Hermantown Star

Hawks win LSC golf title

Tom Cox putts for the Hawks during the final round of the Lake Superior Conference golf tournament Wednesday at Northland Country Club. The Hermantown boys won the 2008 LSC golf title with a team score of 636, 11 strokes better than second-place Duluth Denfeld. Cox finished with an 83 for 18 holes on the day.

The Hawk girls finished second overall with a team score of 842. Duluth Marshall won the girls’ title with a score of 732.

Pick up the May 22 copy of the Hermantown Star for more photos and scores for the LSC tournament.

All they do is win

The Hermantown Hawks stayed undefeated with wins over Ashland and Esko Thursday at home. The softball team continues to pile up the victories season after season, yet rarely does the local squad get a state ranking until late in the season, if at all. If you enjoy great softball, check out the squad this month and be treated to some great play on the field.

Hockey celebration Saturday

Those outside the sport do not understand it and even those deeply involved have a hard time explaining it. But for some reason, hockey is life for many people in Minnesota. In Hermantown, that has certainly been the case.

The sport has never been so popular in Hawk country since the high school program won its first state title during the 2006-07 season. It sparked even more interest in the community as the Hermantown Amateur Hockey Association (HAHA) saw a record number of youths in the program this past season.

Hockey is a commitment in time, energy and money. Parents buy equipment, haul their sons and daughters back and forth to the ice rink and spend countless hours in cold arenas all over the state. Most would not have it any other way.

It is not uncommon for those in the hockey community to get their kids on skates before they can walk. It is not unusual to see those same youngsters stay on those skates and play the sport well into their senior years.

Ice time at the Hermantown Ice Arena is constantly being used by those in the community — young and old. During the winter months, the outdoor rinks are a flurry of activity as future stars work on their skills to one day show them off at the high school level.

Saturday’s celebration of the history of Hermantown hockey is more than honoring past players and coaches for helping create a top-notch program. It is a reunion of sorts for the community of countless people who either have been heavily involved in the sport or causal observers.

“A lot of people are excited about this event,” Hermantown coach Bruce Plante said. “Students are excited, the band is excited. This really is going to be a reunion for many people in the community.”

Last week, parents and community volunteers were finalizing details for Saturday’s event at the Golf Skydome in Hermantown. Many local businesses and individuals have donated items to be raffled off and made available for the live and silent auctions.

The spaghetti dinner starts at 6 p.m. and the program will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 14 and under.

After the program, there will be a dance at the Skydome to complete the evening.

Randy Bannor has put in countless hours gathering photos, video footage and producing a video that will be shown at the event. He said they have been collecting several hundred photos to be shown during the program and dinner.

Josh Zenner of WDIO TV will be the emcee of the program.

All four varsity coaches have been invited and plan to say a few words during the program, too.
Dave Kolquist attended Monday’s school board meeting to invite the board members and the entire community. He said it will be an overview of the past, present and future of Hermantown hockey. The goal is to cele-brate the success of hockey in the community.

“We have a state championship program,” Kolquist said.

The overall goal of the fundraiser is to generate revenue that can be used for the hockey program in the years to come. With many districts having to make cutbacks, Kolquist said the money will be used to assist the hockey team in future years.

One example Kolquist used was the fact that the team did not have the funds to stay Saturday night in the Twin Cities after winning the state title in 2007. He said local business owners and individuals helped pay for the team to stay one more night and enjoy their championship title.

Winning the state title certainly has elevated Hermantown hockey in the state and around the region. More and more players are going on to play junior hockey and eventually playing college hockey. The Hawks had three players on UMD’s squad this past year. Freshman Chad Huttel went right from a state championship team to the Division I level, and he received the Mike Sertich Award (Most Improved Player) this season, collecting one goal and one assist in 16 games while finishing a plus-5 on the year.

Kyle Schmidt, who played two years in junior hockey, also was a freshman this season. Nick Kemp played his third season for the Bulldogs.

