The post From the MHM Vault: Miracle on Ice Remembered appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

A moment that brought the country together in a positive way came with the Miracle on Ice when the United States men’s hockey team defied the odds to beat the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics. This Saturday, Feb. 22, marks the 40th anniversary of the game.

For team captain Mike Eruzione, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long.

“People felt a part of it,” said Eruzione on a conference call with the media on Feb. 13. “And it’s nice to know 40 years later that it’s not on the tip of people’s tongues, but it’s nice to know that people remember and share some great stories about what we did so long ago.”

In the game in Lake Placid, the United States tied the game 2-2 with one second left in the first period on a goal from Mark Johnson. The Soviets took a 3-2 lead through two periods before Johnson scored again in the third and Eruzione scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 10 minutes left in regulation for the 4-3 lead and eventual victory.

When the puck was at center ice with less than 10 seconds to go in the game, there would be no final scoring rush for the Soviets. Broadcaster Al Michaels came up with one word in his head: “Miraculous.”

“That’s just the word that popped in,” Michaels said. “And it got morphed into a question and quick answer, and away we went.

“This was a gigantic, gigantic upset.”

As the clock ticked down to zero and the American players started to celebrate, Michaels offered up one of the most famous lines in sports: “Do you believe in miracles?”

Michaels, who’s gone on to a lengthy sports broadcasting career, said he gets asked “a hundred thousand times” if he gets tired of talking about this game. His answer is no.

“Because people love to talk about it,” Michaels said. “It’s a great event, and there were so many fantastic stories that have come out of it.”

Al Michaels at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
(ABC/Steve Fenn)

When the United States beat Finland 4-2 to actually win the gold medal (“I still think to this day people think we only played one game, that in fact, the only game we played was against the Soviets,” Eruzione said.) Michaels offered up this call: “This impossible dream comes true.” Eruzione said he thought that was Michaels’ best call, which, perhaps like the Finland game, gets lost in this whole thing.

“You know, I never thought it was a miracle,” Eruzione said of the call to end the game against the Soviet Union. “But it was a catchy phrase, and it sounded right.

“Everybody gets caught up in ‘Do you believe in miracles?’ Yes, but I thought ‘this impossible dream comes true’ was even greater.”

With the anniversary year now hitting the 40 mark, plenty of people today either weren’t born yet to witness the moment, or they were too young to remember. But that doesn’t mean the younger generations are oblivious to the Miracle. That’s especially true in the state of hockey with plenty of Minnesotans (and many Golden Gophers) on the U.S. roster. That included Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Rob McClanahan and Bill Baker.

Eruzione still gets a ton of letters in the mail, and many start out mentioning they weren’t born in 1980, but they saw the 2004 Disney movie “Miracle” or had a family member tell them about the big game.

“So, I think the moment still stands to young boys and young girls and young men and young women that look at what our team did, and maybe they can do that same thing,” Eruzione said.

There’s another aspect of significance to the 1980 Olympic team in Eruzione’s eyes. It made people finally look at American hockey players and college players as a talented group of people, he said. Before that Olympics, Americans didn’t have as much opportunity in the NHL. Players could maybe play junior hockey but not the NHL, Eruzione said.

“I’ve said this before, I think in 1980 it might have opened the door for Americans,” Eruzione said. “Today’s players have clearly knocked the door down.”

Just take a look at the raw numbers, and Eruzione has a point. According to QuantHockey.com, the 1979-80 NHL season, 83.7% percent of NHL players were from Canada with only 11% (72 players) coming from the United States. Those included Warroad’s Christian, Richfield’s Steve Christoff, Johnson, McClanahan and former Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsey, all on the 1980 Olympic team.

Mike Eruzione

“We weren’t a goofy bunch of guys that got together, and Herb used to call us the lunch pail hardhat group of guys, but we had some talent,” Eruzione said. “We had some kills.”

That percentage slowly increased throughout the next decade and continued to grow, jumping to 16.6% (120 U.S. players) in 1989-90. This season, there are 242 U.S.-born players making up 25.6% percent of the NHL.

But prior to the 1980 Olympics, only 49 U.S.-born players were in the NHL in 1978-79, including Bill Butters of the Minnesota North Stars. In 1969-70 another North Star, Duluth’s Tommy Williams, was one of six U.S. players in the league. A decade before that in 1959-60, only two players from the United States to 150 from Canada were in the NHL.

Michaels has seen the growth of hockey now, too. He has a 13-year-old grandson who plays in a traveling league in Southern California. He played in a tournament in Lake Placid last fall, winning a gold medal.

“I mean, this is where hockey has now come, to the point where in Southern California these kids are playing around the clock,” Michaels said.

Having such a famous call in sports, Michaels will also remember that special moment in 1980 as one that galvanized the country, something that brought people together.

“This brought the country together in a way that I’ve never seen,” Michaels said. “This was such a great event and such a happy event and such a thrilling event, and for it to happen in the sport of hockey, which was Canada’s sport and had pretty much become the Soviet Union’s sport, and down the pecking order is the United States, but this hockey game was able to galvanize the country.”

The post 40 Years Later, Miracle on Ice Impact Endures appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Maybe you weren’t born yet, but you’ve probably seen enough videos and movies, and heard the breathtaking stories recounting of Team USA’s thrilling 4-3 upset over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympic hockey tournament, that you can convince yourself you were there, watching!

We all have ways to celebrate things of historic proportions, and this weekend gives all hockey fans in Minnesota the opportunity to pay tribute to the most spectacular event in sports history. Whether you’re in Saint Paul, or Duluth, or in a bookstore, you can reflect on the 40th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice.”  Team USA, made up mostly of Minnesota college standouts, came from behind three times to upset the powerful Soviet Union 4-3, and went on to beat Finland 4-2 two days later to capture the 1980 Olympic gold at Lake Placid, N.Y.

