The team had long left the locker room and one player remained in his equipment and uniform on a frigid February evening in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  Avery Peterson emerged from that locker room after all players, fans, and workers had left his home rink,  the IRA Civic Center.  He stared out at the ice that has been his hockey home for more than a decade reflecting on his time as a Thunderhawk.

Peterson was named the 30th Mr. Hockey on Sunday, March 9th at the St. Paul River Center capping off an outstanding high school career at Grand Rapids.  He was joined on the podium by goaltender Hunter Shepard who won the Frank Brimsek award for Minnesota’s best senior high school goaltender.  The duo are the first from the same team to sweep the award that played for the same team.

“The topic before our last home game was kind of looking at the seniors and saying this will be the last time you ever play here,” Avery acknowledged.  “We didn’t know what kind of a seed we were going to get for playoffs.  We ended up being a fourth seed and ended up playing at home which is definitely nice.”

An image of the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids from one of Avery Peterson’s Twitter posts.

His moment alone at the IRA Civic Center came after the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks had just defeated the Forest Lake Rangers in an emotional 2-1 overtime Section 7AA quarterfinal game.  That represented the last time any senior on the Thunderhawk team would play in their historic home for the their school and town.  For Peterson, it was a time for reflection and appreciation of everything Grand Rapids hockey.

In an era where there is pressure to leave home and move on to different hockey options before graduating high school Peterson, who is a senior at Grand Rapids High School, opted to return for his final year after being drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the 6th round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and after signing to play for Dean Blais and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO).  He played four years at the varsity level in Grand Rapids and delivered over 200 points in his career.

Peterson started the 2013-2014 season with the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL and carefully chose to return to his roots in Grand Rapids where he could join his friends to pursue the dream of getting to the Minnesota State High School Hockey Championship one final time.

There were other reasons bigger than hockey that made Peterson’s decision easier and the support he received from the Minnesota Wild, Sioux City, and UNO made a difficult decision a little easier.  His roots of loyalty and passion run deep and they were shaped by a nurturing and caring family that put faith first from a young age.

Sharing the passion
Focused, determined, competitive, and balanced define the young man who captained the Thunderhawks and carries a 3.5 grade point average at Grand Rapids High School.  Not a slouch in the classroom, Peterson admitted that he has to work hard for his grades and pointed to his mother Linda, who is an elementary school teacher, as a steady help in that department.  Linda grew up in neighboring Coleraine and married Tom Peterson from rivaling Grand Rapids.

Tom Peterson like most young men in Grand Rapids grew up playing hockey with his friends in the neighborhood and played through the bantam age.  As Tom explained it, life as a Grand Rapids hockey player was competitive in the 1970’s, and the runs to the state tournament were in full force.

“I have always been a big fan of the game,” Tom said.  “I didn’t get to play at the level that Avery does, but back in the seventies when Grand Rapids was a power house, we had really really good hockey on the Iron Range.”

Tom’s father coached youth hockey for over thirty years in Grand Rapids and it was from his father’s example where Tom, stayed involved in the game after high school including serving as a coach and a referee in over 400 games.  Tom still plays in old-timer leagues as much as he can and the game has never left his soul.

The game has been shared with his two son’s and became a part of their fabric.  Tom and Linda’s oldest son Evan, who is 20-years old.  Avery, is their second born child of three who grew up on a path with Evan that most hockey playing kids in Grand Rapids do and that is playing with neighborhood kids and for the Grand Rapids Youth Hockey Association. Their younger sister, Annika 16, played hockey until volleyball took center stage.

“My dad was a big hockey fan obviously growing up in Minnesota pretty much everybody is,” Avery said.  “The day I could walk, my dad put skates on me.  I actually still have those skates.  They are pretty small, you could put them on my dogs feet.  I started skating pretty young and went from there, I guess.”

Avery began skating on hockey teams with his older brother Evan at a young age.  “My brother was  two years older than me and I always played up a few age groups just because it was easier on my parents for traveling and what not.,” Peterson said.  “So, I wasn’t good enough to do it but just saved them time and money so I played up.”

Evan and his friends pushed Avery to keep up whether it for survival or to be the best he can.  Avery admitted that Evan was a better player than him when they were younger.

“Me and my friends joke about it because he doesn’t play hockey anymore but he was always better than me growing up,” Avery mused.  “He was the best player on the team we had in squirts.  It was funny how it worked out how he was always the best one on the team and there was a compete level inside the house you could say.”

A back yard rink at the Peterson household was another source of Avery’s development for his passion of the game, and an understanding mother watched and appreciated how Avery took ownership in the rink and having friends over.

The way the game was meant to be, outside.

“A few years we had a rink in the back yard and Avery would be at Tom’s side of the bed early in the morning asking if he could go out and flood the rink,” Linda recalled.  “It was literally twenty below, 6am, and Avery is out there hammering on the faucet that is frozen.  He busts the faucet, is flooding the ice, his mitten has come off, and he had the big flood lights on.  That was passion and he couldn’t have been more than eight.  To come home from work, I teach first grade, and to find an entry way just full of boots and kids in the back yard playing on that little rink, that’s just heaven.”

