University of St. Thomas Athletics
Throwback Thursday: Terry Skrypek left his mark on UST hockey
6/11/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Ten years ago this spring, longtime Tommie head hockey coach Terry Skrypek announced his retirement after a distinguished 40-year Minnesota coaching career.
Skrypek was associated with 815 victories in 1,117 games at the prep and college level of hockey, including 419 wins over the last 23 seasons at head coach at the University of St. Thomas.
Skrypek was named the National Coach of the Year in 2005. He took St. Thomas teams to the NCAA championship games in both 2000 and 2005.
Under Skrypek's leadership, St. Thomas never finished worse than third place in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
His Tommie teams won 22 of a possible 46 conference regular-season and playoff championships; made the conference playoffs all 23 seasons; and reached the finals 20 times. They also made the NCAA playoffs 11 times.
Skrypek was a Hill-Murray assistant for three years and then served as Pioneer head coach the next 14 years (1973-87). His teams there won 88% of their games (325-44-3) and 13 of a possible 14 conference crowns.
In recent years, Skrypek kept his hand in the game as an assistant coach with Cretin-Derham Hall girls' hockey.
Skrypek was quick to credit others for his success.
"I've always wanted to give back to the sport of hockey," Skrypek said in a 2003 interview. "I like the people that are associated with the game. I was one of those rink-rat kids who spent most of my time as a kid on the outdoor rinks. I was fortunate to be able to play in good programs at Cretin and St. Mary's. As a coach, I've stepped into some good situations at Hill-Murray and St. Thomas. I've had some great assistant coaches and many talented players."
Skrypek was able to coach his son Bryan, a Tommie captain and All-MIAC defender. Bryan said in that 2003 story that much of the reason his father succeeded is that he knew when to light the fire and when to keep things loose. "He gets intense at the right times," Bryan said. "He loves to win and hates to lose, and he'll do whatever it takes to prepare his team. But he starts by trying to create good team chemistry and a family atmosphere. He demands that everyone give 100 percent every day, and do a little bit extra off the ice."
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Here's a tribute to Skrypek written in spring 2010 after his St. Thomas retirement... on the same day that fellow Cretin High grad Joe Mauer was in the news himself for signing a major contract extension:
Gene's Blog: This Cretin grad is pretty rich, too
Two news conferences in Minnesota sports were held last Monday, 1,200 miles apart. The guests of honor were two Cretin High grads.
Besides their St. Paul roots, laid-back personalities and passion for excellence, the duo share another thing in common. Both seem more comfortable wearing a Timex than a Rolex.
The theme of Monday's news conferences reminded you of a Beatles song: You say goodbye, and I say hello.
Both events represented the start of new chapters for two local sports teams. Each was a celebration of sorts involving two humble guys with remarkable resumes. Neither is a big talker or self promoter. Just guys who prefer to put the focus on teammates or team concepts.
The second news conference was held in Fort Myers, Fla., and timed to lead off the local evening news. It aired live on cable TV and radio and included an audience of Minnesota and national sports reporters and columnists, The packed gallery also included family members, the agent, the owner, team executives, the team manager, a star teammate... and probably even some guys who just showed up for the Bud Light.
The headline: Local boy stays put... a member of the Cretin Class of 2001 inks an eight-year, $184 million contract... becomes highest paid player in Minnesota Twins history.
When Cretin's own Joe Mauer put pen to paper, the term "Mauer Chevrolet" officially became an oxymoron. It was the week's most publicized signature by a guy not named Barack, inking the Affordable Care Act into law.
Agent Ron Shapiro's patience and strategy worked. How sweet is Mauer's $184 million jackpot? For one thing, he could buy 6,000 miles worth of Subway's "Five-Dollar Footlongs."(Think of the jobs that would be created to assemble 30 million sandwiches?)
Skry's Day in the Sun
Four hours earlier in a basement TV studio on the St. Thomas campus, several dozen people squeezed into a dark room to witness a slice of Tommie athletics history. The assembled media members consisted of:
- The distinguished sports columnist for the Highland Villager;
- TommieMedia's version of Woodward and Bernstein; student journalists (Jordan) Osterman and (Shane) Kitzman;
- The lead writer for St. Thomas Magazine and The Scroll;
- UST's staff photographer and two St. Thomas videographers;
- And last but least, the founder of Gene's Blog.
