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New Proctor coach knows landscape

By Loren Nelson, MN Hockey Hub editor, 06/18/12, 5:52PM CDT

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Steve Rodberg played on Rails' lone state tournament team, was assistant last season

Steve Rodberg grew up in the Duluth area, played on Proctor’s only team to ever reach the state tournament and spent time in the Minnesota-Duluth and Wisconsin-Superior programs during his collegiate career.

An assistant coach at Proctor last season, Rodberg understands the local high school landscape as well as anyone. He can summarize the Rails’ place in area hockey pecking order with a single sentence.

"You don’t see a lot of kids transferring into Proctor,” the Rails’ new head coach said.

Proctor is surrounded by state hockey behomoths, most notably big-school powerhouse Duluth East and Class 1A juggernaut Hermantown. Duluth Marshall, a private school, also is typically one of the state’s most consistently strong Class 1A programs.

And just down the road is Cloquet, another Class 2A program that usually ranks among the toughest in Section 7AA.

While player movement from youth hockey association to youth hockey association and high school program to high school program is commonplace in an area with plenty of options – Duluth Denfeld, Two Harbors and Silver Bay also are in the immediate area – Rodberg is focused on building from within.

“When I played, we used to beat Hermantown all the time,” said Rodberg, who was a defenseman on Proctor’s 1997 state tournament team that finished third in Class 1A. “Now look at the players they are developing.

“I don’t think it is rocket science, either. USA Hockey put a lot of time and energy into their (American Development Model). It is the right way of developing a player.”

Proctor went 11-16-0 last season, losing 7-0 to Hermantown in the semifinals of the Section 5A playoffs. Proctor finished sixth in the seven-team Lake Superior Conference.

Rodberg played four years in the minor leagues, and was a member of Cincinnati (ECHL) and Fort Wayne (UHL) teams that made extended playoff runs in 2002-03 and 2004-05.

“I always still had the pipe dream of making the NHL,” Rodberg said. “It took me until I was 26 to understand how it really worked. I just had the love for the game.”

Knee and shoulder injuries eventually halted Rodberg’s career. He now is part owner of Mainstream Gutters based in Hermantown.

Rodberg said he spent the past 10 years thinking about how he’d like to return to Proctor to lead the program. He says he’s stayed in touch with high school teammates Travis Warnygora, who played at St. Scholastica, and Jess Hoffbauer, who will serve as his assistants.

“Ever since I played at Proctor I always envisioned coming back and helping out,” Rodberg said. “I always wanted to be at a level as a head high school coach where I could make a difference, not just in hockey but give them some insight into other things in life.

“I can still go out there and do everything they do. They respect me.”

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