The Willmar Warhawks, proud members of the NA3HL, are proud to welcome back John “Woody” Wodash to the program as the Equipment Manager and Team Bus driver.
A native of Willmar, Woody is a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ for the Willmar Warhawks, taking care of equipment, driving the bus, offering sound bits of advice to the players and keeping things light in tense moments. He grew up as the youngest son of 7 children, including 4 sisters and two brothers.
Woody played hockey since the age of 5, mainly as a defenseman. After bantams he joined the Willmar High School Hockey team, which played its games outdoors until he was in 11th grade and the team moved to the newly-built Civic Center. When a spot opened up at forward on the high school team, John made the transition and never looked back (no pun intended). He was captain of the team his junior and senior years, and made all-conference his junior year.
Hockey is in his blood — his father coached for more than a decade, and his brothers played as well. After his competitive playing days, John went on to coach hockey for 15 years. “What hockey did for my life — how it developed me into the person I am today,” John continued, “that’s what I want to give back to the game. I love to provide the opportunities that the sport provided me. It’s my happy place; I enjoy working with players and watching them develop on the ice, and off the ice as people.”
When he’s not working at the rink or with the Warhawks, John enjoys ice fishing and spending time with grandkids, and playing adult league on Sunday and Wednesday nights. He and his wife Sylvia also own “Use it Again”, a second-hand store here in Willmar.
