who led the Spartans to the 2007 NCAA hockey national title. As the basketball program thrived under Tom Izzo, the football program saw its share of issues in the 2000s. Mason fired Bobby Williams during the 2002 season, then hired and subsequently fired John L. Smith in 2006. It was Mason who officially hired Mark Dantonio as football coach and Suzy Merchant as women’s basketball coach in 2007 before turning over the athletic director chair to Mark Hollis in January 2008.

“He was a proud Spartan. He was very passionate about it,” Hollis said in his office Monday. “When the Spartans weren’t doing so good, he was as red in the face as he was during a hockey game. Yet he had so much pride about this place and the people who are here. He cared about everybody. And if he didn’t, he’d tell you – and I gotta respect that. That’s’ what you want to have, somebody that’s straightforward.”

Born Jan. 14, 1940 in Blyth, Ontario, Mason is survived by his wife, Marion, daughters Tracey and Cindy, and grandsons Tyler and Travis Walsh. Mason and his wife split time between Haslett and their home in Florida. Travis Walsh finished his MSU playing career in March.

After graduating from St. Lawrence in 1964, Mason helped create the hockey program at Lake Superior State in 1966, and Whitten said he and his former coach were planning a 50th anniversary celebration in recent months. He led the Lakers to the NAIA national title in 1972 and finished as runners-up three other times, then helped get them into the fledgling Central Collegiate Hockey Association in 1972.

Mason moved to Bowling Green in 1973 and turned the Falcons into a dynamo, winning three CCHA regular-season and playoff titles in his six seasons before arriving at MSU to replace Amo Bessone for the 1979-80 season.

The Spartans would go on to seven Frozen Four appearances under Mason, with the national title 30 years ago his crowning on-ice achievement.

“When (Joe Kearney) hired Ron, Joe took a big risk,” said Hollis, who worked for both Kearney and Mason during their athletic director tenures. “He wasn’t the natural choice. In fact, Amo Bessone and (Kearney) had a little run-in as far as, ‘Is this the right guy?’ They had an AD who was from the West who didn’t really know the sport of hockey, and here he brought in this long-haired, radical guy.

“With that risk came unbelievable success, and that’s what I saw.”

Anastos assistant Tom Newton played for Mason at Bowling Green, then followed his mentor to East Lansing as an assistant coach. He spent time Monday morning with the family in Haslett as they tried to come to grips with the news.

Through his tears, Newton – who was 13 years old when he met Mason – said the legendary coach “lived every day to its fullest” and called him “a very competitive guy that loved life and loved the game of hockey.”

“He had a lot of impact on a lot of people,” Newton said. “It’s going to be a hard day for the Spartan hockey family. But one of his things was to be strong and keep going on. We’ll certainly do that and do it in his honor.”

Detroit Red Wings' Jeff Blashill 'in awe' of late Ron Mason

Mason was just on Lansing radio last week, talking about the death of Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe:

The Associated Press contributed.