This Saturday, February 22, there is a free event called “Remember the Day,” focused on the Team USA victory, and choreographed by David Brooks, Herbie’s brother. Dave has created an amazing day of activity. Participants will gather before 1 p.m. right at the Herb Brooks statue near the east entrance of Xcel Center.

“We’ve got a parade with 50 groups in it, and John Mayasich and [Wild owner] Craig Leopold are grand marshalls,” said Dave Brooks. “We’ve got 27 former North Stars and Fighting Saints and other NHL players, and we’ve got 2,000 Peewees, Bantams and Midgets separated onto 12 different teams — each one wearing uniforms the colors of one of the 1980 Olympic teams.

“They’re all in a parade that goes from Herbie’s statue, through Saint Paul, to CHS field, where the St. Paul Saints baseball team plays. When we get to the field, the players will find that we’ve installed a hockey rink on the field, and we’re going to have a tournament, with all 12 teams playing a 30-minute game. It’s all for fun, and it will lead up to the U.S. team playing the Russians in the finale.”

Afterward, the youth hockey players will mingle with former Olympians and ex-pro hockey players on the stadium’s top level, in a suite, become honored guests themselves at a party at the ballpark.

“In the parade, we’re going to be tossing foam pucks to the crowd, and we’ve got 5,000 replica gold medals to give out,” Brooks said. “At the ballpark, we’ve got the suite all set up for a party for the kids and adults. We’re going to have an Olympic opening ceremonies with a torch carrier coming down a slide, and we’ve go a singer to perform the U.S. and Russian national anthems. It should all be over by about 3 p.m., and then we’re going to have the celebrities and former players signing autographs up in the suite.”

It sounds like a fantastic day, and best of all, it’s all free to the public. Dave Brooks, who spends his winter alternating between his new part-time home in Florida and running various business ventures in Saint Paul, put the whole thing together, and it sounds like the perfect tribute for the 1980 Team USA. As usual, Dave Brooks will be in the background as much as he can — the perfect venue for the guy who refers to himself as “HLB” — Herbie’s Little Brother.

I was in Lake Placid, covering the Olympic hockey tournament in as much depth as I could muster for the Minneapolis Tribune, and I’ve already celebrated the event, and the memory of the event, with a new book, “Miracle in Lake Placid,” published by Skyhorse Publishing of New York, a subsidiary of Simon and Schuster. The book is just out, and I’ve done a few signings, as well as being the subject of two or three national satellite radio interviews. I’ll be able to discuss and sign books at both “Herbie’s,” the restaurant and lounge adjacent to Herbie’s statue, and at the ballpark.

Afterwards, I can hustle back to Duluth for the Saturday night Class 7A semifinals at AMSOIL Arena, where powerful Hermantown will face Eveleth-Gilbert and defending champion Greenway of Coleraine will take on the best Duluth Denfeld team in two decades. When Sunday rolls around, there is more.

My book and I will be a focal point for The Bookstore at Fitger’s “Author Talk” on Sunday, from 1-3 p.m. in the Spirit of the North Theater, up on the third floor of Fitger’s. The bookstore conducts such events every once in a while, when an author of a recent book is either local or available, and I’m working on doing my best to make it a memorable event.

We’ll have exclusive and previously unseen photos from those 1980 games, to provide a fitting backdrop. Anybody with an interest in hockey, or in reminiscing about the 1980 Olympics, can attend, free, for a free-ranging discussion of the inside happenings that led up to that incredible two-week tournament. It produced the most astounding gold medal triumph in Olympic history, and it will be fun. I’ll sign books for as many as we can sell as well.

After that, of course, we can hustle down to AMSOIL Arena where UMD and Wisconsin will tangle in the final game of the regular WCHA Women’s season. UMD needs to stay ahead of Ohio State for third place and a better playoff position, and Wisconsin needs to win to stay ahead of Minnesota for the league championship — for which the winner gets a bye in the quarterfinals.

Not to be overlooked, Mark Johnson, the top scorer on Team USA in then 1980 Olympics, and who scored two goals in that 4-3 stunner over the USSR, just happens to be the coach of the Wisconsin women’s team.

But as a warm-up, think up some questions about the 1980 US team, or about the movie, Miracle, and stop on down to Fitger’s.

The post A Parade of Memories appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Absence of NHL might return purity to Olympic hockey   

Hockey will still be the primary attraction at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, but it will be out of curiosity more than rampant nationalistic fervor. A whole generation of new hockey fans will be amazed to see the Olympic hockey tournament. completely devoid of National Hockey League superstars.

   To that I say “Good riddance.”

   That’s not because I dislike the NHL, or the presence of so many high-skilled Europeans playing in the NHL. I love hockey at all levels, and the NHL represents its own pinnacle. But while it was great to see the NHL stars representing their countries, I got to experience two Winter Olympic hockey tournaments, one each way, and I realize that international hockey doesn’t need the dictatorial influence of the NHL, which considers the terms “participation” and “control” as synonymous.

   Since 1998, the NHL has closed up shop and allowed its players to return to their national teams, including the U.S., Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Latvia, and any other countries that produce players of NHL quality. The changeover, heralded by most as a true world tournament of the world’s best players, makes this year an abrupt change back. Almost none of the players — even on the U.S. and Canada — will be  close to the NHL household names of the last 20 years.

Pavel Datsyuk (Photo by Jonny Watkins)

   Two notable exceptions make my choice easy for the gold medal: Russia. Or the independent athletes representing Russia, whichever is determined to be valid. Pavel Datsyuk, who was among the best players in the NHL for the past decade, retired from the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL and took his family home to Russia. He is playing in the KHL, the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, which is clearly the second best pro league to the NHL, and Datsyuk is cavorting around like a 20-year-old, making magnificent plays and scoring sensational goals.

  In a roster listing of all the members of all the nations, Datsyuk’s name leaps off the page as the best individual player in the Olympics, even as he moves closer to his 40th birthday. Great as he is, Datsyuk’s individual skills are better suited to making his linemates and teammates better. That brings us to Ilya Kovalchuk, a mere pup of 34, and Datsyuk’s teammate on the St. Petersburg KHL team. Presumably they will play together on the Russian team, and alone, they make Russia a prohibitive favorite.

