An all-time great goaltender who somehow went on to have an even more iconic coaching career, Willard Ikola — a titan of Minnesota high school hockey — died Monday. He was 92.
The coach known for sporting a houndstooth hat on the bench morphed Edina into a statewide power. In 33 years at the helm, Ikola guided the Hornets to 616 wins, 22 conference titles, 19 section titles and eight state championships.
Prior to that, he was excellent in his own right in net. Ikola went undefeated over his final three seasons as Eveleth’s starting goaltender en route to state titles from 1948-50. He eventually went on to play for the University of Michigan, where he won two NCAA crowns in two tries.
Ikola was also the goalie on the U.S. Olympic team that captured silver in 1956 in Italy.
This story will be updated.
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