Drew LeBlanc, who spent his senior year playing for Chicago in the USHL, has committed to playing for St. Cloud State University next year.

Organizers of the event are quick to point out that this event is not just for those who are directly related with the hockey program. While hockey is the theme, it is a chance to catch up with old friends and reflect on a rich history that the sport has developed in Hermantown.

Hockey in Hermantown has always been about carrying on a tradition that started back in the 1940s. Moments after winning the state title last March, Huttel told a group of young hockey players from Hermantown that they could achieve the same success if they work hard and stick with it.

The first-ever Hermantown hockey history event Saturday will be a way for the entire community to catch up with some familiar faces and help celebrate a successful program that has been decades in the making.

Hermantown Hockey: The Early Years

by Wade Petrich
Editor

Bill Rouleau recalled several members of the Hermantown boys’ basketball team were skating around with the hockey team on the outdoor rink by the high school (which is now the middle school building) when the head coach of the basketball team, Dick Veech, came outside.

“All the guys hid from coach Veech because he did not want them playing hockey and getting hurt,” Rouleau recalled.

Back in the early 1960s, basketball was the big winter sport and hockey was still a novelty.

Rouleau was a member of the Hawks’ hockey program from 1964-66. He was a sophomore when Hermantown re-started the program after more than a 10-year hiatus. Bernard Cousineau was the coach and the team practiced on two outdoor rinks by the high school.

“We very seldom skated inside,” Rouleau said. If they did get a chance to practice at the Duluth Curling Club, it was normally at five in the morning.

Rouleau said the outdoor rinks had good, hard ice because they came up with a Zamboni-type machine to resurface the ice from time to time. They used hot water and the device was rolled along the ice manually. All the home games were played on the outdoor ice.

“Most teams played outdoors back then,” Rouleau said. “Few schools had their own indoor rink. We used to have to shovel the rink before games if it snowed. A lot of the parents helped too. I remember us being out there when it was 20 below.”

Having an outdoor rink of any kind was a luxury the 1949 team never had. For one year, Hermantown offered a hockey program to students.

Lyle Carlson was on that team and he remembers having practices on ponds in the neighborhood, including Mud Lake. On a rare occasion the team would take an old bus, driven by Coach Mickolajak to the Duluth city rinks.

“We were not real skilled hockey players back then, but we had fun,” Carlson recalled.
Carlson remembers beating Floodwood, who had a team that year. Other teams in the Polar League were Duluth Denfeld, Two Harbors and Duluth Cathedral.

The team did not have enough players for even two lines and Carlson said he played center and wing. He said players stayed on the ice until they were nearly too tired to stand.

Duane Shaw played goalie, which took a lot of courage back in those days.

“We did have helmets back then, but they were made of cardboard,” Carlson said. “We used football jerseys in games and some of the guys used magazines for shin pads. We did have regular hockey gloves and skates.”

With no youth program, Rouleau said many of the players learned while skating for the varsity team.
“I was the last one cut from the basketball team my sophomore year so I decided to try and play hockey,” Rouleau said.

Those teams in the early 1960s still had three lines (Rouleau played defense). He remembers teammates Tommy Helmer, Steve Gibson, Dan Kuklis, Johnny Gamache, Lenny Green, Dale Perkins and Robbie Olson.
“They were a great bunch of guys,” Rouleau said. “We had a lot of fun playing back then.”

Since hockey still was in its infancy stage, basketball was the big draw. The fan base was modest for home hockey games and Rouleau said that during home basketball games the outdoor rinks were closed.

After his high school playing days, Rouleau volunteered to help with the newly formed youth program in Hermantown, helping coach at a variety of levels. His son, Brett, got to play in the indoor arena when that was finally built.

“There is a great commitment from this community with the hockey program,” Rouleau said. “So many people are willing to give back and that is how we have been able to produce Division I hockey players over the years.”

While the teams in the early days of Hermantown hockey did not enjoy the same success in terms of victories that today’s squads have enjoyed, these young men laid a solid foundation for hockey in the community, and had lots of fun in the process.

