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 1980s ALL-DECADE TEAM PRESENTED BY ANDERSON’S PURE MAPLE SYRUP AND SPIRE CREDIT UNION Hrkac, Micheletti, Watson, Kurvers, Chelios and Stauber honored BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Feb. 2, 2021 – Six players representing four schools have been named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s, the WCHA announced Tuesday. Named to the 1980s squad were forwards Tony Hrkac of North Dakota, Pat Micheletti of Minnesota and Bill Watson of Minnesota Duluth; defensemen Tom Kurvers of Minnesota Duluth and Chris Chelios of Wisconsin and goaltender Robb Stauber of Minnesota. The six players combined for four Hobey Baker awards, four WCHA MVP awards, three WCHA Scoring Championships, two WCHA Goaltending Championships, six All-America awards, 14 All-WCHA honors and 11 Frozen Four appearances during their collegiate careers. The WCHA will announce its 1980s Coach of the Decade on Feb. 3 and its Player of the Decade on Feb. 4. The 1980s team is the fourth 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 1980s and the rest of the WCHA’s history, visit wcha.com. WCHA 1980s All-Decade Team Name Pos. School Years Hometown By The Numbers Tony Hrkac F North Dakota 1984-85, 86-87 Thunder Bay, Ont. 64 G/106 A/170 Pts Pat Micheletti F Minnesota 1982-86 Hibbing, Minn. 120 G/149 A/269 Pts Bill Watson F Minnesota Duluth 1982-85 Powerview, Minn. 89 G/121 A/210 Pts Tom Kurvers D Minnesota Duluth 1980-84 Bloomington, Minn. 43 G/149 A/192 Pts Chris Chelios D Wisconsin 1981-83 Chicago, Ill. 22 G/75 A/97 Pts Robb Stauber G Minnesota 1986-89 Duluth, Minn. 98 Gms/.906 Sv. Pct./2.77 GAA - MORE – Forwards Tony Hrkac, North Dakota (Thunder Bay, Ont.), 1984-85, 1986-87 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 … Hobey Baker Award winner in 1986-87 … One of five WCHA Hobey winners in the 1980s … WCHA MVP, Scoring Champion, All-WCHA, All-American, NCAA All-Tournament and NCAA Tournament MOP in 1986-87 … Holds the NCAA and WCHA single-season records for points (116) … Also holds the WCHA single season assists record (70) … Only player in league history to reach the 70-assist and 110-point plateaus in a season … Set the points and assists records in 1986- 87 when he led North Dakota to a 40-8-0 overall record, a 29-6-0 mark in the WCHA, the WCHA regular season and postseason crowns and the NCAA title … The 40 overall and 29 WCHA victories by the Fighting Sioux that season are both WCHA records … Played 12 NHL seasons for St. Louis, Quebec, San Jose, Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, the New York Islanders, Anaheim and the Atlanta Thrashers … Member of the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars in 1999 … Inducted into the UND Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Pat Micheletti, Minnesota (Hibbing, Minn.), 1982-86 Three-time All-WCHA honoree … Hobey Baker finalist and All-American in 1984-85 … WCHA’s No. 7 career scorer with 269 career points on 120 goals and 149 assists … Ranks seventh in career goals and tied for 13th in career assists in WCHA history … Points and goals totals rank No. 2 all-time at Minnesota history … Third in career assists in Golden Gopher history … Tallied 96 points on 48 goals and 48 assists in 1984-85, the second-best points total in school history and the 10th-highest mark in WCHA annals … His 48 goals that season stand tied for eighth in WCHA history … Played on two Frozen Four qualifiers (1983, 1986) and one WCHA regular season champion (1982-83) at Minnesota. Bill Watson, Minnesota Duluth (Powerview, Minn.), 1982-85 Named to the WCHA’s Top 50 Players in 50 Years list in 2002 … 1985 Hobey Baker Award winner … One of five WCHA Hobey winners in the 1980s … Two-time All-American (1983-84, 1984-85) … Two-time All-WCHA (1983-84, 1984-85) … Two-time WCHA Scoring Champion (1983-84, 1984-85) … Earned WCHA Player of the Year honors in 1984-85 … Named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in 1985 … Tallied 109 points for the Bulldogs in 1984-85, which ranks second in WCHA history for a single season … One of just five players in league history to surpass the 100-point mark in a single campaign … His 33-game points streak from Jan. 27-Dec. 12, 1984 is the second-longest