  The biggest name on Team USA might be Brian Gionta, former Boston College star who played for New Jersey, Montreal, and Buffalo, choosing to not re-sign with the Sabres after they acquired Jason Pominville from the Wild, in favor of being captain of Team USA. Former St. Cloud State scoring star Garrett Roe, ex-Gopher Ryan Stoa, both playing in Europe, and current WCHA players Troy Terry of Denver and defenseman Will Borgen of St. Cloud State also were named to the roster by coach Tony Granato.

St. Cloud State defenseman, and current Olympian, Will Borgen. (St. Cloud State Athletics)

  My recommendation would have been to call together representatives from all the college leagues and, just after the first of the year, select a college all-star team to go to the Olympics as Team USA. They would be youthful, exuberant, exciting, highly skilled, and if lacking pro experience, they would have been a huge attraction to the television moguls who are still looking for another miracle.

  Canada’s most recognizable names might be Mason Raymond, who starred at UMD and had some strong years with Vancouver in the NHL, before signing to play in Bern, Switzerland, and Chay Genoway, a four-year puck-rushing defenseman and superstar at North Dakota. He was signed by the Minnesota Wild, but got only one game with the parent club, and signed to play for Lada in the KHL.

  Very good players, but a considerable distance from Pavel Datsyuk.

  To me, the best part of the change to allow NHL players was to level the rink, to coin a phrase, for all countries, compared to the days when Russian and other European players who stayed home to play in their own leagues, where they might have been paid, but they also held jobs or were in the military to remain “amateurs” in the eyes of the Olympics, against the true amateurs from the U.S. and Canada.

  And perhaps the worst change in the tournament structure is because of the overwhelming influence of network television money — the only thing more dominant than the NHL. After Herb Brooks led Team USA to its incredible 1980 gold medal, the TV networks who were caught by surprise gathered all its forces for the 1984 Winter Olympics, anticipating another miracle. When the U.S. fell short of unfair expectations, the networks were left with huge plots of time and no Team USA. So they enforced a change to something that U.S. viewers could more easily understand.

  Instead of the traditional round-robin preliminary play that led to the top two teams coming together in an extension of that round-robin, which is why top-seeded Soviets and Sweden were scheduled in the final game, so the U.S. had to play the Soviets in the next-to-last round, then face Finland on the final day. Viewers who recall that might remember that the U.S. networks taped the game and played it back in prime time, while Canada television simply adjusted to show the gold-medal game live, in the afternoon.

  Apparently, U.S. viewers aren’t considered bright enough to figure out the unique and compelling round-robin structure, and must have an NCAA-basketball-like bracket of quarterfinals, semifinals and final. That, presumably, will never change back.

  After the NHL let its players loose to play in 1998 at Nagano, Japan, the next turn was 2002 in Salt Lake City, and I had the opportunity to lead one of the dozen separate staffs for the Olympic Committee, with our responsibility the intra-net computer reporting on hockey for all the on-site media types who couldn’t cover all the simultaneous events. Immediately after games, we sent a result piece, press conference story, and various pertinent sidebar features. It was fun and gratifying to watch up close and from the inside, particularly because Herb Brooks coached Team USA.

   We also produced off-game-day features, and I wrote one about how unfair it was of the NHL to hold all its players back until the day before the games actually started. Some of the lesser countries, including Latvia, had its hopes pinned to only a couple of standout players, and because the NHL wouldn’t release them, their plane was landing as Latvia was being eliminated in a preliminary round game. I wrote about it.

   Next thing I knew, a quite-abrasive fellow from the NHL office was present, and assumed control over what I was controlling, editing and even delaying the deadlline stories we produced, to assure any information going to the world’s media would be positive PR for the NHL, rather than incisive facts we accumulated. When I had a long discussion about the situation with the Olympic Committee’s very astute media director, he hesitantly explained to me that he was powerless to do anything to counter the NHL’s control.

  Of course, the NHL was just as eager for Canada to win as the U.S., and when Canada beat the U.S. team in the gold medal final, any observer of the media enclosure would have been certain the Games were being held in a Canadian city as in the U.S.  Another strong NHL influence was to get the Olympic tournament played on NHL size rinks, rather than the traditional 200×100 international ice sheets, which allow much more playmaking and skating and much less forced congestion.

  The more recent games are in harsh contrast to the purity of coverage in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980, when I had the thrill of covering all the hockey in the most spectacular Winter Olympics hockey tournament ever. That, also, was a Herb Brooks production, only at that time the official pros of the NHL were not allowed, and only the European pros who were employed outside their hockey endeavors were allowed. That meant all the players from the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland, the Czechs, Germany and others were essentially pros, while Brooks conquered all with his college-based team that included a dozen Minnesotans and seven from his 1979 University of Minnesota NCAA champions.

   That truly was a “Miracle on Ice,” and covering it was extra special because nobody thought the U.S. had a chance, and almost none of the other media people knew anything about the U.S. players, who had trained for the previous year based in Met Center in Bloomington.

  My favorite recollections are from watching all the games I could, marveling at the skill level of the Soviets and the Swedish and Finnish teams, because our apartment was a last-moment deal at a home across the street from the high school, which was the Olympic Media Center, and the adjacent arena, where all the games were.

  My other favorite moment was when Brooks walked off from the interview room the day after the U.S. had stunned powerful Sweden with a 2-2 tie in the last minute. Brooks had confided in me that he didn’t want to bring two players to post-game media sessions, but figured he had to, right up until the Soviets said they would not. That allowed Brooks, still striving for East-West unity, to leave his players in their dressing room while he met the media. New York columnist Mike Lupica ripped him for being so egotistical he would not allow any of his players to be interviewed — which was far easier than to go out into the cold night air and interview whichever players he wanted to, if he only knew them. Brooks declared that if the columnist he’d never met thought he was coming alone because of his ego, from then on the media could talk to his assistant, Craig Patrick, because Brooks wouldn’t be coming to any more interview sessions.

