Where Are They Now? Shane Joseph

Shane Joseph registered 68 goals and 76 assists
for 144 points in 139 games at Minnesota State

Minnesota State's foray into the NCAA Division I men's hockey ranks only goes back into the mid-1990's and it wasn't until the 1999-2000 season that the Mavericks became members of the vaunted Western Collegiate Hockey Association - a league at the time that included the likes of the University of Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver and the University of Wisconsin.

Under the guidance of coaching legend Don Brose, Minnesota State put up a 21-14-4 mark in that first season in the WCHA, but three years later, in 2002-03, the Mavericks made a splash with a regular season that included an amazing 17-game unbeaten streak, a second-place finish in the league standings and the first-ever invitation to the NCAA DI men's hockey postseason tournament.

The Minnesota State offense that year featured a pair of dynamic forwards from Alberta in junior Shane Joseph and sophomore Grant Stevenson. Joseph finished the year with 29 goals and 36 assists for 65 points in 41 games, while his running mate Stevenson racked up 63 points on 27 goals and 36 points in 38 games. Both were named All-Americans.  Stevenson signed a free agent contract with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks following the conclusion of the season, while Joseph, who had 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points as a senior with the Mavericks, would also sign with the Sharks following the 2003-04 campaign. 

Joseph, a Brooks, Alta., native, totalled 144 career points and ranks fourth on the school's career scoring charts for the DI-era.

MavBlog recently checked in with Joseph, who resides with his family in the Twin Cities.

MavBlog: How did you end up playing for Minnesota State?
Shane Joseph: I was originally planning on playing major junior.  Saskatoon cut me and at that moment I decided to go to college. Playing junior hockey in Canmore I believe Eric Means was the first to come watch, followed by Jutts and Brosie.  They asked me to come there a month into the year and I liked what I saw..... had the potential to make an impact on a program and didn’t look back.  

MavBlog: You were an All-American on the team that made the school’s first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament.  Tell us what you remember about that season in 2002-03.
Shane Joseph: We had such a good group of guys, and it will go down as the most memorable year of hockey I have been a part of.  We worked hard, had fun and enjoyed a team confidence that propelled us to go on......what was it 17 games unbeaten?  That was Fun!

MavBlog: The chemistry you had with a fellow Albertan in Grant Stevenson was noticeable in that great run in 2002-03.  What was it like playing with Grant, both with the Mavericks and then later on with Cleveland in the American Hockey League?
Shane Joseph: Grant was a special player, very intelligent and extremely skilled......not to mention could fly.  We just had great chemistry.......we also pushed each other that year and we had a confidence going out together that we were going to make it happen.  

MavBlog: After your time in the San Jose Sharks organization, you headed to Germany where you played for four teams in the DEL.  What was it like playing pro hockey in Europe?
Shane Joseph: Europe was a lot of fun with a lot of great memories.  However, I remember getting there my first day and they dropped me off at my apartment.  This was before everyone had cell phones and GPS.  They gave me a map, circled the rink and told me to be here at 10 a.m. tomorrow.  I remember laying in that apartment with no phone, internet, tv and not speaking a lick of German and asking myself what I got myself into.  Made it to the rink the next day and met the team and it was amazing from that point out.  The hockey is great, the atmosphere of the games is exciting and it was great to travel and experience the German culture and make some great friendships along the way. 

MavBlog: Tell us what you’ve been doing following the conclusion of your professional hockey career.
Shane Joseph: I help people buy and sell homes.  In other words, I am a realtor here in the Twin Cities.  

MavBlog: How did your experience with the Mavericks and Minnesota State serve you after you graduated in 2003-04?
Shane Joseph: I was just a punk, naive 18-year old kid coming in......I grew up a lot during my time with the Mavericks.  There were a lot of great teammates, coaches and staff who guided me through those five years.  Other than the education of course, my time at MSU taught me a lot about being an adult and a professional. 

MavBlog: Tell us about your family.
Shane Joseph: I am blessed with a beautiful wife (former Minnesota State volleyball player Melanie Jude) and three beautiful daughters.   Lydia (9), Adeline (7), and Lucille (2).  We are busy with sports and activities......a wise person told me you aren’t busy, you are just are just living full and to embrace it.  I try to remind myself of that often  :)

MavBlog: Do you keep in touch with any of your former Maverick teammates?
Shane Joseph: That is one of the best things about playing with this program.  The tight-knit bond that is created there not only with players you played with, but with other hockey alumni, as well.  There is a large group of us that all hang out in the Twin Cities and, of course, the alumni events throughout the year bring everyone together. 

