One team’s journey of self-discovery from rink rats to champs

One of my favorite hockey-themed movies happens to be “Mystery, Alaska.” If you have seen the movie you will understand the perspective.

If you have not seen the movie, a brief summary would include: an isolated town with a diverse group of hockey players that play against themselves in a traditional weekly game. Later in the movie they are introduced to outside competition.

This would echo the theme of our story.

The last five years, for a three month window each spring, a group of Luther Automotive employees would gather Thursday afternoons for an extended hockey scrimmage at Victory Memorial Ice Arena (VMIA) in Minneapolis. It didn’t matter if you were upper management, a front line employee, or a friend of a friend. We love to play hockey, and this was a chance to play. For some, it was their only outlet.

Our ages range from 16 to over 60. The young guns, the middles, and the graybeards. Five players, including myself, are graybeards.

Lights vs darks, let’s play.

We play March through May. We conclude in May because too many players would not be available after that month because of parental commitments, softball, and such. This year was different. We maintained ample numbers to continue playing, so we happily extended into middle August for the first time.

With August now passing, our ice time was no longer available. We had just finished skating our last session. Will we be distant friends until next March? We were inclined to explore other options. There was an alternative that surfaced in the locker room.

Forward Blake Sorem asked me about assembling an adult league team. Interesting. Never brought up before, but okay, he had my attention.

Sorem, “I thought you could coach.”

Coach? My inner voice questioned, as my mind processed. I began thinking of the movie Mystery, when player/coach Russell Crowe gets told he is ‘too old to play, but they would like him to coach’… only coach. Was I was getting pushed into retirement?

I pushed back. “Coach?” He laughed, “Player/coach.”

Workable. I yelled to others in adjoining locker rooms,

“Who wants to play in a league?”

The response was quick and enthusiastic.

The Process Begins

As the director of our Luther hockey Club, I introduced myself to Brandon Koontz, the director of the Men’s Adult Hockey League at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Nice man; very patient and accommodating. This league is sponsored by the Minnesota Wild and USA Hockey. They offered several skill levels on many different nights through the week. The workable night for us was Sunday, at a level we felt appropriate. We joined this league the next day.

Referees and rules. Oh my!

The Luther Hockey Club had been pushed out of the nest and forced to fly. A new chapter began.

The Season Starts: Our First Game

I hadn’t played in a game with a referee for 38 years, since Gerald Ford was president, longer than the lifetimes of half our roster. I am a grizzled graybeard. I know the game, but physically I slide into the ‘I ain’t as good as I once was’ category. I skate slow-ish, but with enthusiasm. My hands are still a little squeaky, but workable. I get to the right spots eventually.

Our non-structured game is more freestyle, possession oriented, and those with speed have a great advantage. The rules honored, but not enforced.

How long would it take us to get comfortable with a structured game? Assimilating would be smooth for the youngsters, but I was curious about the graybeards. Are we taking the right step? Are the pieces in place? Are we ready? Am I ready?

We would soon find out, as the league schedule had been released. We called ourselves the Luther Bulldogs.

Our first game was against something called the Freeze D.

I arrived early to check in, grab the locker room key and open the room. My nerves were growing with every passing moment. I left the locker room to watch the preceding game to smooth out some jitters.

Upon watching this game, I noticed their pace of play was exceptionally quick and the puck movement was very efficient. These guys were good, really good …

‘Oh my’

I whispered to myself, but loud enough get the attention of a young woman in her 20’s watching the game as well.

She turned and asked if I played next. I responded with a yes, and asked what level this was, assuming her interest was in this game. She said they were a level above ours. The level above ours?

“I play defense” she offered. Nice!

Some small talk, I wished her luck and went back to dress for the game.

Everyone was now dressed and eager to get started. No pre-game words of wisdom, or offerings from the coach. I didn’t want my nerves to be accentuated and broadcast to my fellow team-mates. Like a racehorse in the starting gate, you could feel the energy in the locker room. I was chasing the butterflies in my stomach, and I’m not sure I was alone.

We have played against ourselves, now we play against others.

The puck was dropped, my center Ben Strathman, who has hands like NHL star Pavel Datsyuk, won the first of his many face-offs. I was skating on his right wing that night and had settled myself enough to function. First shift went okay, but second shift not so much.