Things Would Change
Along the way, there would be a change in Evan around 9th grade.  As Evan worked his way through school, things became more difficult for Evan and that included focus and following simple commands.  When Evan moved on to college, keeping up in life became more pronounced.

“He went to school and you could see that things were different in every-day life like things changed over the course of seven years,” Avery observed.  “So he’s probably had it for a little while before it was diagnosed.  Simple tasks like getting to class on time was difficult and frustrating for him so that is where the diagnosis came from, I think.”

The disease is called metachromatic leukodystrophy or MLD.  It is a genetic disorder that affects the central nervous and peripheral nervous system,  nerves, muscles, other organs and behavior that slowly gets worse over time.  Typically, it affects younger kids and is diagnosed early in life and is considered a rare disease.  In Evan’s case, MLD was not detected or did not occur until later in adolescence which is even more rare.

Currently there is no cure for MLD and is fatal.  However, there are several trials of bone marrow and stem cell transplant therapies under way designed to treat the disease or, at the very least, slow its progress.

“The first doctor told him to just go and live the rest of your life however long it is and live it the best you can,” Avery said.  “But he went to the [University of Minnesota] hospital and ended up having a bone marrow transplant that could stop the progression of the disease and just kind of stay how he is for the rest of his life which would be the goal of it.”

“[Avery] had to grow up fast, all my kids did,”  Tom said of the sudden changes his family would endure.  “It came on pretty suddenly and when we left with our older son we were gone for over four and a half months.  I was on the road every second I could back and forth.”

Currently, Linda has taken a leave of absence from work and is now helping with the day-to-day management of Evan’s condition which includes numerous trips to-and-from the University of Minnesota during the bone marrow process.

Tom put it in perspective this way and said, “It’s so rare, nobody really knows.  We went into it hoping that we could slow down, the progression of it.  We can’t fix anything, we can’t stop it, we don’t think.  He has done tremendous and the bone marrow has grabbed a hold.  We are going through a whole new era.  We hooked up with the U of M, research-wise, and now they are hoping that it did halt it.  There is no information out there and there is nothing to look at.  The bone marrow isn’t even up until April 30th.  That will be the one year mark and that is what they shoot for.  We are still in the bone marrow process and he does not have an immune system right now.  There is a lot of unknowns.  We are just hoping for the best and go day-by-day, hour by hour and it is what it is.  That is why we live each day now.  it’s totally different there are things we used to care about that we don’t care about anymore.”

The bone marrow, which came from a sibling, Annika was an eight out of eight match and MLD-free which is ideal.  There have been around 200 such transplants and 45 of them have come from the University of Minnesota, making it the leading bone marrow transplant facility for MLD, followed by Duke University.

Annika after donating her bone marrow with mother Linda.

“That was the greatest gift from above and she so wanted to be the donor,” Linda said. “For her to step up willingly like that for her brother who was been tough to live with for as long as she can remember in that brother-sibling way.  She is a bitty thing, 5’5″ and they drew out a good two liters of marrow from her little body.  She was fearless, and she is a champ.”

For Avery, it was a stark realization that life is fragile and, while pursuing hockey, his brother had a difficult diagnosis for all to deal with.  “It was tough obviously.  That’s your brother, it could have been me too.  It’s a tough situation to be in,” Avery said.

He went on to say that the diagnosis came during the state hockey tournament and said,  “It was last year, my mom kind of jokes about it.  It was right at the state tournament time and we just got beat out in sections and then we were down for the state tournament for family stuff and they got the news.  They had admitted him to the hospital down there.  So, it’s been a year now exactly.”

Hockey played an important role for the Petersons, not as an escape from reality, but something to turn to as a positive in their family’s life. “It kind of shifted [hockey] on a lateral movement,” Tom said.  “It is still very important but it was basically a huge release for our family.  It was one of the only things that we sidetracked out of the bone marrow transplant and the full medical situation that we were in.  It still had its grip and importance, but it showed Avery also that there are more important things than hockey and life in general, how quick it can change.  Today is a new day and and you are going to experience what is going to happen and what it’s going to make for tomorrow.”

Expectations
That way of thinking has helped a player that has a high level of expectations on him from multiple hockey related sources.  As a highly regarded player entering his senior season, Peterson was on the short list to win the Mr. Hockey award meaning there would be plenty of pressure and attention on him not only from Grand Rapids hockey fans, but from Minnesota Wild fans as well.

But Linda explained her son does not like to be the center of attention and said, “He does not like to be the focus of anything.  He doesn’t like being singled out for his accomplishments at all.”

Avery handled that new found attention with grace. Playing hockey in a town like Grand Rapids that is passionate about their team helped making the expectations on him from multiple teams and sources a little easier to manage.  The Wild have a player that has size at 6’2″ and skates like the wind.  He is a clutch goal scorer and makes others on the ice around him better.  Peterson has long been keyed on from other teams as he has been the focal point to the Thunderhawk offensive game.  This year, he had 67 points (37g-30a-67pts).  He has the ability to take over a game and had points in 26 of his 27 games including multiple point efforts in 18 games this year.

Avery Peterson in his sophomore year at Grand Rapids.

