Rings of the Father

Quinnipiac’s Eric Hartzell and Yale’s Stu Wilson already have national championship rings in their households. Hartzell’s father, Kevin, was a member of Minnesota’s 1979 title team; Wilson’s father, Wayne, was a champ in 1984 with Bowling Green.

Kevin Hartzell scored 140 career points under legendary Gophers coach Herb Brooks.
Wayne Wilson was the senior captain for Bowling Green when it beat Minnesota-Duluth for the title. Stu Wilson said his father doesn’t talk a lot about the experience as a player, but, as coach of Rochester Institute of Technology, led his team to an improbable Frozen Four berth in 2010.
 

“He was a senior captain when he won it. I’m kind of on the opposite end of things coming here as a freshman,” Stu Wilson said. “The main thing he said to me was just enjoy it. You feel kind of spoiled as a freshman to be here so soon. At the same time you have to realize it doesn’t happen every year. So I really have to take advantage of it and enjoy it.”
Kevin Hartzell also went on to a coaching career in the United States Hockey League, where he coached Eric in Sioux Falls, S.D. Wayne Wilson has been head coach at RIT since 1999.
Following in his father’s footsteps and winning a title is something that’s always been on Stu Wilson’s mind.
“Your whole life, having your dad do something like that, you dream of doing the same thing,” Wilson said. “To be so close is unbelievable."

-- Chip Malafronte