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| Steve Nelson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Seasons at UWS: 14 Overall Record: 249-168-21 (.593) NCHA Record: 148-124-10 (.543) Playoff Record: 23-14-5 (.607) NCAA Record: 15-13-2 (.533) High School: Fridley (Minn.) High School ('76) Alma Mater: University of Minnesota ('80) Coaching Experience: Fridley (Minn.) High School: 1981-85 UW-Superior (head coach): 1986-00 |
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In August of 2000, the Twin Ports and the Division III hockey community were shocked by the sudden resignation of one of its most successful coaches, Steve Nelson. Nelson stepped down from his posts as head mens hockey coach and athletic director to become the commissioner of the America West Hockey League. "I just felt that the time was right to step aside," Nelson said. "I had been there for 14 years and felt that I was ready for a new set of challenges. I believe in setting goals and accomplishing those goals. I did that at Superior and felt I could
give someone else the opportunity." Nelson's resignation left a huge hole in the UW-Superior department of athletics, as it lost the man who put the Yellowjacket athletics on the map with an unparalleled record of NCAA mens hockey tournament appearances. "I will be forever grateful to UW-Superior for giving me an opportunity. I was very fortunate to meet a lot of great people and have the chance to be in contact with many great players and fine young men in my time there," Nelson said. "I am a loyal person and will always have that special place for the black and gold." Nelson took on the challenge of building UW-Superior into a winner prior to the 1986-87 season. However, his first task proved to be an omen of things to come. "On my way to the interview, my car broke down and I had to hitchhike to get there," Nelson said. "There was no way I was going to miss that interview." Nelson made the interview and consequently, was named as the successor to Gary Harker behind the UW-Superior bench. "I was extremely happy," Nelson said. "I had resigned my high school coaching position because I felt I needed to move up or get out of coaching. I was very close to not coaching again because it took a while for Superior to get back to me." Nelson's first few seasons were difficult. He was at the helm of a program that hadn't had a winning season since 1980-81 and only enjoyed seven winning seasons since the program was re-started in 1965. "Those first few seasons were very difficult," Nelson said. "The NCHA was a different conference then, with St. Cloud, Bemidji and Mankato." Although they were finishing in the lower half of the NCHA, there was a steady improvement and quality players were beginning to infiltrate the program. "I was on the road constantly and worked hard to get the players in that would give us credibility," Nelson said. Then, in the 1990-91 season, the program made an upturn and had the breakthrough season that Nelson had been waiting for. "I said to myself before the season that it would be my last year if we didn't make the playoffs," Nelson said. The 1990-91 Yellowjackets finished in the upper half of the NCHA and qualified for the post-season for the first time. Despite a first round sweep at the hands of Mankato State, the seeds of success were planted. "That team had players on it like David Esse, Glen Lang and Chris Campbell," Nelson said. "David Esse was probably the finest leader, the best team captain that I ever had. He was the foundation of that team while Lang and Campbell provided the same qualities to the rest of the structure. It was the structure built by those players and that team that formed the mold for the championship success that Yellowjacket hockey is today." From that point forward, UW-Superior became a team that consistently finished in the upper echelon of the NCHA and was a Division III powerhouse. In Nelson's final ten seasons, his teams enjoyed ten seasons over .500, ten seasons of 15+ wins, seven seasons of 20+ wins, nine top four finishes in the NCHA and eight trips to the NCAA tournament. With all of the success, however, there were also disappointments. There was the school's first NCHA regular season and playoff titles in 1994, but also the disappointment of a runner-up finish in the NCAA tournament on Wessman Arena ice that same season. "That team was so special because of who we were not rather than who we were," Nelson said. "That was the first team after Glen Land and Chris Campbell, and most people had us dead in the water. Instead, it turned out to be probably one of the best teams in school history. Players like John Murgatroyd, Kevin Sobb, Fred Harbinson, Vince Devlin, Brent Shaback, Dustin Fahl, Rodney Graham, Jamie Bailey were great forwards. They could all play in both ends of the ice." Defense and goal were no weak spots either. "Nick Mulvey, Vance Mattson, Lindsey Braun, Jason Radtke, Chuck Komisar, Steve Elsmore were as solid a blueline corps as I ever had. And I had two All-American goaltenders on that team," Nelson said. "I really loved this team because they were all unselfish and worked toward a common goal." There were the seven trips to the NCAA Frozen Four and three trips to the title game, but also three runner-up finishes. "These were my biggest disappointments," Nelson said. "It's not that I