“Being drafted, people keep an eye on you and if you play bad you will hear it from the other team like they will rip on you for it but it’s just something you play through,” Peterson observed.  “There are more expectations just in the town of Grand Rapids in general.  We have this huge fan base and we play between 2 and 3,000 people every night and they expect you to win.  They expect you to be good and that’s almost harder pressure-wise than individually being drafted.  It’s a team thing that you are supposed to be good and you are supposed to win.”

Linda said that Avery has a grasp on handling those expectations and on a night before a game, may skip a social event in order to be prepared for his game.. “We have always sent him out the door with play hard and have fun,” Linda said.  “He has always approached it that way. He’s one of those kids if he is at the rink, if he is talking hockey, he’s content.  He has been able to handle those things and still do well at school and be a solid member of his family and community.  He is his own person and we have to respect that. He is very true to himself.”

This past summer, among things Avery needed to consider was whether or not he was going to return to Grand Rapids High School for his senior season.  He played eight games after his junior season concluded with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL and began the season with them again this past fall, forgoing an opportunity to play in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League.

With interests in his development that included the Wild, UNO, and Sioux City, there were plenty of discussions regarding Peterson’s future and development.

When Avery was interviewed for this portion of the story, the Thunderhawks were preparing for their last regular season game of the season.  “I bleed orange and black,” Avery proudly stated.  “Tuesday night is my last game I will ever play in that rink.  I spent a lot of time there growing up and that had a factor in coming back to play with my friend’s for one more year. The Wild and UNO were great about it .  They really supported me and they said they don’t care where I play, like go home and be with your family and then Sioux City. I will be going down there after high school season and finish the season with them too. It worked out good, all three organizations were really supportive of that decision.”

When asked if he could do it over again and if he would make the same decisions, Peterson said he undoubtedly would, “Your family comes first for everything and family will always be there for you and hockey can come and go quick so you get the best of both worlds,” he said.  “I am excited to get back to Sioux City too.  I miss the guys down there and I’m looking forward to getting back.”

The Draw of Grand Rapids Tradition
“The tradition in Grand Rapids is just unbelievable like random people will come up to you, I’d be at a restaurant or something and they say, ‘Good luck this week, good luck in your game,’ and that is really cool,” Avery claimed of his hometown.  “That’s something you don’t get especially playing juniors.  In Sioux City, you are just another person out there, nobody knew who I was.  We had jersey auctions down there and mine probably sold for about the minimum they could sell it for,” Peterson said as he laughed.

“In Rapids, it’s different.  Everybody goes to the games, it’s like Texas football almost. The games are awesome you see the little kids, every time you get off the ice they are giving you knuckles, and that’s something you don’t get at the next level either, Peterson said.

The youth hockey program in Grand Rapids is strong.  Peterson grew up in an environment that created plenty of competition among kids in Grand Rapids and was healthy.

“We were talking about it in the locker room the other day,” Avery recalled. “We have four main elementary schools in Grand Rapids and you play for your elementary school and we played outside every Saturday.  I went to Southwest.  We were the Southwest Tigers and you play your buddies from other schools and that was really cool.  We miss that.  They don’t do it anymore and we were talking about it in the locker room how they should be doing it because that is part of the best memories of playing growing up with the other schools. We barely ever practiced inside.  It was always outside, the school had an outdoor rink right there, it was cool. It was really for bragging rights we had little sayings like Southwest is the best or something like that and it was more for bragging rights against the other kids you knew at the other elementary schools.”

The Peterson family Annika and Linda. Evan, Avery, and Tom in the back.

Next Chapters
“We want our children to all live their lives as God intended, God’s plan and celebrate life,” Linda said.  “To be cognizant of the needs of others and everyone around you.  There is good lessons to be learned from all of them and I think they are doing that as well as they can.  The kids are pretty grounded in their faith, it has been a big part of our life forever and we rely on God to sustain us and give us the grace to face what we have to face.  Our faith community, our hockey community has stepped up and the community in general.  There isn’t a better community to go through this with than Grand Rapids and the surrounding area.”

The Minnesota Wild keep tabs on Peterson and his development and Director of Player Personnel Brad Bombardir checks in with Peterson frequently.  “He will call sometimes every other week or once a month and he does a good job to keep me in contact with them,” Avery said. “When it came to decision time after development camp, they said UNO is a good place and they just told me to go where I want to go.”

Participating in the Minnesota Wild development camp held in Traverse City, Michigan, this past summer was eye opening moment for Peterson.  “It was awesome,” Avery said.  “It was definitely the highest level of hockey I have played.  Some of the guys were five or six years older.  The big thing was the physicality in the corners you get thrown around like a little rag doll.  It was really fun and I am looking forward to the future.”

He will be going straight in to play at UNO next year, at least that is the plan as of now as he is signed to begin play this upcoming season.  He will be joining several familiar faces from Minnesota at UNO, including three other 2014 Mr. Hockey finalists.  The list is impressive and includes Phil Beaulieu (Duluth East), Luc Snuggerud (Eden Prairie), and Steven Spinner (Eden Prairie).

“I know (Steven) Spinner and (Luc) Snuggerud real well and (Jake) Randolph has played in the USHL.  He’s a little older kind of a rival, he played at Duluth East. I played with (Jake) Montgomery two years, a Shattuck kid and Minnesota boy he’s in Sioux City so I know all the guys pretty well and I am really looking forward to going there and playing with that group.”

