Most people prefer to follow. They need directions to proceed. It is the rare individual that can forge their own path and create their own chances. John Stauffacher is that rare individual.

In 1993 John Stauffacher had conversations with his friend, Bob Suter, regarding potentially purchasing the Capitols USHL team*. The Capitols played in Madison’s municipally owned Hartmeyer Ice Arena. Hartmeyer was starting to show its age, and a change of venue would improve the team’s finances. As a businessman, Stauffacher concluded “I thought the team would need to be moved.”

Stauffacher researched locations a USHL team could call home. He found it in Green Bay. “Brown County Arena had a team that just folded.” As a go-getter and man of action, Stauffacher secured a home rink by signing a lease at the Brown County Arena in Green Bay. Stauffacher shared the good news with Bob Suter. “Bob did not want to move the team to Green Bay.”

With ice time but no team, most people would find a way to walk away. Not John Stauffacher. He could see opportunity where others did not. “I went to the USHL Board of Governors meeting and got approved for an expansion team to start the next season”. Stauffacher’s gamble paid off and the Green Bay Gamblers were born during the 1994/95 season.

Stauffacher had less than a year to get a team on ice in the most competitive U.S. junior league. Like the song from the movie Smokey and the Bandit…he had a long way to go and a short time to get there. One of the first steps was finding a coach. “We had to hire a coach. I got it down to three candidates, and I hired Don Granato.”

The most important hire for an expansion team is its first coach. Stauffacher hit the jackpot. With a 2023 vantagepoint, hiring current NHL head coach, Don Granato, to coach a junior team sounds like a no brainer. However, in 1994 it was a leap of faith, a gamble, to hand over the keys of a USHL franchise to a 26-year-old with little coaching experience.

Another gamble paid off. Don Granato won the Clark Cup in his second season. He followed up the 1996 Clark Cup by winning a regular season division title in 1997. The hockey world took notice. After three seasons, Granato accepted an offer to be head coach of a pro team in the ECHL.

“Without John (Stauffacher) there isn’t a Green Bay Gamblers. He made it happen. John gave me an opportunity. The timing of Green Bay was incredible, I was planning to go back to Columbus (ECHL) and John contacted me. I don’t know where I would be without the opportunity John gave me…I would not be an NHL coach without the Gamblers. There are a lot of parallels between my experience starting the Gamblers and the Buffalo Sabres, and it has helped me with the Buffalo Sabres. John is such a positive, high energy, enthusiastic person. He inspired me and he inspired our group. It was special to be a part of the Gamblers.” Don Granato, Head Coach, Buffalo Sabres.

With Granato’s departure, Stauffacher turned to another coach with a Wisconsin connection. In 1997 Mark Osiecki became the second Gamblers head coach. The Gamblers continued winning with Osiecki. The Gamblers won their second Clark Cup in Osiecki’s third season. Osiecki coached under Stauffacher’s ownership for four seasons, and then another three seasons after the team sold in 2001.

Stauffacher was loyal to his coaches. “When the team was sold, I made a condition of the sale that Oz (Mark Osiecki) be retained, and I also negotiated a pay raise for Oz.” The team Stauffacher sold was loaded with talent. Six players were drafted in the NHL, the highest of any junior team that year. Stauffacher’s dedication impacted the team’s success. He won two Clark Cup’s and multiple regular season division titles.

“My time with John (Stauffacher) was incredible. Green Bay was the most enjoyable of all coaching stops, and it was because of John. As a young coach, I wore every hat, John allowed me to, and it helped me grow and learn. He really wanted to win! We talked hockey a lot…big picture stuff mostly, NHL, college, and high school from back home. It was a bitter pill when he sold the team.” Mark Osiecki, Pro Scout, Pittsburgh Penguins.

John Stauffacher currently lives in Madison. He frequently visits the rink named after his late friend, Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena. John watches his grandson’s Madison Capitols youth team, which is coached by his son, Luke. John’s sons, Luke & Chad, played in USHL for Gamblers, NCAA D-1 and professionally. As a wise old hockey guy, John occasionally jumps on ice to assist Luke and give tips to the young players.

Don Granato is spot on when he told me “John Stauffacher did good for Wisconsin hockey.”

Thank you, John!
Yours for hockey, Matt Carey

*Madison Capitols first year in USHL was 1984, the team renamed to Wisconsin Capitols in 1991, and in 1994 the team ceased operations. Madison Capitols USHL returned in 2014.
Article 4 of The Influencers.