“I said, ‘you know what? When we go home, we should check out starting girls’ hockey,’” Tveit said. “I said, ‘girls’ hockey is going to explode with this Olympic win.’”

Things moved quickly, as Warroad’s arena manager set up Tveit with ice time the following week so he could gauge interest. Forty to 50 girls showed up initially. A $13,500 Mighty Kids Grant to the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission helped get the girls’ program up and running with a 15U team, two 12U teams and a house-league 10U team by the fall of 1998.

The first year, the 15U team nearly went undefeated, minus a late-season tournament game in Cloquet against Thunder Bay.

“So, we realized we could compete,” Tveit said. “And so, we jumped and made the move to varsity at that time.”

Twenty-five years later, Warroad girls’ hockey is one of the powerhouse programs in Minnesota. It’s won four Class 1A state championships, each in back-to-back fashion under current head coach David Marvin in 2010-11 and 2022-23. The Lady Warriors have appeared in 14 state tournaments and nine state title games. They’ve missed the state tournament only twice since 2009, losing to the Class 1A runner-up East Grand Forks in the section semifinal in 2014 and falling to 2015 Class 1A champion Thief River Falls in the section final that season.

Tveit led a group of girls with varying hockey abilities for four seasons, starting in 1998-99; they had six players who played squirts or peewees with the boys’ teams for a good nucleus. The rest of the team included players just sticking their skates on the hockey ice for the first time, though most players had brothers who played hockey at some level at the time. The team joined the Minnesota State High School League ranks in its second season.

One of Warroad’s standout moments was in the 2000-01 season when it played Moorhead, an opponent that was “a good measuring stick for us,” Tveit said. The Spuds were on a 19-game winning streak when Warroad went into their barn and shut them out 3-0, Tveit recalled.

“That was a huge deal for our kids,” Tveit said. “That was a big boost.”

Bruce Elson took over for two seasons before Scott Knutson was behind the bench for Warroad’s first state tournament trip in 2006.

Warroad did it right
When girls’ hockey got started in other communities, Tveit said it’s “fair to say that girls had an uphill battle, uphill struggle.” A common refrain in those early days was likely that girls’ teams took ice time away from the boys. Not so in Warroad, where the girls had “open-arm treatment,” which is an important part of the story, Tveit said.

From ice time to equipment to travel, everything was pretty much equal between the boys’ and girls’ Warroad teams.

“I have no memories of being like, ‘wow, we didn’t get this or we didn’t get that,’” Gigi Marvin said. “It was very much equal, I would say. We had as much ice as you could want.”

Added Maureen Hardwick Greiner, a member of the first Warroad team: “The boys got first-class stuff, and we got first-class stuff. From day one it was like that.”

That included Sunday nights with ice time first for the Warroad girls’ hockey team, then the boy’s team. No coaches, just shinny hockey, Gigi said.

“Until 10, 11 at night,” Gigi said. “Shutting the rink down. That’s probably the best way to explain it is you have girls and guys high school age skating together and sharing the ice and not having any issues whatsoever.”

Goaltender Amber Hasbargen Nelson, Hardwick Greiner and Gigi Marvin were some of the players who came into those first Warroad girls’ high school teams with hockey experience. They all played on boys’ teams growing up. Whether girls played hockey, everyone skates in Warroad, either in gym class, figure skating etc., Hasbargen said.

Starting a girls’ hockey team, “it wasn’t like we were starting from scratch like a lot of teams maybe were,” Hasbargen said. “Because we had girls that had played, and we had girls that had skated before and been around the game. That made for a good start for our program.”

Hasbargen was the team’s main goaltender. She was named Goaltender of the Year in Minnesota her senior season in 2002. She went on to play four seasons with North Dakota, back when it had a women’s hockey program.
In those early Warroad girls’ games, Hasbargen stood on her head and kept the team in a lot of those contests, Hardwick Greiner said.

“You could win high school girls’ hockey games back then with one or two studs and a good goalie,” Hardwick Greiner said. “You can’t do that anymore. Teams now are just too deep, and the hockey has just come so far and teams play systems.”

Then there was 2005 Ms. Hockey Gigi Marvin, who turned into a well-known name nationally and internationally, winning Olympic medals, for one thing. She played peewee hockey with the boys through seventh grade before moving to Warroad girls’ varsity.

Gigi also “had a deke move that would get me most of the time,” Hasbargen said, noting Gigi’s talent on breakaways.

Equal ice time leads to strong hockey program
From early on to the present, it’s that access to ice time and community support that separats the Lady Warriors from other programs. The open-door policy to skate with a variety of teams helped, too. Gigi remembers skating with not only her high school team but also had dad’s peewee team and her grandpa’s senior men’s program.

