Tom Kuklinski, now of Hayward, grew up playing youth hockey in Mosinee, but, unlike them, Tom pursued hockey as a way of  life, in the form of coaching.He played on nine State Championship youth teams, and participated in the 1965 National Bantam Tournament in Detroit.  With no high school team to play on, Tom played with the Mosinee Papermakers until walking on with Badgers, eventually earning a spot with Badger Bob’s team, and playing on the first National Championship Badger team in 1973.  After college, he began his high school coaching career at Stevens Point, and then returned to Mosinee where he served three years as the high school

head coach.  He then began a 20-year career as the head coach at Eau Claire North, where he won two conference championships, as well as WIAA Sectional Championships in 1991, 1993 and 1995.  He was three times named Coach of the Year by the Northwest Conference, and again by the Big Rivers Conference.  He received the Eau Claire Youth Hockey Richard G. O’Brien Distinguised Service Award in 2000, and was inducted into the Eau Claire Center Ice Club Hall of Fame in 2007.  Over all of these years, he also played for the Papermakers for almost 20 years, the semi-pro Central Wisconsin Flyers and Chippewa Falls Blades, as well as numerous Badger State Winter Games teams, winning five gold medals, and continues to play no-check hockey to this day.

 

            Tom Kuklinski’s hockey journey would then take him north to Hayward, where he would become the principal at Hayward High School, and would immerse himself once again in this hockey community.  Whether it was coaching Mites or Bantams, or acting as Steve Kirley’s assistant for the boys varsity pr Steve Billings girls varsity goalie coach, he continued his pursuit of excellence in the the game and became even more involved in the sport.  He is also a charter member of the the Wisconsin High School Hockey Coaches Association.  He has served both USA Hockey and WAHA, working coaching clinics and select camps throughout his career.  He has worked camps and clinics for almost four decades, and is one of those hockey guys who can’t seem to say No when asked to fill in or contribute, even at the last minute.