Hockey History 1968-69

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Take, for instance, the 1968-69 Lumberjack hockey team.

Enthusiastic fans cram a cold ice arena, a young team of Lumberjacks battle all season to play for a championship title, an unguarded net seals a victory, a championship title is earned, stories begin, memories are made, and history is set. We start at the beginning ...

By 1968, the Cloquet Lumberjacks (later the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton squad) were still a young hockey program with big hopes, meager resources and lots of grit. In the late 1960s, basketball was "king" in the area, and hockey clubs were a minor step above rec leagues around the city of Cloquet.

Former players, such as Cha Karulak (CHS '70), played on the 1968-69 squad and remember vividly the daily practice conditions. In a recent conversation, he recalled practicing on a sheet of ice at Washington Elementary School, the brick building on the property serving as a warming house/locker room for the team. Sometimes the players battled large crevasses and cracks in the ice, and after a hard practice it was time to take care of the ice. With no Zamboni, the team pulled together: the worn boys shoveling the ice using seven or eight snow plow shovels put together making large mounds, and the players would shovel the ice over the boards. Sometimes a player would shoot the puck, hit the crossbar of the net, and it would keep flying, breaking a Washington School window. At the beginning of the season, if the conditions of the rink were in question, the team would travel to Duluth to practice on the Curling Club's sheet, often arriving home on cold winter nights past 1 or 2 a.m.

A few games were played outside, with a "home bench" fashioned from dug-out snow.

"We usually won the outdoor game," Karulak pointed out, since the area teams were not used to the elements. When scheduled to play indoors, they usually played .500 against Duluth teams, and he remembers East being a huge rival.

When Karulak was on the JV team and playing a game at the Washington School rink, jerseys were often traded from one player to another - hot and sweaty from the previous wearer. In the early days helmets were leather, with no cages. Early games give new meaning to the popular-culture phrase, "Need more cowbell," because instead of a buzzer to announce a period's end when playing outdoors, a cowbell was used. Cloquet fans were described as "daring", because if the cold didn't take you out, a flying puck would, since piles of snow served as a rink board.

Cloquet's grit was legendary, prompting popular sports columnist Bruce Bennett to write a column about the Lumberjack "Icemen's" win shortly after the title-winning game in 1969:

"This precedented-shocking circumstance has caused a few raised eyebrows in Duluth the past few days; but it also brought great joy to the growing (and they are growing, judging from the crowds at the district tournament) legions of hockey fans in the communities of Cloquet and Silver Bay.

Cloquet's victory was particularly sweet. Coach Bill Kennedy and his Lumberjacks have no "home ice" except for an outdoor rink which has been clogged with snow most of this winter."

Bennett wrote about how the Lumberjacks had to bus to Duluth, Two Harbors and Silver Bay, to practice inside as well as for games, noting that many of Cloquet's earlier practices were held on "swamps and ponds."

By 1968 hockey was gaining steam in the Cloquet area. Bill Kennedy was the newly hired coach of the Lumberjacks and assisted by Dan Stanaway.

What happens on Feb. 6, 1969 was truly special. Fifty years ago, this season, the Lumberjacks captured their very first District Championship.

The newspapers proclaimed the achievement:

From the school newspaper the next day: "Cloquet Icemen made their mark in district 26 hockey by defeating Silver Bay to gain our FIRST District championship."

The Duluth News Tribune recapped the 2-0 victory that led to District 26 high school hockey championship for Cloquet.

The "go ahead" goal was scored by No. 8 Lewie Castle, with less than two minutes gone in the first period in front of the 4,000 fans crammed into the arena.

Royal Prevost scored the second goal after the Silver Bay bench decided to pull their goalie with 20 seconds left, a last-ditch effort to tie the game. Prevost "intercepted an errant Mariner pass at the Silver Bay blue line, skated a few feet and let go with the insurance marker that slowly slid into the cage," the Duluth News Tribune proclaimed.

History was made, as it was the first time in District hockey history that a team outside of Duluth had won the championship.

Victory was particularly sweet as it was the first time Cloquet brought home a championship trophy.

What was the combination of the Lumberjack's success? Trust, chemistry, friendship, a little skill, and a collective need to win.

Recently, a few players from that winning team, including Karulak and Arnie Engdahl, commented on "the Lumberjack's big win." It is clear that "Purple Pride" doesn't leave a player ­- ever. Both men were eager to share their memories of 50 years ago. They recounted practices, players, coaches and games. Passionately they spoke of their love of hockey, the Lumberjacks and their hometown. Their conversations flowed easily about how the benefits of being a Lumberjack far outweighed the hard work. Lumberjack blood still courses through their veins, and even though they all live in different parts of the country, they still can't shake being a Lumberjack.

Both men credit the impact hockey had on their lifelong work: Cha currently serves as Headmaster at the Winston School in San Antonio, and Arnie is retired and lives in the Twin Cities. He recently started working in the Special Education Department at Bloomington Jefferson.

Indeed they want modern players to know the history, the big win. But more importantly they offer advice to up-and-coming Lumberjacks: It is a privilege to wear the purple sweater.

It can be summarized like this: "The hard work, adversity, teamwork, mental toughness will help you succeed in what comes your way in the future. Your friendships, relationships with coaches and other players, and time spent playing hockey will anchor you. Play hockey and play it well, but be a good guy off the ice. Enjoy the fans."

Yes, things have changed in 50 years. Equipment is safer, rules have evolved, and the locker room is definitely warmer. They don't use a cowbell anymore, although, at times they could use more of it. Certain Duluth teams are still the Lumberjacks' No. 1 rival.

Yet, some things defy time in hockey. We still have players from 50 years ago that we can celebrate and remind people that certain parts of the game remain: tradition, hard-work, teamwork, pushing on, digging deep despite the odds.

Share your hockey story. Contact Jody Acers at the Lumberjack Blue Line Club at LumberjackBLC.org.