Duane Derksen

Duane Edward Derksen is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former goaltender who was an All-American for Wisconsin Derksen was instrumental in helping the Badgers finish first in the WCHA and was the top goaltender as Wisconsin won their conference tournament. Wisconsin received the second western seed and began the NCAA Tournament in the quarterfinals. Derksen was key in the Badgers winning two close games, particularly the national semifinal against Boston College, and made the championship game. Derksen wasn't as sharp in the final game but he didn't have to be. Wisconsin's offense overpowered the star-struck Colgate Raiders and the Badgers easily won the game 7–3.

Derksen continued to improve in his junior season, finishing in the top 10 in the nation in goals against average with 3 shutouts to his credit. The Badgers weren't as good with several departures from the roster but the team did manage to receive another NCAA tournament bid. Derksen was named an alternate captain for his senior year and was the leader for the team. He helped Wisconsin to a second place finish in the WCHA and was named the conference Player of the Year. While the Badgers were upset in the WCHA Tournament, they still managed to earn the final western seed for the NCAA Tournament. Derksen played a pivotal role in getting the Badgers to win three games as an underdog and reach the championship game. The last match turned out to be a controversial affair, with both Wisconsin and Lake Superior State receiving double-digit penalties in the game. The Badgers got out to a 2–0 lead after the first but a series of questionable calls allowed the Lakers to take a lead early in the third. Wisconsin was so incensed by the performance of the referee that assistant coach Bill Zito accosted the official after the game with two other players, an incident for which all three were suspended by the NCAA. In the end, however, the result didn't matter for the Badgers as the team had committed several recruiting violations and their entire appearance in the 1992 tournament was later vacated. Neither Derksen nor anyone from the 1990 team had been a part of the violations so his championship was safe.

After graduating with a bachelor's in history, Derksen began his professional career in the Washington Capitals' farm system. He spent three fairly unspectacular seasons bouncing between minor leagues, producing decent numbers but not playing well enough to get a shot at the NHL level. Once his rookie contract expired he was not resigned and then spent two years with the Madison Monsters before heading to Europe. Derksen had much more success with Oulun Kärpät and was able to sell his success to the Peoria Rivermen. He served as the team's starter for the 2000 season and led them to a league championship that season. Despite the success he had no takers at the next level of the minor leagues and returned to Europe. Derksen was back with the Rivermen two years later and, though his numbers were even better, he wasn't able to replicate the success he had had the first time around. After one more season of professional hockey he hung up his pads and called it a career.

With his playing days behind him, Derksen transitioned into Sales and marketing working in the field for two years before returning to college to earn a business degree. He continues as an account manager, most recently with Ingersoll Rand (as of 2021), but did eventually return to ice hockey as an assistant coach in the summer of 2020.

Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1986–87 Winkler Flyers MJHL 48 — — — — — — 4.80 — — — — — — — — — 1987–88 Winkler Flyers MJHL 38 — — — — — — 5.20 — — — — — — — — — 1988–89 Wisconsin WCHA 11 4 5 0 561 37 1 3.96 .877 — — — — — — — — 1989–90 Wisconsin WCHA 41 31 8 1 2345 133 2 3.40 .889 — — — — — — — — 1990–91 Wisconsin WCHA 42 24 15 3 2474 133 3 3.23 .880 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 Wisconsin WCHA 35 21 12 2 2064 110 0 3.20 .878 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Hampton Roads Admirals ECHL 13 7 5 0 747 48 0 3.86 .884 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 26 6 13 3 1247 86 0 4.14 .875 4 — — — — — — — 1993–94 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 9 4 2 2 490 28 0 3.42 .890 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Rochester Americans AHL 6 2 1 1 235 14 0 3.57 .891 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 11 4 6 0 599 37 0 3.70 .873 — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Minnesota Moose IHL 7 1 3 3 250 21 0 5.02 .837 — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Richmond Renegades ECHL 27 15 8 2 1558 83 0 3.20 .885 4 — — — — — — — 1995–96 Madison Monsters CoHL 40 19 15 3 2209 128 1 3.48 .890 6 — — — — — — — 1995–96 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 1 0 0 0 22 3 0 8.01 .750 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 1 0 0 0 34 1 0 1.79 .909 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Madison Monsters CoHL 59 36 17 5 3364 190 0 3.39 .899 5 — — — — — — — 1996–97 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 1 0 0 1 60 2 0 2.00 .951 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Oulun Kärpät I-Divisioona 35 — — — — — — 2.25 .920 5 — — — — — — — 1998–99 Oulun Kärpät I-Divisioona 26 — — — — — — 1.72 .925 3 — — — — — 2.36 .913 1998–99 Tappara SM-liiga 5 2 3 0 260 17 0 3.93 .861 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Peoria Rivermen ECHL 43 30 9 3 2487 122 1 2.94 .891 16 — — — — — — — 2000–01 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 40 — — — — — — 2.94 .894 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 EC Bad Tölz 2nd Bundesliga 41 24 17 0 2423 109 7 2.70 — 3 — — — — — — — 2002–03 Peoria Rivermen ECHL 29 14 9 3 1629 74 3 2.72 .909 2 — — — — — — — 2003–04 Missouri River Otters UHL 20 4 14 1 1183 88 0 4.46 .880 — — — — — — — — MJHL totals 86 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — NCAA totals 129 80 40 6 7444 413 6 3.33 .886 — — — — — — — — AHL totals 43 12 20 4 2081 137 0 3.95 .877 4 — — — — — — — IHL totals 19 5 5 6 856 55 1 3.86 .877 — — — — — — — — ECHL totals 112 66 31 8 6421 327 4 3.06 .894 22 — — — — — — — IHL totals 19 5 5 6 856 55 1 3.86 .877 — — — — — — — — CoHL/UHL totals 119 59 46 9 6756 406 1 3.61 .892 11 — — — — — — — I-Divisioona totals 61 — — — — — — — — 17 — — — — — — —

Awards and honors Award Year MJHL First-Team All-Star 1986–87 MJHL Top Goaltender 1986–87 MJHL First-Team All-Star 1987–88 MJHL Top Goaltender 1987–88 All-WCHA Second Team 1989–90 WCHA All-Tournament Team 1990 All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1990 All-WCHA Second Team 1990–91