We had possession in the offensive zone, and I was planted high in the slot. Ben laid a pass on my tape. I not only misfired, I collapsed to the ice like a sandcastle built too close to the water. Not one of my better moments, and I missed another time, but that was my only self-inflicted tumble.

I was, however, tripped in front of their goal, looking for a rebound. Play whistled. I got back up, turned, and sternly commented to the player,

“You tripped me!!”

She agreed.

I could only smile. No penalty called.

Rookie Ben Studley played in his very first organized game of his young career, and played surprisingly poised. Overall, our Bulldogs played pretty solid, and performed much better as game went on.

Reflecting on my first organized game in almost 40 years, I felt I was a little over my head. Always felt a little behind, but played okay. Room for improvement. I did score a goal, but also took a dumb penalty immediately after I scored. Took a hard cross check to the back, then I received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for voicing my displeasure. Mistake. They scored on that power play to ruin the shutout. Well done coach.

Lessons learned? Time will tell.

We won 7-1 going away. Nice first game, but now a bye week.

It’s a Numbers Thing

When we signed up, the league asked for rosters and jersey numbers. When our jerseys came in, the numbers didn’t match what was requested. We sorted it out, recorded numbers, and adjusted official rosters on website.

During the first game, I was sitting on the bench next to Ben Strathman. Ben is one of our better players. I asked him what jersey number he would have requested. He responded with a wry smile, “8”

My number is 8. Really …

Our bye week was over and the next opponent was the K-Boyz.

Before this game, I handed Ben my freshly washed #8 jersey. I wore #6 from that point forward. Nice gesture, happy to do this. I changed the official rosters online and submitted.

Didn’t give it another thought.

Regular Season Roller Coaster

We lost our second game by the score of 6-1. Connor Beaupre scored our only goal to spoil the shutout. We never gave ourselves a chance to win this game. It was a poor showing overall and we came back to earth quickly. Our hope to go undefeated was put to rest early.

At the end of this game, Joe, one of our better defensemen, stated he was leaving our team to follow his greater passion, hunting. We kind of pushed him to play, so a push back was disappointing, but understood. It left a hole on our blue line. Not a great night.

We lost our third game, second loss in a row, 5-4, and were now 1-2 after 3 games. Better showing, but the wheels were starting to wobble. The transition to structure play was in full-stride and we were losing pace due to some inconsistencies that would show at inopportune times. I thought just growing pains. We keep pushing forward, as there was progress, but I was worried team confidence may start to wane.

Our next four games were against the top four teams in the standings to date, a very critical point of the season.

The Bulldogs went 2-1-1 in that stretch, including a 4-4 tie against the first place team. Mike Beyl was stingy in goal. Studley scored his first goal in organized hockey in this game, and it was a clean one. He had a pretty lively celebration. We don’t usually celebrate after goals in this league, but he earned it.

I was skating by the opposing bench for the change, and I heard a couple chirps toward Studley.

“Wow! Impressive!” “Way to go!”

“First goal” I offered. The comments stopped, they understood.

Number Issue Surfaces

The leagues website didn’t update for the Archer and Strathman number change.

Every time Ben Strathman would score, I would get credit. The referees were referencing an outdated roster. He was our best goal scorer, so I looked far better on the stats sheet that I was in reality.

One game, Strathman scored a natural hat trick and we won 3-0, shutout credit to Beaupre who was in goal that night. I was credited with all 3 goals, and listed in the league leaders for goals and points.

Some rumored I did this on purpose. I can neither confirm nor deny such allegations! I eventually called Brandon Koontz and it was fixed quickly.

Eventual credit where credit is eventually due.

Brandon Blommer (14) and Blake Sorem (15) (Photo / LS ORIGINALS)

Worst Hockey Memory of the Season

The dark cloud on an otherwise sunny day …

The last game of that four-game stretch was a 10-3 loss. They moved the puck against us like the ’85 Oilers, and we were missing a top player in Brandon Blommer on defense. He is a vital cog to our Bulldog team. We gave an honest effort and played a respectful game, but lost … by a touchdown.

