Joe Dziedzic was named the interim coach of St. Paul Academy's boys' hockey team, taking over for Craig Norwich, who resigned in the days following the Spartans' Dec. 30 game.
Dziedzic, who won Mr. Hockey at Minneapolis Edison in 1990 before playing with the Gophers and Pittsburgh Penguins, started Jan. 8 and will meet with school officials after this season to decide his future plans. Dziedzic runs hockey camps and coaches in the Fall Elite League.
He talked about his decision to coach the Spartans.
Q Did SPA reach out to you because of your role coaching in the Fall Elite League or because you've made it known that you'd like to coach a high school team?
A I really wasn't putting out any interest. They had parents of kids who had gone to some of my camps that said I would be someone to go after and see if they could get me interested. I really wasn't interested at first but they kept talking to me and I said it's something I would do to help out their program.
Q So it this a situation where the school is evaluating you and you're evaluating the whole coaching experience for yourself?
A Yeah. I'll need some time to decide but for now it's just trying to make the best of the situation and finish out the year for the team and the seniors.
Q Are you measuring this by wins and losses or is about something else?