One of the Grand Rapids area’s own will continue his journey as a hockey player  and in life.  As the 30th annual Mr. Hockey award winner, there could not be a better player that better understands the heritage of not only northern hockey, but of the role it plays in his life.  Avery Peterson’s passion toward his community, teammates, family and the game is evident in his actions and there could not be a more deserving winner of the prestigious award.

Peterson now closes those chapters, a successful player who earned over 200 points in a Grand Rapid uniform, a Division I college hockey recruit, NHL Draft pick, compassionate family member, contributor to his community, and now Mr. Hockey winner.  New chapters will be written in Avery Peterson’s story, and certainly, they will be filled with the same themes; hard work, determination, passion, loyalty, challenges, and many successes.

The post No Ordinary Prospect appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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Brian Bonin (back row, center) is raising money for youth hockey in his hometown of White Bear Lake.

Former Gopher and Hobey Baker winner Brian Bonin recruits fellow White Bear alums for second-annual youth fundraiser.

Before he became a Hobey Baker Award winner and prior to being named Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey, Brian Bonin honed his skills playing youth hockey in White Bear Lake. After his pro career ended, Bonin returned home to his hometown along with his wife, Rachel, to raise a family and give back to the youth program he was raised in.

Bonin has been actively involved in the White Bear Lake Area Hockey Association as a coach and now, for the second straight season, as a fund raiser. This Saturday, Feb. 15, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Bonin is hosting the second annual White Bear Lake Division I Alumni Event at the Vadnais Heights Sports Center.

It’s an evening of hockey games featuring youth players as well as adults taking on former Bears who went on to play D-I college hockey across the country. The event includes raffles, chuck-a-puck, hundreds of free mini sticks and pucks along with a silent auction featuring over 130 items, many of them signed by players with names like Crosby, Malkin, Koivu, Suter and Parise.

Among the players expected to participate are Bonin, who played 166 games at the University of Minnesota, Matt Greer (148 games at UMD), Luke Beaverson (138 games at Alaska-Anchorage), Jared Reigstad (127 games at RPI) , Tim Olsen (103 games at UConn) and Casey Parenteau (100 games at St. Lawrence). Jon Anderson, Dave Espe, and Brett Nelson (345 games combined at Minnesota) will all be making appearances as coaches.

There is no admission fee for the games but Bonin is asking for donations ranging from $1 to $5 with the $5 being a family contribution.

For Bonin, it’s about doing what he can to fix what he calls hockey’s “bad rap” as an expensive sport and keep people excited about an involved in the game.

“Every sport is very expensive right now and hockey can actually be relatively inexpensive if we do it right,” Bonin said. “I think you actually get a whole lot more value for it than you do some of the other sports, at least the ones my kids are playing.”

Each auction item includes a “buy now” option for those who simply wish to stop by and purchase an item outright. Proceeds benefit the WBLAHA and are geared toward the beginner and mite/U8 age groups in an effort to keep costs down and attract new players to the great game of hockey.

“I just think it’s the bottom (age groups) where we really need to get people in and we need to get the best athletes in,” Bonin said. “You’ve got to be willing to find ways to do that in today’s day and age where hockey is expensive.”

Last season’s earnings helped the WBLAHA to offer its Clinic program participants (beginning players, mostly in the four to five-year-old range) the opportunity to skate for free this season. Next year, Bonin has his eye on purchasing several sets of hockey protective gear that a young player can check out and use for the season at no charge.

Bonin says the key is getting kids to try the sport and nurture their, and to some degree their parents’, love for hockey.

“If it’s a good experience and isn’t too nuts or isn’t too much pressure and you don’t have to spend too much money, if the kids like it I think you’re willing to let them keep playing. So we’ve got to find a way to balance that.”

The post Bears Unite For the Kids appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The young man, a high school senior, is tall and lean with a friendly way about himself.  As a student, he carries a 3.7 grade point average and is humble, patient, and respectful to an interviewer that was about to discuss something the young man likely would not be comfortable speaking about, and that is himself.  Zack Hale is the subject of the interview and he is a three-year member of the Red Knights hockey team and also is Jack Jablonski’s closest friend.

Hale has been a mainstay on the Red Knights’ roster for three seasons while playing in the shadows of the 2013 Mr. Hockey award winner Grant Besse  and several other Division I college hockey recruits.  TJ Moore (Holy Cross), Dan Labosky (Colorado College), Spencer Naas (UConn), and Christian Horn (St. Lawrence) have all committed to play college hockey in that span.  They have been vital cogs on Red Knights’ teams that Hale as been a part of and naturally, those players have captivated much of the on ice attention.

Hale was widely viewed as one of, if not the top freshman hockey players in Minnesota while playing for the Minneapolis-Park Storm Bantam A team.  Along with his pal Jablonski, the duo had plenty of success appearing in youth hockey state tournaments at the Pee Wee and Bantam levels as members of the Storm.  Hale was considered the key ingredient to those team’s success and offensive numbers were plentiful for the slick skating, intense competitor.

While those prolific offensive numbers have not followed him through his high school hockey seasons, his work ethic and humble character evolved with perspective, compassion, and loyalty.  It has shaped a person that is the “True Mr. Hockey.”

