Woog regime ends at U hockey
The 14-year reign of Doug Woog as coach of the University of Minnesota hockey team came to an end Monday, when Woog met with athletic director Mark Dienhart to discuss his options.
It was widely reported throughout the Twin Cities that those options included either a one-year deal to continue coaching or potential multi-year security if Woog would relinquish the coaching job and move into a fund-raising capacity at the U.
That is almost correct.
First of all, the option of coaching for only a one-year contract would have merely been the continuation of status quo, had it been an option for Woog. He has operated on the basis of a one-year contract for several years, with the terms rolling over automatically if neither side had a reason to interrupt it. It has been interrupted.
Amid widespread speculation that Colorado College coach Don Lucia and North Dakota coach Dean Blais were the two front-runners to replace Woog, if a replacement was to be required, it was also announced by Dienhart, with flair and some degree of righteousness, that no “emissary” from the U. had contacted any other coach because Dienhart would consider that unethical.
That is almost correct.
What really happened was that Dienhart and Woog talked about getting together after the NCAA hockey finals. The main public reason for the change was two losing seasons, back to back, after a dozen very impressive finishes.
Beneath the surface, however, the reason for the faltering record was the belated effect of internal unrest that had grown to near-mutiny proportions. Some parents had, recently and finally, come forward, seeking to make their feelings known to president Mark Yudof and/or vice president and former athletic director McKinley Boston. They had genuine complaints about a pattern of negative verbal harrassment that worsened in recent years from sarcastic badgering to something closer to psychological and perhaps emotional abuse. Players were humiliated in front of teammates, in terms that would shock stereotypical longshoremen, and it turned a lot of promising, bright-eyed players into discouraged under-achievers.
The seniors are called in for discussion every year, but this year, some underclassmen were called in as well. They took advantage of the opportunity to say their piece. Several of them were vehement that if Woog came back, they would not.
By the time Monday rolled around, it was clear that Doug Woog could choose to become a fund-raiser, but his well-publicized option to continue coaching was no longer available. Woog made his decision, but waited until Tuesday to meet with the Gopher players before any announcement would be forthcoming. He was not going to gather them together to inform them he would continue coaching. And the actual press conference followed at 3 p.m.
Before then, a group representing the U. was already booked on a flight west, reportedly to meet with Lucia. Always classy, and always respectful for tradition and protocol, Lucia refused to comment on any of the speculation. It was known, however, that the U. had asked for and received official permission to talk to Lucia.
Blais also said he wouldn’t comment until the job opening was official.
It is also known that both Lucia and Blais had been talked to, by people representing the University of Minnesota, on at least two occasions BEFORE Dienhart said no emissary of the U. had talked to any other coaches because it would be unethical. That made the later statement interesting. Was it simply an untrue deception, a pre-admission of unethical behavior, or an indication that Pat Forciea was operating on his own without Dienhart’s knowledge?
I don’t believe Dienhart would lie and say nobody had contacted Lucia or Blais if he had knowledge that it had indeed happened. I think he didn’t know about it, which is an indication of a curious lack of institutional control in the department.
Both Blais and Lucia have lucrative contract offers to stay where they are. Lucia worked a miracle when he went to CC six years ago and led the Tigers from last place to the WCHA title, then, in his first three seasons, became the first coach ever to win three consecutive WCHA titles. Murray Armstrong didn’t do it, John MacInnes didn’t do it, Herb Brooks didn’t do it, Badger Bob Johnson didn’t do it — nobody had ever done it.
Injuries prevented CC from a fourth title — injuries and the emergence of Blais at North Dakota, where, over the last three seasons, he became the SECOND coach to ever win three straight WCHA championships.
Colorado College now plays in a spectacular new arena in Colorado Springs, and Lucia could easily spend the rest of his career there, happy and prosperous. Blais is about to be on the receiving end of a huge and lucrative contract and the Fighting Sioux are going to be beneficiaries of a new $50-million arena, courtesy of Ralph Engelstad, a former Sioux goaltender from Thief River Falls, who is spending some of the wealth from his Las Vegas casino and other holdings to improve UND’s stature by $100-million.
