Jay Panzer

Jay Panzer is an American former ice hockey defenseman who was an All-American for North Dakota. As the WCHA Champion, UND received the 2nd western seed and began its postseason run in the quarterfinals. The Sioux didn't have any of the top scorers in the nation but they were able to utilize all of their forward lines in combination to produce one of the top scoring teams in the country. That firepower was on full display during their tournament run as North Dakota scored 6 times in each of its three games. In the 1997 championship game, after Boston University had built a 2–0 lead, UND rolled through the Terriers in the second period, scoring 5 goals. Panzer assisted on UND's first marker and then helped the team hold the fort in the third to win the National Championship.

Over his final two seasons, Panzer increased his scoring each year and was named an All-American as a senior. In both years, UND won the WCHA regular season title but lost in the conference championship game and dropped their opening game of the NCAA Tournament. After graduating with a B.S. in Marketing, Panzer played one year of professional hockey before retiring from the game. Afterwards, he returned home to Grand Forks and began working as financial advisor with Investment Centers of America. He remains with the company as of 2021.

Panzer was inducted into the Grand Forks Central High School Hall of Fame in 2007.

Personal life Jay played with his younger brother Jeff in his final two seasons at UND. Jeff Panzer would help North Dakota to the National Championship in 2000 and go on to play professionally as well. Jay's nephew, Jaksen, currently plays hockey for Bemidji State University.

Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1994–95 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 4838416022————— 1995–96 North Dakota WCHA 26371016————— 1996–97 North Dakota WCHA 4316233920————— 1997–98 North Dakota WCHA 3518234110————— 1998–99 North Dakota WCHA 3921335412————— 1999–00 Greenville Grrrowl ECHL 4511233410————— NCAA totals 143 58 86 144 58 — — — — —

Awards and honors Award Year All-WCHA Second Team 1998–99 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1998–99