didn't win one, but rather that the players did not get that feeling of being national champions. If you look at our record, we could have won five or six just as easily as not winning any. I had big feelings for the players and felt bad for all of them. I wanted to be able to put an exclamation point on all of our hard work." Then there were the players. Over the years Nelson was blessed with many top level players at UW-Superior and was always quick to give them the credit. "I can put together a game plan and run practices, but ultimately they have to go out and do the job. I can't play for them," Nelson said. "My longtime assistant, coach (Dan) Stanaway always used to say before games that the hay was in the barn, meaning that now it was up to them. It was out of my control." Those players included 15 players who accounted for 21 All-American selections and 17 players receiving 24 All-NCHA selections, not including honorable mention picks. "Graichen, Esse, Campbell, Lang, Elsmore, Mattson, it's tough to talk about all of them because there are so many things you can say about all of them," Nelson said. "I know that if I talk about some, I am going to miss some too. That's how many great players I had." In addition, three of Nelson's players, Vance Mattson, Brent Shaback and Tom Pink all received WSUC or WIAC Scholar Athlete of the Year awards. "This honor means a lot because all three were good players, and also great students and great people," Nelson said. "It means even more to me because these players excelled in school while we were at our best. It truly showed that academics and athletics go hand in hand. These players may not know it, but this award meant a great deal to me and the program and I have a great deal of respect for all of them." Nelson didn't reserve the rights for post-season accolades to just his players. Along the way, he collected three NCHA Coach of the Year awards. In 1992, when he shared the award with UW-Stevens Point's Joe Baldarotta, 1994 and 1999 when he again shared the award, this time with Steve Freeman of UW-River Falls. "It's a nice honor, but it doesn't mean much," Nelson said. "I look at the banners in the rafters at Wessman and I know that we all had something to do with those. The banners mean more than an individual award ever will." In the end, Nelson would leave UW-Superior as the school's all-time winningest coach with 249 wins. That total would rank him 72nd on the all-time coaching win list at the time of his resignation. "My record would be nothing without the players I had," Nelson said. "Again, look at the banners in the rafters, they speak for themselves." The even more impressive aspect of Nelson's win total and standing on the all-time list is the fact that all of his wins came at the Division III level. Division III schools are limited to a maximum of 25 regular season and 35 games overall while Division I and Division II programs are allowed to play many more. With an expanded number of games, Nelson may have put up enough wins to become the all-time winningest coach in the history of Division III hockey. "UWS is etched in my heart," Nelson said. "Even if I were to coach someplace else, I will always be a 'Jacket. I only hope that the players I had have the same feelings for me as I do for them. I realize that I was tough on them sometimes, but I also felt it was my job to lead in the right direction. I have special feelings for everyone that ever put on that jersey for me." |
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| Year | W | L | T | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986-87 (h) | 12 | 15 | 0 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987-88 | 11 | 19 | 0 | .367 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988-89 | 11 | 16 | 1 | .411 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989-90 | 8 | 19 | 1 | .304 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990-91 (h) | 17 | 13 | 0 | .567 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991-92 (c,d,f,g,h) | 23 | 8 | 1 | .734 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992-93 (d) | 15 | 14 | 2 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993-94 (a,b,c,d,e,g) | 22 | 7 | 4 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994-95 (d,f) | 23 | 9 | 1 | .712 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995-96 (d,f) | 20 | 11 | 4 | .629 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996-97 (b,d,e) | 23 | 9 | 2 | .706 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997-98 | 18 | 10 | 1 | .638 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998-99 (d,e,g) | 22 | 8 | 3 | .712 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999-00 (b,d,f) | 24 | 10 | 1 | .700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TOTAL | 249 | 168 | 21 | .593 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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a - won NCHA regular season title b - won NCHA playoff title c - won WSUC title d - qualified for NCAA Tournament e - NCAA Tournament - 2nd Place f - NCAA Tournament - 4th Place g - NCHA Coach of the Year h - WSUC Coach of the Year |
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| Nelson's Record Vs. Opponents | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nelson's
Coaching Milestones |
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