It was altogether fitting and proper, and predictable, that Minnesota would go after Blais and Lucia if it wanted to seek the best young coach in the country. Both qualify.
Blais was a star player at Minnesota and is from International Falls. Lucia was a star defenseman at Grand Rapids and then Notre Dame, and while he is not an “M” man, that hasn’t mattered in football or basketball, or in the administration, where Dienhart and Forciea are both St. Thomas guys.
It appears that because Blais is in the process of finalizing a large contract, one that Minnesota may not be able to match, the Gophers may be leaning toward Lucia. The group traveling on Tuesday to meet with him indicates that, and speculation is that somehow Minnesota will get around the usual month-long equal opportunities waiting period. If the offer to Lucia connects, he could be the coach before this weekend.
Blais still may be in the picture, too. In either case, the university can’t miss. The talent is there, always has been. If I’m right about that, let me be the first to predict that under either one of those coaches the Gophers will win the WCHA title next season. More importantly, the program will rise like a rocket ship to regain its stature as one of the nation’s half-dozen most elite programs.
It had slipped to something less than that. There were the publicized issues of NCAA violations, and several unpublicized issues of allegations of more NCAA violations, but those were secondary to the treatment of players. Some threatened to come forward, and parents threatened to go to the administration, but rarely did that happen and they became enablers for the program to slip.
Understandably, nobody wanted to be the one who criticized the lofty Gopher hockey program. Scott Bloom came forth with a shocking speech at a post-season award banquet in 1990, about how it hadn’t been as much fun on the inside as the perception might have indicated, and he was ostracized by the strongest boosters for speaking out.
Brian Bonin spoke up for his teammates during his Hobey Baker season four years ago, but others backed away from public statements and simply went away in silence.
I have written about some of the issues, and while some thought it was too strong, the letters and e-mails I received since then have been emotional and remarkably poignant.
One of them was from someone who shall remain nameless by my choice, but wrote about a nephew who is a current member of the Gopher team but not from the Up North area:
“It has been his dream since peewee days to play for the
Gophers. He turned down other offers. He thought he would succeed on his
ability to play. He has been dead wrong. Our challenge as a family has been
to keep his self-esteem from going away altogether. He almost transferred…but he has made friends and he doesn’t want to be a ‘quitter.’ He has been ignored; not allowed a regular place on
any line; been bumped from travel without any explanation; all mind games he
has a hard time understanding or playing.
“We hear the stories–everyone talks about them–every player has experienced
something of Woog’s power problem. One player spoke out a year or so ago. So,
the team has been told that at banquets they each have to ‘thank’ Woog for all
he’s done. They are to offer no opinions or make no editorial comment .
“[Some] parents are trying to move behind the scenes, but the good old boy, Minnesotans-don’t-talk-about-it syndromes are in full play here. Everyone is upset. No one will talk about it. No
parent wants to risk their kid’s hockey career. They have been hockey
supporters since their kid got on skates and have been brought up to let the
coach do his job. The kids think being tough means taking whatever he
dishes out. College careers have been horrendous experiences; pro career
possibilities have disappeared; but most importantly young kids have spent
four years being told indirectly that they don’t matter; they aren’t capable;
they can’t make it and no one cares.”
The silence has ended. A new regime is about to be installed, and the returning players will rejoice. I don’t dislike Doug Woog, even if I don’t like what has happened to the program during the second half of his tenure. He and I always have been able to talk, to trade opinions, and to share a few laughs. I imagine we can do that more freely now. I wish him well in his future endeavors.
Laaksonen, Bottoms lead state team to Chicago
Those of us who are stubbornly proud of the caliber of Minnesota high school hockey might be so bold as to proclaim “We could whip any other state’s top players with one arm tied behind our back.” Well, the equivalent of tying one hand behind their collective backs is what makes Minnesota’s entry in the 24-team Chicago Showcase tournament such a fantastic endeavor.
