STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – SPASH honored the best of the best at Sentry World in Stevens Point on Saturday. The school\u2019s class of 2025 hall of fame inductees are getting the recognition they deserve.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s SPASH Athletic Hall of Fame class is headlined by SPASH\u2019s only championship hockey team, led by \u2018Captain America\u2019 himself, NHL All-Star and Team USA Captain, Joe Pavelski.<\/p>\n
Pavelski was inducted into the U.S.A. Hockey Hall of Fame just a few weeks ago. Now, he is back in his hometown, where he will be cemented with his Panthers teammates, as some of their high school\u2019s greatest ever to grace the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou laugh, you know, there\u2019s a few little changes, but deep down all the guys are the same,\u201d Pavelski said. \u201cYou just really get to kinda look back and enjoy some of these stories that are coming out, and it\u2019s been a while for some guys, and to really get us together, you know, it doesn\u2019t happen every day, so we\u2019re gonna enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pavelski\u2019s high school coach, Jack Stoskopf Jr., has been hoping the Hall of Fame\u2019s selection committee would pick his championship team to be inducted.<\/p>\n
Stoskopf said there was a reason for his team\u2019s success, and it is the reason they\u2019re still the only championship team in school history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, one of the reasons I believe we were truly successful,\u201d Stoskopf said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the most talented team I\u2019d ever coached at SPASH, but it was a true team, and that came down to the really good leadership that we had from Joe Pavelski, Shaun Kraskinski, and Mark Lutz. Those three guys really led this group through. That\u2019s a huge, key, important ingredient you have to have to be successful in high school sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only are \u2018Pavs\u2019 and his team going into the Panthers\u2019 Hall of Fame, but Joe\u2019s uncle, Pat Pavelski, is also getting inducted into SPASH\u2019s Hall of Fame as a baseball player.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know you come back here, special day you know, going in with our team and some of the guys that are here, and then throw on top of that, Pat is going in as well,\u201d Joe Pavelski said. \u201cIt\u2019s a special day for our family, I think, and for this group, and you get to come back home quite a bit and tie it all together in a night like tonight, it\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pavelski is now coaching in the state\u2019s capital after his NHL retirement. So we asked, could he eventually coach his hometown team?<\/p>\n
\u201cHaha. I gotta team right now, maybe we\u2019ll go from there,\u201d Pavelski said. \u201cYou never know what\u2019s going to happen, but we\u2019ve definitely enjoyed our time down in Madison.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPASH\u2019s hockey team came close to getting back to state last season. Coach Stoskopf says the Panthers\u2019 tradition of winning can be an example to help the current team find success once again.<\/p>\n
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