We didn’t appreciate the condescending comments offered in the handshake line after this game.

“No competition” “easy game” “find another hobby”

Very poor sportsmanship, but it made us angry enough to unleash an edge to our game. We took that negative and made it a positive; a motivating force.

We were now 3-3-1 and had three left to play before playoffs. We had a better focus and a renewed energy as we could sense the finish line.

The Bulldogs finished the season on a three-game win streak, while outscoring our opponents 24-12 in those games. We now had a consistent structure to our game. Because of our strong finish, we ended in third place and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs as the No. 3 seed.

Playoffs are Uncharted Waters

After the brackets were posted, I quickly looked to who the #2 seed was across our bracket. It happened to be the team the beat us four weeks earlier by a touchdown.

We were a better team than we showed that night. We had to take care of our business and win the first game, to get our chance to avenge that loss.

We had some challenges.

Defenseman Greg Goodman (hamstring), and D Derek Rosstedt (wrist injury), would miss all games moving forward.

We were now short two defenseman. Blommer, Steve Miller, Mike McAlpin, and Lee Kirby are very good defensemen, but we needed to devise a contingency plan to offer some possible help. I planned on moving Beyl from goal to defense, and Beaupre from forward into our goal.

A backup plan would be that Matt Snaza or Justin Skyberg, both speedy forwards with good sticks, could play defense if needed, same with Philip Klanderud. He is an experienced and versatile option. They are good forwards that would only be moved in a pinch. I was thinking we were set. Let’s roll.

The No. 2 seeded team happened to be playing before our first game, our next opponent if we won our upcoming contest. This team won their game against a pretty good team 10-2. They came right up the middle of the ice, found the open shot, and finished often.

Our playoff opponent was the team that we defeated earlier in the regular season by a score of 3-2, courtesy of a late goal with 12 seconds left in regulation time by Sorem. We knew they could skate with us.

We won our first playoff game in a tense shootout by an identical 3-2 score. Blommer converted our third chance to move us into the next round. Beaupre in goal made some key saves and was a wall in the shootout. Without his solid play in goal, our storybook tale would have ended that night.

Our Bulldogs had now won four in a row, and were slated to face the offensive bully on the playground. We got the bloody nose last encounter, but we are eager to counterpunch.

We would need the best we could offer to have a chance to win and advance.

The Gentle Bart of Persuasion.

I called on Joe Wanshura, the defenseman that left our team after the second game. I firmly requested he join us for this game. I was successful, he agreed to play. We kept it a secret from the team, so when he showed up, my thought was this would generate positive energy before the game. He is popular, and it worked as planned. Any nerves we may have possessed were now steadied. Confidence filled the room.

I shared with the group to ‘protect the middle of the ice, congest the lanes, and attack with the puck.’ Not breaking any new ground, but if we were successful at these keys, we would give ourselves a good chance for success.

Beaupre is a terrific forward and goaltender, but we thought having him in net would give us the best chance to win. Beyl had done a great job in nets, but we needed another solid defender. I wanted his size and strength in front of our net. I thought this was our best option.

I had done as much before this game as I could; now it was time to take the ice. We were ready.

Let’s Play Hockey!

We got out to an early lead as Strathman scored on the first shift and really settled us down and put them on notice. Our defense controlled of the middle ice and the forwards attacked.

So far, so good.

Our Bulldogs led 4-1 after 2 periods, and our opponents started using their mouths and sticks more than their skates. They began to play a bit chippy.

They scored a goal to cut it to 4-2, but they could not gather their focus soon enough, as Wanshura floated a 175 footer into an empty net to seal our victory.

Their team was far more respectful in the handshake line this time through.

We had avenged our previous embarrassment and now looked forward to playing the undefeated, first-place team for the championship. For our first year in the league, I felt playing for championship was quite an accomplishment.

Bart Archer (6) (Photo / LS ORIGINALS)

Championship Game

This team we were slated to play in the title game had been tied twice this year for their only blemishes. We owned one of those ties, but that was then, this was now. We were not planning a parade route, but we did have confidence we would challenge this talented team.

No status changes, as Goodman and Rosstedt were still unavailable, but our Bulldogs were playing their best hockey of the year. This wais what we optimistically envisioned when we joined.