The tournament, which is in its 15th year, will be held in two weeks and it brings together teams from different cities, states and combined states. There are teams from Colorado, Missouri, Alaska, Ohio, Illinois, California, Colorado, Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, New Jersey, and, of course, the mainstays from Massachusetts, New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota.
But there is a difference. While those other states send their top prep players, Minnesota organizers and co-coaches Ted Brill and Dave Hendrickson take Minnesota’s top high school prospects — EXCEPT: no players who already have a Division I commitment, or who prefer to play spring sports.
Obviously, that cuts down dramatically on candidates. But Minnesota is overflowing with players, and even when you skim off those elite players who decline for the above reasons, the selected team is proof of the depth of skill in Minnesota.
“We won the tournament last year and the year before,” said Brill, from his home in Grand Rapids. “The year before that, we lost 2-1 to Massachusetts, and they went on and won the tournament. We had quite a few boys turn us down, and that’s great, because it means they’ve got something solid to look forward to.
“The players we take are sort of the unsung heroes. They’re really good, but maybe they’ve been overlooked. We tell them, when they’re sitting at home with their parents at the dining room table, they know how good they are, and we know how good they are, but maybe by playing in this tournament somebody else will find out how good they are.”
Up North players selected for the Minnesota team include Cloquet goaltender Adam Laaksonen, Hibbing forward O.J. Bottoms, and Roseau’s forward tandem of Mike Klema and Jesse Modahl. Several others that Brill said they would have liked to have had to decline. Players such as Jon Francisco of Hermantown, Josh Miskovich and Beau Geisler of Greenway of Coleraine, Andy Sacchetti of Eveleth-Gilbert, Jay Dardis of Proctor decllined because they are committed.
Minnesota will play in the elite level pool against Buffalo on Wednesday, April 14; against Northern New England on Thursday the 15th; and against Wisconsin on Friday the 16th. Teams are paired by their records in pool play against the other brackets for a game on Saturday the 17th, with the semifinals at 9 a.m. and the championship game at 4 p.m. on Sunday the 18th.
The full Minnesota team: Goaltenders–Laaksonen and Adam Berkhoel of Stillwater; Defensemen–Brian Skrypek of Roseville, Greg Zemple of Blaine, Joe Martin of Buffalo, Josh Singer of Holy Angels, John Dubel of Maple Grove and Bryan Schmidt of Bloomington Jefferson; Forwards–Bottoms, Modahl, Klema, David DuBord and Brett Hammond of Roseville, Matt Koalska and Dan Miller of Hill-Murray, Gabe Hilmoe of Anoka, Dustin Lick of Eagan, Dave Ianozzo of Maple Grove, and Josh Bertelson of Wayzata.
WCHA NOTES:
* The hot rumor circulating around the WCHA all week was that University of Minnesota coach Doug Woog had already been fired and replaced by Colorado College coach Don Lucia. There were even details, such as a five-year deal, eliminating the whole Gopher staff to start anew, and complete recruiting freedom. The rumor, if anything, is certainly premature. Preliminary contacts had been made several weeks ago to North Dakota coach Dean Blais, who is from International Falls, and to Lucia, who is from Grand Rapids. Secondary contacts also have been made more recently with both, but nothing official, such as asking official permission from those colleges to discuss job details. The whole thing has just been a scouting mission, in case Minnesota decides to remove Woog as coach. Those coaches logically did some preliminary scouting on their own, which may have caused the assumption it was done, and led to the rumors. Until Minnesota administrators meet with Woog to discuss options — which might be anticipated in the next few days — all such rumors are premature, if not unfounded.