in WCHA history. Defensemen Tom Kurvers, Minnesota Duluth (Bloomington, Minn.), 1980-84 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 … 1984 Hobey Baker Award winner … One of five WCHA Hobey winners in the 1980s … Earned All-America honors in 1983-84 … Three-time All-WCHA (1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84) … WCHA MVP in 1983-84 … WCHA’s No. 3 all-time scorer among defensemen with 192 points … No. 4 in WCHA defenseman assists with 149 and No. 7 in blueliner goals in WCHA history with 43 … Posted 76 points on 18 goals and 58 assists as a senior in 1983-84 … The assist and point totals are the second-best by a defenseman in a single season in WCHA history with the assist total ranking 10th in WCHA history among all players in one season … Played for the 1982 U.S. World Junior Championship team and the 1987 and 1989 U.S. World Championship teams … Played 11 NHL seasons for Montreal, Buffalo, New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver, the New York Islanders and Anaheim. - MORE – Chris Chelios, Wisconsin (Chicago, Ill.), 1981-83 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-WCHA selection (1981-82, 1982-83) … Earned NCAA All-Tournament honors as a member of Wisconsin’s 1983 national championship squad … Played for two WCHA postseason championship squads at Wisconsin (1982, 1983) … Appeared in two NCAA championship games (1982, 1983) … Tallied 97 points on 22 goals and 75 assists in two seasons in Madison … Played 26 seasons in the NHL for Montreal, Chicago, Detroit and the Atlanta Thrashers … Three- time Stanley Cup winner (1987, 2002, 2008) … Three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman … Four- time Olympian (1984, 1998, 2002, 2006) … U.S. Olympic team captain in 1998, 2002 and 2006 … Has played in more Olympic contests (22) and Olympic Games (four) than any WCHA player … Inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011, the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2018. Goaltender Robb Stauber, Minnesota (Duluth, Minn.), 1986-89 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 … 1988 Hobey Baker Award winner … One of five WCHA Hobey winners in the 1980s … First goaltender – and one of only two netminders – to win the Hobey … Hobey Baker finalist in 1989 … 1987-88 All-American … Two-time All-WCHA (1987-88, 1988-89) … Two-time WCHA Goaltending Champion (1987-88, 1988-89) … 1987-88 WCHA MVP … Holds the WCHA single-season records for wins (34) and wins in WCHA play (28), both set in 1987-88 … Helped the Gophers to three-straight NCAA Frozen Four appearances in his three-year career (1987, 1988, 1989) … Backstopped back-to-back WCHA regular-season champions in 1987-88 and 1988-89 … Played four NHL seasons with Los Angeles and Buffalo … Played for the United States at the 1987 World Junior Championships and 1989 World Championships … Following his playing career, won NCAA championships as an assistant coach with the Minnesota men’s team in 2002 and 2003 and with the UMD women’s team in 2008 … Head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s team at the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Other Top Players of the 1980s Forwards Aaron Broten, Minnesota, 1979-81: WCHA Freshman of the Year in 1979-80 … Posted 178 points on 72 goals and 106 assists during his Golden Gopher career. Neal Broten, Minnesota, 1978-81: Won the inaugural Hobey Baker Award in 1981, one of five Hobey winners for the WCHA in the 1980s … Member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team … Scored 142 points on 38 goals and 104 assists in 76 career games at Minnesota. Brett Hull, Minnesota Duluth, 1984-86: Two-time All-WCHA honoree … WCHA Freshman of the Year in 1984-85 … Tied for fifth on the WCHA freshman goal-scoring list with 32 in 1984-85 … Tallied 144 points on 84 goals and 60 assists in 90 career games at UMD. Gary Emmons, Northern Michigan, 1983-87: Two-time Hobey Baker finalist (1986, 1987) … Three-time All-WCHA (1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87). Defensemen Norm Maciver, Minnesota Duluth, 1982-86: Ranks fourth in career scoring for WCHA defensemen with 191 points and second in defenseman assists with 152 … Holds the WCHA record for goals in a game by a defenseman with four vs.