MavBlog: Are you still playing? What else do you do besides work and spending time with your family?
Shane Joseph: I started to play a little again last year with some guys, and it was great to get back on the ice.  I didn’t play for seven years after I retired and it was good to get back to enjoying the game again. Other than that, you can only have so many hobbies and the one I choose is golf.  It has become an addiction :)

Comparables

Minnesota State has had varsity men's hockey since the 1969-70 season and has had NCAA Division I hockey since 1996-97.

 

And during the course of its Division I-era, we can point to one MSU team that has made it to the NCAA postseason tournament.  This team, as we talk about quite often, was the team from 2002-03.  That year was memorable for many reasons. 

 

The Mavericks of a decade ago finished with a 20-11-10 mark and ranked second in the final Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings with a 15-6-7 record.  At one point MSU went unbeaten in a school-record 17 straight games. A pair of dynamic forwards from Alberta combined for 128 points and earned All-America honors in Shane Joseph (29 goals, 36 assists for 65 points) and Grant Stevenson (27 goals, 36 assists for 63 points). Captain B.J. Abel, who was named the team's Most Valuable Player at the end of the year, totalled 12-24--36 and four other forwards hit double digits for goals in Cole Bassett (14), Brock Becker (14), Adam Gerlach (13) and Dana Sorenson (12). The MSU blueline corps was solid with veterans Joe Bourne and Pete Runkle anchoring a heady and steady group. And early on the coaching staff, which consisted of head coach Troy Jutting along with assistants Darren Blue and Eric Means, found a goaltending formula that saw Jon Volp play one game one night and Jason Jensen the next. 

 

A nonconference home win and road tie with Nebraska Omaha set up a home WCHA first-round best-of-three play-off series in Mankato with the University of Wisconsin.  The Mavericks won the first game 2-1 before Stevenson's goal at 1:21 of the second overtime period sent the Badgers packing in game two.

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MSU fell in overtime to the University of Minnesota in the first game of the WCHA Final Five, then dropped a 6-4 decision to Minnesota Duluth in the third-place game the following day.  The Mavericks made the 2002-03 tournament as the 16th seed and headed for the East regional in Providence, R.I., for a first-round game against top-seeded Cornell where, led by future National Hockey League stand-outs Matt Moulson and Doug Murray, the Big Red overcame the Mavericks 5-2.

 

A lot of this sounds familiar, in a Back to the Future-kind of way.

 

For example, the long unbeaten streak.  This year's squad, led by first-year head coach Mike Hastings, got off to a pedestrian 3-5-2 start before reeling off a seven-game winning streak. Skill? A trio of forwards in sophomores Matt Leitner (17-30--47) and Jean-Paul Lafontaine (9-26--35) and senior Eriah Hayes (20-16--35) stand atop a scoring chart that boasts an offense that includes a nation-leading 44 power play goals. Secondary scoring abounds with another 11 players in double-digit scoring after the top three. The defensive group has a pair of point producers in Zach Palmquist and Josh Nelson and rangy shut-down types such as Tyler Elbrecht and Brett Stern. And goaltending-wise, the parallel between this year and back then has been that freshman Stephon Williams, the 2012-13 WCHA Goaltending Champion and WCHA Rookie of the Year, has been, not unlike the Volp-Jensen combo of yesteryear, consistently good. All this has led to an unprecented season with a record 24 wins and new heights in the national rankings. 

 

It took three games for the Mavericks to dispatch Nebraska Omaha in a league play-off series played in Mankato in the middle of March. And not unlike 2002-03, the 2012-13 version bowed out in its first game of the WCHA tournament, this time with a loss to the University of Wisconsin. 

 

This weekend the Mavericks will find out where they go for NCAA Regional action. And while there's a sense that there are similarities between this year's team and the one which made the program's first appearance in the NCAA postseason party, this will also signify an opportunity for the guys from the school in southern Minnesota to create a new identity for their hockey program.

 

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

It's great to be a Maverick!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got 'em right where we want 'em

John Belushi as Bluto

"Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is!"  - Bluto from Animal House.