“We just have that ability to practice our skills, develop insanely good hockey IQ and on-ice vision because you’re at the rink all the time in so many different scenarios,” Gigi said. “In one practice you might be the best player out there and can really work on your stickhandling and some creative moves. And maybe the next ice session you go to… with a bunch of older kids that you’re skating with, you’re forced to think the game at a high level.”

That’s how you develop and get ahead of the curve, she added.

It’s the ice time, plus the support of the community when it comes to fundraisers and state tournament trips that’s helped the program, Hasbargen said.

“I think the dedication that the players put into it also is a big part of why the teams are so successful,” Hasbargen said. “The success has grown, and so the older girls make sure the younger girls know what it takes to continue to be successful, and I think that tradition just kind of continues.”

The former players love watching the program thrive, too. Early on, the team was lucky if they had three full lines, Gigi said. Those first seasons, the girls also convinced Hardwick Greiner’s sister, Meaghan, to step away from her role as a boys’ hockey cheerleader and come play girls’ hockey for her senior year.

“’Meaghan, we need bodies, you’ve gotta come and play,’” Maureen said. “We had 13 people, only 12 skaters on our high school team. So, we had a few like Meaghan who couldn’t catch a pass or handle a puck. It was a little dicey. But we just needed bodies, we needed people to field a team.”

A couple of decades into the program’s history, and the roster is not only full but full of college-level talent. Last year’s line chart for the state championship game against Orono included seven players committed to play college hockey, including a top line of DI-committed athletes in Talya Hendrickson and Kate Johnson at the wings headed to Bemidji State and center Rylee Bartz with a St. Thomas commitment.

“It speaks to the level of commitment and type of player that Warroad has right now and have been able to develop,” Gigi said.

There’s also a sense of pride for hockey players coming out of Warroad’s program, hailing from Hockeytown, USA. As Gigi said: “There’s no place like it on the planet.”

The post Girls Hockey: Warriors Turn 25 appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

William Howard Taft had just been elected President of the United States.

The Titanic was three years away from its ill-fated voyage in the Atlantic; and the University of Minnesota, which had been playing its hockey games on frozen Como Lake in St. Paul, was amid a nearly 20-year hiatus from competition.

But just a stone’s throw from the Canadian border, high school hockey teams from Warroad and Roseau were squaring off against one another for the very first time.

So, the origins of one of Minnesota’s greatest sports rivalries commenced long before official record-keeping began in the mid-1940s.

“Why would people say it’s the best rivalry? I think because everybody has something in the game,” said Larry Olimb, Warroad native and 1988 Mr. Hockey Award recipient. “In Warroad, everyone’s part of the hockey community, and Roseau is the same way. Then just being so close to each other, and being so competitive over the years.”

The U.S. Olympic team, as well as the NHL, have reaped the benefits of this far-north region of Minnesota.

But both hockey havens have perhaps shined brightest in youth and high school competition, regardless of the era.

“In 1999, my senior year, we won a double-A state championship,” Mike Klema said, looking back on the rivalry.

Klema, a Roseau native, went on to play four years at Yale, and is now vice president in the Roseau Youth League and coaching his two Mite-aged sons.

“I just looked back at it from my experience thinking what a great, great run of teams that Roseau and Warroad produced in the 90s,” he said. “And that’s not to shortchange any other decade, because obviously, going back to the 40s, Roseau and Warroad have had really strong histories.”

Past and present, the names are synonymous with Minnesota hockey: Marvin and Christian; Oshie and Nelson; Bjorkman, Boucha and Broten.

Both communities have consistently produced great players and even greater play on the ice.

“No matter if one program has a lot more talent than the other a certain year it doesn’t matter,” said Gigi Marvin, a Warroad native and three-time Olympian for Team USA. “It seems like everything goes out the window and you just play on character and heart and passion and so it’s a lot of fun.”

Rivalry by number
The towns are just 26 miles apart, with the population of Roseau eclipsing that of Warroad, 2,712 to 1,810 respectively.

By the numbers, as they pertain to hockey, Roseau holds the edge as well, with a series record of 107-71-5 since 1945. The two schools battled on 30 occasions throughout the 1960s, the most of any decade.

Roseau has 34 appearances in the boys’ state high school tournament, with seven championships. Two of those titles were won in Class 2A, after the advent of the two-class brackets.

Warroad has made it to the tourney 24 times, bringing home four Class 1A titles.

In the years before the 1991-92 season, schools competed in the single-class system. For Roseau and Warroad, that meant only one team would emerge from the Section 8 region and head to the state tournament.