A hockey player is born

Zack Hale is the third of four children to parents Todd and Amy, who were high school sweethearts while attending Southwest High School in Minneapolis, MN.  Amy grew up an avid hockey fan cheering for Dino Ciccarelli and the Minnesota North Stars.  She also had an appreciation for high school hockey and the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament.  Todd grew up playing hockey for Southwest High School and is your typical Minnesota guy who grew up playing and appreciating the game in the State of Hockey.

At a young age, Zack  was playing many sports with soccer being at the top of the list.  “I started playing all sports at a young age, mostly soccer,”  Zack said.  “My mom wanted me to get into hockey actually, and now my dad is the driving force behind that.  I started playing (hockey) when I was seven.”

Among things discussed by Amy and Todd were the financial obligations to the game and the toll it can take on a family with two working parents.  Both worked hard to make ends meet.  Todd works a third shift as a machinist and Amy is a preschool teacher.  Together, they worked to manage a family of four kids and the needs associated with that.  Amy’s drive to expose her son to the game won over and eventually Zack was on the ice.

“I said, ‘let’s let him play, I will do everything.  I will drive him to the rink and when Zack started playing his dad got more’…,” Amy’s voice faded.  As she thought of her words Amy added,   “He’s (Todd) a little more hockey nuts than I am now.  I had to beg my husband to let him play.”  For Todd, knowing the time and financial commitment to the game is big, he was a little more guarded in getting Zack into the sport.

“As much as I liked the idea, I didn’t know if it was a wise decision for us to take that leap into it,” Todd said.  “Obviously, I love the game and he wanted to play it, from that moment I was absolutely hooked.”

At the time when Zack was getting fitted for gear to begin play, former North Star and Boston College standout Mike Fidler was developing and coaching hockey players in Southwest Minneapolis with Mike Jablonski, Jack’s father.  The duo began coaching when Jack Jablonski and Mike Fidler’s son Miguel were four-years old.

While a number of boys had been playing a lot of hockey for up to three years with Fidler and Jablonski at the helm, Zack Hale caught the eye of Mike Fidler when he was first beginning as a player.

“Zack tried out, I think the boys’ second or third year and he was on another team and Mike and I were always looking for somebody to help our team.  I see this kid on the ice and he just looked really aggressive and he had no skating skills at all, but he was just going a million miles an hour trying as hard as he could,” Fidler said.

“I looked at Mike and asked him who that kid is.  Mike knew his name and I said we have to see if we can get him to skate with us,” Fidler said.  “We went over to talk to Zack one time and he was just such a nice kid.  He was really humble, he would barely make eye contact with me.”

Hale began playing with Fidler and Jablonski’s team.  Eventually, a Fire team  was created, one that garnered players from around the Twin Cities.  The roster was loaded with big name talent that remain household names today.  Tyler Nanne (Edina and Ohio State), Steven Spinner (Eden Prairie and Nebraska Omaha),  Luc Snuggerud (Eden Prairie and Nebraska Omaha), Jack Walker (Edina and Victoria WHL), Keegan Iverson (Breck and Portland WHL), and Jack Sorenson (Wayzata) were all a part of the team.

Fidler noted that he and Jablonski wanted to give Hale the opportunity to develop with that group of players.  Fidler recalled a conversation he had with Mike Jablonski.  “I am going to let him skate with us because this kid is going to be really good someday,” Fidler said.  “We just let him practice with us all year.  Mike and I liked him so much that we said let’s just let him keep skating and he will get better and he did and he developed some skills.  The kid always had a smile on his face.  To this day, when I see him at the rink, he makes a point to come over and say, ‘Hey Mike how are ya doing?’ ”

Hale was asked about when he felt he turned the corner in being a formidable hockey player.  He was forthright in his answer and said,  “Up until my second year of Squirts, I wasn’t a very skilled player. I just tried to work hard.  I had Mike Fidler as a coach and we had a lot of skilled kids on that team so I just worked hard and tried to keep up with them.

Hale and Jablonski’s squirt team. Hale is pictured in the second row, 4th from the left and Jablonski is next to him on his right.

“I started getting more skilled at squirts then through PeeWees got better and we kind of formed a good core group of guys.  Me and Jabby, Keegan Iverson, Curt (Greenbush), and Noah (Fortmeyer).  We combined with St. Louis Park and had a good group of guys and kept working hard,” Hale noted as his Minneapolis mite teams would become the Minneapolis-Park Storm.

It was through those times of development where his bond with Jablonski would form.

Friendship forms

Many interviewed for this story point to Zack’s desire to be with his buddies as a key thing in is life and it has been something that he has strived to do.   “What I see in Zack is he is loves to be with his buddies.  He would rather be with his hockey buddies than anyone else,” Amy said.

“He has always been one of my best friends,” Hale observed of his friend Jack Jablonski.  “He is really, my oldest teammate.  I have been on his team pretty much every winter since we were like 8 years old and on a line for most of those years.  I know him extremely well on and off the ice.  He is my oldest and closest hockey friend.”

