Hibbing’s Sandelin learns of life beyond hockey
“Hockey is life.” You can read that on t-shirts, and posters, and in all sorts of flippant, rowdy settings. Scott Sandelin knows better.
Sandelin is an impressive young man who is in his fifth year as assistant coach to Dean Blais at the University of North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux success is more than significantly influenced by Sandelin’s stability, as well as his coaching touch and his recruiting instincts.
He has impressed Up North hockey fans since his days playing defense for his hometown Hibbing Bluejackets. He went off to play at North Dakota, where his defensive abilities and his leadership were so obvious he was voted captain both his junior and senior years. He was team most valuable player and first-team all-WCHA his senior year.
Having been drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 1982 draft, Sandelin set off to play pro hockey. He came back to get his bachelor’s degree in marketing, however, and during a six-year minor league hockey career that also included terms in the Philadelphia and North Star organizations, he came to realize there were other things in his life besides playing hockey.
He came back to the region to coach the Fargo-Moorhead Express in the now-defunct American Hockey Association for the 1992-93 season, and then ran the Fargo-Moorhead Kings junior team for a year, before Blais took the North Dakota job and brought his fellow-Iron Range Conference alum with him.
“I met my wife, Wendy, in Hershey, when I was playing hockey there,” said Sandelin. “She’s a nurse, and anesthetist, and we’d been married seven years in June.”
Sandelin, always a classy, soft-spoken man who is a tireless worker, learned there was more to life than hockey the hard way, when his dad was discovered to have cancer.
“I lost my dad to lung cancer on Veteran’s Day, three years ago,” Sandelin said.
Most everybody has had a loved one or family member afflicted with cancer these days, and there is no way to adequately prepare for or handle the affect. Sandelin got a double dose.
“My mom, who lives in Eagan, found a spot on her lung a year ago that turned out to be cancer. They operated and took out the upper lobe and part of the middle lobe of one lung, and she’d doing fine now.”
Scott and Wendy learned last summer that they were going to become parents. They were so excited about Wendy’s first pregnancy that when Wendy found a small lump in her breast in August, they assumed it was just some bodily change accompanying the pregnancy.
The first week in November, however, a thorough examination detected that the lump was malignant. “I remember, because we learned about it on the Friday we played Clarkson,” Sandelin said. “We had assumed it was just a change.”
With the baby not due until January, Wendy and Scott went through all sorts of mental flip-flops.
“The first thing was that we were concerned that any surgery could induce labor,” Sandelin said. “We thought about a Caesarian, but we had concerns with that, too.”
Wendy underwent a mastectomy in Grand Forks, and both mother and baby got through it in fine shape.
“The lump was small, and there was no effect on the lymph nodes or anything else, so everything looks good,” Sandelin said.
But they held off on chemotherapy.
“She was able to go through natural childbirth,” Sandelin said. “Ryan John Sandelin was born Jan. 3, and she started chemo two weeks later. She’s young, just 30, and everything is positive for the prognosis.”
As for the saying “Hockey is life,” maybe it should be amended to say: “Hockey is a game; people are life.”
Sandelin smiled when asked how he was holding up, after all the traumatic effects.
“For me, Wendy has been great,” he said. “She has a great attitude, and I do fine when she does fine.”
And the baby has changed both of their lives for the better, as babies tend to do.
“He was 7 pounds, 6 ounces,” said Sandelin. “And I think he’s going to be a right-handed shot.”
Thrashing doesn’t always lead to rescue
Remember the old water-safety video of some guy out in water over his head who loses control, screaming in terror and thrashing and flailing his arms in a desperate gesture for help? The point was how careful you have to be if you’re going to save the guy and not be pulled down with him.
It crossed my mind the other day, when I listened to and read a few things about University of Minnesota hockey coach Doug Woog sneaking off to Wisconsin to scout a player. A columnist went on urging “the Wooger” to go farther, away from Minnesota, to find those superstar guys out there in Wisconsin and Canada — especially Canada — where all these superstars are awaiting his call to lead the Gophers back to puck glory.
A couple days later, there was an enormous story attempting to analyze how college hockey has changed in recent years, and how even someone who knew nothing of the history of the game could make the logical jump that Gopher recruiting would have to change too.
So Woog has said he is about to expand the horizons of recruiting. No more all-Minnesota, the Golden Ones are going to condescendingly invite all those superstar Canadians and out-of-staters to pull on the tinsel-colored jerseys and try to lift the Gophers back to a respectful spot in the WCHA and in the nation’s college hockey scope.
