Reierson, Derow set to join WCHA all-star team trip to Norway
This has been an exciting summer, of uncertainty and eagerness, for the UMD hockey players who will come to school to play for a new coaching regime. Andy Reierson and Derek Derow, however, will get a head start on the season.
Reierson, a junior defenseman from Moorhead, and Derow, a senior winger from Springside, Saskatchewan, have been selected to the 24-man team of WCHA stars who will travel to Oslo, Norway, for three games against Elite-level Norwegian teams.
“I don’t know how they picked the players, but we got a letter at the beginning of June saying we were on the team,” said Reierson. “It should be a lot of fun. We’ll get together in the Twin Cities on Thursday for a couple of days of practice at Mariucci Arena, then we leave Saturday for Norway.”
The team will be similar to a team that went to Switzerland two summers ago. Last year’s trip was cancelled, but the WCHA brought the Valerenga IF team from Norway to the U.S. last winter, and it beat Wisconsin 6-3 and Minnesota 7-5 in December.
This year’s team will be coached by George Gwozdecky of Denver, with former UMD assistant Glenn Kulyk and Wisconsin assistant Pat Ford.
Along with Reierson, who has been working out in Duluth all summer, and Derow, who has been at home most of the summer, Up North hockey fans will also be represented by Michigan Tech’s Mat Snesrud, a senior defenseman from Cloquet.
The team appears solid at every position. In goal, Karl Goehring of North Dakota, Graham Melanson of Wisconsin and Scott Meyer of St. Cloud State are all solid seniors. On defense, Reierson and Snesrud will be joined by Mike Colgan of Colorado College, Jordan Leopold of Minnesota, Ben Christopherson of Minnesota State-Mankato, Mike Commodore of North Dakota, and Alex Brooks and Jeff Dessner of Wisconsin.
Joining Derow among the forwards are Steve Cygan and Mike Scott of Alaska-Anchorage, Mark Cullen of Colorado College, Bjorn Engstrom and Kelly Popadynetz of Denver, Paul Cabana of Michigan Tech, John Pohl and Erik Westrum of Minnesota, Jesse Rooney of Mankato, Bryan Lundbohm and Jeff Panzer of North Dakota, and Tyler Arnason of St. Cloud State.
Those forwards include five of last year’s top 10 WCHA scorers, with Panzer second with 19-44–63, Pohl fourth at 18-41–59, Westrum seventh at 27-26–53, Arnason ninth at 19-30–49, and Lundbohm 10th at 22-22–44. Goehring led WCHA goaltenders with a 1.89 goals-against average and had a .927 save percentage with a record eight shutouts and a 19-6-4 record for the NCAA champion Sioux. Meyer was second in league stats with a 2.37, .920 and 20-8-3 record. Melanson was 31-9-1 at Wisconsin, with a 2.51 goals-against and .914 save percentage that ranked fourth.
The team will skate through practices at Mariucci Arena Thursday and Friday, departing Saturday for the long flight to Oslo. The players, coaches, and league officials will be stationed at the Royal Christiania Hotel in Oslo, and will open their exhibition tour with a game at Lillehammer on Aug. 16. The team returns to Oslo to face Oslo-Frisk on Aug. 18, and will face the Valerenga IF team on Aug. 19.
The all-star team has been an interesting diversion, Reierson said, after Scott Sandelin took over the UMD coaching position, with Steve Rohlik and Mark Strobel as assistants.
“With a new coaching staff at UMD, all of the guys are working hard to be in top shape,” Reierson said. “The coaches all are excited — they’re all pumped up and I think we’ll probably play with a lot of fire.
“A lot of us who are returning to UMD have been here all summer, working out according to the forms we got from the coaches. We’ve been skating three or four times a week, mostly scrimmaging. We’re doing a lot of running, with sprints, plyometrics, and quick-feet drills three days a week. We’re also doing things like jumping rope.”
For the next two weeks, though, Reierson and Derow will become world travelers and follow a different regimen, which should allow them to return in prime shape to start workouts at UMD.
Summer hockey dedication can leave a legacy for the future
It was only summer hockey, I’ve got to remember that. The
Midwest College Hockey League has been around for years and years at
Roseville Arena, and I’ve coached a team in the league ever since I first
volunteered, nearly 20 years ago.
