The inside Neutral Zone series provides a behind the scenes look at who our scouts are, and why they were selected to join the NZ scouting team. Below, we take a look into the hockey story of Roxy Stang, a former standout on the ice and behind the bench. Roxy has always hoped to become a scout for the game of hockey, and with her vast experience, has become Neutral Zone’s Head Minnesota Scout.
The perspective Roxy brings to the region of Minnesota is incredible. Growing up in Princeton, Minnesota, Roxy took to the ice at the age of three. She played boys hockey from age four to the bantam level where she made the challenging decision to switch to girl’s hockey for the college exposure. Anoka was the girls program Roxy joined while continuing her play with the Minnesota Thoroughbreds, who made it to the National Tournament every year. Though her experience was filled with positivity at Anoka, during her senior year Roxy and her family were forced to make another challenging decision to benefit Roxy’s future in the game. Roxy packed up her hockey bag and was on her way to join the hockey empire, Shattuck St. Mary’s. Justifying her decision to move, she racked up over 120 career points in her single season with the program. To increase exposure and to play another year of hockey after graduation, Roxy looked to a team in Colorado called Aspen Avalanche. She was honored as the team captain and lead the under-dog team all the way to a hard-fought semi-final loss in the National Tournament.
After completing her youth career, Roxy chose St. Cloud State to play in University. She had several options for NCAA DI hockey, but chose St. Cloud to fulfill her childhood dream of playing for her hometown team. Despite finishing her four-year career at St. Cloud in 2004, Roxy still holds the all-time records for both number of goals and power play goals.
Post St. Cloud, Roxy was scouted to play in the Swiss Professional Hockey League for a team in Lyss, Switzerland. She spent the next year making new relationships, exploring new countries and cultures, and, of course, playing hockey. Roxy calls her decision to play in Switzerland “one of the best decisions [she’s] ever made, [she] met new teammates and had a great hockey season. It just shows you how far the game of hockey can take you.”
During her extensive playing career, Roxy was invited to Lake Placid, NY to try out for the USA Olympic team on four separate occasions, beginning when she was only 15 years old. The final time Roxy went to try out she was a sophomore in college. At that time, she was leading all of NCAA Division 1 in points. She was within the top 35-40 players of the USA camp that year. Though Roxy was not selected to play in the Olympics, it is clear she had an incredible career on the ice.
Not ready to hang up the skates, Roxy continued to play for the Minnesota Whitecaps while she furthered her education. At that point she got into coaching at the high school level in her hometown, Princeton. Roxy’s coaching career eventually lead her to interview for the assistant position at Warner Hockey School. She was offered the job on the spot and quickly accepted. Over the next two years, Roxy was able to help lead the team to the JWHL Championship title in 2010. Almost every player Roxy coached went on to play in college hockey at the division 1, division 3, or CIS levels. There were several players that went on to be part of the Canadian National team at the U18, U22, and senior levels.
Not only could she play the game at an extremely high level, but she was proving her ability to coach as well. After returning from Warner, she continued to coach local programs along with private lessons. She also rejoined the Laura Stamm company to coach power skating. “The program has been around for years and is one, if not the, best power skating program there is.” Roxy has been with them for 10 years and really enjoys teaching the absolute fundamentals of the game; pure skating.
In 2016, Roxy joined the Neutral Zone team as the Head Scout for Minnesota. Director of Women’s hockey and former player of Roxy comments on the fit “She dove in right away. I didn’t even have time to look up schedules because Roxy was already covering every game. Roxy has incredible potential as a scout and will continue to be an instrumental part of our success.” From the story above, it is clear to see that hockey will always be a part of Roxy’s life. Neutral Zone is privileged to share her story and have her as part of our team.