Hawks fall to Lumberjacks in basketball

The Hermantown boys’ basketball team fell to Cloquet 67-41 in the Section 7AAA quarterfinals Wednesday night (March 12). The top-seeded Lumberjacks led by 12 at halftime and never let the Hawks get any closer in the second half.

Hermantown will graduate four seniors in John O’Brien, Zach Abukhodair, Carl Gustafson and Taylor Klein.

The Hawks finished the season with a 1-25 mark.

(Above, Cory Kucza fights for a loose ball in the section quarterfinals.)

LSC alpine meet

The Hermantown alpine ski teams had a strong showing at the Lake Superior Conference meet Thursday (Jan. 24) at Mont du Lac, just south of Duluth. Check back for results.

Hunters top Hawks 1-0

Jake Johnson scored in the final minute of the third period to give the Denfeld Hunters a 1-0 victory over the Hawks in boys’ hockey action Thursday night.
For Hermantown, it is the first regular season loss since falling to Lake of the Woods in the final game of the 2005-06 season. The Hawks went undefeated last year and defeated Greenway 7-3 in the season opener.
The Hawks led in shots and put plenty of pressure on the Hunters, but were unable to score.
Johnson scored when both teams had a player in the penalty box. While it looked like play had stopped, the puck slipped under the pads of goalie Ben Tessier for the unassisted goal.
This game, played at the DECC, was the second of five away games Hermantown has to open the season. The Hawks will face Sauk Rapids Saturday afternoon.
Along with a key Lake Superior Conference game, both the Hermantown and Denfeld play in Section 5A this season.

Hermantown baseball board considers changes

Now that the World Series is over and the cooler weather has initiated its grip on the Northland, its time to start thinking, once again, about.....baseball!

The Hermantown Baseball Board of Directors meets each month throughout the year. The board oversees all Hermantown youth baseball leagues, from T-Ball through American Legion, in an effort to develop and implement strategies to make the summer baseball experience enjoyable for all ages.

At this time, the board is considering changes to improve league operations. These may include the restructuring of leagues as well as facility improvements.

In order to continue providing a quality youth program, the board welcomes and encourages your input and suggestions regarding these issues. Please contact any board member with your suggestions by November 26, 2007. Contact information can be obtained by logging on to the Hermantown Baseball website at hermantownbaseball.org.

Suggestions will be reviewed at the November 28, 2007 meeting and decisions will be made at a later date.

Monthly board meetings are posted on the website and are open to the public.

Hawks fall to Greyhounds

Hermantown came up short against Duluth East in the Section 7AAAA football finals Friday at Corey Veech Memorial Field.

The Greyhounds scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Hawks 35-13 and advance to their first state tournament in the sport.

Trailing 14-13 to start the third quarter, Hermantown moved the ball down the field before a fumble ended the drive and East took over on their own 19 yard line. Hawks’ coach Daryl Illikainen said if his team could have scored on that drive it might have changed the outcome. His team had three costly turnovers that the visitors were able to turn into points.

Derek Engseth and Branden Perrault had touchdowns for Hermantown. Read the complete story in Thursday’s Hermantown Star.

Photos courtsey of Paul Olson.

Hawks retain LSC crown

Hermantown wrapped up the Lake Superior Conference crown with a 3-1 win over Duluth Marshall Thursday in girls’ soccer. The Hawks have not lost in 25 straight LSC games, going 21-0-4 during the current stretch.

All four goals were scored in the second half, with Megan Mullen getting the winning goal at just over the midway point of the second. Jami Weiss scored the game’s first goal and Erika Bergstedt made it 3-1 with nine minutes left after the Hilltoppers cut the lead at 2-1 three minutes before.

Above, Kara Annoni goes after a loose ball in the second half. Below, Chelsea Cossin goes after the ball against Marshall’s Emily Diener deep in Hermantown’s end.