“By the time we’re done playing each other in high school, we’ve probably played each other 30, 40 times,” said Bill Lund, a Roseau native who was part of the Rams’ 1990 state championship team.

Lund played his college hockey at St. Cloud State and later skated four seasons for Lake Charles in the Western Professional Hockey League.

“Back when we were squirts, we’d play them four times every year, all the way through,” Lund recalled. “And then obviously, in summer hockey, they used to come over to our camp.

“For a couple of weeks in the summer we got along. In the winter, we didn’t get along so well.”

The animosity was tempered for Lund after college when he played on Cal Marvin’s storied Warroad Lakers Senior A team.

“It was Roseau and Warroad guys along with a bunch of other guys playing for the Allan Cup up in Canada,” Lund recalled fondly. “It was one of the best memories ever, playing those two years with the Warroad Lakers.”

Talent throughout the decades
One common theme – regardless of era – rises above the battles: Players who competed in the rivalry still carry an appreciation for the level of competition and how it only raised their game.

“The thing about that rivalry is both teams are usually really good every year. So, that’s what makes it even better,” said Hampton Slukynsky, Warroad’s 2023 Goalie of the Year who now plays with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League.

“I think with having two really good teams in northern Minnesota, it makes it a lot more competitive. You want to be better than Roseau, if you’re from Warroad. Or if from Roseau, you want to be better than Warroad.”

Last season, Warroad had the unique distinction of not only having the Goalie of the Year in Slukynsky, but also Mr. Hockey Award recipient Jayson Shaugabay on their roster as well. The pair led the Warriors to Class 1A runner-up finishes the past two seasons.

For Shaugabay, the rivalry ranks as the pinnacle in his accomplished amateur career.

“Leading up to the Roseau-Warroad game has always been the most exciting time in my life,” Shaugabay said. “Even when I was 5 years old watching or, until I got to play in it, it was the most anticipated two games of the year.

“It’s pretty much just like playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the high school version and it’s just so fun.”

Ready for Hockey Day
Warroad is primed for the three-day event, which has far surpassed earlier incarnations in size and scope.

That excitement is no doubt taken up several notches this January when Hockeytown USA hosts Hockey Day Minnesota.

“Back when it started in Baudette, Minnesota, it was mainly just a game,” said Tad Palmquist, Hockey Day Minnesota co-chair. “Now it’s an entire village. So, it’s everything. We added everything from a big snow hill for the kids to sled down. We’ve added a mini version of the skate path we have on the river.”

The village will also feature exhibits honoring Warroad’s rich hockey history and that of the region. A tribute to Cal Marvin and his Warroad Lakers legacy will highlight the event, as will a ceremonial puck drop in tribute to Henry Boucha, who died on Sept. 18, 2023.

But Palmquist is quick to point out that the weekend will highlight not only Warroad but the entire region, including Hockeytown’s favorite rival.

“We know it’s hard to get the Hockey Day way up north like this, especially in a rural town like Warroad,” he said. “So we want to celebrate all the local towns and obviously Roseau being a key part of that.”

While Warroad will travel to Roseau for their first meeting of the season at the historic Roseau Memorial Arena on Jan. 9, the main event will face off on Jan. 27, for a Hockey Day Minnesota showdown no one will soon forget.

“One thing about our rivalry is it’s not always bitter,” Palmquist said. “On the ice, it’s bitter, maybe. But it’s also built on respect.

“And a lot of these people end up being friends along the way.”

The post The Rivalry appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The post The Sieve & The Scribe: Ep. 7 appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

So now that Marvin is a broadcast analyst with Bally Sports North for Minnesota Wild games, this has to be a dream come true, right?

“I always enjoyed it, but I think if you talk to any Olympian, they don’t have a stack of options,” Marvin said. “I wasn’t ever thinking ‘Ooo, I can’t wait to get into this when I retire.’ It was always: ‘I want to be an Olympic champion.’ That was the only dream I’ve ever had.”

Gigi Marvin shown here suited up for Team USA in a Dec. 3, 2017 game vs. Team Canada at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Marvin, a well-known Minnesota hockey talent, said she had her sights set on winning an Olympic gold medal since age 10. She fulfilled that dream in 2018 with the Team USA women’s hockey team winning gold in PyeongChang. She also won silver in 2010 and 2014. The 2005 Ms. Hockey winner, Gopher and professional hockey player with the Boston Pride has racked up the stats accolades throughout her career.

She started in her role with Bally Sports North in March 2021 during the Wild season. That continued this season, too, before Marvin officially announced her retirement from the U.S. women’s national team in December, although that didn’t quite go as planned. Not wanting to make the announcement via Zoom last year, she waited and hoped to have one last hurrah in-person with teammates, family and friends at the U.S. vs. Team Canada women’s game Dec. 20 at Xcel Energy Center leading up to this year’s winter Olympics.

