United States Olympic Team
Steve represented Team USA at the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, and finished among the tournament’s leading goal scorers.
1955–2022
His Story
↓
Coach Steve Jensen A Life in Hockey. A Legacy at Heartland.
Olympian, NHL player, coach, official, camp founder, mentor, and friend. Steve Jensen devoted his life to hockey—but his greatest impact can be seen in the generations of players and families who continue to call Heartland home.
More Than a Hockey Career
A Life Built Around the Game
Steve experienced hockey at nearly every level—from youth hockey and the Olympic stage to the NHL, international professional leagues, coaching, officiating, and camp leadership. Every chapter helped shape the experience he later created for young players at Heartland.
Heartland Hockey Camp
Steve’s greatest legacy lives in the players, coaches, staff
members, and families he inspired.
Founder. Coach. Mentor.
Steve Jensen
Steve believed that developing a hockey player also meant helping develop the person wearing the jersey.
His professional career took him throughout North America and Europe, but his vision ultimately brought him to Deerwood, Minnesota, where he and Sandy Jensen built Heartland Hockey Camp.
For 38 years, Steve helped lead the camp as a founding owner and director. He coached players, trained staff, welcomed families, maintained traditions, and made Heartland feel personal—regardless of how much the camp grew.
To generations of campers, he was more than a former professional player. He was Coach Steve: energetic, demanding, encouraging, unforgettable, and deeply committed to helping young athletes believe in themselves.
438
NHL Games Played
38
Years Leading Heartland
1976
United States Olympic Team
Career Highlights
From Minnesota to the World Stage
Steve’s playing career reflected the same energy and competitiveness that campers later experienced from him at Heartland.
Minnesota North Stars
Steve began his NHL career in Minnesota and was part of a historic rookie group that helped establish a new standard for young offensive players.
Career NHL Goals
During his years with the Los Angeles Kings, Steve became one of the earliest American-born players to surpass 100 NHL goals.
International Competition
Steve represented the United States in Olympic, national-team, and world championship competition throughout his career.
Playing and Coaching Abroad
Steve spent multiple seasons playing and coaching professionally in Switzerland and Austria, broadening the hockey perspective he later brought to Heartland.
Years as a USA Hockey Official
Steve remained close to youth hockey through officiating and worked more than 1,500 youth games between 1985 and 1998.
A Player’s Perspective
His Heartland Impact
Experience He Could Pass Forward
Steve understood the excitement, pressure, setbacks, and determination involved in pursuing hockey at a high level. He used those experiences to connect with players at every stage of development.
At Heartland, elite experience never meant losing sight of the fundamentals. Steve emphasized effort, repetition, confidence, creativity, and enjoying the process of getting better.
✓ Olympic experience
✓ NHL experience
✓ International hockey
✓ Professional coaching
✓ Youth development
✓ Camp leadership
The Journey
A Career That Led Back to Camp
Each chapter of Steve’s life helped shape his understanding of what young athletes need from coaches, teammates, and mentors.
Early Years
A Minnesota Hockey Beginning
Steve grew up immersed in Minnesota hockey and developed the foundation that would take him to college, international competition, and the professional game.
1976
The Olympic Stage
Steve represented the United States in Innsbruck and became one of the tournament’s standout American scorers.
1976–1982
The National Hockey League
Steve played 438 NHL games, including time with the Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings.
International Career
Hockey Across Europe
Steve played and coached professionally in Switzerland and Austria, adding international methods and experiences to his approach to player development.
Heartland
Building Something That Would Last
Steve and Sandy created a camp where hockey instruction, independence, friendship, recreation, and personal growth could exist together.
Today
A Legacy Carried Forward
Former campers now return as staff members, directors, parents, owners, and supporters—continuing the culture Steve helped build.
His Greatest Team
Heartland Hockey Camp
Steve’s professional statistics tell an extraordinary hockey story. Heartland tells the larger story of his life.
The camp became a place where children could be challenged without losing the joy of the game. Players learned skills, but they also learned responsibility, independence, confidence, teamwork, and the value of becoming part of a community.
Coach
Helping young players understand the details, habits, and effort
required to improve.
Mentor
Encouraging campers and staff members to grow into confident
players, leaders, and people.
Founder
Building a self-contained hockey camp where training and summer
camp traditions could thrive together.
Tradition
Creating a culture that returning campers and families continue to
carry into the next generation.
His hockey career opened doors. His commitment to young players created a legacy.
A Legacy That Lives On
Still Part of Every Heartland Summer
Steve’s presence continues through the coaches who learned from him, the staff members who grew up at camp, the traditions that remain, and the families who return year after year.
His story is not simply part of Heartland’s past. It remains part of how Heartland welcomes campers, develops players, supports families, and prepares the next generation of leaders.
The Heartland Promise
Work hard. Enjoy the game. Care about people. Leave something behind.
Every camper who comes through Heartland becomes part of the story Steve and Sandy began.