   I told Brooks he shouldn’t give up the world stage, and he told me he had arranged with the arena manager to hide out in his office after games, in an area the media could not get to, and that I could meet him in that office after every game. That meant I got exclusive interviews with Herb Brooks after every U.S. game, and still have time to race outside and talk to every U.S. player as they departed after showering and dressing.

   It remains a highlight of my career, and maybe one of the best parts of it was that any reporter could use instincts and personal initiative to cover the players and the Games as best they could. A far cry from what was to transpire in the six Winter Olympics tournaments since then.

Note to readers: This article will be in the soon-to-be-published February Winter Special Edition of Minnesota Hockey Magazine that features Hockey Day Minnesota 2018 and St. Cloud hockey.  It will be available in print at store newsstands across Minnesota including Target and Walmart.  Digital issue will be available on the PressPad mobile app platform for Minnesota Hockey Magazine via Apple Store and Amazon/Kindle.  If you want to get it free, subscribe to our e-Edition and it will be sent directly to your email box.  Thanks.  MHM Staff

The post Amateur Hour appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

One of my favorite stories from our family’s history comes during World War II, when my maternal grandparents – Julius and Phyllis Anderson – left their jewelry store and hair salon behind, and moved from Warroad to Detroit for a time. There were very few cars rolling off the assembly lines in the Motor City those days, with the carmakers converting their factories to assist the war effort. My grandparents, a few years before my mother was born in 1945, helped make bombers and other instruments of war. When I hear about the stereotypical “Rosie the Riveter,” I think of my grandmother.

My grandparents moved back to Warroad and started a family, with my grandfather serving as the town’s mayor for several years. When I would visit with them during my childhood in Warroad, and hear stories of their work during World War II, I recall tales of the buzzing, noisy factories, and the incessant traffic on Woodward Avenue, in the heart of Detroit.

Oddly, never once did I hear them talk about the hockey culture there, or hear Detroit referred to as “Hockeytown.” That’s not Detroit. Hockeyotwn USA is where I lived.

Nobody thought much about the nickname “Hockeytown USA” which was bestowed upon Warroad in the 1950s, when boys from our town first began winning Olympic hockey medals. It fit. It made sense. This tiny hamlet, hard by Lake of the Woods, was and remains the cradle of American hockey. The game is in your blood from birth. You grow up dreaming of playing in the NHL, to be sure, but your first goal is to wear not a pro sweater, but a Warroad sweater. And the first time you pull that black and gold jersey of the Warroad Warriors over your head – even if it’s just to sit the bench during a JV game with a few dozen parents and younger siblings in attendance – it sticks with you.

As I kid in the early 1980s, I played goalie in the net on the east end of the since-demolished Memorial Arena, beneath the scoreboard, and the massive sign below the scoreboard which read “Welcome to Hockeytown USA” in bright red letters. Nobody questioned those credentials. There was never a reason to do so. Warroad was a capital of American hockey, with the numbers and banners to back it up. While some rinks hosted birthday parties and figure skating competitions, ours held a welcome home ceremony for Dave Christian, where he could show off the gold medal he won in Lake Placid – the third gold medal our town got to claim – and sign a contract with the Winnipeg Jets, right there at center ice.

In the late 1980s, the first notable attempt at nickname theft happened, with St. Paul emblazoning the streetlights around the old Civic Center with banners declaring Minnesota’s capital city as “Hockeytown.” It was met with a strong rebuke immediately, from Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich among others, noting that Warroad is, was, and will always be the true Hockeytown USA. To their credit, the St. Paul folks backed off. The banners came down, and when they went back up they proclaimed St. Paul as “Minnesota’s Hockey Capital.” We can live with that.

We knew about the Detroit Red Wings, of course. After bringing his Olympic silver medal home to Warroad in 1972, Henry Boucha played there for a time. The Wings shared a division with the Minnesota North Stars, so we got to see lots of games from Detroit. They were awful. The Dead Things was their accepted nickname at the time. We thought very little of them, rightfully. There was no talk about Detroit as a center of hockey in America. In the 1980s, the city was a poster child for urban blight, with high crime and an American auto industry struggling to survive. Watch Michael Moore’s first documentary “Roger and Me” sometime, for a frank look at how bad things got in Michigan at that time.

Now, please know, I am not a Detroit basher. It’s a great American city. It’s a good sports town, with passion for the local teams running high. It’s an architectural marvel, and when one visits and envisions what it was like in the heyday of American car manufacturing, one can see why it was called “the Paris of the Midwest.” It’s fun to see the city bounce back from the depths of urban decay and see projects like Little Caesar’s Arena signal the on-going resurgence of Detroit. I really enjoy some of Eminem’s music (if the mood is right) and some of the Motown artists (Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, etc.) are cornerstones of American music. I love a good Detroit-style deep dish pizza, and National Coney Island (with 20 locations in Metro Detroit) is one of the great American junk food stops. I even drive a Ford, so in a small way I feel I’m a supporter.

There was understandable giddiness in the early 1990s, when the Red Wings got good again. Through smart drafting and development of players, and even smarter importing of some of the top talent made available by the breakup of the Soviet Union’s sports machine, the team was a contender for the first time since Gordie Howe was the marquee attraction. It was a good story when amid all of the rough economic news, the Wings brought the Stanley Cup back to the city in 1997, and three more times in the modern era. But in all of that hype and happiness, someone decided to take it a step too far.

Signs proclaiming Detroit as “Hockeytown” started to appear in the late 1990s – a full 40 years after the name had rightfully landed in eastern Roseau County. They put the name at center ice of Joe Louis Arena. They opened up a sports bar called the Hockeytown Café in downtown Detroit. If you email a Red Wings employee, the address is “jsmith@hockeytown.com.”

