Joe Baldarotta is originally from Madison, and played youth hockey for the Westmoreland Hockey Club.  He played high school hockey at Madison West High School, from where he graduated in 1974.  Following college, Baldarotta returned to Madison West as an assistant coach.  He went on to be the head coach for four seasons, compiling a record of 59-25-2.  His Madison West team won the WIAA State High School Championship in 1983, and he was named the Wisconsin State High School Coach of the Year.

 

Baldarotta attended college at UW-Stevens Point, and played college hockey for the Pointers from 1974-1976.  He returned to his alma mater for five years as an assistant coach under Mark Mazzoleni, and helped the Pointers win three Division III National Championships.  He would go on to be head coach for Stevens Point for 16 years, with a record of 265-171-38, including 10 consecutive seasons and 14 in total with records of .500 or better.  His 1993 Pointer team won the 1993 NCAA Division III National Championship, earning him the American Hockey Coaches Association national coach of the Year honors.  His teams were national runners-up in 1992 and 1998 and captured three NCHA regular season titles and two playoff championships.  Baldarotta is a four-time NCHA Coach of the Year.  He would cap off his collegiate coaching career with several years at SUNY-Cortland, where he would achieve his 300^th career win.

 

A highly regarded camp instructor and teacher of the game, Baldarotta has been involved in numerous off-season camps and clinics, and has twice been a member of the coaching staff for the U.S. Olympic Festival.  Many of these camps and clinics include WAHA-sponsored events like the Bantam Elite Camp, coaching clinics and Team Wisconsin.  He has been a featured speaker at the High School All city Banquet in Madison, the American Hockey Coaches Convention and the Wisconsin Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.

 

Baldarotta continues to contribute by working camps and clinics, but he has returned to Wisconsin, where he now gives back to the game at the “Roots” level, by running an outdoor rink in Sister Bay and working with the novice and beginner player of all ages.  His greatest achievement though is the number of former players who are now involved in using what he taught them to grow the game.

 

Baldarotta is a 1989 graduate of UW-Stevens Point.  He and his wife Cindy now live in Sturegeon Bay, and have one son Nicolo.