MIRAGE

on coaching. I felt like it was the right time, and coming to a program I know so well made it even easier.”

Stauber is part of perhaps Duluth’s most well known hockey family. Her father is James and her uncles include former NHL goalie Robb Stauber, former Wisconsin-Superior men’s hockey coach and current Proctor athletic director Dan Stauber and U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber. Emma Stauber helps manage the family business, Duluth Hockey Company.

“There’s a lot of stuff you have to take care of on the back end, administration wise, but overall it’s been good,” Stauber said of her first head coaching position.

By Jon Nowacki jnowacki@duluthnews.com

Emma Stauber stuck around after practice last Monday at Hermantown Ice Arena as three of her Proctor-Hermantown girls hockey players had questions about the Mirage power play and penalty kill about how to better communicate with their teammates.

The first step of course is listening, and while it was a bit chaotic, with children running around the rink and a youth game about to start, Stauber listened intently to senior forwards Sydney Skorich and Megan Madill and junior center Alyssa Watkins. All eyes were on her as she then passed along the knowledge the 26-year-old has learned in a lifetime of hockey, and is still learning.

Stauber, a 2011 Duluth Marshall grad who played for the Mirage when the Hilltoppers were part of the program, is in her first year as Proctor-Hermantown head coach.

“She’s been really good,” Watkins said.

“It’s fun knowing she went through our pro- gram, went on to college and then played professionally. We get to learn more and more from her as we go. Just going to the rink, everyday you see little girls who look up to her, and you see how special it is.”

Stauber, a defenseman, helped lead the Mirage to their first state tournament in 2010. She went on to play more than 140 games for Minnesota Duluth from 2011-15 and was a captain. She finished with three career goals and 20 assists. She played in Sweden before joining the Minnesota Whitecaps, helping them win the Isobel Cup in their inaugural season in the National Women’s Hockey League in 201819. While Stauber con- tinues to play for the Whitecaps, based in the Twin Cities, she only makes their home games, so it is much less demanding than her previous schedule that included road games and practices. Stauber, who had previously served two seasons as an assistant at Duluth Marshall, was announced as head coach in April.

Stauber laughed about how she got her resume together not long after hearing about the job opening.

“I didn’t wait too long,” she said. “It definitely felt like the right time, even with my playing year last year, winning the Isobel Cup. I was satisfied reaching that, and didn’t mind taking a step back from playing to really focus

“I know there are a lot of things I do differently, but hopefully the girls feel it’s been a pretty smooth transition, as well. It’s been exciting to share what I’ve learned with them. It’s been good because a lot of them are asking questions.”

Stauber replaces Glen Gilderman, the Mirage coach since their inception. He was 322-219-

22 in 21 seasons and led teams to five state tournament appearances, four since 2014. They finished a program-best third at the Class A state tournament in February. The Mirage have dealt with injuries, including to junior defenseman McKenzie Gunderson, who tore knee ligaments in a powder puff football game and is out for the season. Like all teams, they are also dealing with the early-season process of experimenting with lines to see which combinations work best. Stauber has a system based approach, has introduced specially plays to run off the faceoff and emphasized what can be learned from watching video. As of last week, Proctor-Hermantown was off to a 2-1 start after winning 2-1 at Hibbing-Chisholm, a game Gilderman followed online.

Gilderman is proud to say that not only is Stauber leading the team, but former players Reilly Fawcett and Kennedy Halverson are also coaching in the program.