* Indications are that the Nashville NHL franchise might offer UMD freshman Kent Sauer a contract to turn him pro after only one year of WCHA hockey. Sauer said he hasn’t heard anything concrete and, unless an outstanding offer presents itself, he intends to stay in school. Sauer, only one year out of high school, had to battle to become comfortable at the WCHA pace. Nashville, a new team, may be looking for a young tough guy as a fighter, and Sauer’s size (6-2, 225) make him a worthy candidate. He probably would have a better chance to develop as a complete player by staying at UMD, but it could come down to how much money is offered to him.
NCAA hockey tournament needs an overhaul
The curious regional setup of the NCAA hockey tournament has outgrown what once was a novel idea. It needs an overhaul, and the sooner the better.
The NCAA continues to look upon the hockey tournament as sort of a nuisance child in the family of NCAA tournaments. The ruling committee selects 12 teams to play at two sites. This year’s sites were Madison, Wis., and Worcester, Mass. Madison should be fun, you figure, recalling all those nights of sellout crowds screaming and chanting.
Kohl Center has been built in Madison now, and the Badgers have to share it between their hockey and basketball teams. It is large, with over 15,000 or 16,000 possible. But Dane County Coliseum bid for the tournament, and got it with more like 8,500 capacity.
The Badgers weren’t in the tournament, and neither was Minnesota. Without two such noted draws, the first-round games drew 2,414 fans to see Boston College edge Northern Michigan, while Colorado College whipped St. Lawrence 5-2. The next day, 2,910 poured into the place. Where are those Badger fans? On spring break. But consider this: In the plush new Kohl Center, neither the Badger hockey team nor the basketball team sold out its 14,000-plus seats for even one game.
However, that total of 5,324 fans would have fit nicely into Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, or even at the new facility in Colorado Springs, although it is certain that holding the tournament at any campus rink where its team is involved would easily outsell the paltry showing in Madison, where the question was answered once and for all that the crowds are Badger fans, regardless of the sport.
The current setup has a couple of glaring problems. First, it needs to be presold to fans more enthusiastically than this one was, with only 2,400 sold before the tournament began. Second, I don’t like a tournament where one team has a bye while its opponent is decided in a rugged game the night before.
My suggestion is to go to 16 teams, something the NCAA steadfastly has refused to consider. Then we do away with the ridiculous power-rating setup and simply advise the four leagues that they each can come up with four teams. Let the leagues decide who will be seeded 1, 2, 3, and 4. Submit them to the NCAA, then they can put the tournament together by the following formula:
* Pick four sites, one for each league. Hockey East could be in Boston, ECAC in Lake Placid, CCHA in Detroit, and the WCHA could rotate among the various capable buildings, or, better still, be held until the final week before being decided, based on the No. 1 seed.
* At each of the four sites, the host team is seeded No. 1, while a No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 — all from different leagues — will also be seeded in. Then you play 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 in the semis, with the winners going the next night for a spot in the final four.
Local fans would probably be more tempted to go watch the other teams play, in addition to their own, in this setup. And they play off to one winner. At Madison, there were a couple buses from North Dakota, but they left before dawn on Sunday, got in to see the game, then headed home after the game. While it’s tough for a team to have to play a good team for the right to play a rested, better team, it’s also unfair to the team seeded with a bye. And why should that team, or its fans, show up and spend money for games a day early when their team is scheduled to play just one game, the next day?
I envison the Lake Placid site having Clarkson, Michigan, Denver, and Boston College; the Boston site would have New Hampshire, St. Lawrence, St. Cloud State and Ohio State; the Detroit site would have Michigan State, Colorado College, Maine and RPI; and Grand Forks could host North Dakota, Northern Michigan, Providence and Colgate.
Next year, the WCHA host could be Denver, or CC, or St. Cloud, or Wisconsin, depending on who is No. 1 seed. If some arena is too small, think about last weekend, and how easy it would be to get more than 6,000 for each session.
Whatever, this formula would leave room so that if one conference is better — or luckier — in a given year, it would gain more than one berth in the final four. But it would be determined on the ice, not in a boardroom. This year, the committee weighed all the criteria carefully, and decided the CCHA was deserving of four places while the ECAC got two, and, since those two weren’t seeded very high, both were whipped quickly. But if the CCHA got four teams, only one made it, in Michigan State. The WCHA got blanked, while Hockey East got three teams — and all three made it to Anaheim. Does that mean the computer was bunk? Should it have given four spots to Hockey East and cut down the CCHA and WCHA?
