By Mike Klees
UWRF Sports Information

In a season where the Falcon hockey team will be looking for veteran leadership, forward Josh Schlipp hopes to lead the Falcons on the offensive end.

The senior from Chisago Lakes, Minn., the team's top returning goal scorer, has been a consistent offensive threat for the Falcons. Schlipp played hockey at both Forest Lake and Chisago Lakes in high school, before going on to play with Fargo-Moorhead of the USHL. He burst onto the scene for the Falcons in 2002, scoring 29 points, and then continued in 2003, scoring 30 points.

Last season Schlipp scored 19 points and earned All-WIAC honorable mention. Schlipp is known as a player with good speed and a knack for scoring goals on the power play and short-handed.

"Josh brings lots of speed and lots of experience," said Falcon Coach Steve Freeman. "He has really grown up and matured. He always contributes offensively and always plays hard."
Schlipp hopes to grow into a leadership role with Falcons and help the younger players on the team adapt to the college game. He is a guy that had considerable success as a younger player and he hopes that he can help the new guys enjoy that same success.

"We have a lot of new guys, so being one of the guys who has been here, we need to help them click," said Schlipp.

He is a very talkative and hopes some of the leadership skills he has learned in hockey will help him in his career. Schlipp is a political science major and he hopes to get involved in a non-profit organization for environmental protection when he graduates. He enjoys hunting, fishing and camping, and is actively involved in the Sierra Club.

During the off season, in addition to being an avid outdoorsman, Schlipp enjoys backpacking, surfing and downhill skiing.Over the past two summers, Schlipp has lived in San Francisco, and worked for an organization called Environment California.

"I feel the environment is one of the most important political issues of our generation, and that it has been largely ignored," says Schlipp.

Schlipp's main influence growing up was his grandfather, Chuck, who passed away two years ago. He writes his grandfather's initials on the end of all his sticks in his honor. Schlipp also credits both Freeman and assistant Coach Bob Ritzer with helping him advance his hockey career.

"Coach Freeman is the hardest working coach I have ever played for and is the most dedicated person on this team," said Schlipp. "He's an extremely fair guy. If you show him that you can do it, he will let you play. He has always had confidence in me and in all the guys."
Schlipp believes that this team has a great chance to win a NCHA crown and eventually, a national championship. He doesn't care about individual statistics. He cares about one thing, helping the team win games. He believes that a lot of the success of the Falcons has to do with the program.

"One thing that sticks out at River Falls is that we have such a close knit group of guys - when the new guys come they feel welcome right away," said Schlipp. "I've had a blast playing at UW-RF."

Schlipp hopes to help the Falcons reach those goals, and led them to a winning season in front of the fans at Hunt Arena.

Josh Schlipp