August 10, 2015 at 3:19 p.m.
2015 Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame inductees named
Enshrinement to take place Sept. 12 in Eagle River
2015 Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame inductees named
The Wisconsin High School Hockey Coaches Association will induct a pair of brothers, Jack Stoskopf of Plover, and Mike Stoskopf of Hudson into the Wisconsin High School Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame during the Sept. 12 ceremony.
John Hack
Hack was born, raised and spent his entire working life in Superior. By his own admission, he came late to the party of ice hockey. Though he comes from a basketball family, he was influenced into the hockey family by his brother, whose own son played amateur hockey in Spokane, Washington, and by friends in Superior, whose own children grew up in the Superior hockey tradition. Like many volunteers, Hack's real introduction to the sport came as a result of his son getting into the sport at a young age. From that point on, Hack turned a little volunteer work with the local hockey association into a lifestyle.
Hack was first elected to the board of directors of the Superior Amateur Hockey Association in 1982. As someone who can never say no, he served in numerous capacities over the next 10 years and was eventually elected vice president of the association. However, his most notable accomplishment was as one of the members of the association who worked tirelessly to construct a new arena in Superior.
The Superior Ice Arena opened in December 1989 and though Hack didn't know it at the time, this facility would play a large part in his future. In August 1996, the arena manager at the Superior Ice Arena left the position to return to coaching, and Hack, who was working on a master's degree at UW-Superior was hired to fill the vacant slot. Though he had no formal training in the position, Hack brought his considerable organizational skills to the table and proceeded to turn the Superior Ice Arena into one of the best-maintained facilities in the Midwest. Though the challenges were many, the upgrades Hack spearheaded easily extended the life of the facility well beyond his retirement in October 2014.
Hack is still involved with the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association and plans to continue for some time to come.
In 1988, Hack was elected a regional director for WAHA. President Bill Sparks appointed Hack the chairman of the WAHA Disciplinary Committee in 1990, a position he holds to this day. Upon the untimely passing of Don Kohlman in 2008, Hack was elected secretary of WAHA and continues in that officer position. He retired from his elected regional director position in August 2015, and was elected director emeritus by the WAHA Board. In 1995, he was elected to the board of directors of the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame, and now serves as the vice president and secretary of the Hall.
One of Hack's proudest accomplishments is being one of the founding members of Wisconsin Selects - the first truly summer AAA hockey program in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Selects brought together, under one roof, most of the best youth hockey players in the state. With the help of high school, junior and college coaches like Steve Nelson, Dean Talafous, Joe Baldarotta, Dave Witting, Mike Cowan, Steve Kirley, Tom Kuklinski, Steve Freeman, Bob Ritzer and Jack Stoskopf, the Wisconsin Selects program helped these youth players not only take their game to the next level, but gave some of these Wisconsin kids their first real exposure to big-time hockey against teams from across the United States and Europe.
At the height of the program in the late 1990s the list of players and coaches read like a who's who of Wisconsin hockey. Many of these players would go on to stellar collegiate careers, and a few into the National Hockey League.
A graduate of UW-Superior, Hack is also a veteran of the United States Army and served a tour in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service. He has three children, Christian (Susan) of Waco, Texas, Jamie (Dan), London, England, and Lindsay (Matt), Superior, and seven grandchildren.
Joe Baldarotta
Joe Baldarotta is originally from Madison, and played youth hockey for the Westmoreland Hockey Club. He played high school hockey at Madison West High School, from where he graduated in 1974. Following college, Baldarotta returned to Madison West as an assistant coach. He went on to be the head coach for four seasons, compiling a record of 59-25-2. His Madison West team won the WIAA state high school championship in 1983, and he was named the Wisconsin State High School Coach of the Year.
Baldarotta attended college at UW-Stevens Point, and played college hockey for the Pointers from 1974-1976. He returned to his alma mater for five years as an assistant coach under Mark Mazzoleni, and helped the Pointers win three Division III national championships. He would go on to be head coach for Stevens Point for 16 years, with a record of 265-171-38, including 10 consecutive seasons and 14 in total with records of .500 or better. His 1993 Pointer team won the NCAA Division III national championship, earning him American Hockey Coaches Association national coach of the Year honors. Baldarotta's teams were national runners-up in 1992 and 1998 and captured three NCHA regular season titles and two playoff championships.
Baldarotta is a four-time NCHA Coach of the Year. He would cap off his collegiate coaching career with several years at SUNY-Cortland, where he would achieve his 300th career win.
A highly regarded camp instructor and teacher of the game, Baldarotta has been involved in numerous off-season camps and clinics, and has twice been a member of the coaching staff for the U.S. Olympic Festival. Many of these camps and clinics include WAHA-sponsored events like the Bantam Elite Camp, coaching clinics and Team Wisconsin. He has been a featured speaker at the High School All City Banquet in Madison, the American Hockey Coaches Convention and the Wisconsin Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.
Baldarotta continues to contribute by working camps and clinics, but he has returned to Wisconsin, where he now gives back to the game at the roots level, by running an outdoor rink in Sister Bay and working with the novice and beginner player of all ages. His greatest achievement though is the number of former players who are now involved in using what he taught them to grow the game.
Baldarotta is a 1989 graduate of UW-Stevens Point. He and his wife, Cindy, now live in Sturgeon Bay, and have one son Nicolo.
The Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1975 and is housed in the Eagle River Sports Arena. The hall was established to honor outstanding individuals responsible for the development, growth and success of amateur ice hockey in the state of Wisconsin.
The ceremonies in Eagle River include a golf tournament, banquet and the induction ceremony. All events are open to the public. Questions about tickets can be directed to Joe Boxrucker at (715) 479-9772 or to Pat Weber at (715) 479-8912.
To obtain a brochure, contact John Hack by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (218) 391-2301. A pdf version of the banquet and golf reservation form is available at wahahockey.com.
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