Mike Sertich

Mike Sertich, a Duluth hockey icon who devoted 18 years to lifting the fledgling University of Minnesota Duluth hockey program to the elite status it still enjoys, died Thursday at the Solvay Hospice House in Duluth after a two-year battle against pancreatic cancer. He was 77.
Born January 8, 1947 in Virginia, Minnesota, "Sertie" never lost track of his roots, just as he never passed up the chance to poke fun at himself. He played football, baseball and hockey at Virginia High School and then played as a part-time defenseman from 1966-69 at UMD, where he joked that he scored one goal in his career, "and I still have the shinpad I scored it with."
After playing three seasons at UMD, Sertich joined Grand Rapids High School coach Gus Hendrickson as assistant, and they led the Indians to state prominence. When Hendrickson left to accept the UMD hockey job in 1975, he brought Sertich with him as assistant and top recruiter. The process of building UMD became heavy midway through the 1981-82 season, and Sertich resigned in midseason. But when Hendrickson was fired at the end of the 1981-82 season, Sertich was offered the head coaching position on an interim basis for the 1982-83 season, when he directed UMD to fourth place, earning WCHA coach of the year honors, and the chance for a second year.
In that 1983-84 season, Sertich guided the Bulldogs to their first WCHA championship, was named league coach of the year, and also won the 1984 Spencer Penrose Award as national coaches association coach of the year, as UMD made it all the way to the NCAA championship game at Lake Placid, N.Y., where they lost a 5-4 heart-breaker to Bowling Green in four overtimes. In 1984-85, UMD won its second straight WCHA title and reached its second-ever Frozen Four, where the Bulldogs lost 6-5 to RPI in three overtimes in the semifinals, ending a brilliant 36-9-3 season in 1984-95 - and Sertich won an unprecedented third consecutive WCHA coach of the year award.
Sertich also was named WCHA coach of the year in 1993, and compiled a 350-328-44 record over his 18 years as coach, before his contract was not renewed in 1999, after which he joked that the "interim" label had never been removed from his title, making him an "18-year interim coach." Shortly there after, the coach who agreed to announce he was weary of coaching, jumped at the chance to become head coach at Michigan Tech, where he helped the Huskies rebuild their credibility over the next three years.
"No question, I learned at Gus Hendrickson's knee," Sertich said in an interview from Houghton. "Gus was way ahead of the game, and I wish he had stayed in the game. Fishing and friends kept me going. On the water or in the woods you do a lot of thinking, but it was for self-preservation, not fun. It was like going downtown instead of withdrawing; I didn't want to, but I know I should have. Pizza only lasts 15 minutes, but a conversation lasts forever."
When Sertich left Michigan Tech, he stayed in coaching, as a volunteer assistant at Division 3 St. Scholastica, and later helping with the Hermantown Bantam team. His marriage broke up, however, and Sertich moved alone into a modest, rural house just south of the Eveleth-Virginia area. Homeland.
It was from there that Sertich battled the pancreatic cancer, which appeared to have been eradicated from his system by doctors at Essentia, as recently as the end of 2023. But it returned alarmingly and was declared inoperable, leading to home hospice care until the end of July, when he moved into Solvay Hospice House in Duluth.
Mike was preceded in death by his parents, Mark and Mary Sertich, and a sister, Paddy Domier, and his first wife, Carlene, who was killed in a highway crash. He is survived by brother Steve (Sally); sons Scott (Tammy, and grandchildren Jeremy and Joey) and John (Heidi, and grandchildren Danny and Shjon); daughter Lori (Derek Fredrickson, and grandchildren Lauren, Elise and Sophia); and Audie, the mother of their children.
Sertich, who earned undergraduate degrees in both history and physical education at UMD in 1969, obtained a Master's of Education at Bemidji State in 1972. His family has asked that in lieu of flowers, memorials be directed to the UMD Mike Sertich Men's Hockey Scholarship at the University of Minnesota Foundation (https://z.umn.edu/SertichFund), or mailed to the UMD Advancement office.
The family would also like to thank Mike's special friend, Helen, as well as Dr. Friday, Dr. Bakken, and Dr. Peterson of Essentia; the East Range Essentia Hospice team, and Solvay Hospice House of Duluth.
Visitation will be held from 12:00 pm until the 2:00 pm Celebration of Life on Friday, September 13, 2024 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC).
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Downs Life Celebration, of Superior, Wis.