A lot of those years came back to me in a rush while looking for an
old notebook the other day, because I came upon a torn-out, yellow,
legal-pad sheet on which is written: “1989 Protected List.”
Under that are Damian Rhodes, David Espe, Brett Nelson, Tod
Hartje and Shjon Podein. Not bad. Podein went on to stardom at UMD,
which was no surprise because he drove up from Rochester to the Twin
Cities to play and was one of the most dependable at showing up, and in
his play on the ice. Rhodes, of course, went from Richfield to Michigan
Tech and is now a mainstay in the NHL. Espe and Nelson went from White
Bear Lake to the University of Minnesota, and Hartje went from Anoka to
Harvard.
You coach in a league like that because you might have a son
playing, and you’d like to contribute your time to help out. I’ve found that
every year, you might start out with a son on the team, but you wind up
with 15 or 20 “sons” after a couple of games. Because of that, it means a
lot, maybe more than it should.
Once upon a time, it meant something to Shjon Podein, Joe DeLisle,
Dennis Vaske, Brett Hauer, Richie Anderson and Shawn Pogreba — all of
whom played on my teams right out of high school, and went on to play
at UMD. When the Colorado Rockies were playing so well in the Stanley
Cup Playoffs this past spring, it was gratifying to watch Podein play so
well for the Rockies, as he had played for the Philadelphia Flyers, the
UMD Bulldogs, the Rochester John Marshall Rockets, and in the Roseville
Junior Olympic summer league.
If past tradition means anything, Drew Otten will have a big year
for UMD, Tom Reimann will be a standout for Maine, Mike Johnson will
tend some great goal for the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and
White Bear Lake will have an outstanding year in high school play, led by
a goaltender named Erik Aarnio and a defenseman named Tim Hambly.
Most likely, however, Brandon Bochenski will score a ton of goals —
a TON — for the Lincoln team in the USHL, and will end up with a D1
scholarship.
They were only a few parts of the Panino’s team in this year’s
Midwest League, a team that combined high school player, college
players of D1 and D3, and senior amateur “bar league” players, as well
as some who only play summer hockey.
Times have changed, and getting strong turnouts of players is a
project these days in summer leagues. When we were short, we lost two
games, and tied two. We tied one other when we had a full team, a 3-3
tie that was a classic, from start to finish. That left us second in the
North Division of the league this summer, but we roared through the
playoffs, winning big in the first two games, winning close, 5-3, in the
divisional final, which was the league semifinal, and then capturing the
championship T-shirts with a 4-1 victory in the title game.
You don’t do a lot of coaching in summer hockey, basically just
putting lines and pairings together for some degree of compatibility, and
change shifts in reasonable fashion, so that the hottest of the hotdogs
don’t try to play 5-minute shifts. So one of the most enjoyable parts of
coaching summer hockey is putting the team together.
Used to be, you could protect five, and then six, and you had to
draft the rest of your team from among tryout sessions, at which 300
young men might show up, knowing that this league, which used to be
called “Junior Olympic,” was the best. Because it was full-checking, tightly
officiated, and well-run, other summer leagues used to wait until the
Roseville league had finished its draft before selecting players from those
left over for their play.
It’s most fun to spot kids in high school, get them to play on the
summer team, and then watch them blossom and progress in college.
Looking back, a few of those included all the former Bulldogs and
previously-mentioned Division I players, plus goalie Karl Goehring, now at
North Dakota, former St. Cloud State stars Dan Reimann and Matt
Bailey, Colorado College’s Eric Rud and Ian Petersen, Anoka brothers Jon
Coe, who went to Providence, and Jeremy Coe, who starred at Army,
Scott Smith of Maine, and a herd of Gophers that included John Brill of
Grand Rapids, Steve Magnusson, Joe Dziedzic, Jay Moser, Chris McAlpine,
David Espe, Sean Fabian, and Brett Nelson.
You could put together an impressive all-star team from that
group. All of them were fun to see from the context of sharing the bench
close-up, and they’ve left indelible memories. I wrote something about
that earlier this year, when Maine won its way to the final four and one
of its stars was Tom Reimann, who had gone from a non-predicting
junior hockey star to a super-scorer in summer league, and wound up
with a scholarship to Maine.