First off, it will take more than winning for the program to regain respect. The program has lost the respect of a lot of Minnesota grassroots hockey backers. It’s also lost the backing of some of its most storied alumni, as well as the ones who spend lots of money to back the program.
The word that Woog will go after Canadians and non-Minnesotans was met with universal acclaim by those who have no clue about Minnesota hockey and by those columnists and audio-video guys who, in total, may see five or six hockey games a year out of conscience, and if the Timberwolves or Gopher basketball team is idle.
It also is met with a shrug by those who don’t give a fig about hockey, Minnesota or otherwise. Football and basketball go to the far reaches of the globe to recruit, so why shouldn’t hockey? So what if the football team fights to avoid last place, and the basketball team can’t win a Big Ten game on the road.
The one group most excited about Woog going outside the state to recruit players could undoubtedly be organized to form a chorus line to dance and chant “go-go-go” to Woog. Those are the other WCHA coaches, and the coaches at places like Minnesota State-Mankato, and Bemidji State. They know that every less Minnesotan going to Minnesota means another top Minnesotan available to their school.
Bring in a couple of Canadians. In fact, bring in a half dozen, and a couple guys from Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Boston. And guess what? The mystique of going to Minnesota because it’s all-Minnesota would come crashing down. Suddenly top Minnesota kids would choose schools that better suit them, where they might develop their skills and have fun, because no longer would they feel compelled to go to Gopherville because of a perceived tradition that the best Minnesotans go to Minnesota.
Let’s get one thing straight: Minnesota produces the most quality players for college of anyplace that produces hockey players. Round off the numbers: There are over 150 American players in the WCHA this season, and 100 of them are from Minnesota. Wisconsin is second, with a dozen. Canada is responsible for 75 WCHA players. Think about it. Eight WCHA coaches who traditionally have recruited in Canada have brought back only 75 Canadians and 100 Minnesotans.
There are some very good Canadians out there, but the vast majority of the best ones who used to play college-eligible Tier II hockey are now playing Tier I because major junior teams are offering them scholarships in case they don’t get drafted by the NHL. More players are now being developed in the USHL.
Privately, every WCHA coach except one might tell you that the Gophers have the BEST personnel in the league. The BEST! Line up Wyatt Smith, Reggie Berg, Dave Spehar and Aaron Miskovich, and compare the top four forwards of any other WCHA team. The rest of the WCHA coaches, and those elsewhere in the nation, have coveted almost every Gopher recruit for 25 years.
The current players have not developed. Or is it that they’ve not BEEN developed? They aren’t playing the exciting, innovative style, that Woog’s Gophers used to play. Some of them look like they have forgotten how they played in high school. They are playing without guidance, without direction, without any cohesiveness except what they can summon on their own.
The only coach in the league certain to disagree that Minnesota has the best talent is…Minnesota’s. Like sheep, the Twin Cities media have bought Woog’s alibis that the Gophers are too young, too inexperienced, haven’t panned out, haven’t fit in, and they are only poor little Minnesotans. The coach has succeeded in pointing the finger in every direction except where it should be pointed.
Nobody has figured out that when great player after great player comes to the program and doesn’t improve, but leaves disheartened, complaining that the game is no longer any fun, maybe — just maybe — there is a problem.
As that finger-pointing becomes more and more frantic, think about that video. The one about the guy who chose to go out in water over his head, then lost control, and is displaying the final, desperate thrashing of a drowning man.
Lamphier lights fuse for Dynamite
The Duluth Dynamite overcame an inspired performance by a youthful Brainerd team last Friday to advance to Tuesday night’s Section 8 girls hockey semifinals.
The quarterfinal against Brainerd at Pioneer Hall was tense even after sophomore Allison O’Hara scored to break a scoreless tie midway through the second period. Then Tresa Lamphier took charge.
Contained for almost two full periods as the focal point of Brainerd’s defense, Lamphier’s intensity level rose and her rushes became more determined. She converted a Leah Wrazidlo rebound with 1:13 remaining in the second period for a 2-0 lead, then added another goal in the first minute of the third, and completed a hat trick with a forceful solo rush in the final minute for a 4-0 victory.
The three goals boosted Lamphier’s season total to 36, which, with 19 assists, gives her 55 points going into Tuesday’s match against St. Cloud in the semifinals at Grand Rapids. If the Dynamite (18-4-1) intend to have a shot at reaching and unseating defending section champ and state runner-up Hibbing in Friday’s final, Lamphier would need to be both a scoring and inspirational leader.
