Another Minnesota Gopher, Steve Christoff was the top American in the NHL’s 1978 draft, going in the second round to the Minnesota North Stars. But he stayed in school one more year, playing for an NCAA champion, and then joined the U.S. Olympic team. Immediately after the Olympics, he joined the North Stars and set a rookie record (since broken) by scoring eight goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs. His first full year in the pros was hampered by a broken collarbone suffered in training camp which forced him to miss 24 games, and at the end of that season he was traded to the Calgary Flames and then finished his career with the Los Angeles Kings. Christoff played in the NHL thru 1984, playing in 248 games, scoring 77 goals and 141 points. After retiring from hockey he worked as a pilot for Northwest Airlines and Endeavour Airlines.
United States