But the game was canceled at the last minute because of COVID-19 concerns.

“I had done three of those for three Olympics over 12 years,” said Marvin, who turns 35 in March. “So I thought it was a really special way to say thank you, to say goodbye. There’s just a ton of people that have supported me from Minnesota.”

Even before she retired, the communications major had already worked in the broadcast booth for Northeastern University women’s hockey games before joining Bally last season.

Broadcasting is a place where an analyst needs to be quick and concise when speaking, Marvin said, adding that she gets really excited with so many things to highlight with a successful Wild club this season, plus the Olympic features she’s done with her former teammates currently playing in Beijing. It can be hard and a process to condense all the things she wants to communicate to viewers, she said.

“There’s a lot to learn, and a lot of places I can improve, for sure,” Marvin said. “But it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

She splits time during the Wild season in the booth as the color analyst alongside play-by-play broadcaster Anthony LaPanta, or she’s at the pre/post-game show desk with host Audra Martin.

Marvin’s first game in the booth started out with LaPanta, plus former NHLer-turned-analyst, Ryan Carter. He helped Marvin right away, sharing notes, charts and tips he uses to prepare for games.

Marvin will sometimes pick up on things that perhaps Carter wouldn’t because of the different roles they had as players, Carter said. While Carter might focus on the physical aspects of the game, Carter said Marvin does a good job commenting on the offensive side, reading plays and situations.

“She’s certainly figured it out in a real big hurry,” Carter said. “It’s been fun to see. She’s got a great voice and good content.”

Martin enjoyed getting to know Marvin the very first game they worked together, sitting in a conference room watching the Wild game. The hockey knowledge was obviously there, but Marvin is a wonderful person, too, Martin said.

Besides talking hockey when the cameras turn on, the broadcasters have producers and directors in their earpieces, and they’re trying to remember everything they want to say in the moment and listen to the other person sitting at the desk. It’s nerve-wracking, and Martin knew Marvin was nervous about that.

“But the thing that impressed me about Gigi right off the bat was that her hockey knowledge is so apparent right off the get-go,” Martin said. “Whether she’s nervous, whether there’s technical difficulties with the broadcast, her hockey knowledge comes through so well.”

Martin works with multiple analysts throughout the season, like former NHL players Wes Walz, Mark Parrish and Carter. One of the things she’s found interesting during broadcasts is the reality of how men and women communicate differently.

For instance, Parrish or Walz might talk about a certain Wild player during a show, and then a couple days later Marvin will offer up a completely different perspective or explain something in a different way. Viewers are lucky to have so many different opinions from different analysts on any given game night, Martin said. Marvin is really good at explaining the little nuances that casual, or even diehard, hockey fans don’t notice, Martin said.

“It’s the game of hockey, and I’ve played it since I was 2,” Marvin said. “So it’s not foreign to me. It’s easily one of the most comfortable things.”

Marvin has coached hockey for at least 15 years as well, so she’s also used to breaking down plays, analyzing what makes a player special or looking ahead to matchups to beat the systems.  

In addition to broadcasting, Marvin also created her RinkRat 19 Hockey School for kids ages 3 through high school. This summer will mark year No. 15 for the camp with hockey, off-ice dryland training, stick handling, shooting and team building in her hometown of Warroad. One new aspect this summer is a Faith and Hockey camp which Marvin is excited about, as someone who has a strong faith.

And is it still unique for a woman to be in a broadcast booth calling men’s sports like the NHL? Sure. But being one of the first is a path Marvin has traveled nearly her entire hockey career.

“That’s not new to me at all,” Marvin said. “Because I’ve been doing that since I was young. Playing in tournaments where people would be yelling at me because I’m the only girl. I’m the only ponytail on the ice. I’m so used to that.”

Carter gives Marvin a lot of credit for blazing that trail. Carter is thankful that the Wild and Bally Sports North have taken a step in that direction with Marvin in the booth. If leaves the possibility open for young girls watching to grow up thinking that they want to – and can – broadcast a Wild game someday.

“I’ve got all daughters, and I think that they’d rather listen to Gigi on there than their own father,” Carter said. “The fact that girls can relate to it, the game is growing at the youth level with the girls. To get more involved, I think it just makes a lot of sense from a broadcast perspective.”

Martin knows the role of a broadcaster is a tough job, though it doesn’t stop viewers from criticizing or failing to recognize everything that goes into the job. But Marvin has taken that in stride, Martin said.

