Kids ask Coach Andy Kollar, “What is the best pathway to success in hockey?” He always answers the same way. “There isn’t just one.” And he’s living proof.
Andy Kollar has been inducted into the University of North Dakota Athletics Hall of Fame twice.
That's two more times than the Winnipeg-born goaltender probably expected when he couldn't even make his local AAA bantam hockey team.
Then again, nobody ever said the road to hockey greatness had to be a straight line.
For Kollar, the longtime head instructor of goaltender development at Winnipeg's Ice Lab, that road included a few community clubs, a stop with the River East Kodiaks, a Manitoba Junior Hockey League championship, a season in Fargo and, eventually, two trips to the NCAA national championship game.
And now, 25 years later, another trip back to Grand Forks to celebrate one of the most memorable periods of his life.
The funny thing is, when North Dakota called to tell him his 2000-01 Fighting Sioux team was being inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, Kollar thought somebody had made a mistake.
"I got a call this summer and they said they're inducting us into the Hall of Fame," Kollar laughed. "I'm like, 'I think you guys are wrong because you already inducted us.'
"I didn't know that it was per team and that each team could get in. I thought once you're in, you're in."
Turns out, the university knew exactly what it was doing.
Kollar was already a Hall of Famer as a member of North Dakota's 1999-2000 national championship team. Now, the 2000-01 squad, which returned to the national championship game before losing to Boston College in overtime, was receiving its own recognition.
Two teams. Two inductions. One remarkable college hockey career.
And one very grateful Winnipegger.
"It's pretty exciting because it was such a big period of my life," Kollar said. "Not just the hockey, but the people that I've met there. We've kept track of each other and had group chats over the last 25 years.
"I cringe when I say that number because it's been that long."
The reunion was almost as enjoyable as the honour itself.
"It's fun to get back and see everybody and see the gray hairs and the no hairs and the weight changes and everybody's families and what the kids are doing," he said.
"It's such a great program to be a part of and how well they treat us. I'm very humble about it, but it's a big part of my life and very important to me."
Kollar spent five years at North Dakota, including a redshirt season. During his four playing seasons, he was part of two teams that reached the NCAA championship game.
In 2000, North Dakota defeated Boston College in Providence, Rhode Island, to capture the national title.
A year later, the Fighting Sioux met Boston College again, this time in Albany, New York.
Andy Kollar coaching at hockey for all centre's Ice Lab (Photo by Jonathan Kozub)
That second championship game became memorable for coach Dean Blais's decision to pull his goaltender with approximately five minutes remaining. North Dakota rallied to force overtime but couldn't complete the comeback.
"We tied it up and got to overtime, which was pretty cool," Kollar recalled. "But we didn't get to pull that one off.
"Just to be able to go back to it back-to-back, it's pretty cool."
For a young man whose hockey career began in Winnipeg's River East neighbourhood, it was an extraordinary accomplishment.
And it all started with his father.
"My dad was my idol and he was a goalie," Kollar said.
His father immigrated to Canada from Slovakia in 1968, during the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Although he'd grown up playing soccer, he developed a passion for hockey after arriving in Canada.
He became a recreational goaltender, and young Andy was hooked.
"I just saw him playing beer hockey and I loved it," Kollar said. "I just wanted to do it. I think I've been a goalie since I started. I don't even know how to skate in regular hockey skates. I've been in goalie skates my whole life."
Kollar's minor hockey career took him through seemingly every corner of northeast Winnipeg: Gateway Flyers, Bronx Bruins, Melrose Missiles, North Kildonan Cobras, Valley Gardens “whatever we were.”
If there was a rink in the neighbourhood, chances are Andy Kollar played there. But his journey wasn't without disappointment.
He was cut from his local AAA program and wound up playing high school hockey with the River East Kodiaks. That disappointment could have ended his dream. Instead, it became part of a hockey education that would eventually take him to one of the NCAA's most prestigious programs.
From the Kodiaks, Kollar joined the St. James Canadians of the MJHL, where he helped win a league championship in his rookie season.
He then moved to the Fargo Sharks of the United States Hockey League before earning an opportunity at UND.
High school hockey. Junior A. The USHL. NCAA Division I. Four seasons. Four different levels.
Not exactly the conventional route to college hockey stardom.
"That's another part of the story when kids ask me what's the right path," Kollar said. "There is no right path to me. Just be ready. Make yourself the best as you can when your opportunity arises."
It's a philosophy he now shares regularly with young goaltenders at the Ice Lab. And it's one that comes from experience.
"I've been through a lot of it and there's been a lot of heartache and a lot of leaving friends," he said. "I gave up a lot.
"I loved hockey so much. I just wanted to play anywhere I could. Just persevere as much as you can. When your time's ready, be able to shine."
Interestingly, after his playing career ended, Kollar wanted nothing to do with hockey. He returned to Winnipeg, took a job selling industrial fasteners and spent approximately seven years working in industrial sales.
He needed a break from the game. But hockey has a funny way of calling people home.
In 2014, Dwayne Green, who had been involved with the St. James Canadians during Kollar's junior career, contacted him about an opportunity at the Ice Lab. Kollar jumped at it.
"I started missing hockey a lot," he said. "When Dwayne asked me, it was a no-brainer. I jumped right on the opportunity, and I've been here since 2014."
Today, he helps young goaltenders develop their skills, confidence and understanding of a position he has loved since childhood.
He also understands that hockey success isn't always measured by championships, scholarships or Hall of Fame plaques.
Sometimes it's about perseverance.
Sometimes it's about opportunity.
And sometimes it's about a kid who gets cut from AAA, keeps working and eventually winds up celebrating two remarkable teams at one of college hockey's great institutions.
"I love what I do," Kollar said. "My body's hurting, but when I get on the ice, I forget about it.
"And I just have a blast."
Two Hall of Fame inductions later, Andy Kollar is still having a blast.
And somewhere along the way, that kid from River East who just wanted to be like his dad became a pretty remarkable example for the next generation.
Comments