I love hockey! It’s a sport unlike any other. And I played so many of them on so many different levels–baseball, basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, racquetball, golf, etc. Hockey is the only sport I know that, once you enter the field of play, it’s a 100 percent release of energy 100 percent of the time. In football, you have huddles. In baseball or softball you stand around more than hustle. Even in basketball, there are times when you can somewhat ease up on the floor. Once you go over the boards in hockey, it’s all-out, all-hustle, all-the-time. Emotions are high, hitting is fierce, tempers may flair and celebrations are explosive. The mere amount of effort put into each shift leaves you gasping for air as you return to the bench. But only moments later, you’re ready to jump over the boards and do it again. With that in mind, here are my Top 10 hockey memories:
10) My Failed Ownership Venture:
Back in the late 1990s, I was part of an ownership group that tried to land a Central Hockey League franchise in Topeka, Kansas. We received league approval to form an expansion team, but the only problem was the 7,800 seat Kansas Expocentre did not have ice-making equipment built into the floor of the main arena. We could not find adequate funding so we turned to the voters. Despite a public campaign, the $1.1 million proposal failed, and so did our ownership hopes. (Bottom line: we did the dirty work for the Topeka RoadRunners which had the best regular season record in the North American Hockey League this past season.)
9) Learning & Re-learning the Game:
My family moved to Calgary, Alberta in Canada for grades 5 through 7. I never really learned to skate very well because all the kids my age were already skating circles around me by the time I was introduced to hockey. But once the snow fell, this former baseball little leaguer hit the pavement on our cull-de-sac to play street hockey with friends just about every day. We played countless hours in all temperatures and weather conditions. As a family, we also joined our Canadian neighbors by watching “Hockey Night in Canada” where my love for the game was kindled.
Years later, I was a sportscaster in Topeka, Kansas and discovered two of my co-workers had hockey roots. We all purchased roller blades, rented out a school gym on Saturday mornings and recruited players. Soon enough, we enough people to play full games, and even played the Kansas State University hockey club in a most spirited game.
8) The BIG Hit:
The Glacier Hockey League (GHL) in Missoula, Montana is a “no check” league. Granted, body contact happens, but if you intentionally body check an opponent, you get sent to the penalty box to think about it. A couple of years ago, we were playing in a rather chippy game. I’m not very big (5′ 10,” 160 lbs) but I was in front of the net trying to screen the goalie and generally cause havoc. That’s when a much larger defenseman on the other team fully laid into me. I flew straight backwards, my stick catapulting out of my hands. Amazingly, there was no whistle! He headed the other way with his teammates on an offensive rush. I was so charged up that I popped back up on my skates, scooped up my stick on the fly and set my sights on him. As they broke in, our goalie turned away the shot. The d-man started circling around the back of our net so he could hustle back to his defensive position. I cut across the front of our goalie crease and lowered my shoulder. He never saw it coming. I solidly hit him shoulder to shoulder. This time, he went flying and slid across the ice into the boards. Amazingly again–still no whistle! I returned to the bench, vindicated, satisfied, and with a BIG grin under my caged face mask.7) Spring League GHL Championship:
I was invited to play with several former teammates and friends in the highest GHL league in the Spring of 2009. When I showed up, I found out some of them opted to play down a level. I also discovered four of my new teammates were Missoula Maulers (Tier III junior hockey team) who were about a third my age and at least 10 times more talented than me. Yikes! It was a challenge skating, passing and playing defense with such gifted players. Still, I found my place and even had a game where I scored a goal and had a pair of assists. We eventually won the championship in a game that was the most hectic, high spirited and fast-paced I’ve ever been a part of.
6) Family Outings/Maulers Videographer:
5) My Time with the Cup:
4) Road Trips with the Spokane Chiefs:
As a sportscaster, I traveled with the Chiefs to Cranbrook, British Columbia in 2000 where they eventually lost to the Kootenai Ice in the Western Hockey League Finals. At the time, Kootenai’s old rink was so small that the officials actually had to stop play once after the puck hit the ceiling. One year earlier, I accompanied then Head Coach Mike Babcock (now of the Detroit Red Wings) and his team on a bus trip to Kamloops, BC. Accompanied by a cameraman, I put together a series of reports that showed Chiefs fans what it was really like to be young Spokane Chief hockey player. (See video link below.) One other fond Spokane memory was when Coach Babcock plastered me into the boards during a sports challenge shoot. 3) Hockey With & Against Jace:
There’s nothing like coaching your own kid. In my second year of playing hockey, I helped behind the bench as my son played his first season. It was a total blast spending time on the ice twice a week teaching youngsters the joy of the game. Even though that was many years ago, I still run into many of those same kids at the rink and they still say “Hi” or stop and talk with me. There’s always a special bond between hockey coach and player. Fast forward to my son’s freshman year of high school. He played in a house league with against other teams. Part way through the season, the league scraped together a team of adults of similar talent level so the teenagers could play a different squad. I talked my way onto the team and found myself playing against my son for the first time ever. It was a memorable game. We playfully chopped at the back of each others legs and intentionally bumped several times throughout the game. My first shot of the game found the back of the net, as did my second. I later had a potential hat trick goal waved off when I deflected a slap shot into the net, but the goal mount came loose and the officials waived it off. However, the damage was done. Final score: GHL 4, Sentinel High 0. Bragging rights: Father 1, Son 0.2) Miracle on Ice:
Every hockey fan knows about the “Miracle on Ice.” I was fortunate enough to have a bit of a personal connection to it. The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team went on an extensive pre-Olympic tour before going to Lake Placid, New York for the Olympics. Just a month before the Games began, the team played an exhibition game in Wichita, Kansas, against the Tulsa Oilers, winning 7-4. My family was fortunate enough to attend that game and cheer Team USA on to victory. What happened on February 22, 1980 turned out to be one of the greatest moments in American sports history as the group of college kids beat the most dominant hockey force in the world. 1) My First Season, My First Championship:
I moved to Montana in January of 2003. That summer, I hooked up with a group of guys that played roller hockey. One of them, Dave Fraser, suggested I play ice hockey in the novice division of the Glacier Hockey League that winter. So I went online and purchased a set of gear off eBay. I also bought a new pair of skates. Then I hit public skating sessions to try to improve my skating. Since I couldn’t stop, I recruited my co-anchor Jill Valley, a figure skater, to teach me how to stop. (Thanks Jill!) Big Sky Specialized picked me up in the GHL draft and I started my first season of competitive ice hockey. It turned out to be a five-month stretch that none of us will ever forget. We had a unique group of guys who got along great and learned to play together as a team. We finished the season in a dicey best-of-3 championship series against our main rivals. In the end, I was named Rookie of the Year and my teammates also won MVP and other individual honors. Click HERE to watch a video of the championship-clinching game.
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| Big Sky Specialized 2003-2004 Glacier Hockey League Champions |
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| Me & playoff MVP Ryuji Suzuki & the Cup |
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