University of Minnesota Athletics
Freshman Faceoff: Ryan Norman
8/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
As we get closer and closer to the 2015-16 Gopher Hockey season, we continue our "Freshman Faceoff" series today with incoming forward Ryan Norman
A native of Maplewood, Minn., Norman joins the Gophers after five seasons at Shattuck St. Mary's including the last three with the school's prep team. The incoming freshman averaged over a point a game in his prep career with 159 games and 198 points (78 goals, 120 assists) while he led the team in scoring during his sophomore and junior seasons and finished second as a senior. Norman, whose father (Todd) played at North Dakota and was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, capped his junior season at SSM with the 2014 Tier I 18 and Under National Championship
Why did the Gopher Hockey program seem like the right fit for you?
I always remember going to Gophers games when I was a little kid. My dad always loved North Dakota, he played there, and so I had to have a rivalry with him, of course. I decided the Gophers would be a good fit.
Are you and your dad still on speaking terms since your decision?
Yeah…he doesn't really care all that much. He actually thinks it's a great program and he's really happy for me to be here.
Talk about your experience at Shattuck St. Mary's. Obviously they have a long history of developing great hockey players and winning championships. How did you feel about your time there?
I thought my time at Shattuck was incredible. It did everything I needed. It developed me into a two-dimensional hockey player; it helped out with my defensive game, and everything I needed. The coaches going through the whole line, from the Bantam team to the U-16 team, they were always great. Especially Tom Ward with the prep team…he does a very good job with turning a group of twenty kids into a championship team.
You won a national championship at SSM in 2014. Talk about that experience.
I played on the prep team for three years and lost in the semi-finals twice. My junior year we won the championship…that made the hurt of the losses a little less painful.
Talk about when you learned to play hockey. I would assume your dad had something to do with that. Do you remember when you first learned to skate?
I actually started when I was really young, maybe two or three. We had a rink in our backyard that the city would come and flood for us so the ice was always pretty good. When I was little my dad would bring a net out there, and we would shoot around for hours. From there it just kind of grew, and I started going out there by myself to practice.
Outside of hockey, what are you interested in?
I'm really big into golf. I've loved playing since I was young, and I played for Shattuck's high school team. I also love going up to my cabin. My family has been going since I was really young, and I go up whenever I have the chance!
How do you like the University of Minnesota so far? I know you're taking some classes.
So far it's been pretty tough but you get used to it pretty quickly because you have no choice. Everything has been going really well so far; the workouts, the schooling-nothing to complain about!
Previous Freshman Faceoffs
Tyler Sheehy
