Warren Strelow, 73; helped in 'Miracle on Ice'
Warren Strelow, considered the godfather of goaltending coaches in North America and an assistant who chose a young Boston University backstopper, Jim Craig, to lead the United States to improbable victory in the 1980 Olympics, died yesterday in Worcester. He was 73.
Mr. Strelow, a diabetic who had a stroke on Feb. 28, had been in poor health for several years after undergoing a kidney transplant. A series of life-threatening infections had shackled his mobility. Despite his illnesses, he had mentored a string of successful goalies for the San Jose Sharks.
As recently as five months ago, he was at work atop a motorized cart, putting minor league keepers through their paces in Worcester, the home of the Sharks’ top minor-league affiliate.
His knowledge of the game and rapport with his players were legendary. Equal, too, his colleagues say, was his inspiration.
‘‘In sports, people too easily toss around the terms ‘great’ and ‘unbelievable relationship,’’’ Sharks general manager Doug Wilson told The Boston Globe last fall. ‘‘But Warren is truly special with our guys. Everything he’s been through ...’’
Before the kidney transplant in 2003, Mr. Strelow would go through five hours of dialysis, then head up to the rink for the final skate-around.
‘‘I had a doctor say ‘I don’t know how you do it — you should go to bed,’’’ Mr. Strelow told the Globe. ‘‘‘No thanks,’ I said. ‘I’m going to work.’’’
His career began with legendary hockey coach Herb Brooks, with whom he shared a passion for hockey and a property line in a suburb of Minneapolis. Brooks asked his neighbor to volunteer to coach goalies at the University of Minnesota. Mr. Strelow, a high school teacher, helped Brooks lead the Golden Gophers to the NCAA title three times.
When Brooks was named the coach of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, he enlisted Mr. Strelow to help with the goalkeepers. It was Mr. Strelow who ultimately determined which goalies made the roster, and he made the decision to go with Craig for most of the games at Lake Placid, N.Y.
Backstopped by Craig, the team of mainly college athletes stunned the sport and inspired a nation by beating the world champion Soviet Union team, an event that became known as the ‘‘Miracle on Ice.’’ The US then defeated the Finns to grab the gold.
‘‘The two best weeks of clutch goalkeeping I’ve ever seen in my life,’’ Mr. Strelow told the Globe. ‘‘When we beat the Russians, I’m telling you, it was like we had a 10,000-volt wire running through our bench.’’
Mr. Strelow became the NHL’s first full-time goaltending coach when the Washington Capitals hired him in 1983. After seven seasons with Washington, Mr. Strelow spent three years with the New Jersey Devils, working closely with a young Martin Brodeur. He also is credited with developing former Sharks netminder Miikka Kiprusoff, who won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie for the Calgary Flames in 2005-2006.
‘‘We will miss him, but he will always be in my heart,’’ Sharks’ goalie Evgeni Nabokov said before the team’s first playoff game against Nashville last night.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this obituary. 