Reimann scored a goal last year, when he raced up the right side,
cut at a defenseman, flipped the puck 20 feet up in the air, then ducked
around the defender and swatted a waist-high line drive into the net. He
tried to top that this year, and came close.
In our first game this summer, Reimann, a left-handed shooter, got
a long rebound in the right circle, about 20 feet out from the goal.
Instead of shooting, he scooped the puck up on the backhand side of his
stick-blade, then whirled 540 degrees before flinging a lacrosse-style
backhander that glanced in off the crossbar. Play continued, because the
puck went in and out. Finally, I asked the referee why he hadn’t counted
the goal. “At first, I didn’t believe what I saw,” he said. “Then, because it
came right out and play went on, and because your team was already
ahead 8-2, I thought I’d just not count it.”
“No problem,” I said. “Except I’d like you to consider one thing. That
was a hall-of-fame quality goal, it’ll be the most talked-about goal of the
summer, and you’re going to go down as the ref who disallowed it.”
Without another word, the referee skated over and told the scorer
the goal counted. First time I’ve ever won one of those.
At any rate, I encouraged a number of UMD and Up North high
school players to play in the league this year, because the pace is swift,
the action is good, and despite all the assets of skating and dryland
drills, nothing can keep you game-sharp like competitive, full-contact
games. It would be great if there were a league like this Up North, but
there isn’t.
Otten, who lives in Minnetonka, and scored nine goals as a walk-on
freshman for UMD last season, was the only one who could make it work.
He played well, and was a solid contributor with a dozen goals and 30
points, leading our team in points in regular-season play.
But a key element of our team were the high school players from
Blaine. Bochenski, Trevor Frischmon and defensemen Scott Foyt and
Chris Brown all played for Panino’s. All played well, but Bochenski was
out of sight.
We got enough horses rounded up to have a full three lines and two
sets of defense for the playoffs. In our first playoff game, we jumped
ahead 7-1 at the end of the first half — games are played in two
30-minute halves. Bochenski had scored four of the goals. Big Matt
Goenner, a defenseman who had played with my son, Jeff, for about 15
years if you count Bantam, high school, junior and summer league, said
to Bochenski: “Remember, the league record for goals in a game is 10.”
Sure enough, Steve Magnusson, one of the most skilled players ever
to play at Minnesota, however briefly, had so much fun setting up goals
several years ago that I finally demanded that he shoot the puck in the
next game. He scored 10 goals in an incredible display of marksmanship,
and proved his point. Back to the set-ups at his own pace.
But Bochenski went out on a mission. We won the game 15-2, and
he wound up with nine goals and hit two pipes. He scored two more in the
17-4 second game, and got two more in the tough 5-3 semifinal. In the
playoff final, we were behind 1-0, but Bochenski scored twice before
halftime, and completed his hat trick in the second half, for 14 goals in
four playoff games, leading the entire league with something like 27
goals.
He has no solid offers from any Division I school. Yet. But the new
Bulldog coaching staff has watched him, and talked to him. Of course, we
“cheated” in the last two playoff games, because everybody stresses
offense in summer hockey, and I rearranged all our lines to put a
defensive emphasis on covering the opponents’ top scorer. My son, Jeff,
who missed most of the games working out of town, did a great job in
that regard, and he scored the final goal in the 4-1 title game, which
might well also be my final game coaching in that league.That provided a
nice touch.
I can look ahead 10 years, and imagine stumbling onto this list of
players amid my notes and game-by-game records. I’ll think about how
everybody says summer hockey is meaningless, but that it means as
much as each player is willing to put into it. And it’ll always mean a lot to
me.
Sandelin seeks his own answers in UMD opener with Regina
Remember Saturday Night Live and the “Not ready for prime-time players?” Well, the players might be more ready than the coach on Sunday night, when the UMD men open their hockey season with an exhibition game against the University of Regina.
Scott Sandelin is more curious than fired-up for his first game as head coach at UMD in Sunday’s 7:05 p.m. match at the DECC. The returning players, all of whom have been skating hard to impress the new coaching staff for two weeks, at least have the familiarity of experience for their expectations. Sandelin and assistants Steve Rohlik and Mark Strobel need this game to see the players in game action.