“She takes a lot of pride in her work, the same way she took a lot of pride in her play on the ice,” Martin said. “It’s how she is when she prepares. She comes in with ideas all the time. She comes in with notes ready to go before the game even starts. You can tell that she loves that this is the next part of her hockey journey.”

The post Marvin on the Mic 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.

Facts on Why Warroad is HOCKEYTOWN USA

From the outside looking in, there is something special about the town of Warroad. Not only was it once one of the largest Chippewa villages on Lake of the Woods, but it now boasts the title of Hockeytown USA®. With names like Bill Christian, Cal Marvin, David Christian, Gordon (Ginny) Christian, Roger Christian, Dan McKinnon, Gigi Marvin, Henry Boucha, T.J. Oshie, and Brock Nelson in their lineup,

Come Early, Stay Late, Always Open

Warroad must be doing something right. But, what makes the old “war road” from which the river and village derived their name different in regards to hockey?

A volunteer from Hockeytown USA® shares how Warroad is a force to be reckoned with:

In the medal round of the 1960 Olympics, the United States men’s team defeated the Soviet Union 3-2 with Bill Christian scoring two of the three goals and his brother, Roger, getting both assists. In the next game that clinched the gold medal, Roger scored four goals and Bill got three assists. From that moment on, Warroad became Hockeytown USA.

So how does a tiny community on the Manitoba border maintain such a lofty claim for almost 60 years? I am going to share some of our hockey history that will answer that question and then give you an insight as to what we are doing now to make sure that this tradition of excellence continues.

In 1949, Warroad’s Memorial Arena was built. Native lumber was planed at the Marvin Lumberyard and thousands of 1-inch boards went into building the rafters and the roof. Finally, Warroad hockey was inside.

Hockeytown’s presence on the world stage began in 1955 when Gordon Christian played on the National Team. In 1956, both Dan McKinnon and Gordon Christian were members of the US Olympic Team. Two years later, Cal Marvin was the coach of the National team with Dan McKinnon and the three Christian brothers on the roster.

1960 – The remarkable Gold Medal win at Squaw Valley

1965 – Roger and Bill Christian played in their second Olympics

1965 – Cal Marvin was chosen to manage the US National Team for the World Championship in Oslo, Norway

1969 – State HS hockey tournament, Championship game between Warroad and Edina. Over 16,000 fans on their feet cheering Warroad and the electrifying Henry Boucha

1972 – Henry Boucha made the Olympic team, won a silver medal, and soon after joined the NHL.

1980 – David Christian and His teammates shock the hockey world with a Lake Placid gold medal. A week later David came home, school was let out and [Warroad] packed the Memorial Arena to honor him and watch him sign his NHL contract.

Our high school boys team has kept Warroad in the hockey headlines with 21 state appearances and four championships. Our girls team, which started in 1998, has been in the state tournament 8 times and have been state champions twice. Over 70 boys have played division one hockey and 10 of our girls have received scholarships to division 1 schools.

2008 – T.J. Oshie turned pro with the St. Louis Blues

2010 – Gigi Marvin made the Olympic team

2013 – Brock Nelson, David Christian’s nephew signed with the NHL’s New York Islanders where he excels with them and US National teams

2014 – Both Gigi and T.J. participated in the Sochi Olympics and the national media had a field day with these two Warroad high school classmates

Every highlight, every accomplishment that I just described had a common thread – a foundation – connecting them all. That foundation was the Warroad Lakers. The Lakers were an amateur team that entertained fans for over 50 years. A team that was so successful that their name was synonymous with excellence in Canada and the US. In Canada, because that is where the Lakers competed and played for championships from British Columbia to New Brunswick. Their success is honored by Laker jerseys and sticks and records in the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Fame on our side of the border was achieved by the repeated presence of US National and Olympic teams that came to play in our town. They came to Warroad for three reasons: their relationship with Cal Marvin, their relationship with the Christian family, and the opportunity to play the Warroad Lakers. Through USA Hockey, we have been able to host the visiting national teams from Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Czechoslovakia, and most recently, three visits from the women’s national team.           

For every Warroad High school boy that had a dream of playing college hockey, the Lakers offered a special opportunity for development. Our talented skaters were welcomed at Laker practices and rewarded with a spot on the team for playoffs.

The best example of this is what occurred in 1976, when David Christian joined the Lakers for the playoffs. David played on a team that won the Manitoba Championship, then beat the Saskatchewan representative, then followed that by eliminating the British Columbia winner and flew to New Brunswick to play for the Canadian title. David was the team’s leading scorer and, most significantly, played on a line with his dad, Bill Christian. For a hockey dad that has a hockey son, I cannot imagine anything more perfect.

So what is Hockeytown doing today to continue this legacy? We are fortunate to have people on our Arena and Youth boards that had a close connection with the previous generation that provided us with such beautiful facilities and a commitment to the game.

