When Adam Hanna thinks back on his college hockey career at Saint John's, he does not focus on the individual accomplishments.
Though there were plenty of those.
The goalie from Owatonna was a three-time All-American who was named MIAC Player of the Year as a junior in 2005. As a senior, he earned the Sid Watson Award honoring the top Division III college player in the nation.
He still holds school records for most wins by a goalie in a season (20 in 2004-05) and a career (51), as well as for most shutouts in a season (six) and career (14). His career goals-against average of 1.77 is also first in program history, and his 1.61 goals-against average as a sophomore in 2003-04 ranks as a single-season best as well.
But Hanna's fondest memories are of the success the teams he played on achieved, and of the atmosphere and camaraderie he found in Collegeville.
Saint John's won MIAC regular-season titles during Hanna's sophomore and junior seasons and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament when he was a junior.
Along the way, the Johnnies generated huge fan support, luring students off campus to the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, which remains the team's home rink today. A game against archrival St. Thomas in 2005 drew a crowd of almost 4,500 people to see Hanna and company down the Tommies, 5-4.
"That's the thing I remember most, just the size of the crowds and being a part of that atmosphere," he said. "People really supported us. And then there were the bonds and friendships we formed."
"I remember after we won the conference championship my junior year, we paraded the trophy around the locker room. Then we were able to take it back to St. Joe. We had it at our house and we brought it to Sal's. Our parents came out with us. And there we all were, carrying the trophy down Minnesota Street.
"It was a really special time."
And Hanna was a pretty special player.
He began his collegiate career at Division I St. Cloud State as a freshman in 2002-03. But he soon realized playing time there might not be as plentiful as he wanted, at least in the near future.
He knew Ryan Langenbrunner '06, then a freshman at SJU, from their time as junior hockey teammates in Waterloo, Iowa.
So he reached out.
"The next thing I know, (then-head coach John) Harrington was at the door to my dorm room in (SCSU's) Sherburne Hall," he said. "And he convinced me to come."
That decision meant Harrington landed a goalie who would start in net the next three seasons. He was hurt during the preseason as a sophomore, but took over the starting job at a tournament in Vermont just after Christmas and never relinquished it.
"He was the perfect fit at Saint John's," recalls Harrington, a member of the legendary gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic team in 1980, who is now the head women's coach at Division I Minnesota State-Mankato.
"He could think the game so well. He could anticipate things and he made it look easy. He just seemed to be able to think ahead and know what would be coming next."
"His accomplishments as a goaltender speak for themselves."
But Hanna would much rather talk about the teams he played on, and the teammates who remain his friends to this day.
"That's the biggest thing," he said. "There are only a few people I met in Waterloo, or at St. Cloud State, that I remain in contact with. But I still talk to a lot of the guys from Saint John's. I may have started out somewhere else, but Saint John's was my college experience.
"And I couldn't ask for anything more from an experience than I got there."
