John's Journal: NHL Veterans And An Air Force One Pilot

When Jordan Leopold and Thomas Vanek walked down the tunnels to the benches for Thursday’s opening quarterfinal game of the Class 2A boys state hockey tournament at Xcel Energy Center, it felt a little like returning home.

The two assistant coaches – Leopold for Andover and Vanek for Stillwater – have fond memories of the arena from their college and professional days. Leopold was a member of the University of Minnesota team that won the 2002 NCAA championship in St. Paul; Vanek joined the Gophers a year later when they won a repeat title in 2003 in Buffalo, N. Y. Both of them had lengthy NHL careers, including stints with the Wild.

“I have lot of great memories in here,” Leopold said after Andover lost to Stillwater 5-0.

Leopold is the father of five kids, from seven years old to 21. His son Kyle, 16, is serving as a team manager for the Huskies after being injured. Jordan, who played high school hockey at Robbinsdale Armstrong, is in his second year as an Andover assistant coach. He won the 2003 Hobey Baker Award as the college game’s top player, then played nearly 700 games in the NHL for Calgary, Colorado, Florida, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, St. Louis Columbus and Minnesota between 2002 and 2015.

“While I was going to college I always wanted to be a Phy Ed teacher and I wanted to be a coach,” Leopold said. “I actually have a coaching minor, so it was always in the plan to do that. Life gets busy and things kind of got away from me when I left the game professionally. I had an option for a player development role with a team, and I turned it down. Having a family and going through the business end of it and being gone all the time, I didn't want to repeat that.”

Vanek, 41, is in his third year with the Stillwater Ponies. After being named MVP of the 2003 Frozen Four he was in the NHL from 2005 to 2019, playing more than 1,000 games with Buffalo, the New York Islands, Montreal, Minnesota, Detroit, Florida, Vancouver and Columbus.

Sixth-year Stillwater head coach Greg Zanon, 44, who played nearly 500 games as an NHL defenseman – including time with the Wild -- said Vanek “just brings a wealth of knowledge. I mean, let's not kid ourselves, I wasn't much of an offensive player, Thomas just brings an element of what we do with our attack, or using our wide ice, the skill stuff that we work on.

“We knew (Andover was) going to clog up the middle and block a lot of shots, and he had a drill for the guys to try to find a way to get pucks through. He’s just been a great addition to our team and he means a lot to this group.”

Speaking of experience on a high level, Mark Manney, Andover’s coach for 16 years, is a Moorhead native and Air Force veteran who piloted Air Force One for presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

The Cathedral of Coaching Alums

It’s not a requirement for head coaches at St. Cloud Cathedral to be graduates of the school, but there may not be a high school in Minnesota with more alums in charge of programs. There are 11 head coaches who attended Cathedral, and five of them have taken their teams to state tournaments during the 2024-25 school year.

The latest is the Crusaders boys hockey team, coached by 2010 graduate Robbie Stocker. They defeated Mahtomedi 3-0 in Wednesday’s Class A quarterfinals and will meet Orono in Friday’s semifinals round. Cathedral has a strong hockey tradition. The Crusaders are making their 13^th state appearance, with championships in 2019 and last year.

Other coaches leading their teams to state this year were Alex Hess (2007 grad) in boys soccer, Abby Schneider (1999) in girls soccer, Marissa Haakonson (2009) in dance and Joel Stark-Haws (1991) in gymnastics.

“It's pretty cool,” said Stocker. “That's a pretty big testament to the people that we've had at Cathedral for a number of years. We aren't people that just graduated five years ago. We've really wanted to stay a part of Cathedral. I think that just speaks to how great of a culture we have and how cool the school environment is.

“We have great leaders. And when you want to come back and coach, it's usually because you had a really good coach when you were there and you want to do for kids what was done for you.”

Cathedral activities director Emmett Keenan said the process of hiring coaches can be relatively simple.

“We don't always get it right, but one of the beauties of a place like Cathedral is that hopefully we have an environment that people want to come back and coach in. You start with good families and good kids, so you know you're starting from that place. And I think when you come back, especially as a graduate of Cathedral, you kind of know the expectations and kind of know what we want our programs to be.

“And we have good coaches, great coaches who aren't alums, either. But we also have people that understand the importance that athletics and activities play in our school, and they understand that. We're very proud if we win a state championship, but we're more proud of the doctors and nurses and lawyers and moms and dads and all the people that have come through Cathedral. I think our coaches understand that, and our coaches who are graduates understand that even more because they've lived it when they were in school.”

40 Years Ago In Burnsville

This is a busy week of MSHSL state tournaments, with boys hockey, boys swimming and diving at the University of Minnesota and adapted floor hockey at Coon Rapids High School.

The boys swimming and diving meet doesn’t normally coincide with the boys state hockey tournament; they are being held at the same time this year because of the availability of the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

One of the rare years that the boys hockey and swimming events have been held at the same time was 1985, and those were heady days 40 years ago for Burnsville High School. Championship events in the pool (then at Cooke Hall at the U of M) and the hockey championship game were held hours apart. The Burnsville boys swim team won the state title in the afternoon, then headed to the St. Paul Civic Center to watch their friends win a hockey championship.

Burnsville won a repeat hockey state title in 1986 and was runner-up in 1987. The swim team’s only other state team title came in 2007.

Honoring A Legend

When John Gilbert died at the age of 82 in January, his passing left a big void in coverage of Minnesota hockey. The Duluth native wrote about the sport on all levels from youth to high school to college and the pros.

Following a 30-year career with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, John could still be spotted covering prep and college events of every kind in the Duluth area, while also hosting a radio show and writing monthly columns about automobiles.

After attending Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Minnesota, John began his sportswriting career in 1967 at the Duluth Herald and News-Tribune. He was a fixture at the boys state hockey tournament, and he is being remembered with a small memorial in the press box this week.

--MSHSL staff member John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Bluesky at johnmilleamn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]