UWEC Athletics Hall of Fame
Alex Hicks was a three-time team MVP and three-time AHCA First Team All-American. At the time of his induction, Hicks held the school and NCHA career records for goals, assists and points. He scored 249 points as a Blugold from 1988 through 1992 with 98 goals and 151 assists. Seven times Hicks recorded a hat trick during his 116-game career. He scored 42 career power play goals, seven shorthanded goals and nine game-winning goals. He received the Wallace G. Akervik Award as the top freshman player in 1989 and the team Most Dedicated Player Award his senior year when he also served as team captain. During his career, the Blugolds produced a 53-53-13 record playing in an NCHA that included Bemidji State, St. Cloud State and Mankato State, now all current Division I members. Following his Blugold career, Hicks embarked on a 15-year professional career that included five years in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played 258 games with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers, scoring 25 goals with 54 assists for 79 total points. He reached the NHL playoffs both seasons with the Penguins and once with the Panthers. From 2000 through 2006, Hicks played with the Berlin Polar Bears and the Cologne Sharks in Europe. There he played in 267 games with 107 goals and 115 assists for 222 total points. En route to being called up to the NHL in 1995, Hicks played with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL, the Adirondak Red Wings of the AHL, the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL, the Baltimore Bandits of the AHL and the Louisville Panthers of the AHL. He also played one year of professional roller hockey with the Buffalo Stampede, serving as team captain in 1994 when the Stampede won the league championship.
Hicks was recognized for his performance at every level. He was an ECHL All-Star with Toledo, also serving as captain as the Storm won the Riley Cup. He was the Las Vegas Thunder Rookie of the Year in 1995. He was the team scoring leader for the Berlin Polar Bears and also with the Cologne Sharks in 2002 when they won the league championship. He was named to the DEL (German Elite League) All-Star Team in 2002 and in 2004 was voted the Most Popular Player in DEL. In 2002, Hicks played on Team Canada in the German Cup competition. In his first season with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, he centered a line that included Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya. That season he was the Ducks’ Alka-Seltzer Plus-Minus Leader. In 2007, he was a team member of the Phoenix Senior Coyotes who won the USA Hockey Over 30 National Championship. In 2002, he founded the Alex Hicks Initiative, a non-profit charitable organization that provides, coordinates and distributes gifts and support to ill and underprivileged children in Cologne, Germany. The organization continues to thrive even though he has retired from the DEL and left Cologne. At the time of his induction, he was a self-employed realtor in Scottsdale, AZ.
