Shelstad joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers after winning the 1970 state championship for Southwest HS.
Incoming head coach Herb Brooks put his trust in Shelstad, allowing the junior netminder to take the lead in net and play in 23 games.
Shelstad played in 34 games in his final year, a new program record (since broken) and led the Gophers back to the NCAA tournament.
After graduating Shelstad played briefly for both the US national team and the Fort Wayne Komets before retiring as a player.
Shelstad was inducted into the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006[4] and was ranked by mnhockeyhub.com as the 26th best high school player in state history.