There were many that gave their time, but I would like to mention three: Cal Marvin, who was the Arena Board president and Youth Hockey President for 50 years. Bill Christian, who served on the Arena Board during the construction of both our arenas and was our town’s Bantam coach for years. There is a photo in our adjoining arena that honors Roger and Bill. It doesn’t reference any game they played or goals they scored. It is there as a tribute to two men, who for 30 years, led the volunteer crews when work had to be done at the arenas. This included: new locker rooms, a press box, installation of artificial ice, new dasher boards, a new lobby, whatever was needed.

Those of us that serve Warroad hockey do so with the greatest respect for these men and the others that worked with them.

Mike Marvin, a long time youth hockey coach, shared with Minnesota Hockey Magazine what makes Warroad hockey unique:  “First – We are very proud of Warroad’s Indian heritage and the many Native coaches and players in our program. For instance, last year there were six Native players on our Pee Wee team competing in the State Tournament. 

The second thing that makes us unique is that each player can attend the practices of every team in town.  Girls can attend boys’ practices and boys are welcome to skate with the girls; young kids skate with the older kids and vice versa. I don’t know of another town where this occurs.

And finally and most important: ice time in Warroad is free. There is no hourly charge to players or families like in other communities. There is a huge sign in our Olympic Arena that says:  HOCKEYTOWN — COME EARLY — STAY LATE — SKATE EVERYDAY.  This is the message that we preach to the kids and their parents.

We are trying to teach them what came natural to Henry Boucha and David Christian; we want them to live at the rink like T.J. Oshie and Gigi Marvin did.  We offer unlimited ice time and know that if they use it, Warroad will continue to produce skilled players and continue the legacy of Hockeytown, USA.”

It is clear that Warroad cares about each individual player. From the time they first learn to skate, girls and boys alike are given the same opportunities to succeed. The history of Hockeytown USA® will forever live through the game. The memories made in the locker rooms, on the ice, and in the homes of the community. Make no mistake, Warroad hockey is here to stay.

The post A Quick Look at HOCKEYTOWN USA appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

NWHL’s second season off to rocky start

It has been a tumultuous couple years for professional women’s hockey, full of highs and, recently, lows.

Yet, lost in the deluge of financial woes for the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) is that players are skating with a strong belief in the league’s role in the future of women’s professional hockey. Additionally, the on-ice product remains entertaining and accessible. The latter of which has traditionally been an obstacle to the growth of women’s hockey.

“You have the opportunity to watch the best players in the entire world at your fingertips,” said former Gopher defenseman and Warroad native Gigi Marvin. “Whether it’s on your phone or on YouTube, you have NWHL highlights of Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker, Kacey Bellamy, Meghan Duggan, the list goes on and on.”

The launch of the NWHL in 2015 was a milestone. They framed it with a fitting tagline: “History Begins.” It was the first professional women’s league in North America that paid athletes. Now, just seven weeks into the second season, the league dropped a bombshell on players: The finances are no longer in place to pay athletes their full salary.

“We believe in the product on the ice. We have a great game to display here. The athletes are amazing. It’s something that definitely needs to be in the public eye and we are really proud of what this league has accomplished.” – Gigi Marvin

To read more of this article, and many other great stories like it, click HERE to view the January, 2017 issue of our digital magazine and subscribe to have future issues delivered directly to your email inbox. 

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Gigi Marvin reflects on the NWHL’s first season

By Dustin Nelson – Special to MHM

Minutes after her Boston Pride won the first-ever Isobel Cup, the top prize of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), Gigi Marvin’s humility and down-to-Earth demeanor is instantly noticeable.

“I’m just blessed,” said the former University of Minnesota star on March 13, while still standing on the ice at the New Jersey Devils Hockey House in Newark, New Jersey.

(Troy Parla / NWHL)

She deflects credit to her teammates and talks about the successes of the league, while 50 feet away fans stand with signs cheering on the Pride, like one sporting a drawing of Star Wars’ Yoda saying “Gigi Marvin – Yoda Best!”

“They’re my friends from Boston. We go to the same church,” she says. “They came down for the weekend to cheer me on. They don’t know much about hockey, but they sure have fun.”

It was a year of successes for the Warroad, Minn. native. She had previously played for the Boston Blades in the longer-running rival to the NWHL, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL). But in the spring of 2015, Marvin and her U.S. National Team teammates were faced with an opportunity.

A new league was forming and it was going to pay players.

The National Team players had to decide if they were going to risk it and throw in with a league attempting to forge something new in women’s hockey. They decided if they were going to do it, they were going to do it together, as a unit.