We had earned the opportunity to play against the first place, undefeated, No. 1 seed Mighty D’s. We have respect for this team, as they seemed to play a respectful brand of hockey, with talented players up and down its roster. We had only played them once, and they had to come back on the power play to tie us 4-4.

We felt like we could beat anybody at this point and were eager to get going.

Our locker room was a little quieter before this game than others. It was not nerves, I would label it focus. We have come so far, we were one win away from storybook status.

Time to Answer the Bell.

From the first drop of the puck, the pace of play was torrid. If there were any pre-game nerves, they would soon be gone.

Sorem and Blommer scored in the first period for a 2-0 lead. Our pace was steady, our positioning solid. We were in control of this game and our emotions.

Again, so far, so good.

Strathman added another tally early in the second period, as our lead buildt to 3-0. Beaupre, solid in goal, defense active, and forwards possessing the puck; this was the best we had played all year. They did net one before the close of the period to cut the lead to 3-1. We were aware, but it didn’t shake us.

Strathman scored another to start the third period, and our three-goal cushion was back.

As the game clock continued to click, our opponents started to squeeze their sticks and use their mouths more than their blades. They were not used to playing catch up and seemed out of their element.

They scored a goal to cut the lead to 4-2. We started to get concerned, but game history and the clock was working to our advantage, until the whistle blew after a scrum in front of our goal.

It was not a good turn of events for the Bulldogs.

The men in stripes afforded our opponents a 5-on-3 advantage in the last three minutes of this championship game. This biased coach’s opinion thought it should have been coincidental penalties or, worst case, one man down.

My argument fell on deaf ears with no explanation given.

We gave up a power-play goal pretty quickly and now found ourselves protecting a one goal lead, still shorthanded. The clock had moved pretty quick up to this point, but wasn’t moving very quickly now.

We were surviving, but the last 25 seconds became very intense. Several shots on goal, Beaupre made several challenging saves, including a diving paddle save on what should have been the tying goal.

Our bodies littered the ice, protecting the front of our net. On their last and final push in the closing seconds, I blocked a centering pass with my body as time ran out. The buzzer sounded and the game was final. We had won 4-3; a cumulative sigh of relief from our team, disappointment from our opponents.

The Luther Bulldogs were League Champions.

The scrappy bunch from VMIA, now the Luther Bulldogs, won the league championship. We were a little disappointed that only five of their 15 players stayed for the handshake line, but this was their first defeat of the season so they may not have been too familiar with sportsmanship and humility.

There were no streamers or confetti that fell from the rafters. We didn’t need the fanfare. We knew we beat the odds, and bested good competition to earn our spot at the top.

When we first conversed about joining a league, we didn’t know what to expect or how we would fare, but took the first step on faith. Our goal was to just keep playing hockey. We grabbed the brass ring, reached well past our expectations and any goals that may have been made.

How ‘Bout Them Bulldogs!!

The Adult League at NSC was everything this humble group from VMIA had hoped.

It is tabbed a ‘beer league’ by outsiders, which I understand but think misguided. There are many very talented players on several teams, including ours.

With success comes expectations. Moving forward, expectations will be raised going into winter league, as we will not be taking any team by surprise. We are continuing in the same league for winter, but changed our team name to the LynLake Brewers for our next chapter. This name should make us pretty popular in this “Beer” League. We may give coupons in the handshake line!

Put a Bow on This Season

Thank you to all the members of the Luther Bulldogs for your efforts and perseverance, including forward Matt Mannella, who contributed to a very special memory. Thank you to Mark Morcomb, and Luther Automotive for their support. Special thanks to Brandon Koontz at NSC for helping us through the process and providing a great league to participate in.

It was a cumulative effort from many people to make this season successful. From the young guns, to the middles, to the graybeards, this is a hockey memory we were happy to experience, and now to share with you.

I hope you enjoyed our story.

The post A mystery no more appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Senior Hockey All-Metro Reunion at Tom Reid’s on Monday, Dec 22, 2014.  Join Us! 

1971-1972 League Schedule at Wakota

Senior Hockey Era.