She obviously is capable. If Harvard star Angie Francisco is the best current women’s collegiate player from Duluth without the benefit of girls high school hockey, then Tresa Lamphier is the best prospect in the three-year existence of Duluth’s girls prep program.
Not that such status is any guarantee. Lamphier has captured the attention of Shannon Miller, the coach of the new UMD women’s program, who has been recruiting worldwide for the team that will start next fall. Miller has invited Lamphier to join the fledgling Bulldog program — as a walk-on.
Lamphier said she was flattered, and would love to play at UMD, but scholarship money might become a factor. “I’ve talked to Bemidji State and Wisconsin, too,” said Lamphier, a 3.0-grade senior. “If I can get some financial aid, it would help me decide.”
Dynamite coach Jack Scherer thinks UMD would be wise to get Lamphier, no matter what. “It would make a statement to the community that UMD won’t overlook the best local players,” said Scherer.
Scherer and Lamphier haven’t always enjoyed coach-player harmony. “She drives me nuts, sometimes,” said Scherer. “She was a loose cannon last year because when she’d get frustrated she’d lose her temper. I had to send her to the dressing room with eight minutes left in the section semifinals because she was out there running girls.
“She’s been much better this year, and I’ll tell you what: I wish the whole team had her fire.”
That fire, Lamphier acknowledged sheepishly, might have been developed when she and linemate Wrazidlo played on much rougher boys youth hockey teams growing up.
“This is the 11th year Leah and I have played together,” said Lamphier. “We played on the West Duluth Squirts, Peewees and Bantams. We did OK, and it never was too physical, even in Bantams, until the other teams found out we were girls. Then they’d come after us.”
After playing boys Bantams, Lamphier went back and made the Duluth Icebreakers girls team. “I have to admit, girls hockey is more fun,” she said.
Brainerd, with no seniors and 10 of its 19 players still in junior high school, was outshot 33-2 in the game. Some Brainerd fans suggested it was unfair Brainerd should have to play an “all-star” team made up of girls from multiple high schools.
Scherer and East athletic director Mike Miernicki said they would like to see enough qualified girls playing so that East, Denfeld and Central could each field teams. That isn’t possible now, however. The 20 players in the current lineup include four girls from Denfeld and one from Central, with the other 15 from East. So it might be possible for East to have its own team in the future, but what would happen to the girls from Central and Denfeld?
“We’re hoping they don’t split us up yet, because there aren’t enough girls from Central and Denfeld to put a team together,” said Scherer.
Lamphier and Wrazidlo are both from Denfeld, as is O’Hara, a sophomore defenseman, and Samantha Wabik, a seventh-grade back-up goaltender. Regular goalie Sanya Sandahl is from Central, and joins Lamphier and Wrazidlo as only the third senior on the team.
Sandahl needed only to make two saves — one in the first and one in the third — in the shutout against Brainerd. “The least I had before that was four, in a 13-0 game against Eveleth,” said Sandahl, whose play improved dramatically when she attended a summer hockey camp.
How about in the 2-2 tie against Hibbing three weeks ago?
“I had 36 saves, to 23 for [Hibbing goalie] Natalie Lamme,” she said. When asked for more statistics she responded that her goals-against average is 1.3, and her save percentage is 94, and her grade-point average is 3.86.
Good enough numbers for college, all of them, and her ability to rattle them off indicates that yes, she likes math, among other challenging courses. “I’ve talked to Princeton, Providence and some other eastern colleges,” Sandahl said.
GIRLS HOCKEY NOTES/Hibbing continued its drive to defend its Section 8AA title, facing Bemidji in Tuesday’s semifinals at Grand Rapids. The final is set for St. Cloud, but if Duluth and Hibbing are the finalists, it will be Friday night at Grand Rapids.
The girls are assured of a new state champion, since Apple Valley was eliminated 2-1 in two overtimes by Eastview in the Section 2 quarterfinals…Elsewhere, Minnetonka’s record (18-3-1) was meaningless compared to facing stronger competition, as Eden Prairie, with a 6-14-2 record, ousted Minnetonka 2-0.
Malosky makes decision to leave on his own terms
Ever since UMD’s football season ended, the questions about coach Jim Malosky’s future had continued.
After taking an interim year off to recover from the after-effects of a mild stroke that he suffered last May, the 70-year-old Malosky had seemed driven to return to the sidelines full-time, following a year in which the Bulldogs were guided by the co-coaching tandem of Jim Malosky Jr., his son, and Vince Repesh.