(Troy Parla / NWHL)

“There were potential risks involved,” Marvin said, reflecting on the season in late April. “Will the season continue? Will it stop halfway through? Will X, Y, and Z happen? Those are the kind of questions anyone has at the start of a league

“After determining the pros and cons and debating it, we chose to move forward.”

It wasn’t just the National Team moving to the NWHL, but a very large percentage of her teammates from the Boston Blades in the CWHL.

It was a team loaded with talent, including star forwards Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker, NWHL Goaltender of the Year Brittany Ott and Marvin’s defensive partner and National Team teammate Kacey Bellamy.

“It was a just a great opportunity to be a forerunner (in professional women’s hockey), if you will,” she said. “It was special. It was an amazing year where we were able to get paid for our job of playing hockey, a game that we love.”

It also presented the opportunity to play under Head Coach Bobby Jay, who coached the 2014 Olympic Team. “I was really excited to be able to play for him again,” she said.

Marvin was more than another player taking a chance with a burgeoning league that had a big idea. She was thriving on the league’s best team.

(Troy Parla / NWHL)

The Pride not only won the Isobel Cup, but dominated the regular season. They lost just three games on their way to being the number one seed in the postseason and sweeping through the playoffs without dropping a contest.

Marvin had a solid regular season, contributing five goals and 14 points in 16 games, enough to get her into the NWHL All-Star Game, but she really turned it on in the postseason. She played key minutes for the Pride, including being a part of a first unit penalty kill that could go even up on shots with opponents.

When the Cup was hoisted, she had posted two goals and seven points in four games.

That strong playoff performance was certainly a part of her being named the NWHL’s first Defenseman of the Year.

Yet, in the face of it all, she seems forever calm and collected.

“There’s no pressure because it’s a game and we made it here and we’re just going to play it out,” she said in March, talking about the pressure of a championship game.

“As with anything on the first go around, there’s always a lot to improve,” she said. “Overall though, [the NWHL] didn’t exist last year and here we are today. That’s amazing. It says a lot about what’s going on (in women’s hockey). I’m excited for the future, because there’s a lot to build on.”

The post Risk and Reward appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

I am about to embark on the greatest sports adventure of my career, heck my life.

Featured Image:
The Bolshoy Ice Dome will serve as the primary hockey venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

On Feb. 1, I will have the privilege of going to Sochi, Russia to cover the 2014 Winter Olympic Games for my employer, KARE11-TV. I will be covering a lot of sports, visiting with a lot of people (Minnesotans and others) and hopefully giving people a taste of what it’s like to be there. I will also be chronicling my journey here with Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

I have done a lot of thinking in the past six months, from the time I first was asked to go. A decision I had initially pondered turning down. I mean, who would want to go half way around the world and experience something as amazing as the Olympic Games? Believe it or not the idea of being away from my wife and kids was almost more than I could bear. Until that same wife told me that I’d be a fool to turn down this opportunity. Especially considering my affinity for hockey and the connections which I have in the hockey community. Boy am I glad that she talked me into it.

My entire career has been working up to this point. In a way, I can understand how some of the athletes feel as they prepare to go. No, I have not dedicated myself physically as they have (there is plenty of photographic evidence of this) but I have dedicated myself to my craft and my job and this will clearly be the highest point, to date.

Part of my preparation for my trip has been doing stories on the athletes and players that will take part in the Games. In talking with NHLer’s I was surprised to see just how much this meant to them. For the NHL guys, they make a darn good living playing in the league and put everything on the line to reach that ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup. But the message I kept hearing over and over again, was just how special it is to wear the Team USA colors. That, even though it’s just a friendly tournament, in which they do NOT get paid extra, and that by playing in it they risk an injury that could affect their NHL career, the Olympics is still an honor to beat all honors.

In a conversation I had with Zach Parise just a few weeks ago, he joked that if he and teammate Mikko Koivu were going for the puck along the boards he’d throw a check and try to get him off of it. And that he’d expect Koivu to do the exact same thing. The alliances that they have with each other in the Wild locker room don’t mean anything over there. All that matters is the country on the front of their jersey, not the name on the back.

On the women’s side, because there is no women’s version of the NHL, the Olympics are the pinnacle of their sport. Talk with any member of Team USA for two minutes and you’ll see this. In conversations with some of the players they oozed pride for their country, talking about how much of an honor it is to play for Team USA and the respect they have been getting from friends, family and even strangers when they find out they’ll be on the ice in Sochi.

My assignment over the past few months has been to catch up with Minnesota athletes who are preparing for the Olympic Games, so naturally I’ve been talking a lot of hockey players. The Team USA rosters are packed with Minnesotans or players with Minnesota ties, 15 total (10 men, 5 women) more than any other state in the union.