The team names are all familiar, seemingly from a distant past, but the memories remain fresh on the minds of those passionate about “old time hockey” and the “good years”.  Full contact Senior hockey thrived and was played by those yearning for more after high school or college and was fueled by the competitive nature of both inner city and out-state rivalries.

In the 60’s and early 70’s metro teams like Kaposia Lounge, Johnny Whites, Bob Carter Ford, North Star Oil, White Bear Dodge, Bob Ross Liquors, Kostka Electric, St. Paul Stage Door, Maplewood Berwald, South St. Paul Steers, Minneapolis Bonnies Tap, Roadside Drive-in, Stephans Buick, Bungalows, Como Rec, Mounds Park Tavern and out-state teams from Duluth, Roseau, Thief River, Grand Rapids, Taconite, Crookston, and Warroad, played in various city leagues throughout the Twin Cities and across the state.

In the 70’s and 80’s a new generation of teams sprung up like Mple Bucks, Mpls Tempo, North St. Paul Legion, Mpls Uptown, St. Paul Saints, Tony Webers Insurance, Moby Dicks, Hastings and the Parkers.

Senior hockey during these years was flourishing, with approximately 50 clubs in Minnesota and Wisconsin playing 60 minute, stop time, full contact games.  State tournaments followed and, as always, teams were vying for National Tournament berths.

Those days are long gone as full contact senior hockey in Minnesota was replaced starting in the 90’s by an explosion of adult no-check leagues and tournaments across Minnesota and in many other parts of the country.

A Reunion of Sorts.

If you played Senior hockey and are interested in getting together to chat about the old days, please join Minnesota Hockey Magazine and the Parker alumni at Tom Reid’s on Monday, Dec 22 at noon.

Minnesota Hockey Magazine is presenting hockey legend Marv Jorde with a lifetime achievement award.  See recent article here.

We would love to see you there!  Pass this on to your hockey buddies and if you have any great photos to share, let us know and we will put them out on Facebook for everyone to enjoy.

1970 North Star Oil – MN State and National Champs Back row from left: Bob Johnson, Danny McDermot, Jim Arndt, Jim Egger, Bob Olein, Dave Duzan, Jerry Christiansen, Bob Boysen, Bill Olein, Bill Carroll, Front Row from left: Bucky Kendig, Roger Simon, Pat Henry, Coach/Mgr Dan Semlak, Jim Kowalski, Craig Buetow, Jack McNamara

The post Senior Hockey – Gone But Not Forgotten appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

(Photos courtesy of Sandy Stordahl.  Featured Photo:  Minnesota Old Timers (sponsored by Heartland Hockey Camp) win 70+ Championship.)

The USA Hockey Adult National Championships offer a great opportunity for adult teams (men and women) across the country to compete at both the elite (Tier I) and recreational (Tier II) levels of hockey.  The Minnesota adult teams have been participating since the tournament started several years ago and they continue to set the bar high for other teams around the country.

Tampa, Fl.  Men’s Championships.  April 3- April 13.

This year, at least 6 men’s teams from Minnesota traveled to Tampa, FL and the surrounding area and faced off in 5 different age groups on consecutive weekends.

70+.  This was the first year for this age group.  Four teams participated.  It’s remarkable that there are enough passionate and physically able players at this age that want to compete, but age does not seem to be a barrier for those that love the game and enjoy the travel.  The Minnesota Old Timers, previously champions at the 60+ and 65+ age division, moved up to the 70+ division and won the championship in a tough overtime game, 6-5, against the Florida Everblades.  They were sponsored by the Heartland Hockey Camp, located in the Brainerd Lakes vacation area of Minnesota.

65+.  It wasn’t a surprise that two perennial Minnesota champions at the 60+ and 65+ age division played for the championship game.

Byfuglien Trucking wins 65+ Championship

Byfuglien Trucking from Roseau, MN, winner of the last five 60+ USA National championships, moved up to 65+ this year.  Their long-time rivals from the metro area (remnants of the Minnesota Old Timers), and sponsored this year by Heartland Hockey Camp, were the only Tier I teams in the division.  With only two elite teams, USA Hockey pitted them against the recreational teams in pool play as exhibition games only.  The championship game was one game, easily won by Byfuglien Trucking, 6-0.  Bob Lund’s Byfuglien powerhouse continues to gather championship banners and the treasured white hats.

