Republished article for HDM Minneapolis 2020!

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

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

Westby, outside BIG arena after Tuesday skate

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

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

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

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

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

The Notification, Off to CO.

Westby as a Golden Gopher

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

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

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

The Award Ceremony.

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

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

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

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

Impressions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After Thoughts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congratulations from the entire staff at Minnesota Hockey Magazine!

Additional Notes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The post Gold-Medal Gifting appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Featured Image:
Jamie Langenbrunner during a break during the preliminary game against Canada during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Photo: Rosie Perera)

When Jamie Langenbrunner looked across the outdoor ice of Washington Elementary school in Cloquet, Minnesota as a kid and saw the lights of his family home flickering in the distance, he knew it was time to take off his skates and head home. It has been many years since his days of organizing shinny games on the westernmost edge of Minnesota’s Iron Range, but the lights of home are once again flickering for the hockey player, bringing him back to the deep quiet nights of the “Wood City of the North,” as he officially retires from the National Hockey League.

On the eve of his retirement from a career that spanned nearly twenty years and included time with the Dallas Stars where he won a Stanley Cup, the New Jersey Devils and the St. Louis Blues, Langenbrunner took some time to discuss growing up Minnesota, winning the Stanley Cup and everything in between with not just another Minnesota kid, but me, a little girl who grew up in the very same city as he did, and skated the very same sheets of ice he learned on.

Q: First things first Jamie, now that your retirement is official how do you feel?

A: It’s a little bittersweet. It’s tough walking away and being officially done with something that you’ve been doing for nearly seventeen years. I’ve been playing hockey since I was five so to admit it’s over is difficult but I’m excited for the next chapter and being able to spend time with my kids and coach them and to get those other rewarding experiences…but it’s been a lot of fun.

Q: You grew up in Cloquet, Minnesota which is a pretty small town. Do you have any fond hockey memories from growing up in Northern Minnesota?

A: I have lots of great memories and I’m actually back here right now with my kids so I’m kind of reliving them a bit! I grew up next to Washington school which had a rink there and I’d walk across the field to skate there as a kid. I’d see my parents’ bedroom lights from the rink and when they started flickering that light it was time to come home. I was pretty fortunate to grow up during a time when our peewee and bantam teams were very competitive throughout the state and I got to play with some of my best friends in Rick Mrozik who went on to play a few games in the NHL and Adam Pavlatos and Kyle Young and guys that I grew up with and was able to play hockey with from the time I was little through high school.

Q: Is it weird for you at all being in Cloquet with how much people look up to you or is it just home?

A: I’ve never felt weird here. It’s always been home to me and I’ve always come back here in the summer. Most of my friends I grew up with are still around so it’s just home to me. They have the banners and such in the rink and I definitely feel special with that but I always look at the guys before me with Corey Millen and Derek Plante and those guys and they are the ones I’m always excited about so for me it’s not a big deal but I’m definitely honored by the nice things people say.

Q: You seem to have the reputation of being a solid leader in the NHL and beyond and have worn a C for multiple squads; do you attribute your leadership abilities to anyone or anything specifically?

A: I think part of it is that I’ve always just kind of been that way, even as a kid. I was the kid trying to arrange the games, as my mom would say. I would be calling all of my buddies making sure we had people from around town to get a game going and doing those kinds of things.

As far as the captaincy thing is concerned, in the NHL I was very fortunate early on in my career to be around some guys who I consider to be great leaders in Joe Nieuwendyk, Guy Carbonneau and Craig Ludwig. The teams I was on in my career also had some great guys I was around who either were captains or had been captains of teams. To see the way they conducted themselves and the way they treated people I was able to really learn firsthand how to do it at that level. I think leadership comes naturally though and you kind of feel comfortable in that role.

Q: Speaking of one of the teams you Captained, what was it like representing the US in the Olympics in 1998 and 2010?

A: Amazing would be the first word. I dreamed of being an NHL hockey player but the Olympics were definitely something that we all looked at and strived for and something I thought had gone away when I turned pro in 94’. Then the opportunity came up in 98’ when they brought the NHL guys in and it was amazing. Being named Captain for the 2010 team and being able to represent not only the country but my town and my team on the biggest stage, and for us to do well was probably the greatest individual honor I was given in my career.

Q: What was more flooring, winning the Stanley Cup or winning a silver medal at the 2010 Olympics?

A: Well if it had been a gold medal we might have a conversation! I think they are really two different things. To win the Stanley Cup, I mean you’re going through a season with a team. In Dallas we made a few trades at the deadline and added another Cloquet guy with Derek Plante and whatnot but you’re basically going through with a team for a six month battle and then a two month war with the playoffs, so you have a bond with those guys that’s pretty deep. You’ve spent more time with them then you’ve spent with your family by the time it’s over and it’s a really pretty amazing thing to go through.

The Olympics, especially with the way it’s set up as a two week long tournament is definitely different. It was a great experience since our group came together so well and we really bonded in a short time though. We had a lot of fun together but I think they are two completely different experiences although the world stage makes it so amazing especially with the country behind you. Hearing those stories back home from people who can tell you where they were while they were watching this game or that game is neat stuff and makes you feel pretty special to be a part of that.

Q: You recently spent some time with your most recent team, the St. Louis Blues, while they were visiting Minnesota. What was that day like for you?

Yeah, I brought my boys down the day before and spent the day with the guys from the Blues and went to pre-game skate. The boys were able to go to the pre-game meal with the guys and we had a good time seeing everybody and spent the day with Zach Parise and stuff afterwards so it was good to see some friends.

Q: So what’s next for you?

A: I’m kind of regrouping a little bit. I’ve actually been talking with the St. Louis management a bit about starting to do something with them. I’m just trying to find the right fit for me with the idea that I still want to have some flexibility to be around for my boys and stuff so we’re having ongoing conversations. Hopefully we find something that works for all parties involved and kind of slowly transition into something else. I’m not in a rush to do anything and it’s nice to have that luxury, so for now we’ll kind of wait and see what happens.

For more information on Jamie Langenbrunner and his career CLICK HERE for the NHLPA media release. You can follow Cloquet, MN native and the author of this article Amy Gist at @AmySnow17 as well as @MNhockeyMag for all of our latest updates, articles and events!

The post Flickering Lights and Hockey Nights appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.