There's been alot to celebrate during the course of the past quarter century for Minnesota State Athletics.

National championships in women's basketball in 2008-09 and men's cross country in 1988.  A total of 26 individual national championships, including four by high jumper Jim Dilling from 2004-07 and dominance in the women's pole vault led by the triumvirate of Amanda Frame, Katelin Rains and Lauren Stelten that began in 2003-04 and has totalled seven NCAA titles to date.

MSU reaffiliated its men's hockey program to Division I in the mid-1990s and in addition to a national tournament appearance in 2002-03 on a team featuring All-American forwards Shane Joseph and Grant Stevenson, the Mavericks have produced six National Hockey League performers, a Stanley Cup champion in Ryan Carter (Anaheim in 2007) and an Olympian in David Backes.  The MSU women's program boasts a Patty Kazmeier finalist in goaltender Shari Vogt and Olympians in Nina Tikkinen and Emilia Andersson.

The football team broke through to win a North Central Conference championship in 1987 and during the span of the last 25 seasons has made six NCAA postseason appearances.

Gorgeous Taylor Center opened 2000 and in addition to the aforementioned success of the women's program basketball program, the men's program has become a Division II powerhouse with its litany of league titles and NCAA appearances.  The wrestling program competes annually for a spot in the top five in the nation.  The baseball, softball, track and cross country, soccer and golf teams have captured more than 50 league titles between them over the course of this period.

So, that being said, and given the success of MSU teams during this time, surely we can point to situations where Mavericks teams have had to battle back from what would have appeared to be an unwinnable situation to win games.

Well, yes we can.  There are many, as a matter of fact, with a quartet of these situations immediately come to mind.

Feb. 2, 1991, St. Cloud, Minn. (Halenbeck Hall). The MSU men's basketball team trailed North Central Conference rival St. Cloud by ten (93-83) with 1:27 left in the game on SCSU's home court.  With the Mavericks surging, guard Bryon Lindsey scored eight points in the final 39 seconds as MSU fought back to tie the game, 97-97, at the end of regulation.  MSU eventually won in overtime, 108-106.

Oct. 2, 1993, Mankato, Minn. (Blakeslee Stadium). The Mavericks trailed #1-rated North Dakota State 21-0 in its annual Homecoming game, but MSU scored near the end of the third quarter and then twice more in the fourth to make it 21-21.  The Bison, who had never lost to the Mavericks in Mankato, scored with 1:55 left in the game, but a missed PAT left the score at 27-21.  Following the kick-off, the Mavericks lost the ball on downs, but got it back when NDSU fumbled on its next possession.  Jamie Pass hit diminutive receiver Jeff Spikner on a 23-yard strike with :22 left and Kenny Navitsky's successful kick gave the Mavericks an incredible 28-27 win in front of 6,100 rollicking fans.

Dec. 20, 2003, Mankato, Minn. (Midwest Wireless Civic Center). The eventual national champions from Denver built a 7-1 lead before a goal by defenseman Lucas Fransen midway through the second period started the ball rolling for the Mavericks. Travis Morin tallied on the power play and Shane Joseph scored two more power play goals before the end of the period to make it 7-5. Then after Adam Gerlach and Brad Thompson scored to tie it up, Joseph completed his hat trick with the game-winner with five minutes left.  The Mavericks, by the way, used three goaltenders in the game and Chris Clark, who was making his first varsity appearance, stopped all 13 shots he faced to get the win.

May 4, 2011, Sioux Falls, S.D. (Bowden Field). In its opening game of the 2011 NSIC softball tournament, #12 Minnesota State trailed #19 Winona State 7-1 heading into its last at bats.  Abby Sonner lit the fuse after her two-run homer made it 7-3.  Infielder Amanda Umhoefer's solo shot cut the deficit to three and after Melanie Upchurch and Lauryn Morris singled, Natalie Spicer's three-run homer tied the game.  Julie O'Neal then singled and came around to score after Kelly Wood's drive to right was misplayed to end the game.

As mentioned, there are several other instances in which the Mavericks found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  And as Greg Marmalard said in Animal House in reference to the fraternities at Faber College - "They're each outstanding in their own way."

See you at the ballpark this weekend with MSU hosting the 2011 NSIC baseball tournament at Franklin Rogers and the 2011 NCAA Softball Central Subregional on campus.

It's great to be a Maverick!