Dieter Kochan (born May 11, 1974), is a Canadian-born American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

who played for the

United States men's national ice hockey team The United States men's national ice hockey team represents the United States in men's international ice hockey. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States. The U.S. team is currently ...

at the

2002 IIHF World Championship The 2002 IIHF World Championship was held between 26 April and 11 May 2002 in Gothenburg, Karlstad and Jönköping, Sweden. It was the 66th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Qualification Tournament ...

as well as 21 games for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

and

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

between 2000 and 2003. He was the first player to be called up directly from the UHL to the NHL. He notably scored a goal for the B.C. Icemen, on January 5, 1999. He was a member of the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

champion Houston Aeros in 2002–03. Internationally Kochan played for the American national team at the 2002 World Championship. Kochan was born in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, Saskatchewan and raised in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

Roller Hockey

Kochan grew up in Wisconsin where he also played

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

. He was the principal goaltender of the gold medal U.S. roller hockey teams at the 1996, 1997 and 1998 World Championships. He was also goalie of the gold medal team at the 1999 Pan American Games.

Post career

Kochan announced his retirement on May 17, 2007, after playing the 2006–07 season with the Houston Aeros. He joined the

Michigan State Police The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the State police (United States), state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide. The department ...

in 2008, and in 2025 he was joined by a

police dog A police dog, also known as a K-9 (phonemic abbreviation of canine), is a dog that is trained to assist police and other law enforcement officers. Their duties may include searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, findin ...

named Roy. He also spent time as a volunteer assistant goaltending coach with the

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

men's hockey team from 2008–2010 and in 2013–2014. He left the program after former goaltender Joe Shawhan joined the program as its new head coach, who noted that Kochan's available hours had been limited due to his full-time police role.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and accomplishments

*United Hockey League Second All-Star Team (2000) *

Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award The Hap Holmes Memorial Award is an ice hockey trophy awarded annually to the goaltenders of the American Hockey League (AHL) team with the lowest goals against average, and who have appeared in at least 25 regular season games. Prior to 1972, only ...

(fewest goals against - AHL) (2004) (shared with

Wade Dubielewicz Wade Roger Dubielewicz (born January 30, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 43 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 2003 and 2010 with three teams: the Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, and Ne ...

) *Member of Team USA at the 1996, 1997 and 1998 roller hockey World Championships & 1999 Pan American Games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kochan, Dieter Canadian emigrants to the United States 1974 births Living people B.C. Icemen players Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders American men's ice hockey goaltenders Detroit Vipers players Grand Rapids Griffins (IHL) players HC Sibir Novosibirsk players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Ice hockey people from Saskatoon Ice hockey people from Madison, Wisconsin Louisville RiverFrogs players Minnesota Wild players Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey players Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) players Portland Pirates players Sioux City Musketeers players Springfield Falcons players Tampa Bay Lightning players Vancouver Canucks draft picks 20th-century American sportsmen