Um, hey, Michiganders, we have a problem here.

On a spring day in the late 1990s, the afternoon hosts of a sports talk show in Detroit called up Warroad mayor Bob Marvin, to talk about the co-claims on the Hockeytown nickname. If one expected a respectful discussion of how we got here, they were let down. Warroad, its people and its hockey history were the butt of several condescending comments, with the jockeys asking Marvin why the city hadn’t copyrighted the name years ago (“Has Detroit copyrighted ‘Motown’ or ‘Motor City?’” was his rhetorical response), and demanding that everyone in Warroad cheer for the Red Wings in the forthcoming playoffs and hold a big celebration “when the Wings win the Cup.” Added one of the commenters, with a definite air of sarcasm, the celebration “…will probably involve a trip to the Dairy Queen.”

I spoke to an attorney friend at the time, and learned that from a legal standpoint, it’s an impasse. Detroit’s moves to copyright the “Hockeytown” name mean that Warroad cannot prevent them from using it. Likewise, Warroad’s long history of using the “Hockeytown” name mean that Detroit officials would probably lose a legal challenge.

So here we sit, with two communities uneasily sharing the same nickname. One of them is due to history, tradition and on-ice success. And one of them due to a deep-pocketed advertising campaign funded by a family of pizza makers.

In advance of the 2014 Winter Olympics, the CBS show 60 Minutes sent a crew to Warroad to do a story about this small town’s hockey culture (the New York Times had been there a few weeks earlier). I recall sending a note to a friend who runs the local Chevy dealership – one of the first businesses you see when you enter town from the west – imploring him to put up a sign that read “Welcome to Motor City” in advance of the TV crew’s arrival He didn’t do it, apparently not sharing my sarcastic sense of humor.

Really there was no need. When you come to Warroad from east or west, you see the water tower emblazoned with hockey sticks, and you see an even bigger sign that leaves no doubt about where you are.

“Welcome to Warroad, Hockeytown USA” it reads. Thank you. Case closed.

# # #

Jess Myers covers pro and college hockey for The Sports Xchange, The Athletic and 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. He is a proud graduate of Warroad High School.

The post The Real Hockeytown appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Warroad’s Gigi Marvin is on a quest for Olympic gold

When Team USA hits the ice in February for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, a Warroad, Minnesota native is likely to be one of the team’s unheralded leaders. Defenseman Gigi Marvin is a part of a class of veterans hoping to take Team USA to its second-ever gold medal in women’s hockey.

Warroad girls hockey players Emily, Haley and Lindsey Lorenson pictured here with Gigi Marvin (Photo by Jenna Lorenson)

Marvin, one of six Minnesotans on the centralization roster, started her decorated career in Warroad, where she was the recipient of the 2005 Ms. Hockey Award. Though she lives on the east coast, she still runs a camp in her hometown. “I know almost everyone in the youth program by name,” Marvin says via phone as the U.S. prepares for the 2017 Four Nations Cup.

“I just love children,” she says. “I love being able to share what I’ve learned. I’ve been taught by some really good hockey minds, and to be able to pass on some of the experiences I’ve had to kids is huge.”

A Big Year for USWNT

What she’s done for future generations of hockey players extends beyond camps. The U.S. National Team players staged a boycott of the 2017 World Championship, striving for equal treatment from USA Hockey. Deciding to skip a major tournament like Worlds didn’t come without risk. “I think that shows the degree to which it had to change,” Marvin says. “Because you had your best athletes willing to give up five games when they only get nine games every year. That’s unheard of.

“We literally train every day for only nine games, and ultimately for the Olympic gold medal game. So, we 100 percent knew what we were sacrificing, what we were letting go of.” But Marvin and her teammates believed the cause mattered too much.

“It was a no-brainer for us,” she says. “Was it scary? Yeah. There’s always uncertainty. But we knew without a doubt that this needed to happen, and change would come.

“The unity ran deep. It’s awesome. It wasn’t just us. Even more than us, it’s going to impact my niece, my cousins, the little girls I coach. I’m not going to reap the benefit of this really. Everyone who comes after us is going to.”

The Next Goal

Having scored a new contract – and a fifth gold medal at Worlds when a resolution was found before the tournament – Marvin is focused on the Olympics.  “It’s always big,” she says. “We don’t wake up and dream of playing in the World Championship, we dream of playing in the Olympics.”

Marvin’s career is brimming with success. She captained the Gophers to the Frozen Four her senior year. She won a Clarkson Cup in the CWHL with the Boston Blades. She won an Isobel Cup in the NWHL with the Boston Pride in a year when she was named Defenseman of the Year and made the first of two NWHL All-Star Game appearances.

But Olympic gold has eluded her so far.

She’s one of just six players on the centralization roster that will be making a third Olympic appearance. That group – US captain Meghan Duggan, Kacey Bellamy, Hilary Knight, and sisters Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson – laced up in 2010 alongside Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero, and Natalie Darwitz, the last three players on the National Team from the 1998 gold medal-winning roster. That was the first Olympics to feature women’s hockey and the last time the U.S. took home gold.

The team is determined to bring gold back to the United States. Canada has repeatedly managed to cause heartbreak for the U.S., despite the US winning seven of the last eight World Championships, including the last four consecutively.

Yet, Marvin says her advice for the team’s younger players is to not be overwhelmed by the excitement and their determination. “Simply take it in and enjoy every single day,” she says. “That’s the heart of it. If you go to work every day and you’re consumed by results or consumed by performance, that’s not enjoyable. You lose sight of the moments and memories you make with your friends, your teammates, your co-workers along the way.”

The post Golden Opportunity appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Henry Boucha has been labeled as the most electrifying player in Minnesota hockey history.

Also skilled in football and baseball, Boucha starred for five years at both defense and center for the Warroad High School hockey team. A tall, powerfully-built native American, an Ojibwe, Boucha led Warroad to the 1969 state tournament, where he was injured in an emotionally-charged 5-4 overtime final loss to Edina—one of the all-time classic games in “tourney” history.

