A native of
Grand Forks, Panzer returned home after finishing his junior career and began attending the
University of North Dakota in 1995. He saw limited time as a freshman, but rounded into a full-time player as a sophomore. That season, North Dakota saw a tremendous improvement for the entire team and the Fighting Sioux returned to the
NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years. As the
WCHA Champion, UND received the 2nd western seed and began its postseason run in the quarterfinals. The Sioux didn't have any of the top scorers in the nation but they were able to utilize all of their forward lines in combination to produce one of the top scoring teams in the country. That firepower was on full display during their tournament run as North Dakota scored 6 times in each of its three games. In the 1997 championship game, after
Boston University had built a 2–0 lead, UND rolled through the Terriers in the second period, scoring 5 goals. Panzer assisted on UND's first marker and then helped the team hold the fort in the third to win the National Championship. Over his final two seasons, Panzer increased his scoring each year and was named an All-American as a senior. In both years, UND won the
WCHA regular season title but lost in the conference championship game and dropped their opening game of the NCAA Tournament. After graduating with a
B.S. in
Marketing, Panzer played one year of professional hockey before retiring from the game. Afterwards, he returned home to Grand Forks and began working as
financial advisor with Investment Centers of America. He remains with the company as of 2021. Panzer was inducted into the Grand Forks Central High School Hall of Fame in 2007. ==Personal life==