{"id":24270,"date":"2001-11-10T18:53:09","date_gmt":"2001-11-11T00:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2001\/11\/10\/dean-of-the-nets\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:54:20","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:54:20","slug":"dean-of-the-nets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2001\/11\/10\/dean-of-the-nets\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean of the Nets"},"content":{"rendered":"
The career statistics chart on senior goaltender Dean Weasler would make any hockey fan scratch their head in wonder.<\/p>\n
As a rookie netminder for St. Cloud State in 1998-99, Weasler was the Huskies’ main man with over 1700 minutes played between the pipes, a 2.97 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and a 13-11-4 record. Not too shabby for a freshman in the always-rugged WCHA.<\/p>\n
— Dean Weasler<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“As a freshman, I didn’t really expect to play,” Weasler said. “I thought I would sit and wait, so my it was really a bonus to get that much ice time my first year here. With the chance to play as a freshman, I learned to be more calm and confident … and play under control, which is something our [goalie coach] Bill Frantti really taught to me.”<\/p>\n
Certainly, one would have expected Weasler to be a prime player for the Huskies over the next two seasons, but a look at those career stats show a much different story. Due to injuries and the emergence of record-setting Scott Meyer as the Huskies’ top goalie in 1999-00, Weasler moved into a reserve role throughout his sophomore and junior years. In fact, Weasler looked to take a redshirt season in 2000-01 and continue in order to rehab from his sophomore-year injuries.<\/p>\n
“In the first half of the season, I thought I would end up red-shirting during 2000-01,” Weasler said. “I was helping the coaches on the bench … giving them my perspective on the games. I was also able to learn a lot by watching those games.”<\/p>\n
As SCSU enjoyed its best season in team history, Weasler completed the rehab process from his sophomore season injuries. Still, he wasn’t planning on giving up his redshirt status until a concussion sidelined Meyer during a key showdown against Colorado College on Feb. 2. Always one to put the team first, Weasler did not hesitate when coach Craig Dahl asked him to fill in for Meyer during the remainder of the game, which also meant that Weasler would be sacrificing his junior year of eligibility.<\/p>\n