Would Malosky return? Was he sufficiently recovered to resume full-time coaching? Was he being forced out by the administration? If this is a good time for the transition, why was there such a long wait to come up with the answers?
Malosky himself answered all the questions Wednesday afternoon at the UMD physical education building:
No, he won’t be back, after all.
Yes, he is pretty nearly 100 percent recovered from the effects of the stroke, probably enough to resume coaching.
No, he felt nothing but full support from the administration and athletic director Bob Corran, and he made the decision entirely by himself and his family.
And UMD waited this long for the decision because, out of respect for Malosky, he was given as much time as he needed to make a final decision, and then still more time to be sure it was the right one.
“This was entirely my decision,” said Malosky. “I could have come back for another year, but what would I be going to prove? That I’m a stubborn jackass?”
Then he cracked that familiar old Malosky grin and added, “I think I’ve already proven that; I don’t need to prove that anymore.”
After guiding the Bulldogs for 40 years, and with a 255-125-13 overall record that includes the most victories of any NCAA Division II coach, and MIAC championships in 1960, ’61 and ’73, and Northern Sun championships in 1979, ’80, ’85, ’90, ’95 and ’96, Malosky will resign as of July 1.
Malosky, who is from Crosby, Minn., and graduated in 1951 from the University of Minnesota, started coaching as only the third UMD coach in 1958. Forty years later, he and his wife, Lila ?????????????????????????????????????? made the decision before the two went on a recent Caribbean cruise.
“I made the decision two or three weeks ago,” said Malosky. “My family was comfortable with it.
“I feel fine. Generally speaking, I’d say I’ve just about made a full recovery from the stroke except for my left hand. I can use it and everything, but if I pick something up and hold it for a couple of minutes, I might drop it and not feel it. But I feel fine, I just get tired. And I’ve never been tired in my life.
“I’m not in as good shape as I’d like, but I’m back to going 25 or 30 minutes on an exercise bike. Although I only went 15 minutes this time because I had to get ready for this,” he said, meaning his farewell press conference.
Last fall, Malosky was close to the team, starting in the press box but then using a cane to hobble around on the sidelines. He had been planning on having knee replacement surgery when he suffered the stroke, and he had to delay it during his recovery.
“Last fall, I wanted to be around but I’d lose my concentration during the games sometimes. I’m a hands-on coach, and the worst thing was being around and not running things. The best part was that I didn’t have to be there for the preparation; I could just go there and ride around on my golf cart.
“My knee? That feels fine. That’s the best part of me, now,” Malosky laughed about his new knee.
Athletic director Bob Corran said he was willing to wait until Malosky made his decision, no matter how long it took.
“We talked about what was needed, and about progress of the program,” Corran said. “We put everything on the table, and he took his time with it. He told me his decision just before he went on his trip. I told him to make sure he wouldn’t second-guess himself that we’d wait until he came back from the trip. He came back to town Sunday, and I asked him how he felt. He said he still felt the same.
“This doesn’t make it the best time for us to be starting a search for a new coach, but we wanted to give Jim all the time he needed,” Corran added. “We’ll have a job search as quickly as possible. We’d like to conduct the search by mid-April, and have a coach here by May 1, ideally. But we’re not going into it with any preconceived ideas about an established veteran coach or a young coach.”
Malosky said, “Typically, we haven’t made too many plans, except we’re going on a trip to Norway.”
And as summer starts to fade, will Malosky have some second thoughts?
“I’ve been at it for so damn long, I don’t know how it’ll be,” Malosky said. “But I can relax at the end of August, and there’ll be no meetings. I’m looking forward to that part of it.”
Greenway, East rise to puck peak
There were some dramatic games in the Up North region last week. For one, how about Duluth East reaffirming its focus after a couple of wayward weeks with a rousing 7-1 rout at Cloquet? Or, how about Greenway of Coleraine skating onto the Hippodrome ice and whipping Eveleth-Gilbert 5-0?
Meanwhile, at the DECC, games can’t get much more intense than the 2-2 tie between Marshall and Silver Bay.
The most dramatic moment of the whole season in Section 7 might be the seeding meeting, when representatives of all the teams gather to vote on how to seed the sectional hockey tournament.
It appears Elk River, which shouldn’t be in Section 7AA geographically, will be top seed. The Elks beat Duluth East early, and that’s the only game they’ve had against Section 7 teams. The Elks did, however, knock off Hill-Murray and have reaffirmed their No. 1 station in the Up North state ratings with a 17-1 record.
