Larry Olimb

Larry Olimb
Born (1969-08-11) August 11, 1969 (age 55)
Warroad, Minnesota, USA
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Defenseman/Center
Shot Left
Played for Minnesota
Kansas City Blades
St. Paul Fighting Saints
Toledo Storm
Warroad Lakers
Minnesota Arctic Blast
Minnesota Moose
NHL draft 193rd, 1987
Minnesota North Stars
Playing career 1988–1995

Lawrence Olimb is an American retired ice hockey defenseman and center who was an All-American for Minnesota.[1]

Career

Olimb was a star player in high school, helping Warroad High School reach the state tournament twice. Because he turned 18 before the start of his senior season, Olimb was eligible for the 1987 NHL Entry Draft and became one of the few high school players to have already been drafted after the Minnesota North Stars selected him in the 10th round. He continued to show his talent that season and received the Mr. Hockey Award as the top player in the state.[2] He would later be ranked as the 33rd best player in the history of Minnesota High School Hockey.

With his highly successful junior career, there was little surprise that Olimb ended up going to Minnesota. In his freshman season, Olimb moved to center and helped the Gophers reach the 1989 championship game. He assisted on the game's opening goal but couldn't prevent Harvard from winning the title in overtime.[3] He remained a key contributor for Minnesota for the next three years, helping the Golden Gophers reach the NCAA Tournament every year he was with the program. Olimb was named team captain for his senior season and responded with his best performance. He scored nearly two points per game and became the Gophers' all-time leader in assists, surpassing the legendary John Mayasich.

After graduating, Olimb played professionally for a few seasons, including a stint in Roller Hockey International, retiring from the game in 1995.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1986–87 Warroad High School MN–HS — — — — — — — — — —
1987–88 Warroad High School MN–HS — — — — — — — — — —
1988–89 Minnesota WCHA 47 10 29 39 50 — — — — —
1989–90 Minnesota WCHA 46 6 36 42 44 — — — — —
1990–91 Minnesota WCHA 45 19 38 57 52 — — — — —
1991–92 Minnesota WCHA 44 24 56 80 72 — — — — —
1992–93 Toledo Storm ECHL 5 3 2 5 2 — — — — —
1992–93 Kansas City Blades IHL 11 0 6 6 4 — — — — —
1992–93 St. Paul Fighting Saints AHA 3 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
1993–94 Warroad Lakers Sr. Hockey — — — — — — — — — —
1994 Minnesota Arctic Blast RHI 22 26 39 65 26 — — — — —
1994–95 Minnesota Moose IHL 75 13 14 27 34 1 0 0 0 2
NCAA totals 182 59 159 218 218 — — — — —
IHL totals 86 13 20 33 38 1 0 0 0 2

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1990–91 [4]
WCHA All-Tournament Team 1991 [5]
All-WCHA First Team 1991–92 [4]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1991–92 [1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Larry Olimb". Minnesota Hockey hub. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  3. ^ "COLLEGE HOCKEY; Harvard Claims Its First N.C.A.A. Hockey Title". The New York Times. April 2, 1989. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Minnesota Mr. Hockey
1988–89 		Succeeded by