Jablonski didn’t flinch when pointing to Hale as his closest friend and said, “It was a blast, Zack has always been a tremendous teammate of mine and its been an unbelievable experience all the way up to now.  It’s just been weird kind of realizing that it’s almost over.  It has been a fun 10 years or so.”

Their personalities interlink as most friendships do.  Jablonski is more out-going while Hale is the more laid back of the two.  Jablonski concurred with that assessment and said, “I don’t know what it is.  I think it is just the personalities.  He is a very laid back and I am not as laid back as him but for some reason, it just clicked and ever since then we have just become best friends ever since.”

Hale and Jablonski at the Pee Wee A State Tournament.

They continued to play sports whether it be golf, baseball, and hockey together and it led to one of the best Bantam teams in the State their freshman year.  A number of kids came from different programs that comprised the Minneapolis-Park Storm that season and the team took the hockey world by surprise finishing fourth in the Minnesota Bantam A State Tournament.

“That bantam year we had a bunch of different kind of guys and it was really cool to get to know all those guys that I never really thought I would,” Hale said.  “The team was really unselfish, hard working that really loved the game.  We still go out and play pond hockey together it is just pure fun.”

Prior to that season many of the players needed to make their school decisions and the players were already attending St. Louis Park, Minneapolis Schools, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s.  It meant tough decisions were being made that included hockey and academics.

“It was like a family and it was really hard when they split up and went to different high school,” said Amy who also served as the team manager through the years.  The decision was not easy for the Hale’s and one thing that was key was the desire for Zack to be in an environment to succeed in the classroom and on the ice.  Ultimately, being with his friend Jablonski was a key part to the final decision.  A transition would be in store for Zack as he went to a school that does have a lot of kids from well-off families to begin his freshman year.

“We were worried about that,” Amy said of the financial differences from attending a public school in Minneapolis versus a highly regarded Catholic school that costs in the five digit range a year to attend. “I am a preschool teacher and his dad is a machinist.  Some of the houses I drop him off at, they are so privileged and they don’t even know how privileged they are. Many take trips and have nice cars, and it’s just a different world really, but he fit in just fine.  He isn’t flashy and it hasn’t been a problem.  He doesn’t ask for a lot and does very well there.  Zack is very popular and people just like him.  It was a tough decision to choose where to go to high school. The fact he got to stay with Jack at Benilde helped, so at least they were going to be together.”

For Jablonski, saying goodbye to that group of kids, at least as teammates, was difficult and said, “It was hard to let go of that group of people.  It was one the years that was meant to be.  We all came together and we were all family practically in that year and knowing that six of us were going to go to Benilde we were going to still know each other but not all were going to play hockey moving into the future and half of them were going to St. Louis Park and half of them were going to go wherever, knowing that is what made that year so much more special.”

Life changing events

In late December of 2011, the annual St. Louis Park Holiday Classic was underway and a pair of highly regarded sophomores were skating between the varsity and junior varsity teams as most younger players do.  Especially at BSM where the talent is deep and development for players requires finding ice-time for the younger players.

Hale and Jablonski were suited up for the junior varsity team against a deep Wayzata team in the St. Louis Park East rink.  The two sophomores were slated to play two junior varsity periods and be available for two varsity periods later that night.

In the blink of an eye, a check on the end wall to Jablonski sent him to the ice and then to the hospital where he would be for months recovering from a serious neck injury that left him paralyzed at the time from the neck down.  Hale was on the ice with his line-mate but didn’t see the check.

“We both played JV that tournament.  We played two periods of JV and then a couple of periods at varsity.   We were playing Wayzata and I was actually on the ice so didn’t see the hit directly but the puck went in the corner and he went in there, he got hit and I kind of turned around and went to go get the puck and I didn’t really know what happened.  I just turned around and saw him laying there.  I didn’t think much of it at the time but obviously……” as his voice tailed off it spoke volumes.

Uncertainty of Jablonski’s prognosis hovered not only over the Red Knights but the entire hockey world, there was a surreal feeling surrounding not only the Red Knight team but every game that was played.  Parents coaches, and fans were sensitive to heavy hits.  There was a sense of legitimate fear that permeated the stands from the parents perspective.

In weeks, the Minnesota State High School League led by Craig Perry and Minnesota Coaches Association Executive Director Mike MacMillan stepped forward with a series of rule changes that when implemented calmed the fears of many involved the game.  Meanwhile, a worldwide media frenzy followed the Red Knights and Jablonski for the coming months providing plenty of challenges and forcing the team to have to deal with the reality of the situation.

Still, when asked if he ever considered hanging up the blades after the Jablonski’s accident, Hale didn’t hesitate in saying no.

“Not really that much,” Hale responded.  “When it happened, it was just kind of shock and then as we kind of settled down more and actually thought about it, it was kind of a realization that hockey was kind of my whole life up to that point and when it gets taken away from your best friend like that you realize it’s not everything.   He is going to have to pursue a whole different life.  There is a lot of other things than hockey and it’s not the most important thing and I realized it’s not everything.”

Hale was right as there were other things in life other than hockey and another life changing event was occurring at the same time.  Just four days after Jablonski was injured, Zack’s mother Amy admitted she needed to seek help for alcoholism and checked herself in for in-patient rehabilitation.

