League alums give back as coaches

From left, Patrick Steinhauser, Mike Phillippi and Cory Thorson are all Elite League alums as players who are coaches in the league this season. Photos by Loren Nelson, LegacyHockeyPhotography.com

Mike Phillippi was lined up for a faceoff when the magnitude of the moment hit.

Phillippi, a teenager playing in an early 2000s Upper Midwest High School Elite League-sponsored International Invitational Tournament game, glanced to his right and then gave himself a reality check.

“Goligoski was my D partner,” Phillippi said. “Alex Goligoski. I thought to myself, ‘Oh my god, I’m playing with Goligoski. Is this real life?’ ”

Goligoski, a Grand Rapids native who would go on to play 17 seasons and become a Stanley Cup winner in the NHL, was already something of a legend (Mr. Hockey finalist in 2004) as a high schooler. 

Phillippi’s brush with fame is just one of dozens of memorable Elite League moments he’s enjoyed over the past two decades as a player, referee and coach.    

“It’s something I really believe in,” Phillippi, co-head coach of The Base, said about the league. “It produces good hockey, good players, good people. There’s nothing like it out there.”

Phillippi is one of three former Elite League players-turned-coaches this season. Patrick Steinhauser is an assistant coach for Twin Cities Orthopedics and Cory Thorson an assistant for Spade Landscaping. All three played two seasons in the league.

“My senior year I got to play with Grant Besse and Christian Horn, who's my stepbrother,” said Steinhauser, who starred for Team Northwest and, during the high school season, Benilde-St. Margaret’s. “Playing with them in this league, and just being able to be at home, that was the best of both worlds.

“I got to do all the things that a normal high school kid would do. I remember leaving the arena and just going right over to the homecoming dance.”

Thorson was also chosen to play in the Elite League’s season-ending invitational tournament, a highlight of his career. 

“It was just an honor to represent my community,” the former Robbinsdale Armstrong standout said. “Getting to go to your homecoming, getting to go to your prom. Just the opportunity to play with my friends. I was cherishing every moment.”

All three coaches said they try to give their players two or three things they can work on during the two-month Elite League season — skills and concepts that will serve them well during the high school season and beyond.

“Just give them little bits of encouragement, little things to work on,” said Thorson, who played four seasons at St. Cloud State.

Steinhauser said playing in the Elite League as a junior gave him a huge jolt of confidence. He tries to give his players the same opportunities to succeed.

“All these kids, they know so much about the game already,” Steinhauser said. “They already have the tools, and it's just a different way of using them. I try to give them one or two things that they can stick with no matter where they go.”