Next week, the WCHA begins in earnest for UMD with a trip to Minnesota. As for Regina, Sandelin doesn’t know what to expect, but he has his own roster and lineup to be concerned with.
“We changed lines every day this week,” said Sandelin. “We may change some more before the game.”
Two lines appear set, with Mark Gunderson centering Ryan Homstol and freshman Nick Anderson on one, and freshman Jim Murphy centering Judd Medak and Jon Francisco on another. Nate Anderson will center Tom Nelson and probably either Drew Otten or Junior Lessard on the right side, while Mike Miskovich is likely to play the left side with either Jerrid Reinholz or Matt Mathias at center, and either Lessard or Otten on the right.
Mathias, a former Duluth East center, is still getting back up to full speed after sitting out last year when he transferred from Alaska-Anchorage. Derek Derow, the team’s top returning scorer and captain, is out for another week, recovering from minor knee surgery. “We want to make sure derek’s ready for Minnesota,” said Sandelin.
On defense, Ryan Coole and Beau Geisler are on one unit, Jesse Fibiger and Mark Carlson on another, Andy Reierson and freshman Jay Hardwick on a third, freshman Tyler Williamson and Craig Pierce on yet another tandem, and Steve Rodberg and freshman Craig Weller on still another.
Sandelin, a former defenseman and defensive assistant coach at North Dakota, has Strobel running the defense at UMD, and they are first to concede that 10 defensemen are a lot. Geisler, who came in as a freshman but couldn’t play because of a miniscule grade-point shortage in the transfer of his high school grades to college, has shown great promise in a short time.
“Beau just needs to play,” said Sandelin. “He can skate, move the puck, he’s smart and he gives us another dimension.”
In preliminary planning for specialty units, the coaches are looking at Reierson and Carlson on the power-play points and Coole and Fibiger on the penalty-killing defense.
Rob Anderson, who returns as an experienced sophomore in quest of replacing four-year goaltending mainstay Brant Nicklin, has spirited competition from freshman Adam Coole and sophomore Jason Gregoire.
“All three goaltenders have earned the right to play a period,” said Sandelin, who will rotate them against Regina. That’s the only preliminary test the Bulldogs will have, while the Gophers have the benefit of playing Notre Dame last weekend and at Bemidji State this weekend in the first advance sellout the Beavers have had since becoming Division I a year ago.
Wild find that 3-3 tie with Flyers makes a point in NHL history
SAINT PAUL, MINN. — An NHL team that winds up tied 3-3 after leading 3-2 usually feels as if it lost, but the disappointment was tempered by the view of the big picture when the Minnesota Wild was tied by the Philadelphia Flyers in exactly that fashion Wednesday night.
After all, the Wild, playing before a sellout throng of 18,827 in the Xcel Energy Center, recorded their first point in their first home game of their first National Hockey League season.
Darby Hendrickson, now a Duluth resident, scored the first Wild goal for a 1-1 tie in the first period, rookie sensation Marian Gaborik scored the team’s first power-play goal for a 2-1 lead in the second period, and Grand Rapids native Jeff Nielsen was stopped on a shorthanded rush but wound up with an assist when Wes Walz knocked in the rebound for the team’s first penalty-killing goal and a 3-2 lead in the third.
Eric Desjardins got the equalizer with a deflected shot from the left point, to follow up a pair of goals by Peter White and gain the deadlock that withstood a 5-minute overtime, which now calls for the teams to play 4-on-4.
Wild goaltender Manny Fernandez was the hero of the game, as Philadelphia outshot the Wild 39-22, and many of his 36 saves were outstanding, including a late save that prevented White from getting the winner and a hat trick, and while holding on during a Flyer power play in the overtime.
“I felt like I made some big saves at the end,” shrugged Fernandez. “We’ve got to bear down every night, especially against big teams with big stars and big budgets. But if we do, we’re going to make some big teams mad this year if they think they can come in here and run over us.”
A couple of hours of pregame festivities were climaxed on the ice by the introduction of all the former North Stars still living in the area, plus state legend John Mayasich, NHL president Gary Bettman, club owner Bob Naegele Jr., and, for the ceremonial puck-drop, Saint Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, whose aggressive vision led to the building of the Xcel Energy Center and was the inspiration for the presence of the Wild.
