Gary Shuchuk, former Badger hockey star and NHL alumni of both Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings, has been named as the 2006 Badger State Winter Games Honorary Athlete. Shuchuk will be in attendance at the Opening Ceremony in the Village of Rothschild, near Wausau on February 3, 2006.
"I'm very honored to be chosen as this year's honorary athlete. This is a respected event and it means a lot to me," said Shuchuk. "The Badger State Games are such a great opportunity. I got to play with Team Canada in the Goodwill Games and the Olympic-style festival makes the experience so much better. You get to play teams you've never played before and feel like you're part of something so much bigger. You get that same feeling with the (Badger State) Games. You don't get that with other tournaments."
Gary Shuchuk earned a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin where he draped himself in Badger Red for four seasons. During his time on the ice with the Badgers he logged the following statistics: Career games played (2nd, 177 games), career goals (7th, 85 goals), goals in a season (T-3rd, 41 goals in 1989-90), points in a season (T-6th, 80 points in 1989-90), career points (T-12th, 176 points). He was also a member of the 1990 national championship team of which he was co-captain. In his last season at the University of Wisconsin, Shuchuk led the league in goals and points and was named first team all-WCHA and a first team all-American for 1990. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in History.
He made the jump to the NHL after being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings where he recorded one goal and three points; he also experienced his first action in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Shuchuk was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1993 where he would play 25 games of the regular season and 17 games of the playoffs as the Kings went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, led by Wayne Gretzky. While in the NHL, he totaled 162 games, 15 goals, 28 assists, 43 points, 82 penalty minutes and one game-winning goal in five seasons and had the opportunity to live his dream. After playing with the Kings, he was able to travel to Europe to play in Switzerland, Austria and Germany; altogether playing fourteen years of professional hockey. Gary has spent twenty years in Wisconsin and currently lives in Madison with his wife Michelle, son Alex and daughters Mikaila and Katarina.
Gary can be seen lighting the torch at the 2006 Badger State Winter Games Opening Ceremony on February 3, 2006 in the Village of Rothschild, just south of Wausau. The festivities start at 5:30 pm and will include free food, snowshoe demonstrations, a bon fire and a hot air balloon on display. Comedy Sportz, a family-friendly improvisation act out of Milwaukee, WI will perform from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm. The Ceremony starts at 7:00 pm and fireworks will follow. All events are free and the public is encouraged to attend.
The 2006 Games will take place the last weekend in January and the first weekend in February. Archery, Bowling, Youth and Women's hockey will take place January 27-29, 2006, while the remaining sports, Alpine Skiing, Billiards, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Men's Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Quadrathlon, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, Snowshoe Racing, Speedskating as well as the Opening Ceremony will occur February 3-5, 2006 in and around north-central Wisconsin.
For more scheduling information and to register for the 2006 Winter Games, log on to www.badgerstategames.org or call 608-226-4780.
Wausau Insurance Companies presents the Badger State Winter Games. Major sponsors are American Family Insurance, Charter Communications, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and Saint Joseph's Hospital-Ministry Health Care, with special thanks to TravelWisconsin.com and the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation is a nonprofit sports management organization that helps develop sports tourism in Wisconsin and promotes positive lifestyles and physical fitness through amateur athletic events and health education programs. WSDC owns the Badger State Games, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Sports Foundation, Paddle & Portage, Shape Up Wisconsin Kids, Lighten Up Wisconsin and the Fit Kids Challenge. WSDC is also the local host of Ironman Wisconsin