Minnesota Hockey Journal

March 2020

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related to this guy and this per- son's related to that guy. So you're going to school with all these peo- ple that have deep South St. Paul roots. My parents grew up there, they were high school sweet- hearts, so my friends, they know my friends' parents. It was almost like a typical Northern Minnesota town only right in the middle of the (Twin) Cities. Those small communities, they take so much pride in the history that it's had. Just go into Woog Arena and look at how many State Tournament banners are hung up. "The boys must have 20 or 30 banners by now, and we had one of the first premier girls programs in the state." High School Hockey Sweethearts Like his parents and his broth- er, Nick, Alex married his high school sweetheart, Felicia Nelson, who was an outstanding hockey player herself at St. Cloud State while Alex was tending goal at the University of Minnesota Duluth. In high school, Nelson was a top scorer, being a Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalist in 2005 after a 54-goal, 103-point season. Today, Alex and Felicia are proud parents to a young boy and girl. "We had a unique hockey his- tory," Stalock said of South St. Paul. "When I was growing up, like Jason Seils, was one guy that you're like, 'Holy Cow.' We had older brothers on the team, so the first time you started going to high school games, you'd be like 10 or 11 years old running around the rink. I remember being so ner- vous during those games. They'd be down a goal, like two minutes left and I'd be like so mad. You're so into it and you want them to win. It was just such a passionate thing. That's where you went every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Everybody met at Wakota Arena (now Woog Arena) and the place was packed. I didn't realize how cool it was until now to go there and watch warmups and be stand- ing on the glass and watching a game. It was the one thing you looked forward to every night." Packer Pride In early January, South St. Paul announced its all-75 team, one in which Stalock made. He would have loved to have gone to the event at Woog Arena, and the guaran- teed post-event bar outing at the Croatian Hall. But he was starting a game for the Wild the next day. Stalock would have also loved to have gone to honor Woog, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer and former Gophers player and coach who died at age of 75 in December. Woog was a first-team all-state player in three of his four seasons at South St. Paul in the 1960s, leading the Packers to four State Tournament appearances. Woog 's No. 7 jersey was retired by the high school in 2010. "He's South St. Paul," Stalock said of Woog. "When you shook his hand and talked with him, he had all the respect of a person. He was an unbelievable leader. What he did at the University (of Minnesota), South St. Paul along the way, he was an incredi- ble man. I appreciated every time I got to see Doug. When he gets going on a story or you can get him on a story, it was something that he could still go on pretty good. He was a special man." Stalock's Packers advanced to the State Tournament in 2004, where they lost in the semifinals. M A R C H 2 0 2 0 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M 29 Stalock backstopped South St. Paul to the 2004 MSHSL State Tournament before starring at UMD.

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