2002-03 WIAC Men's Ice Hockey Headlines

Five Earn Men's Ice Hockey All-America Honors, UW-River Falls' Freeman Finalist For Coach of the Year

RELEASED: Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Madison, Wis.--Five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men's ice hockey players have been named to the 2003 JOFA/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) College Division West Region All-America Team. UW-River Falls' Adam Kragthorpe and UW-Superior's Steve Rodberg and Nathan Ziemski were named to the first team, while UW-River Falls' Evan Stensrud and UW-Superior's Colin Kendall earned second team honors.

Kragthorpe, a senior defenseman from Plymouth, Minn., earned All-America First Team honors for the third straight season. He finished the season with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points and helped the Falcons to a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Kragthorpe was named the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Co-Most Valuable Player in 2001 and has been recognized on the All-NCHA team four straight years.

Rodberg, a senior defenseman from Twig, Minn. (Proctor, H.S.), scored three goals and added 19 assists for 22 points this year.

Ziemski, a senior goalie from Duluth, Minn. (Central H.S.), compiled a 20-5-1 record with a 2.11 goals against average and a .918 saves percentage during the 2002-03 campaign. He earned All-America Second Team accolades during the 2000-01 season. Ziemski is the school's all-time leader in wins, goals against average and shutouts.

Stensrud, a senior forward from Minnetonka, Minn., was named the NCHA Player of the Year earlier this season. He led the Falcons with 39 points and 27 assists and added 12 goals.

Kendall, a senior forward from Calgary, Alberta, was an All-America Second Team pick for the second straight year. He scored a team-leading 31 points this year on 13 goals and 18 assists.

The all-america teams are sponsored by JOFA, an international leader in hockey equipment, and chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association.

UW-River Falls head coach Steve Freeman was named one of 11 finalists for national Coach of the Year. Earlier this season, he was named the NCHA Coach of the Year after guiding the Falcons to a 23-7-1 record and a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The coach of the year will be announced at the AHCA banquet on Saturday, April 26 in Naples, Florida.

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UW-River Falls To Host Men's Ice Hockey NCAA First Round Game

RELEASED: Monday, March 10, 2003

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-River Falls received one of three at-large bids to the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship and will host St. John's (Minn.) in a first round game on Wednesday, March 12 at 7:05 p.m.

The Falcons (22-6-1 overall) are making their ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament and have compiled an all-time record of 21-9, including national titles in 1994 and 1988.

St. John's (20-6-1) received an automatic bid into tournament by winning the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. The Johnnies defeated UW-River Falls, 2-1, earlier this season in River Falls.

The winner of the UW-River Falls/St. John's matchup will travel to De Pere, Wis. for a second round contest on Saturday, March 15 against St. Norbert. The Green Knights are the top-ranked team in the country and have a 26-1-2 overall record.

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UW-Superior's Ziemski Named Men's Ice Hockey Scholar-Athlete

RELEASED: Friday, February 21, 2003

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Superior's Nathan Ziemski has been named the 2002-03 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Max Sparger Men's Ice Hockey Scholar-Athlete, it was announced recently by WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner.

Ziemski, a senior from Duluth, Minn., is majoring in physical education with a minor in coaching and carries a 3.35 grade point average. He has been named to the UW-Superior Dean's List three semesters and is a two-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and National Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) All-Academic Team.

Ziemski led UW-Superior to its second-straight WIAC championship this season, a spot in the NCHA Quarterfinals and a 20-5-2 overall record. He was a member of last year's national championship squad and also earned All-NCHA and All-WIAC Honorable Mention accolades during the 2001-02 campaign. Ziemski captured West Region All-America, All-NCHA and All-WIAC First Team recognition during the 2000-01 season.

Ziemski holds the UW-Superior all-time records for wins (67), goals against average (2.24), saves percentage (.910) and shutouts (10), while ranking second in school annals in games played (86) and minutes (5119:53).

Ziemski becomes the fifth men's ice hockey player in school history to receive the league honor, joining Tom Pink (1999-2000 season), Brent Shaback (1996-97), Vance Mattson (1994-95) and Brian Swanson (1985-86).

The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is sponsored by Culver's. In order to be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.25 grade point average, be in their last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years.

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University of Wisconsin-Superior captured its second straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men's ice hockey championship with a 6-3 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, February 8.

The Yellowjackets finished the conference slate with a 7-0-1 mark (15 points), to edge out UW-River Falls which finished 6-1-1 (13 points), and secure the fourth men's ice hockey title in school history (2002, 1994 and 1992).

UW-Superior struck first with a goal by Bryan Konkel just 2:53 into the second period, but UW-Eau Claire's Ian Sgambelluri responded with a goal just 13 second later. The two teams exchanged goals before the horn for the second intermission sounded with the Blugolds holding a 3-2 advantage.

The Yellowjackets came to life in the third period to uncork 17 shots on goals and four past the goalie.
Rob Whidden, Jay Dardis, Randall Smisko and Chris Hackett each tallied a goal in the decisive third period.

UW-Superior will take an 18-5-2 overall record into the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) playoffs on Friday, February 14 when they host UW-Stout at 7:30 p.m. The winner of the NCHA tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

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UW-River Falls' Stensrud Named National Player of the Week

UW-River Falls senior forward Evan Stensrud was named the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) Offensive Player of the Week for on Jan. 14. Stensrud helped his team to a pair of Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) and WIAC wins during the weekend with a nine-point week.

In Friday's 8-0 win over UW-Stout, the forward from Minnetonka, Minn. scored the team's fourth goal and had assists on each of the Falcons' final four goals giving him five points in the game.

The following night in a 6-2 win on the road against UW-Stout, Stensrud scored two goals, including the game-winner, and had two assists.

Stensrud also earned NCHA and WIAC accolades during the week for his efforts against the Blue Devils.

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Jean-Francois Laforest To Head Eau Claire Men's Hockey Program

RELEASED: Wednesday, May 29, 2002

Eau Claire, Wis.--Jean-Francois Laforest (pronounced ZHON fron SWA la for AY) has been named the new head coach of the men's hockey program at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Laforest's hockey background includes four years in minor pro hockey, two years of junior hockey and one year working with the Canadian National Team.

Most recently, Laforest was Director of Hockey Operations for the Port Huron (Michigan) Border Cats of the United Hockey League (UHL) after three years with the Shreveport (Louisiana) Mudbugs of the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) as both Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach.

From September, 1996 through May, 1997 he was the recipient of a National Coaching Institute scholarship and worked with the Canadian National Team in Calgary. There he assisted Andy Murray, currently head coach of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, and Mike Johnston, currently assistant coach of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

The 34-year-old Laforest has bachelor's degrees in both sociology and kinesiology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and a bachelor's degree in education and a master of arts and sciences degree in coaching from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.

During his tenure as an assistant coach, the Canadian National Team won the Bauer International Tournament and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championship. While at Shreveport, his team won back-to-back WPHL playoff championships and the regular season championship once. He also coached the Aylmer (Ontario) Aces of the Western Jr. "A" League to a division championship in 1994. While a graduate assistant coach at the University of Western Ontario, the team won the OUAA (Ontario University Athletic Association) championship and reached the CIAU (Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union) national finals in 1995.

For the past year, Laforest has been teaching both elementary and high school classes in Fort Gratiot, Michigan. He and his wife Jennie are expecting their third child. They have two boys--Jesse, age 10 and Jadyn, who will be three on June 1.

Laforest will also serve as an instructor in the UW-Eau Claire Department of Kinesiology. He replaces Marlin Muylaert who completed a three-year term as Blugold head coach with a 30-48-3 record including a 12-13-2 record this past season.

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