WCHA ANNOUNCES 1970S ALL-DECADE TEAM PRESENTED by ANDERSON’S PURE MAPLE SYRUP and SPIRE CREDIT UNION Johnson, Ross, Zuke, Giles, Norwich and Grahame Honored
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Contact: Todd Bell, Marketing & Communications Manager /O: 952-681-7668 / C: 972-825-6686 / Email: [email protected] Web: wcha.com / Twitter: @wcha_mhockey / IG: @wcha_mhockey / FB: facebook.com/wchamenshockey / Watch on FloHockey.tv FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WCHA ANNOUNCES 1970s ALL-DECADE TEAM PRESENTED BY ANDERSON’S PURE MAPLE SYRUP AND SPIRE CREDIT UNION Johnson, Ross, Zuke, Giles, Norwich and Grahame honored BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Jan. 19, 2021 – Six players representing five schools have been named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s All-Decade Team for the 1970s, the WCHA announced Tuesday. Named to the 1970s squad were forwards Mark Johnson of Wisconsin, Tom Ross of Michigan State and Mike Zuke of Michigan Tech; defensemen Curt Giles of Minnesota Duluth and Craig Norwich of Wisconsin and goaltender Ron Grahame of Denver. The five skaters combined for 474 goals, 745 assists and 1,219 points during their careers while Grahame posted an .898 career saves percentage for the Pioneers during one of the WCHA’s highest-scoring decades. The WCHA will announce its 1970s Coach of the Decade on Jan. 20 and its Player of the Decade on Jan. 21. The 1970s team is the third of seven squads that will be announced by the WCHA during the 2020-21 season. The WCHA will also honor an outstanding head coach and player from each decade as the league celebrates 70 Years of Excellence. For more on the 1970s and the rest of the WCHA’s history, visit wcha.com. WCHA 1970s All-Decade Team Name Pos. School Years Hometown By The Numbers Mark Johnson F Wisconsin 1976-79 Madison, Wis. 125 G/131 A/256 Pts Tom Ross F Michigan State 1972-76 Detroit, Mich. 138 G/186 A/324 Pts Mike Zuke F Michigan Tech 1972-76 Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. 133 G/177 A/310 Pts Curt Giles D Minnesota Duluth 1975-79 The Pas, Man. 36 G/125 A/171 Pts Craig Norwich D Wisconsin 1974-77 Edina, Minn. 42 G/126 A/168 Pts Ron Grahame G Denver 1969-73 Victoria, B.C. 120 Gms/.898 Sv. Pct./3.24 GAA - MORE – Forwards Mark Johnson, Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 1976-79 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … Inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 … Named to the Hockey News All-Time WCHA First Team and the AHCA’s All-Time West Team in 1997 … Tallied 256 points on 125 career goals and 131 assists … No. 6 on the WCHA career goals list, No. 11 in points and tied for 24th in assists … Two-time All-American (1977-78, 1978-79) … Two-time All-WCHA (1977-78, 1978-79) … Earned WCHA Most Valuable Player honors in 1978-79 … WCHA Freshman of the Year in the Badgers’ 1976-77 NCAA championship season … Shared the WCHA Scoring Championship in 1977-78, finishing with 70 points on 39 goals and 31 assists in 31 WCHA contests … Shared the scoring honor with fellow Badger Mike Eaves, becoming the first teammates to share the title in WCHA history … UW all-time leader with 47 power-play goals and 20 game-winning goals … Leading scorer on the 1980 Olympic team with 11 points on five goals and six assists … Also tallied two game-winning goals for the Miracle on Ice squad … Played 11 NHL seasons with Pittsburgh, Harford, St. Louis, New Jersey and the Minnesota North Stars … Currently in his 19th season as the head women’s hockey coach at Wisconsin … Boasts a career record of 528-94-46 (.825) (thru Jan. 16) with the Badgers and has led UW to five NCAA championships, eight WCHA regular season titles and eight WCHA postseason crowns … First and only NCAA women’s coach to reach 500 career victories … Charter member of the UW Athletics Hall of Fame … First and only Wisconsin men’s hockey player to have his jersey retired. Tom Ross, Michigan State (Detroit, Mich.), 1972-76 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … Named to the AHCA’s All-Time West Team in 1997 … WCHA’s all-time leading scorer with 324 points on 138 goals and 186 assists … Also holds the WCHA and NCAA records for career power play goals with 72; consecutive games with a point at 78 and the WCHA single-season record for power-play goals with 29 … Ranks second on the WCHA career goals list and fourth on the career assists list … One of just three players in WCHA history with 300 career points … Two-time All-American (1974-75, 1975-76) … Three-time All-WCHA (1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76) … WCHA co-Most Valuable Player in 1974-75 … Two-time WCHA Scoring Champion, posting 80 points on 32 goals and 48 assists in 32 WCHA games in 1974-75 and 83 points on 41 goals and 42 assists in 32 league contests in 1975-76 … Michigan State’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points … Career point total ranks No. 2 in NCAA history … His 105 points in 1975-76 are a Michigan State record and rank as the eighth-highest single-season total in NCAA history … His 51 goals in 1975-76 are tied for the seventh-highest single-season NCAA total … His 29 power-play goals in 1975-76 are the second-most in NCAA history and a Michigan State record … Had 10 career hat tricks. Mike Zuke, Michigan Tech (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.), 1972-76 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … Named to the AHCA’s All-Time West Second Team in 1997 … Two-time All-American (1973-74, 1975-76) … Three-time All-WCHA (1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76) … 1975-76 WCHA Most Valuable Player … Ranks No. 2 on the WCHA career scoring list with 310 points on 133 goals and 177 assists … One of just three players in WCHA history with 300 career points … Also ranks second on the WCHA career goals list and career game-winning goals list (21) … His 32-game point streak from Nov. 22, 1975 to March 3, 1976 is the longest single-season point streak in WCHA history and the third longest on the league’s all-time list … Played eight seasons in the NHL, finishing with 282 points in 455 regular season games with St. Louis and Hartford … Also played in the WHA with Indianapolis and Edmonton … Michigan Tech’s all-time leading scorer … Holds virtually every scoring record at Tech … Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame inductee. - MORE – Defensemen Curt Giles, Minnesota Duluth (The Pas, Man.), 1975-79 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … Named to The Hockey News All-Time WCHA First Team in 1997 … Two-time All-American (1977-78, 1978-79) … Two-time All-WCHA (1977-78, 1978-79) … Posted 171 career points on 36 goals and 135 assists in 143 games for the Bulldogs … Ranks 20th on the WCHA career assists chart … His point total ranks No. 7 all-time among WCHA blueliners … Played 14 years in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues … Three-time team MVP with the North Stars … Played for Canada at the 1982 IIHF World Championships and 1992 Winter Olympics. Craig Norwich, Wisconsin (Edina, Minn.), 1974-77 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … Named to the AHCA’s All-Time West Team in 1997 … Two-time All-American (1974-75, 1975-76) … First Badger blueliner to earn multiple All-America honors … Two-time All- WCHA … Named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team in the Badgers’ 1976-77 national championship season … Set WCHA defenseman records for points (83) and assists (65) in 1976-77 … Only defender in league history to top the 80-point and 60-assist mark in a single season … His 18 goals in 1976-77 stand tied for ninth on the WCHA single-season chart for defensemen … Finished his three-year career with 168 points on 42 goals and 126 assists … Ranks seventh in assists, eighth in goals and eighth in points among defensemen on the WCHA career charts … Played two WHA seasons with Cincinnati and two NHL seasons with Winnipeg, St. Louis and the Colorado Rockies … Scored two goals in Winnipeg’s first NHL victory, a 4-2 win over the Colorado Rockies, on Oct. 14, 1979. Goaltender Ron Grahame, Denver (Victoria, B.C.), 1969-73 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … Earned All-America and All-WCHA honors in 1972-73 … 1972-73 WCHA Goaltending Champion with a 2.93 goals against average in 27 WCHA games … 1972-73 WCHA Most Valuable Player … No. 3 on the WCHA career wins list with 82 victories, a mark that stood as the WCHA record until 2002 … No. 8 on the WCHA career saves list with 3,565 … Led Denver to a second-place finish in the 1973 NCAA Championships … Left Denver ranked first in school history for most games played by a goalie (120) (now third), career wins (now tied for first) and remains the school’s career saves leader … Also holds the Denver record for saves in a season with 1,187 in 1972-73, a total which was the third-most in WCHA history at the time and currently ranks 17th on the league chart. Other Top Players of the 1970s Forwards Dave Delich, Colorado College, 1975-78: Two-time All-WCHA honoree … WCHA Freshman of the Year in 1975-76 … No.