Forget the politics, or even the computer. Let each league have four teams, and let those leagues decide how they want to seed and submit their four. Regular season? Fine. Playoff? OK. Just submit your own league’s 1-2-3-4 teams, by preconceived formula or by league vote.
Indy 500 seeks to regain past glory
For the fourth year in a row, the Indianapolis 500 will be conducted only by drivers and teams from the Indy Racing League, and the bigger names with their more-exotic race cars will be off racing somewhere else.
You can take sides as you choose, but you have to agree with one distinct fact: The Indianapolis 500 used to be THE race in the world, where the best drivers from all over the world came to compete in the world’s largest single sports event, and now it’s something less than that.
The split came when Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss, Tony George, decided to regain control of the kind of racing that would run at Indy by outlawing the extremely expensive cars from the Championship Auto Racing Teams.
It has been a rocky rivalry, and both sides have lost a lot.
In its first year without CART, the bigger names at CART ran a 500-mile race in direct conflict with Indy at Michigan International Speedway. The CART superstars were understandably a bit haughty in their superiority — right up until they had a massive crash at the start of their race, the kind of crash they assumed the novice-filled racers at Indy might suffer.
Buddy Lazier won that Indy 500. There was no question the CART cars were faster, because that first Indy-without-CART-stars required all entries to use year-old or older race cars, in order to curtail costs.
However, the Indy folks overlooked the fact that the main reason for the outrageous expense of CART cars was because of constantly escalating safety alterations. That was proven tragically when Indy pole-sitter Scott Brayton was killed in a pre-race crash when his head whiplashed to the side and he broke his neck. Experts agreed that had he been in a CART car with its new-that-year body cowling around the back and sides of the driver’s helmet, Brayton undoubtedly would have escaped uninjured.
Jimmy Vasser won the CART series, and Alex Zanardi, his Target-Ganassi teammate, had a sensational rookie season. Fans who went to Indy never saw them.
The next year, CART decided to abandon its head-on competition and inaugurated the Motorola 300 at Madison, Ill., which is in suburban St. Louis. The IRL went to its own specific race cars, with body designs by Dallara or G-Force, and non-turbocharged stockblock engines produced by only Oldsmobile(Aurora) or Nissan. The cars proved tail-heavy and had a dangerous tendency to swap ends and smack walls rear-first, and the new engine formula was met with a whole bunch of blown engines. Arie Luyendyk won that Indy 500, while, over in CART, Zanardi won the season points title and teammate Vasser was runner-up, but Indy fans still hadn’t ever seen them.
Last year, that format continued, and the gap between the two seemed to widen. Zanardi dominated CART’s season, while a dazzling array of new young stars, including Greg Moore, Dario Franchitti, Gil deFerran, Bryan Herta, Helio Castro-Neves, Patrick Carpentier, Tony Kanaan and more seriously invaded the stronghold of veterans such as Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Paul Tracy, Christian Fittipaldi, and Vasser.
Eddie Cheever won an exciting Indy 500, but the race had changed a lot. It was better, by far, in 1998 than it had been in 1997 or 1996, but it still wasn’t the ultimate race for the best drivers. Tony Stewart, the IRL’s top developed driver, left the IRL for NASCAR after last season, although he is coming back to race at the Indy 500, then dashing off to a private jet to race in the World 600 NASCAR event the same day, Sunday.
There are other impressive young drivers in IRL racing. Greg Ray, Kenny Brack, Billy Boat, plus former CART chargers Cheever, Roberto Guerrero, Raul Boesel and Luyendyk will lead the way at Indy.