“He was the most colorful hockey player ever to come out of Northern Minnesota,” said Warroad coaching legend and fellow Hall of Fame enshrinee Cal Marvin. “When he played, it was so special that he brought people out of the old folks home to come and watch him play. He did it all. He was one of a kind”

Boucha went on to play for the 1972 silver medal winning U.S. Olympic team, and at just 19, he signed with the Detroit Red Wings.

After two years in the Motor City, Boucha “came home” when the Minnesota North Stars acquired him. But his career was tragically curtailed in his third NHL season when he suffered an eye injury on Jan. 4, 1975 against Boston.

He would come back to play for the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1976, and then again in 1977 with the Scouts and Rockies of the NHL, but couldn’t overcome his eye injury. He retired from the game after that at just the age of 24.

Boucha would go on to play for his hometown Warroad Lakers, and then give back by donating much of his time to helping advance various Native American causes.

Note to readers: This article was reprinted from a full-featured Minnesota Hockey Magazine digital issue.  Like what you see?  Get a back issue or subscribe today on the PressPad mobile app platform for Minnesota Hockey Magazine via Apple Store, Google Play, and Kindle/Amazon.  Don’t miss out!  Get all 8 issues for this upcoming season sent directly to your email box, buy a single issue or pick up the printed version at many local stores near you.  Thanks.  MHM Staff

The post Player Profile – Henry Boucha: MN Hockey Legend appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Republished article for HDM Minneapolis 2020!

Jim Westby is likely a familiar name to many who follow high school and college hockey in Minnesota.

Briefly, he played at South High School and in 1955 scored one of the most notable goals in Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament history, when, in the 11^th overtime, he notched the tournament winning goal against Thief River Falls.  He is also a former Minnesota Gopher (1955-57, 1961-63), US National (1959, 1961), and US Olympic (1964) player.

Westby, outside BIG arena after Tuesday skate

He is all too familiar, especially at the national level, for his on-going efforts and success at bringing championship adult hockey teams to tournaments all over the country since 1987.

This attention was not lost on USA Hockey officials who have over many years presented Jim and his Minnesota Old Timers the championship banner at the USA Hockey Adult National tournaments.  Since 2007, Jim’s Old Timers have won 6 out of 10 National titles, often competing in younger age brackets.  The team currently plays in the 70+ age group.

A recent phone call from USA Hockey officials informed him that he was first nominated and then selected to receive the 2016 Adult Player of the Year award (previously known as the “Ironman” award) at a gala “Night of Tribute” affair in Colorado Springs, CO, on June 8, 2016.

The award is presented annually by USA Hockey to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of an American born adult ice hockey player and is part of a larger program that also honors Service awards, New Leader awards, Female Honors awards, as well as the Women’s Player of the Year, Junior Player of the Year, Goalie of the Year, College Player of the Year, and Disabled Athlete of the Year.

MHM, in a phone interview, talked to Jim about his experience and thoughts on receiving this honor and attending the festive “Night of Tribute” event in CO.

The Notification, Off to CO.

Westby as a Golden Gopher

Asked if he saw this coming, he laughed and said, “I was totally caught by surprise, but I had a big smile on my face when I told my wife, Gail.”  He said he was very honored and humbled by the selection and that his wife and family were very happy and proud of him.  They added that Jim was well-deserving for doing so much for hockey in Minnesota.

A second and third call from USA Hockey officials provided all the details about air travel and hotel arrangements, not only for Jim, but for Gail as well.  His daughter Ann and her husband Dave Snuggerud (former Minnesota Gopher, US National and NHL player) and their 3 children, wanting to witness the event first hand, piled in their family car and headed out to CO to meet Jim and Gail.

Jim noted that the accommodations provide by USA Hockey were excellent and that they were treated very much like celebrities.  The event, which was previously held at the popular Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, was held at the beautiful Hotel Elegante Conference and Event Center.

The Award Ceremony.

Westby, on left, with other award winners (USA Hockey)

Jim was informed that he had to give a short acceptance speech, but that he had to keep it at 3 minutes.  After a reception, dinner, and the USA Hockey service awards, Jim was to receive the first player award of the evening.  He received the award at center stage where pictures were taken with USA Hockey dignitaries.  His speech followed.

He explained, “Given only 3 minutes, I couldn’t delve into my hockey background much, so I thanked USA Hockey for being considered and for being selected for this award.  I also thanked Gail for 53 years of supporting my hockey passion, and my kids for being at my side at the ceremony.  It meant a lot to me that my family was in attendance.”

He briefly touched on a couple of his hockey playing highlights including making the ’64 Olympic team and playing for the US National team behind the Iron Curtain in 1958/59 in Moscow and Prague.  He said, “I believe that we were the first team to do that.”

Impressions.

Westby (arrow) with MN Old Timers after winning 70+ National Championship game in 2014

Jim was very impressed with the way USA Hockey managed the entire evening.  He noted that, “The MC was terrific, kept his cool and the evening moving on a tight schedule.  I was surprised as how many service awards there were and at how many USA Hockey volunteers had put so much time and energy into their work.”

He was also moved by the Disabled Athlete of the Year award winner, Sarah Bettencourt, who spoke about her love for sled hockey and how it changed her life after retiring from the U.S Marine Corps in 2012 with 100 percent disability.

There were two other players from Minnesota that won awards at this year’s USA Hockey “Night of Tribute” in June.

Junior Player of the Year – Rem Pitlick.  From Plymouth, MN, Rem was the 2016 USHL scoring champion for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Goalie of the Year – Hunter Miska.  From North Branch, MN, Hunter had a record-breaking 2016 season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints with 32 wins.

For more information on the awards ceremony and the players, see this USA Hockey link HERE.

After Thoughts.

Jim considers himself, along with all the other adult hockey players in his circle of friends, very lucky indeed.  He said, “I feel honored to be playing with the same group of guys after all these years.  It’s just remarkable how much fun it has been to travel, meet people and oh, yes, to play some hockey too!”