Hale turned to hockey and said, “It made me appreciate being able to come out and play.  At that time when it happened, I was kind of a mess because my mom was struggling severely with alcoholism at that point.  I was very confused and frustrated that whole winter and wondering when everything was going to come back together and my life was going to get rearranged.”

Zack said the support from BSM school was key to keeping him focused and moving forward.  “The support was pretty amazing.  I never really told anybody about my mom but school counselors, Mr. J our chaplain, would always talk to us and have meetings with us and just see how we were doing,” he admitted. “My parents, teachers, past coaches all helped a lot.”

He also had another person in his life that would help and it would come from what many would feel is an unlikely source.  While in the hospital struggling with the mounting physical and emotional world that was now Jack Jablonski’s, it was Jabby that was there for his friend.  They both are keenly aware that those moments when they were alone, helped bond them even closer as they both dealt with the injury and now Zack’s mother’s situation.

“I know that he was going through a tough time when I had my accident and even the situation I was in, I tried to help him out as much as possible,” Jablonski said.  “I know whenever I saw him when I was in the hospital it was kind of just at time for both of us to just exhale and  kind of go back to just the friends that we were before, just be ourselves and not have to deal with all of the outside drama in either of our lives and I think that is what has helped us become closer as this happened and I think knowing that  we both have things in our lives that are going on it helped us become closer.”

Amy was upbeat about where things evolved.  As she looked back on the events, and reflected on the positives that came from it.

“Right about the time Jabby got hurt, shortly after that is when I went into rehab.  On top of that, not only his friend getting hurt, it was a very difficult year for him,” Amy said.  “To not know what’s going on with my mom.  Over almost two years later, hopefully it has made us stronger.  I hope that I showed him you can come out of a really bad place a better person which is what I really tried to do.  I hope that had a positive effect on him.  He has learned a lot about that world and alcoholism and what it can do.”

Zack pointed out that his mother has been sober for some time and with a calm demeanor and relief to his voice said, “She’s been sober for over a year now.  She’s better now and a lot more calm and I think more wise I guess.”

A true teammate and friend

This story isn’t about numbers, wins, or losses.  It is about a young man who puts others before him because it is the right thing to do.  Zack Hale is not a self-promotor, and this story came to light from his coach Ken Pauly who told a writer the virtues of Zack Hale.

With hours visited in the hospital and time together hanging out, Hale and Jablonski moved forward in life with a new perspective.  The words humble, compassionate, respectful, loyal, and empathetic have all come from the mouths of the eight people that were interviewed for this story.  Actions speak louder than words, and Hale’s actions as a person exemplifies the person he is.

Hale immediately felt for what his friend was going through and said, “‘It probably got pretty lonely for him laying in that bed all day. We tried to get out there as much as we could and update him on what’s going on.”  He went on to add, “When people would see Jack and tell him how well he was doing and he was progressing real well they only really see the positives only and didn’t really see the struggle and the psychological battle that he constantly went through especially at that time and still goes through.”

When Zack was in second grade, Amy pointed out that he would stay in at lunch and help feed special needs children in his class before he would go out to recess.  “In second grade a teacher told me, ‘Zack stays to feed so-and-so during lunch when the kids go out and play for recess,'” Amy said.  “He would do that first, and then go out and play.” She beamed with pride only a parent could when that story was shared.

When he was in middle school, a student invited the entire class to a birthday party.  Zack and a friend were the only kids from the class  that ended up showing up at the party.  Todd said as parents they knew that Zack may be out of his element and stopped by to pick him up.  He declined the ride and said that he should wait until the food was served as he did not want to be disrespectful to the family.

He would repeat his help with lunch and this time it was with Jablonski after Jack returned to school.   Hale helps feed Jablonski every day at BSM and also changes out his personal waste bags. These are steps most don’t see and something Hale does everyday because that is what friends do.

“I feed him, this new semester I am not in his lunch but I have fed him pretty much every day at lunch and change his bathroom tube,” Hale acknowledged. “I feel like I am the friend he is the most comfortable around and figure that is what a good friends do.”

“We will go early a few minutes before lunch goes on and get the food and stuff before everyone comes in and it gets too busy,” Jablonski said.  “We just get the food and he will help feed me depending on the type of food or whatever it is, so he is definitely willing to do anything to help me out with the situation.”

Hale has accepted his place on the team and continues to maintain a positive attitude.  Former Red Knight legend and Minnesota Gopher Troy Riddle coaches the forwards and had plenty of accolades to shower on his senior forward.

“No matter what, when he comes to the rink he’s a guy that comes with a smile on his face,” Riddle said.  “He brings the energy up when he is here.  He is one of those guys that tries out there and he leaves the game out there and when the game is done, he leaves it out there.  He doesn’t bring it with him wherever he goes. That is tough to do as a person and as a former player I know that is something that is really hard to do and he does that well.  When he is done, he leaves it out there.”

Jablonski summed up the character that Hale has as a person and noted that he is liked by all as a caring non-judgmental person who does not thrust himself upon people for attention and said, “He’s shy until you get to know him.  A lot of people freshman year kind of thought he was a weird guy because they didn’t know him.  Once you get to know him, they really appreciated how nice of a guy he was and what he was willing to do for someone.  I don’t know one person that doesn’t like him and I think that says a lot about him. He’s been a great friend to everyone and he is always there to have fun.  He is definitely there when you need him to be.”