I have found out that saying that Minnesota is simply “good at hockey” is an understatement. Instead of the land of “10 thousand lakes”, Minnesota should be called the land of “10 thousand skates”. It’s no coincidence that kids that grow up on the pond playing hockey turn into Olympians. Playing for the love of the game, whether it’s on the pond for bragging rights, or for world bragging rights, always means a lot. As Gigi Marvin reminisced about her beloved town of Warroad, MN to me she told me a story about a normal Sunday night at 10:30pm. An arena sheet was completely empty accept for a father and his sons having a shootout competition. Marvin, while grinning ear to ear, said that’s just how they do things in Warroad and she’s right. Marvin refers to Warroad as “Hockey Town USA”, but in actuality it’s our entire state that’s become USA Hockey.

February certainly promises to be a memorable experience for all of us. I’m not sure if the men’s and women’s team can take home the gold. I can tell you that they will fight for it as hard as any other country, which is what makes the Olympics great. And I am honored to be able to be on the front lines in 2014.

The post Schwartz: The Trip of a Lifetime appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Team USA’s Anne Schleper heads up ice against Team Canada.
(USA Hockey Photo)

USA Hockey announced today that members of the Minnesota contingent of its Women’s Olympic Team have made a major equipment donation to some of the state’s youth hockey associations through the USA Hockey OneGoal program. Each designated association will receive 12 full sets of gear on behalf of current and former Gopher players prepping for their gold-medal pursuit in Sochi, Russia next month.

The players and their chosen associations are:

• Anne Schleper – DinoMights (Minneapolis)
• Amanda Kessel – North Metro Youth Hockey Association (Minneapolis and northern suburbs)
• Gigi Marvin – Warroad Youth Hockey Association
• Lee Stecklein – Roseville Area Youth Hockey Association

The donations are among 300 total sets of OneGoal starter equipment Team USA contributed to youth associations across the country. Former Gopher defenseman, and Illinois native, Megan Bozek made her donation to Chicago Blackhawks Youth Hockey.

“The Olympic dream began in many of these local hockey associations for our athletes and they never forget it,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey in a release. “With the OneGoal program, they have an opportunity to help inspire a new generation of kids, while also saluting the people who helped them chase their Olympic dream.”

OneGoal is a nonprofit organization comprised of a coalition the National Hockey League (NHL), the NHL Players Association (NHLPA), the NHL Alumni Association, USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, rinks, Easton-Bell, Reebok-CCM, Bauer, retailers, and many others across North America who are involved with hockey.

The mission of OneGoal is to remove a barrier which prevents kids not only from trying hockey, but remaining in the game. The program was established to give as many kids as possible the chance to play by reducing the cost burden many parents face in equipping their children which factors highly in their decision to allow them to participate.

Schleper, who will be playing in her first Olympic Winter Games,  is happy to give back to the Dino Mights, an organization for which she has served as a volunteer.

“Every time I had the opportunity to volunteer there, I was immediately filled with laughter and joy,” she said. “I hope my donation becomes a great blessing to them and can help contribute to the wonderful standards they encourage every single day in their kids.

“Hockey gave me a way and a voice; all these kids need is an opportunity for the same.”

Scott Harman, executive director of the South Minneapolis-based Dino Mights, a physical, academic, social, and spiritual youth development program which utilizes hockey as an incentive for kids to succeed, said Schleper’s generosity will have a tremendous impact on his organization’s ability to promote hockey’s growth in the inner city.

“These are kids who come from families that don’t know about hockey, their parents didn’t play hockey and many of them are recent immigrants,” Harman said. “For us to be able to go visit those homes and say, ‘we’d like you to play hockey and guess what? Because of Anne Schleper, you get to have a brand new hockey bag, brand new shin guards and the whole deal,’ that’s just going to make it even better.”

“We’re really thankful and it makes us excited to cheer for Anne in the Olympics,” he added.

The kits come in two sizes—small and large—designed for players aged four to eight-years-old and include the following:

• Shoulder Pads
• Pants
• Elbow Pads
• Shin Guards
• Gloves
• Adjustable Helmet w/ Cage
• Player Bag

The kits are modestly priced at $76.00 each but, to keep costs down, the minimum purchase is four sets and subsequent kits must be purchased in sets of four as well. Sticks are also available for $10.00 each sold in sets of six with a minimum purchase of two sets.

For those interested in purchasing and donating sets of gear to their own association or even another community where the need may be greater, visit OneGoal’s website. Time is limited, however, as the OneGoal program comes to an end Feb. 15 with equipment delivery taking place June/July 2014.

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