EAGLE RIVER, Wis. -(UWSP-WSAU) — UW-Stevens Point head women’s hockey coach Ann Ninnemann was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame on Saturday. Ninnemann became just the third woman to be inducted.
Ninnemann will be behind the UWSP women’s hockey bench for the 17th season this year. She has been a member of the women’s hockey program as a player or coach in all but one season since the program originated.
Under Ninnemann’s direction, the Pointers have posted a 221-157-46 overall record (.575) and her .575 winning percentage ranks 11th among active NCAA Division III coaches and 36th among all-time coaches at all divisions. Her teams posted a 70-42-17 mark in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA).
As a player, Ninnemann was UW-Stevens Point’s first All-American player in 2001-02 and captained the Pointers for three straight seasons from 2002-05. She totaled 55 goals and a school-record 69 assists for 124 points, ranking second in school history for goals and points. Ninnemann was named to the all-tournament team in 2004 when she led the Pointers to a national runner-up finish. She also assisted former UW-Stevens Point head coach and current St. Cloud State head coach Brian Idalski for one season with the Pointers in 2005-06, resulting in a third-place national finish.
When Idalski left for a Division I position, Ninnemann took over as head coach and has remained in that position ever since, acquiring a record of more than 200 victories and leading the Pointers to the NCAA Tournament twice. She is one of the only people ever to both play and coach in a Division III Frozen Four. She was an assistant coach in the Frozen Four and became just the third female head coach ever to lead a team to the national semifinals. She was inducted into the UW-Stevens Point Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Since beginning her coaching career, Ninnemann has been heavily involved with WAHA and USA Hockey Central District Girls Camps and has worked countless regional and state development camps. She has been a tremendous role model to countless student athletes, and that includes assisting the UW-Stevens Point and Stevens Point Area Senior High softball teams. Her non-hockey activities also include serving as the Spud Bowl Coordinator that established a $75,000 endowment to award scholarships for Central Wisconsin students with an agriculture background, and Title IX Investigator on the UW-Stevens Point campus.