60+, Tier II.  There were no Tier I teams in this age bracket this year, but Swann’s, a team based at the Blaine SuperRink, played in the Tier II tournament.  They failed to make it to championship Sunday.

50+, Tier I.  Clearly one of the showcase age groups, the 50+ Tier I tournament featured many ex Div I, Div III and pro (as in NHL) players from around the country.  Their speed and level of skill play was more than impressive for this age group.  While the USA Hockey Adult tournaments are “no-check”, there was plenty of body contact in the up and down frenzied pace of play.  The Heartland Hockey Camp team, along with the Sun Valley Suns earned the right to play on championship Sunday after finishing 1 and 2, respectively, in pool play, and they really put on a show.  While Heartland beat Sun Valley in the earlier round, Sun Valley came from behind in the 3^rd period to tie the score 1-1 with just seconds left in the game and went on to win 2-1 in overtime.

50+, Tier II.  The Minnesota No Stars, out of the Minneapolis area, played in the Tier II tournament, but failed to make it to championship Sunday.

Tampa, Fl.  Women’ Championships.  April 24 – April 27.

The USA Adult Women’s National Championships in the 30, 40 and 50 age divisions run from April 24 – April 27.

Minnesota teams competing include:

30+.  MN Extreme

40+.  MN Blades

50+, Tier I.  MN Ladyslippers

For scores, schedules, standings and other information on the 2014 Men’s tournaments and to follow the Women’s tournament, visit the USA Adult Hockey site here.

The post Minnesota Adult Men’s Teams Make Some Noise in USA Hockey Nationals appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“NOT JUST ANOTHER HOCKEY BAG”

Butch Williams is shown competing for the California Golden Seals in mid-1970’s

It was a cold winter night in late January of 1964. It was nearing midnight in our two-story home in Taconite, a tiny mining hamlet (pop. 315) on the western end of the Mesabi Iron Range and the snow was piled high outside. It was all quiet except for the sound of the furnace pumping the heat out through the registers, in an effort to combat the -15 below temperatures outside.

The burgeoning Hoey family, which by this time included two girls and six boys (two more boys to come) had went to bed a little later than normal this Friday night. We had a rare treat by having popcorn and pop to share with an overnight guest, a hockey player from Duluth, and even the younger boys stayed up late amid all the excitement.

Youth hockey was just beginning to surge in the early to mid-1960’s throughout Minnesota and Pee Wee and Bantam teams were starting to travel beyond their local area to secure games and play in tournaments. However, traveling for an overnight was still pretty unusual. Taconite, like all the other small communities that made up the Greenway school district, had their own Bantam team. Guys from Coleraine, Calumet, and Cloverdale were our opponents during the regular season despite being schoolmates at the local junior high school in Bovey during the day.

For the latter half of the season, the top players from each “town” team practiced as a so-called “All-Star” team occasionally and then played in sporadic competitions against teams from close-by rivals Grand Rapids and Hibbing and even Virginia and Eveleth. In those days, almost all Bantams were seventh and eighth-graders as the top freshmen players played on the B-team for the Greenway Raiders.

As I recall, we had about 15 guys on our team and five were from Taconite (eight-grader Bill “Cotton” Guyer and four of us seventh-graders, including my cousins Bobby Lawson and Mike Troumbly, and neighbor Eugene Gustason). We were coached by Cotton’s dad, “Cotta”, who worked part-time for the railroad and part-time as our postmaster.

Other guys on the team included Mike Antonovich, Rick Helmer and Bobby Lynch of Calumet, Tom Peluso and Mike Rantala of Cloverdale, Dave “Moose” Prestidge of Lawrence Lake, Steve Polovina of Bovey, and my cousin Billy “Bucko” Troumbly, Jim Kosak, and Rick Glorvigen (actually Midway)from Coleraine.

The Greenway Bantam All-Star team was hosting a four-team tournament on this Friday and Saturday and we were hosting the team from Duluth, a renowned program called Lower Chester from the Port City. We didn’t play the Duluth club that Friday night but we would the next day. Cotta Guyer matched us up with the players from Lower Chester, many of whom would be future adversaries playing for mighty Duluth Cathedral – Mike Randolph, Fred Paul, Steve “Pokey” Trachsel, et al. We watched them manhandle the team from Hibbing prior to our game and they were good, real good, and we would play them the next day.