Bettman announced to the big crowd about how great it was for the NHL to be “back in the great state of hockey.” The crowd roared, and he added: “It’s obvious we never should have left.”
Naegele took the microphone next and announced: “We are retiring our first jersey. Nobody will ever wear the No. 1 sweater. You, the Wild fans, are No. 1.”
Sure enough, a giant Wild jersey with the No. 1 on it was raised to the rafters. With that, and a refreshingly swift and unembellished rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, the Wild got the anticipated huge ovation for the start of the game. It took a while for the crowd to find something to cheer about once the puck dropped, however.
The Flyers, playing without star John LeClair, who is sidelined with back problems, took a 1-0 lead at 13:41 of the session when White found himself unencumbered by any defense and took two swats before knocking the puck through Fernandez at the right edge. The Wild, who lost at Anaheim and Phoenix in their first two NHL games, were behind again.
Wild defenseman Andy Sutton and Gino Odjick engaged in a lively fist-fight exactly 16 seconds after the goal, and the Wild got the crowd further aroused when Hendrickson tied the game with a goal at 17:19. Hendrickson, the Richfield native and former Gopher who now lives at Island Lake near Duluth, was scratched from the team’s first game, at Anaheim. But he and his fourth linemates forechecked hard, forcing defenseman Phil McGillis to try to ring the puck around the boards. Maxim Sushinsky cut it off in the right corner and fired a hard pass across the goal-mouth that Hendrickson one-timed past goalie Brian Boucher from the left side.
“That was a great play by Sushinsky, and I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Hendrickson. “I wish there was an opening night every night. I enjoy the build-up. It’s fun. The atmosphere here is going to be great.”
The Wild will not be setting any records for offensive fireworks this season. They went without a shot through two second-period power plays, and were outshot 10-1 until the last minute of the middle session. But on their third power-play attempt of the period, at 19:05, Jim Dowd passed to the left point, and Ladislav Benysek fired a slapshot. Boucher went down blocking it, and when teenage first-round draft pick Marian Gaborik flipped a soft backhander on the rebound, Boucher reached up but had the puck go off his glove and trickle across the goal line.
The goal broke an 0-forever (0-16) run of futility on the man-advantage for the season and, despite being outshot 10-3 for the period, it gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at the second intermission.
Philadelphia promptly capitalized on a botched breakout scenario at 5:43 of the third period to tie the game on White’s second goal of the night. A hasty pass from behind the Minnesota net glanced off a stick and wound up in the slot where Rick Tocchet’s quick reaction nudged the puck to the right edge. White kicked the pass up to his stick and lifted a quick backhand over the diving Fernandez for the 2-2 equalizer.
The Wild equalized their power-play goal total with their first shorthanded goal of the season to gain a 3-2 lead at 9:12 of the final period. Walz sprung Nielsen with a pass at center ice and Nielsen sailed in on Boucher, but the Flyer goalie came up with a sprawling save, only to have Walz follow up by tucking the rebound in at the right edge.
“As a player, you almost wish you’d get a chance on a bang-bang play,” said Nielsen. “You get the puck at the red line, and you’re skating in, with the crowd on its feet and the goalie coming out at you, and you think to yourself, ‘What am I going to do?’ ”
It didn’t matter that Nielsen guessed wrong, as long as Walz put it away. “We’re going to have the kind of team where guys are going to chip in when they can and make smart plays,” said Nielsen. “Our goaltending has been fabulous so far, and we came out here and the crowd was phenomenal. It was like a celebration of hockey.”
Barely a minute later, just after the power play expired, the Flyers tied it again when Desjardins shot from the left point and the puck was deflected past Fernandez and into the left edge at 10:37. But when it is recorded in history, it will be better remembered by 18,827 fans and a mob of media types who may rarely return for normal games, as the first point by the new club that already has found a home.
Pro hockey’s ultimate uncertainty can’t affect Kurvers’ class act
Tom Kurvers sat up high, in the press box of the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, watching the fledgling Minnesota Wild play an exhibition game. He was wearing a dress shirt and tie, and his cool demeanor, and handsome, winning smile were the same as when he skated on defense for the UMD Bulldogs.