Both the IRL and CART are consumed with safety nowadays. Last year, three CART fans were killed when a wheel popped off the crashing car of Adrian Fernandez at Michigan International Speedway and flew over the guardrail and into the stands. So CART raised the guardrail along the stands from 15 feet to 17 feet, curving out over the track as well to better contain such debris.
Track officials at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte looked over Michigan’s situation and checked its own fence, which is 15 feet high. Tragically, when Stan Wattles and John Paul Jr. crashed in Turn 4 in the IRL race on May 1, the tire and suspension flew off Wattles’ car, and witnesses said it glanced off the top of the guardrail and then into the stands, killing three fans and injuring eight more. Sad that Charlotte didn’t raise its fence from 15 to 17 feet because that might have been enough to catch the broken parts, but we’ll never know.
The result is that cars at the Indy 500 will have their wheels attached to the race cars by tethers, just like Formula 1 cars are, to prevent such flyaway parts.
It’s ironic that Tony George stated his reasons for splitting off into the IRL as desiring to put the Indy 500 back within reach of middle-American oval-track sprint-car types, keeping costs down, and trying to eliminate the domination by the exotic and costly cars and foreign road-racers. Yet, last year’s series champ was Kenny Brack, a road-racer from Sweden. And Tony George’s next move is renovating the Speedway to also include a road course, so Indy will be host to a U.S. Grand Prix Formula 1 race next year — the most expensive and exotic cars, ALL driven by foreign drivers.
But that’s in the future. This weekend, the two factions will go at it again. CART will run at Madison on Saturday, with Zanardi gone to Formula 1, and in his place a Colombian rookie named Juan Montoya, who has won three straight CART races in Chip Ganassi’s car that Zanardi would have been driving.
And the IRL will have a go at the Indy 500 again, with the promise of a faster, more competitive race than ever. Luyendyk, in his final race, is on the pole, with Greg Ray in John Menard’s team car in the middle and Billy Boat, A.J. Foyt’s driver, on the outside of the front row. Brack, Goodyear, Steve Knapp, Cheever, Lazier, Stewart and the rest are scattered throughout the rest of the 33-car field.
Maybe CART and the IRL will eventually get back together. Maybe not. For now, CART still has the better names and the swifter, more advanced race cars. But the IRL is improving, both in the level of driving and in equipment. Maybe there’s room for both.
DOUBLEHEADER SET
FOR PROCTOR RACES
All Proctor Speedway needs is a break from the weatherman, and the schedule for Memorial Day weekend should do the rest. Along with the usual Sunday night races, Proctor will run a special Monday night program as well, with a $24,000 expanded purse for the two dates.
On Sunday, starting at 6 p.m., Proctor will run Late Models, Super Stocks and Pure Stocks, and on Monday, also at 6 p.m., those same three classes will be augmented by Modified and Street Stocks in a race that will also be the first in a five-race joint venture with Superior Speedway.
That Monday race is the first of the Amsoil $11,000 series for all Wissota licensed Late Models, which will pay $5,000 to the winner of the five-race series. Other designated races in the series are Tuesday, June 15 at Superior; Wednesday, July 7 at Proctor; Thursday, Sept. 2 at Proctor; and Saturday, Sept. 11 at Superior.
Hockey world mourns death of Don Clark
An array of hard-core amateur hockey notables made their way to the tiny town of Cumberland, Wis., last Saturday for the sad and reluctant task of bidding farewell to one of the most beloved hockey personalities in Upper Midwest history.
Don Clark, a tireless promoter for the sport and its leading historian, died a week ago Monday at his home in Cumberland at the age of 83.
Outside St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Cumberland, official Bob O’Connor, a leading hockey clinic instructor for USA Hockey, paused and looked at the bright sunshine and blue sky.
“It’s been a week of constant rain, and now look at this,” said O’Connor. “It’s a perfect day, and it’s just like God made this day, just for Don.”
Inside the church, Robert Fleming and Roger Godin gave eulogies for Clark’s long and wide-ranging lifetime in hockey. Fleming, a longtime official in both state and national amateur hockey operations, told of driving northward from his home in Rochester and stopping in Cumberland to pick up Clark and drive to countless hockey games in Northern Minnesota. He said he finally bought a cabin in Cumberland.