Our guest Butch was much bigger than me, which wasn’t saying much, and looked like he had been shaving for a few years already. We had thrown our bags into the back seat of our red,three-seater Ford station wagon outside the West Range Arena in Coleraine and took the short three-mile ride home. We got home and Butch was immediately swallowed up with attention from several youngsters in their pajamas, whether he wanted it or not. He was a bit overwhelmed but seemingly amused with all the focus on him. I took his bag and mine into the basement.

I set out my equipment to dry and then grabbed his bag to spread out his gear when I stopped in my tracks. Butch’s bag, now seen in full light, was colorful and impressive. In a split-second, it was clear this wasn’t an ordinary bag. It was red, white and blue and it also displayed the letters…USA. Wow! Then it dawned on me. Butch’s last name was Williams. Wow! I was surrounded by fame and glory. His older brother, Tommy, was the youngest player on the 1960 U.S.A. Olympic team that won the gold medal at Squaw Valley. Just as this was all sinking in, Dad hollered down for me to bring up some pop and join everybody upstairs.

I hustled upstairs with some pop (a real luxury in those days) and settled into the living room as Butch was being bombarded with questions from all sides. He was a bit nervous but certainly was mature for his age and confident in his hockey heritage. Dad told Butch that his brother Tommy had played some with our senior team, the Taconite Hornets, when he was a teenager and that he knew his father, Rip, who was a hockey icon in Duluth. After an hour or so, Butch and I knew it was time to get some rest for tomorrow’s game. He and I shared one of our four bedrooms upstairs and after some conversation about all things hockey, the lights went out. I wondered what it was going to be like playing against the skilled and powerful kid sleeping next to me on the home ice at the West Range Arena.

My mind was racing with excitement and I knew it would be awhile until I would be sleeping this night. Soon, Butch was asleep. After a half-hour or so, all that could be heard was the strong wind outside on this bitterly cold night. With just enough light from the streetlights outside, I made my way out of the bedroom and down the steps and through the kitchen. I reached for the basement lights and switched them on. Quietly, I headed down the final 12 steps. Shivering in the dimly-lit basement, I sat intently right in front of the bag….the USA bag. For several minutes, I pictured where this bag had been and what it all entailed.

Almost exactly three years earlier, our family had watched CBS broadcast the Winter Olympics on television for the first time and we watched the USA win the gold medal in a big surprise at Squaw Valley. Of course, we cheered for the Minnesota guys the most – John Mayasich from Eveleth, the Christian brothers from Warroad, and the goalie, Jack McCartan, from St. Paul. However, we were most proud of the youngest kid on team, Tommy Williams, because he had the connection to our local senior team and he was from Duluth.

The big victory in the 1960 Olympics out in California brought hope to a lot of little kids that they could make it on that stage some day. Just a block away lived my mother’s brother, Jim “Slim” Troumbly, who had been the leading scorer for the U.S. in the 1950 international tournament in London. He was an inspiration to all of his nephews growing up and perhaps we would someday follow in his footsteps. As it was, “Slim” turned down a chance to be on the 1952 Olympic team because of his responsibilities with his new construction company he founded with his brothers. It was a different era, no doubt, when a guy with a guaranteed spot on the USA team spurned an offer to play against the best teams in the world.

All these years later, I don’t recall what happened to our Greenway Bantam team that next day but the memory of that experience with …”The Bag” has never gone away. It was just cloth and a zipper but what an inspiring presence it wrought. As for the Williams’ boys, they did okay. Tommy was the only American to play in the NHL for most of the 1960’s with the Boston Bruins and later played with the North Stars. Butch never played high school hockey but went to Canada, like his older brother, to play juniors. He made it to the big time, too, playing 108 games in the NHL from 1974-76 with the St. Louis Blues and the California Golden Seals. He scored 14 goals and added 35 assists as a sturdy right-winger. Butch, whose first name was Warren, also played in the 1976 Canada Cup for the U.S. and for Team USA in the 1977 world championships.

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