While no agent was on hand, an even more important consultant was in the front row: his wife Valerie. Guys like Denning, Lepp, McCoy, Hodgson, Casey, Sweeney, Broxterman, Kurtz and Hartung were on hand, not for the Bud Light, but simply for their bud.
The gallery included the current Tommie players and three other household names in Minnesota hockey: Boeser, Aronson, and Koalska. A worldwide audience could follow the event live or via archive on tommiesports.com. Steve Fritz introduced the guest of honor as a "legend."
The headline: Local boy moves on... member of Cretin Class of 1966 announces retirement after 40 years as a prominent hockey coach... never had a losing season.
Terry Skrypek was a National Coach of the Year here and guided Tommie hockey teams to the NCAA championship game in both 2000 and 2005. There were 419 wins, 22 All-Americans,13 MIAC regular-season titles and nine conference playoff crowns. Add in his 17 years at Hill-Murray, and there were 815 victories, including 103 in the postseason.
Skry gave us 23 great years, so it was fitting he got his day in the sun. A rare, sunny 60-degree Minnesota day in March it was.
Timing "Felt Right"
Why now, Terry?
"Everyone has that inner voice," Skrypek said. "I just felt like mine was telling me that the timing was right for me to step away. It's a new beginning for me. That's exciting in itself."
Longtime assistant coach Jeff "Duke" Boeser said it was no accident that St. Thomas became a conference and national force under Skrypek's leadership.
"When I think of Skry, I think of integrity, honesty," Boeser said. "He never promised a recruit anything. You always had to earn your playing time.
"He was a St. Paul guy, a Cretin guy. Have you ever met a Cretin guy you didn't like? They are middle-class guys who know they have to work for everything they get. He's a guy who was never big on statistics but always focused on the team. He always stressed the name on the front of the jersey was more important than the name on the back."
Dave Wright, the voice of Tommie men's hockey, has followed Skrypek for most of his 40-year era.
"Skry is one of the classiest guys I have ever worked with," Wright said. "He helped raise UST's hockey visibility to a high level. The proof of that is how often his team got invited to play in tournaments in the east. The coaches out there knew his team would play hard, but clean, and behave themselves off the ice.
"He was very easy to work with and always came to the rink prepared. His teams always played with intensity and often seemed to play their best hockey at the end of the season. The other thing you noticed was that no lead seemed safe against them. They always looked dangerous offensively. It was a pleasure to work for and with him."
Four times in the last decade, Skry's teams made a late-season playoff run and upset the conference playoff top seed on the road. And at both Hill-Murray and St. Thomas, he had teams that placed second in the conference go on and take second at state or in the NCAA.
"He was a fierce competitor," Boeser said. "He knew how to get the best out of every player, especially at the end of the season."
Fitting Finale
His patience and persistence was never more evident than in recent weeks with his 2009-2010 Tommies. The team had a 5-8-4 record in mid-January, and the program's 27-year streak of consecutive winning seasons was in jeopardy.
"Skry's a guy who never quits," Boeser said. "This year with all the challenges we faced, he could have quit. He came into the locker room and said, 'I'm not quitting on you guys. We're going to keep working hard and see what happens.' "
The UST players responded to their coach's faith. They won five of their last six games to make the MIAC playoffs, then won overtime games on the road against nationally-ranked Hamline and Gustavus to reach the NCAA tournament field.
"Like I told my players, I'm just a guy who used to sling my skates on my stick, and put it on my shoulder and head out to the ice," Skrypek said. "To be able to make a living for 40 years off a game I love is pretty amazing."
Do you know what else is pretty amazing?
Forty-eight years in hockey with no losing seasons.
Never finishing worse than third place in the conference.
A national Coach of the Year honor at UST and Minnesota high school Coach of the Year award at Hill-Murray.
Posting at least one postseason victory in 38 of 40 seasons in coaching.
Winning seven consecutive MIAC championships in the 1980s and 1990s.
Helping both Hill-Murray and St. Thomas reach 1,000 all-time victories.
Having winning series records against all eight MIAC opponents.
Getting to coach your only son (Bryan) to team captain and All-MIAC honors as a defender. And having all four children graduate from UST.
Yes, there were two Monday news conferences involving Cretin guys. The subject of one is an extremely rich guy. The subject of the second, that Mauer guy, is doing pretty well for himself, too.