Godin, who operated the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame during its first decade of operation, recalled how Clark had helped found the hall and provided numerous fact and artifacts to the hall, even though he kept countless other bits of historicaly hockey memorabilia at his humble home in Cumberland.
Cal Marvin, from Warroad, and Buck Riley, from International Falls, made the six-hour trip to Cumberland, and numerous other veteran hockey types were present. Mostly, though, they were the type of hockey people who worked behind the scenes, more than prominent big shots in the game, and maybe that was appropriate, because that was Clark’s legacy. He always tried to get things done for the sport, but he worked just as hard to avoid credit for his accomplishments.
Clark, whose intense interest in hockey covers more than 50 years, founded the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association in 1947 with Riley and Robert Ridder. Clark later managed various amateur and U.S. National teams, and became an official in the Amateur Hockey Association of the U.S. (later USA Hockey).
Ever-humble, Clark was best known as a historian — virtually a walking encyclopedia who could relay countless elements tracing the development of hockey in Minnesota and the country. He was such a devoted and influential part of the sport that he was inducted to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth in 1978.
Clark’s health had been faltering since he suffered a heart attack last Nov. 1, and he was treated for congestive heart failure during the winter, which confined him to his home in Cumberland.
“But he got out of bed to attend the opening ceremonies of a new arena that was built in Siren (Wis.) about six weeks ago,” said John Clark, one of his three sons. “He was on oxygen, but nothing stopped him. He was hoping to go out in a little while for another new arena in the Baldwin area.”
Clark is survived by his wife, Harriet, and sons Mark of Cumberland, Tom of St. Paul, and John of Inver Grove Heights.
His wife and sons were with him through his final days. “He knew he was dying, but he still had a lot of curiosity, and we had some touching conversations with him last Sunday,” said John Clark. “He was so weak the last few weeks that you could hardly hear his voice, but he was still able to comfort my mother.”
Clark was born May 25, 1915, in Kensal, N.D., and grew up in Faribault, Minn., where he played amateur baseball and hockey. He was a good enough baseball player to be named to a Southern Minny League all-star team that played against the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, when Ted Williams was on the Millers team.
He was in the Civilian Conservation Corps before graduating in dairy science from the University of Minnesota. He worked for 20 years as a chemist for the Twin Cities Milk Producer’s Association, and was one of the founders of the Minnesota Dairy Technology Society. He held various administrative officers in MAHA from that date until 1988, during which time the number of registered hockey teams grew from 45 to nearly 4,000, and the number of indoor ice facilities grew from 13 to more than 220.
In 1952, Clark organized the first statewide tournament for Bantam hockey teams — the first state tournament of its kind in the U.S. He was the manager of the 1958 U.S. National hockey team, which was the first U.S. sports team to ever compete in the Soviet Union, and in 1959-60, Clark was manager of the Green Bay Bobcats, which won the U.S. Hockey League championship.
In 1961, he was hired as lab supervisor at the Stella Cheese company in Cumberland, and from there he continued to stay deeply involved in hockey well beyond his retirement in 1980. He served in administrative positions and as a director of organizations such as AHAUS and MAHA, and his interest in hockey history and collecting of memorabilia made it logical to help organize the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Along with his induction to the Hall, Clark was presented with the National Hockey League’s Lester Patrick Award, the Hall of Fame’s Heritage Award, the Minnesota North Stars “Maroosh” Award, and the annual award for dedicated service presented by the Minnesota high school coaches association.
As a historian, Clark was constantly consulted by authors and writers and provided endless supplies of information. He was responsible for compiling the AHAUS and Olympic hockey guide books from the 1950s until the 1980s.
Memorials may be sent to Regional Hospice of Ashland, Wis., or to the Donald M. Clark Hockey Scholarship Award at the University of Minnesota.
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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