Kurvers came from Bloomington Jefferson, making the transition from high school star to college hero with ease. He always played with poise, and he helped usher in the most successful era of UMD hockey. He was a junior on the team that made Bulldog history by making its first-ever appearance in an NCAA tournament in 1983, and his senior year couldn’t have been more memorable.
Kurvers was the captain when the Bulldogs won their first WCHA championship in 1984. That was the year UMD had to move to Williams Arena in Minneapolis to play host to a playoff series against North Dakota because of a boat show at the DECC. A UMD “home” record crowd of 7,297 watched the ‘Dogs whip the Sioux 8-1 to come as close as possible to winning a two-game, total-goal series in one game. UMD stayed close the next night, losing 5-4, to claim the series and move on to the NCAA tourney.
After beating Clarkson, UMD ventured to Lake Placid, N.Y., for its first try at the NCAA final four. Bill Watson and Bob Lakso scored goals and UMD beat North Dakota 2-1 in the semifinals, and the next day, Kurvers — already the WCHA most-valuable player — was presented with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top colllegiate hockey player in the country. The night after that, UMD lost 5-4 in a four-overtime classic against Bowling Green in the national championship game.
Kurvers, who may well be headed for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in the next couple of years, went on to play defense for 11 seasons in the NHL, with the reputation as a smooth, poised goal-creator at the point of power plays. Had he been a physical terror, Kurvers undoubtedly would have stayed in one place for his full career, but he was far too classy to merely be a thug. So he played for Montreal, Buffalo, New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver, the New York Islanders and Anaheim.
Another very classy individual, Bobby Smith, hired Kurvers to scout for Phoenix a couple years ago, and it was in that capacity that Kurvers was “home” in Minnesota, visiting the Xcel Center. He is caught in the midst of one of the most peculiar situations in NHL history, as owner Richard Burke, who bought the Winnipeg Jets with the intention of moving the franchise to the Twin Cities, then found that the Minneapolis city fathers had sold the farm at Target Center to the Timberwolves so thoroughly that an NHL franchise couldn’t hope to break even.
So the Jets moved on to Phoenix, and Burke put Smith in place to run the franchise. But Burke is trying to sell the team now, and when it is finalized, Wayne Gretzky has been promised the position to run the franchise. That means Smith is running the team day to day, knowing each day might be his last. Same for Kurvers.
“Wayne isn’t there yet, so it’s business as usual until the transition actually happens,” Kurvers said. “We’re pretty sure it will come sometime before the end of the year, but until then, none of us knows what our future will be. So I was anxious to get out on the road and do some scouting, of the NHL, AHL, IHL — anywhere, because its pretty uncertain back in Phoenix.”
Kurvers and his wife had their second child, a baby girl named Rose, in August. Their older daughter is Madison, 5. “My parents are still in Bloomington, so it’s fun coming back here,” Kurvers said.
Like everyone else who is from Minnesota and has ever played the game, Kurvers is happy for Minnesota to be back in the NHL. And Kurvers can provide a bit of extra insight into the new Wild regime, under coach Jacques Lemaire, because he spent a year playing under him in Montreal.
“Jacques Lemaire is the most astute coach I ever had,” said Kurvers. “He knew all the little signals from each player, the signals they give off when things are going good or going bad. He learned them in a hurry, and it helped him know how to work with each player. I only had one year under him, and I wish it could have been longer.”
When Gretzky, another class act, takes over the Coyotes, it is anticipated he’ll stock the administrative positions with his own friends and associates. If he has a clue, he will make sure to keep Tom Kurvers in the operation. If not, and Kurvers becomes available, he has so much respect around the NHL that it seems certain he’ll be quick to find another job. Kurvers is a star player who never forgot where he came from. He helped put UMD’s hockey program on the national collegiate map, and he’d be an asset to any operation. Look for him at a hall of fame near you, soon.
SPEAKING OF HALL OF FAME
You’ll read about it officially after it’s all signed, sealed and delivered, but you can write this down as fact, right now: Herb Brooks will be the head coach of the 2002 men’s U.S. Olympic hockey team that will play in Salt Lake City.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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