He continued, “I still enjoy it. It has been a great run, everyone gets along and everyone is welcome.”

The group of adults Jim plays with admire and respect him a great deal.  He is affectionately known as “The Commissioner”.

He appreciates what USA Hockey has done for the adult players in their efforts to help them continue to play and have fun.

He also wanted to acknowledge fellow player, Phil Zietlow, for organizing many of the yearly MN Old Timer tournament trips to Danbury and to Baltimore.

Finally, he said, “We are very lucky in the Twin Cities to have an abundance of ice time and rinks at a reasonable price.  We still have our health, maybe some new body parts and always enjoy the after-skate festivities out in the parking lot.”

Jim’s award as the 2016 USA Hockey Adult Player of the Year (Ironman) is truly well-deserved.

Congratulations from the entire staff at Minnesota Hockey Magazine!

Additional Notes.

Minnesota Hockey Mag published a story about Jim and his Minnesota Old Timers team in 2012 and highlighted his success at that time.  See the article HERE. 

Past winners of the USA Hockey Adult Ironman award included other familiar names from Minnesota.

2007 – Marv Jorde.  Played for the Gophers, U.S. National team, 10 years as a semi-pro and led the adult Parkers Hockey Club to many MN State and national Senior A championships over a 25 year period.

2009 – Roger Moy.  Hockey standout at Michigan Tech and for perennial national Senior A champion Buck’s Unpainted Furniture.

2012 – Bob Lund.  From Roseau, MN, UMD standout and leader of the Byfuglien Trucking adult team that has won several USA Hockey adult championships.  MHM published this article about Bob, click HERE.

2013 – Sue Ring-Jarvi.  Recognized as a pioneer in Minnesota women’s hockey, Sue organized the U of M Women’s Hockey Club team in 1974 and initiated girls’ hockey programs in the metro area from 1976-78.

The post 2016 Adult Player of the Year – Jim Westby appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

No. 3 Wisconsin swept Minnesota State in WCHA women’s action with a pair of shutout wins at the Verizon Wireless Center, but the intriguing aspect of the series was found on the benches. Minnesota State coach John Harrington and Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, teammates on Herb Brooks’ gold-medal-winning 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team, went head-to head in a first-of -its-kind matchup. Photographer Jaylynn Nash captured some of the action on and off the ice on Saturday.

[See image gallery at minnesotahockeymag.com]

The post Gallery: Gold Medal Matchup appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Forever-linked Johnson, Harrington to go head-to-head from the bench

They have trained together, played together on the most inspirational gold medal team in U.S. Olympic history and beat the USSR hockey juggernaut in the “Miracle on Ice.”

They have signed countless autographs while sitting by one another at memorabilia shows and stood next to one another while their teammates lit the Olympic torch. They have heard thousands of people go to the way-back machine and tell them where they were that February weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y. in 1980.

But they have never coached against one another – until this weekend in Mankato, Minn. when Mark Johnson leads the unbeaten University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team against first-year coach John Harrington and his über-young Minnesota State Mavericks.

“It will be awkward to see him on the other bench,” Johnson said. “The only time I ever coached against him was at fantasy camp at Lake Placid last March. My team won the gold medal.  John’s didn’t do so well.”

Johnson chuckled. He knows what a competitor Harrington is.  Sure enough, Harrington had a response for Johnson.

“I needed to fire my general manager who picked the fantasy team. Neal (Broten) was my GM and we had a poor draft,” Harrington said.

When it was suggested that Harrington has a tough time losing – at hockey or golf, or trivial pursuit, for that matter – the man known as “Bah” interrupted. “Mark is as competitive as I am. He just does it with a different demeanor than me.”

The friends and ex-teammates will come at this weekend’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with different perspectives. Johnson’s Badgers, an NCAA Frozen Four finalist last year, are unbeaten in eight games this season, have outscored opponents 42-2 and have registered a program-record (and WCHA record-tying) six-straight shutouts in league games.

Minnesota State head coach John Harrington (right). (WCHA.com photo)

Harrington’s Mavericks have yet to win a WCHA game and are 2-7-1 overall. The Mavs dropped a pair of games last weekend at Ohio State while skating 17 freshmen and sophomores. “We have two seniors and one hurt her ankle and the other had a concussion,” said Harrington. “We have a lot of growing pains, but our team is getting more accustomed to the pace of the league and getting better each week. But here comes Wisconsin who hasn’t allowed a goal to anyone and we are averaging 1.1 goals a game.

“I just hope Mark takes it easy on us,” Harrington said. The tone in his voice said Harrington’s team won’t roll over for the Big Red.

Harrington and Johnson have come a long way since being fresh-faced kids who stood on the podium at Lake Placid 35 years ago with gold medals around their necks, while the national anthem played and the country’s sports fans became hockey fans filled with patriotic frenzy.

They were “Bah” and “Magic” then. Harrington was a member of the Conehead Line with Mark Pavelich and Buzz Schneider, while Johnson earned the nickname Magic for his play as the Olympic team’s leading scorer. Now they are they are called grandpa around their families. Both are 58 years old, but still are in great shape physically – probably below the weight they played at in Lake Placid. Harrington works out religiously and Johnson ran his seventh Ironman Triathlon with his son Patrick over Labor Day weekend.

Both are hockey guys, lifers in a sport they love. They aren’t living in the past as characters in the movie “Miracle.” They have forged careers in the sport they love.

Before they became teammates on Herb Brooks’ 1980 Olympic team, Harrington and Johnson played against each other in the WCHA. Johnson played for his dad, the iconic Badger Bob Johnson, at Wisconsin, scoring 40 goals as a freshman in his hometown of Madison, Wis. and winning a NCAA title in 1977. Mark was an All-American who scored 125 goals and had 256 points in three seasons at UW.  Harrington was an overachieving, walk-on from Virginia, Minn. who played at Minnesota Duluth and became a force in the WCHA while playing on a line with fellow Iron Ranger and future Olympian Pavelich.

