Men's Hockey | 6/14/2018 1:16:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY – On Saturday, June 9, RIT Athletics unveiled the Brian Mason Head Coach's Office plaque at the Gene Polisseni Center. The plaque is located outside the office of current RIT men's hockey head coach Wayne Wilson.
 
Mason coached at RIT from 1980-84 and led the Tigers to their first NCAA National Championship at the Division II level in 1983. Mason was 87-35-1 in his four years at the university, including a 52-15 mark over his final two seasons. Mason coached RIT's first three All-Americans (B.J. Hull, Dave Burkholder and Chris Johnstone).  
 
"It meant a lot to have so many former players take time to honor my dedication plaque," said Mason. "It was such a special weekend to see everyone and reminisce about the good old times. This honor is as much for the players as it is for me."
 
The dedication was made possible by Peter Bryant, who played for the Tigers from 1981-84. Several of his former players, now proud RIT alumni, were in attendance to honor Mason.
 
"Brian Mason's dedication is well deserved," said Wilson, who will begin his 20th season behind the bench at RIT in 2018-19. "His leadership and the efforts of his players put RIT hockey on the map nationally. Brian began a culture of excellence at RIT and set the bar for others to try to uphold. It is because of his leadership and hard work of his players that RIT won a national championship, paved the way for the move to Division I and continue to have a standard of excellence."
 
Under Mason's tutelage, the Tigers increased their win total in each of his four seasons. RIT won back-to-back ECAC West and NYCHA regular season titles and the 1984 ECAC West Tournament Championship. RIT boasted the ECAC West Rookie of the Year in 1981-82 (Johnstone), 1982-83 (Hull) and 1983-84 (Ritchie Hebert). Mason coached five different All-ECAC selections and four members of the RIT Sports Hall of Fame.

 "Brian Mason was a pivotal figure in the history of RIT men's hockey and the university as a whole," said Lou Spiotti, RIT executive director of athletics. "He brought with him to RIT a drive to be the best and our student-athletes responded by becoming champions. This achievement set us on a course that forever changed the future of RIT hockey and the entire university."