The question is, who is No. 2 in 7AA? Duluth East, which beat Greenway, but lost to Hibbing; Greenway, which lost to East and split with Hibbing; and Hibbing, which beat East and split with Greenway but faced a major hurdle at Eveleth Tuesday, all had a right to claim the No. 2 slot.
East lost to Hibbing, Hastings and Hermantown in a four-game stretch that could mean the ‘Hounds should avoid schools with names beginning with an “H,” but they came back a little in a 4-3 victory over Grand Rapids, when coach Mike Randolph switched Ross Carlson and Nick Licari to defense. After the shakeup, Randolph put Licari and Carlson back up front, and the ‘Hounds played one of their best games of the season to throttle Cloquet 7-1. It could have been worse; Mike Marshall and Zach Burns scored twice each and East led 7-0 before Cloquet scored during the running-time conclusion.
“Before we lost to Hermantown, our last loss in the Lake Superior Conference had been in the ’94-’95 season to Denfeld,” said Randolph. “I had heard enough glass at practice to realize our guys were shooting for the corners so much they were missing the net. So we concentrated on shooting for the middle of the net.”
A bigger question was who would win the Iron Range Conference. Greenway, by winning an extremely impressive 5-0 game in the jam-packed Hippodrome on Saturday night, improved to 7-1 in the IRC, reaffirmed its grip on No. 1 in the Up North Regional ratings, and climbed to No. 3 in the Up North State ratings. Eveleth dropped to 9-2 in its bid to repeat as IRC champ. Hibbing took an 8-1 record into Tuesday’s showdown at Eveleth, having beaten the Golden Bears by a goal in their previous meeting. Eveleth is 18-3 overall, but slipped to 9-2 in the IRC.
“I really have no clue about what it takes to win the IRC,” said Greenway coach Pat Guyer. “We’ve got this thing with 2-point games and 4-point games, but then somehow we play one less IRC game than Hibbing. We’re told that if Hibbing beats Eveleth (Tuesday), we could still get the most points, but we wouldn’t be IRC champ. I think if we don’t win the IRC, I’ll make up a trophy myself and present it to the team.”
The Raiders outshot Eveleth 29-14, including an 11-2 edge in the second period when Greenway had to kill a couple of power plays. Freshman Gino Guyer scored the first goal, Mike Forconi the second, and Josh Miskovich — a senior with no college offers yet — scored the last three.
The Raiders got Eveleth off-balance at the start, put them away with three second-period goals, and made it appear that playing a tougher schedule against AA teams might have been worthwhile.
In Class A, the Silver Bay-Marshall game had all the intensity of a game with seeding as a reward, but it appears Eveleth-Gilbert will be No. 1 seed in the north of 7A, while Silver Bay will be No. 1 in the south and Marshall No. 2.
“We’re locked in as South 2,” said Marshall coach Brendan Flaherty. “Silver Bay will be South 1, and we’ll be South 2.”
That was because Marshall lost by a goal at Silver Bay, when the Toppers were without ace defenseman Tony Tomaino and forward Eric Mendel. In Thursday’s rematch, Mendell’s opening goal gave Marshall a 1-0 lead, but Silver Bay defenseman John Conboy scored the tying goal on a power play midway through the second period, and assisted on Andy Martinson’s goal in the last minute of the middle session. After each team had had a turn with the lead, Jon Blomqvist tied the game for good with 58 seconds left in regulation time.
For good measure, Marshall also defeated a very good Hayward, Wis., team in a 1-0 battle last week.
UP NORTH BOYS HOCKEY RATINGS
STATE
1. Elk River, 17-1
2. Roseau, 19-1
3. Greenway of Coleraine, 16-4
4. Eagan, 18-1
5. Hastings, 16-4
6. Duluth East, 16-5
7. Hibbing, 16-4
8. Eveleth-Gilbert, 18-3
9. Roseville, 17-3.
10. Hill-Murray, 15-3-1
REGIONAL
1. Greenway of Coleraine, 16-4
2. Duluth East, 16-5
3. Hibbing, 16-4
4. Eveleth-Gilbert 18-3
5. Hermantown, 16-3-1
6. Marshall, 12-5-2
7. Silver Bay, 14-5-2
8. Hayward (Wis.), 15-2-1
9. Proctor, 9-11-2
10. Grand Rapids, 7-13
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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