Steve Jensen

Steve Jensen
Born (1955-04-14) April 14, 1955
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Minnesota North Stars
Los Angeles Kings
National team  United States
NHL Draft 58th overall, 1975
Minnesota North Stars
WHA Draft 64th overall, 1974
Vancouver Blazers
Playing career 1975–1986

Steven Allan Jensen (born April 14, 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a former professional ice hockey player[1] and Owner and Director of Heartland Hockey Camps.[2] Jensen was an offensive player who appeared in 438 games in the National Hockey League from 1976–82. For the past 27 years, Jensen has served as founding owner & director of the Heartland Hockey Camp located in Deerwood, Minnesota and is now a full-time teaching professional with over 30 years of instruction experience, including 12 years of experience playing International and NHL hockey, 5 U.S. National Teams, and the 1976 Canada Cup.

School & college

As a hockey player, at Armstrong High School, in Plymouth, Minnesota, Jensen was an All-State performer. At the college level, he was a participant in 2 NCAA championship games, helping win the National Championship, in 1975, while playing at Michigan Tech. For two consecutive years, Jensen was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. As a freshman at MTU, Jensen was awarded the Matovich Top Student/Athlete Award

Career

Jensen started his professional career in his hometown with the Minnesota North Stars and in 1977, he helped make history, as the Minnesota North Stars were the first team in NHL to have four rookies score 20 or more goals. Then, he played four years with the Los Angeles Kings, where he became only the 5th American in NHL history to score more than 100 career goals. During the 1980-81 & 1981-82 NHL seasons Jensen was the active leading goal scoring American in the NHL.[3]

Steve also has experience in International hockey. As a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team,[4] he led the team in goal scoring with 52 goals. During the 1976 Olympic Games, in Innsbruck, Austria, Steve was tied with Russia's Vladimir Shadrin, with 6 goals in 6 games, to lead the tournament in goals scored. In 1983, Steve was a valuable member of the U.S. National Team, winning the World Ice Hockey Championships, in Tokyo, Japan.

Jensen also played 4 seasons playing & coaching in the professional leagues of Switzerland & Austria. During the 1983-84 Swiss-2 season, while playing for EVZ in Zug, Jensen became the only hockey player in Swiss history to score 7 goals in a pro game. During his two seasons, as a player in Switzerland, he had 61 goals in 56 games. During the 1976 World Ice Hockey Championships, in Katowice, Poland, Jensen led Team USA in scoring with 4 goals & 5 assists in 9 games. Jensen was also on the preliminary roster of the 1979 Team USA World Championship, in Vienna, Austria and 1981 Canada Cup teams, but declined the invitation, in order to operate his summer hockey camp business.

NHL/WHA STANDARD[5]
Season Age Team Lg GP G A PTS +/- PIM EV PP SH GW S S% TOI ATOI
1975-76 20 Minnesota North Stars NHL 19 7 6 13 -5 6 6 1 0 1 49 14.3
1976-77 21 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 22 23 45 -6 62 16 4 2 1 160 13.8
1977-78 22 Minnesota North Stars NHL 74 13 17 30 -30 73 11 2 0 1 132 9.8
1978-79 23 Los Angeles Kings NHL 72 23 8 31 -28 57 21 2 0 4 114 20.2
1979-80 24 Los Angeles Kings NHL 76 21 15 36 -39 13 15 4 2 2 149 14.1
1980-81 25 Los Angeles Kings NHL 74 19 19 38 -6 88 13 5 1 4 118 16.1
1981-82 26 Los Angeles Kings NHL 45 8 19 27 -14 19 7 1 0 1 78 10.3
Career 7 Seasons NHL 438 113 107 220 -128 318 89 19 5 14 800 14.1

OTHER STANDARD[6]

Season Age Team Lg GP G A PTS +/- PIM EV PP SH GW S S% TOI ATOI
1973-74 18 Mich. Tech Huskies WCHA 40 17 9 26 32
1974-75 19 Mich. Tech Huskies WCHA 41 16 32 48 18
1974-75 19 United States NAT_TM 17 4 1 5
1974-75 19 United States WEC-A 9 2 0 2 2
1975-76 20 United States NAT_TM 64 52 44 96 42
1975-76 20 United States OLYMPICS 6 6 0 6 6
1975-76 20 United States WEC-A 7 4 5 9 8
1976-77 21 United States CAN-CUP 5 1 0 1 2
1977-78 22 Fort Worth Texans CHL 3 0 1 1 2
1977-78 21 United States WEC-A 10 3 0 3 2
1981-82 26 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 14 5 8 13 4
1984-85 29 EV Zug Swiss-2 36 38 19 57
1985-86 30 Springfield Indians AHL 4 3 3 6 2
Career 2 Seasons AHL 18 8 11 19 6
Career 1 Seasons CAN-CUP 5 1 0 1 2
Career 1 Seasons CHL 3 0 1 1 2
Career 2 Seasons NAT-TM 81 56 45 101 42
Career 1 Seasons OLYMPICS 6 6 0 6 6
Career 1 Seasons SWISS-2 36 38 19 57
Career 2 Seasons WCHA 81 33 41 74 50
Career 3 Seasons WEC-A 26 9 5 14 12

Positions


Jensen served USA Hockey for 17 years as a certified hockey official. From 1985-98, he officiated over 1,500 USA youth hockey games.

Jensen currently serves as the Head Scout, of the USA Hockey SE Region, for the Aberdeen Wings, a member of the North American Hockey League.

Jensen was the first Minnesota-born hockey player to attend Michigan Tech on a scholarship.

Jensen worked for CBS Sports, as a color commentator, during the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Jensen had a brief appearance in the motion picture Airplane II, released in 1981.

In 1985, Jensen became the first entrepreneur to privately own an ice arena in the state of Minnesota

The Heartland Hockey Camp, which Jensen founded in 1985, was named Small Business Success Story, by Twin Cities Business Magazine, in 2009.[9]

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1974 [10]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1975 [10]

References

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