Hale has seen his ups and downs as a person and player over his four years at BSM.  The coaches have stuck with him for the person he is and the amount of skill he possesses.  Without question, over the course of his career he would have certainly liked to provide more numbers which are sexier for those that follow the game.  That is not Hale’s style.  He is a contributor in life and has provided his best for the team and his friends in ways that can’t be measured.

“He could be like any other kid, feeling sorry for himself, pouting, giving up, most kids would have quit and said this isn’t for me,” Riddle said.  “With Zack, the biggest battle most people have in life is showing up.  He does it with a smile on his face and he still takes care of the team on and off the ice in ways we only wish we can have every year.”

Life today

Today, life is winding down for Hale as a high school hockey player.  He is in the final weeks of his regular season and preparing for the playoffs.  Competing at the next level is something he is certainly interested in and has been in touch with some Division III schools out east.

“I would like to continue playing hockey out east in the NESCAC,” Hale said.  “I think D3 would be a good fit for me.  I would receive a good education, keep playing hockey and see where it goes.”  There was little doubt when Hale was a freshman leading the Bantam A team to the State Tournament that he was a legitimate Division I college hockey prospect.

Todd suggested as much as he we was well aware of where his son was at.  “I was assured at the time there was a DI offer somewhere,” Todd said.  There were instances where much of what he and Amy worked for went to Zack’s hockey including needing to refinance the home to pay for some hockey bills. “I am not going to lie, some of my motivation was if I made these sacrifices it was going to save itself and pay college tuition or something else down the road.”

As of now, a Division I scholarship does not appear to be in the offing.  However, Hale has the potential to do special things on the ice, and there is a great chance he can continue toward that goal.

In regard to Hale’s potential to play at the next level Riddle did not hesitate when addressing the question whether he would take Hale at the next level and said, “Absolutely I would.  One it starts with skill and he has that.  The stuff he has gone through most men don’t go through or it takes a half a lifetime to go through it and he has already done most of that and as he gets older he is going to be that type of player that no matter what sees life a little differently and comes through on the other side.  As a coach and as someone who has seen this, you want guys like that on your team.  You don’t  always have 17 top high end forwards on your team.  You need character guys and you need guys that show up and push those other guys and he definitely would do that.”

More importantly, it is people like Hale who excels as a quality person that allow for the game to have talented coaches such as Riddle giving back to the game.

“He makes me want to keep coaching,” Riddle said. “Guys like that are guys that listen to you and he does what he can, does what he is told and does it with a smile on his face and he comes right back at ya.  That’s the reason why we all keep coming back to the rink when you are dealing with those kinds of kids, it’s a no-brainer for me and it’s made my transition from dealing with hockey an easy one when I get to come back and help guys like Zack Hale out.

As for Jablonski, a life in California is something he desires as the cold weather takes a toll on him as keeping warm is always a difficult task.  He also acknowledge the proposition of not seeing his friend every day will be a difficult task to deal with.

“I want to make my way down to California in the next few years.  It’s a little cold up here for me but it will be tough not seeing him every day,” Jablonski said. He continues to work to make progress dealing with his life situation and has an outstanding perspective on where he is at.

“I am doing well,” Jablonski said.  “Obviously, I understand the situation I am in and what to expect in the future.  With this team, hockey has kept me busy and satisfied and I am happy to be here more than anything.  Progress, right now I am working on getting stronger and keeping myself in shape and just stay strong an healthy in that case.  Right now, there is nothing major that I have been able to do lately.  In my situation, you work out and work out to stay in shape and then and you just wait for that one day when something big happens. It’s just at the point that your are waiting and you just have to stay positive, understanding what is going on at the time.”

Jablonski would like to pursue a career in broadcasting or hockey as he has already immersed himself in both areas serving as a student assistant coach with the BSM team and also appears every Wednesday night on Sports Radio 105 The Ticket to talk hockey.

Asked about the senior class and all that has surrounded it in the wake of Jablonski’s accident Hale said,  “We are pretty together and I can see us carrying on.  It is kind of weird it has become a very major part of our grade and it’s changed a lot since sophomore year.  I think it will keep changing and adapting with everything and how Jabby is doing.  It has changed a lot and I think as he grows, we are going to keep growing.”

Academically, he has held it together being on the honor roll every semester he has been in school at BSM.  It has been a roller coaster ride of emotion both on the ice and off for Hale.  He has stayed true to himself and is always honest with where things are at.  He summed up his life in high school at BSM this way and said, “It’s been pretty sporadic.  Lots of ups and downs with a lot of emotion on both sides of the spectrum.  Obviously in the sophomore season with the injury and then the (state) championship.  It’s been a lot of fun to play with these guys and to experience high school hockey in Minnesota, it’s such a fun team to play with and prestigious school.  It’s been pretty exciting and you never really know what you are going to get next.”

The high school experience is about so much more than just a game.  Zack Hale embodies a young man who has grown up incredibly fast with dignity, pride, and honor.  He is a person who delivers every day for those around him never putting himself first.  It is a person like Zack Hale who, regardless of his numbers, is the “True Mr. Hockey.”

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