Following their collegiate careers, Johnson was the leading scorer on the U.S. Olympic team with 11 points, including two goals against the Russians, and Harrington was credited with an assist on Mike Eruzione’s go-ahead, game-winning goal against the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice” semifinal win. Harrington also played on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, while Johnson went on to an 11-year career in the National Hockey League, including a 1983-84 season with Hartford when he was the Whalers’ leading scorer with 87 points and tied an NHL All-Star Game record with three assists.

Johnson and Harrington are the only two members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team to be actively coaching, after Mike Ramsey left the Minnesota Wild’s NHL organization two years ago. Both proudly consider themselves career coaches. Harrington has won titles as a Division III coach, a European pro coach; and, he won a pool B title as Team Slovenia’s head coach at the world championships. Johnson has 368 career victories in 13 seasons at Wisconsin, fourth best all-time in women’s collegiate hockey and 18 wins away from tying former Minnesota Duluth coach Shannon Miller for third place.

“All kidding aside, this will be exciting, coaching against Mark,” said Harrington. “He is one of the great coaches in women’s hockey. I have watched his games in the past as a fan but now, when I study his team on video more closely, I am impressed at how well they do the little things. They have a lot of talented players, but they are just a well-coached team.”

After Johnson’s playing days ended in 1993, he returned to Madison and started at the bottom of the coaching rung. Johnson was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Madison Memorial High School. The next year he coached at Verona High School and in 1995 took a pro job in the Colonial Hockey League with the Madison Monsters, where he coached current North Dakota coach Brian Idalski.

In 1996, the legendary Jeff Sauer hired Johnson to be an assistant coach with Wisconsin’s men’s team, a position he held until 2002 when Sauer retired. There are many folks in Madison today that still wish Johnson succeeded Sauer, but UW athletic director Pat Richter chose to hire Mike Eaves, a former teammate of Mark’s. Johnson then applied to be coach of the UW women’s program, got hired and has experienced great success.

With Johnson on the bench the last 12 years, the Badgers have won four NCAA titles, five WCHA playoff titles and four WCHA regular season crowns while producing four Patty Kazmaier Award winners.

The success has not gone unnoticed. Johnson was named coach of the U.S. Olympic team in 2010 and the American women collected the silver medal, losing 2-0 to Canada in Vancouver, B.C. He has become the face of women’s hockey to many people in North America, but Mark is not the outgoing salesman of the game that “Badger Bob” was. He is more a teacher, quietly explaining the game to anyone who will listen.

You have to ask both Johnson and Harrington if you want to talk about what happened in the Olympics in 1980. Harrington said his new team has yet to ask to see his gold medal. Aside from signing DVDs from the movie “Miracle” or politely talking with fans who bring up Lake Placid in 1980 at the rink, they are unlikely to talk about the past. Harrington sold his Olympic jersey and other gear last year to help finance his daughter in nursing school. They still do the occasional autograph show to sign memorabilia and coached together at the 1980 team fantasy reunion camp last winter. But both guys are very much coaches now, concerned with the present and not living in the past.

Johnson, whose daughter Mikayla is a winger on his team, said “he was very pleased” with his third-ranked team’s two shutout wins over No. 6 Bemidji last week. “Bemidji has a good team. They can limit your chances, have a good goalie and some seniors that can score. When we got (Sarah) Nurse back (from missing two games with an illness) we had a complete team and a good effort.”

Now it’s a road trip to face his old friend and the Mavericks.

Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson. (WCHA.com photo)

“I think it will be fun,” said Johnson.  “Of all the players on the (1980 U.S. Olympic) team, you are closer to some more than others and Bah is one of those I have always been friends with. We have kept in contact over the years. When he was coaching at St. John’s (in Collegeville, Minn.), we’d talk a lot and we have kept in contact regularly.”

Harrington was an assistant coach at Denver and St. Cloud State (men’s team) before becoming the head coach at St. John’s from 1993-2008, where he led the Johnnies to a 241-142-31 record, five MIAC regular-season titles, five NCAA Division III tournament appearances and four MIAC playoff titles. He coached pro players in Switzerland and Austria and coached the Slovenian national team before taking a scouting job with the Colorado Avalanche. During his tenure with the Avs, Harrington helped out as a volunteer assistant with St. Cloud State’s women’s team and enjoyed the experience.

When the Minnesota State job opened up, Harrington applied for the job, conferred with his old buddy Mike Hastings, the Minnesota State men’s coach, and then called Johnson.

“We’ve had other talks about coaching over the years, but last spring at fantasy camp in Lake Placid, I talked to him about the women’s game and how he enjoyed it and the transition he made from coaching the men (as an assistant) at Wisconsin to becoming the women’s coach,” said Harrington.

“We just talked about the women’s game, in general, and about the league,” recalled Johnson. “I am glad it all worked out for him. He is a very knowledgeable coach. I am sure he is finding his way around the league right now, but he has had a lot of success over the years and I am sure he will there.”

This weekend’s games will be the second women’s series held at the renovated Verizon Wireless Center after years at old, rickety All Seasons Arena, and it will be the first series overhead with a large jumbotron scoreboard overhead.

“It is awesome,’’ said Harrington. “It is a good-looking arena now. Everyone who has seen the place is very impressed.”

“The move to the big rink will give him a fresh start. It was a good time for John to go in there,” Johnson said. “Obviously moving downtown and them renovating their facility downtown and bringing the women’s program back to that facility is a step that’s going to be really positive for that group to start over.”

In future years, there may be bragging rights at stake when Harrington and Johnson go head-to-head. This weekend, it may be more of a reunion, a time to catch up with an old friend who is starting a rebuilding project.

“John has a great track record with a lot of different programs,” said Johnson. “It will be his first time with the women’s side, but I think he’ll do a good job and have an opportunity to put women’s hockey on a different level in his city.”

The post Golden Boys appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.