The Global Game < The Men Who Missed "Miracle" >

As I sat down to watch, Miracle, the 2004 cinematic retelling of unquestionably one of the greatest upsets in sports history, the 1980 USA Olympic Men’s hockey team defeating the powerhouse USSR Olympic men’s hockey team at Lake Placid earlier in the week, I began to wonder about the talented and heart-driven young men who were painfully cut from that storied, legendary roster. Young men, for one reason or another, that didn’t fit the bill or impress enough for team USA staff and especially make an impact on the critical eye of celebrated head coach Herb Brooks, heading into their home soil international tournament. Certainly as qualified as their collegian counterparts, these nine young ice gladiators were forced to miss out on history in the making and chance at sporting immortality.

Brooks giving instruction to US Olympic team members at
practice in 1979.  - video grab

In March of 1979 the schematics of what was to be of the1980 US Olympic hockey team was rolled out at three open tryouts in Bloomington, Minnesota, Oak Park, Michigan and Danvers, Massachusetts. And from there, players were selected to participate in the National Sports Festival held in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the end of July 1979. The abrasive and intense Brooks, who had become the most successful coach in American college hockey in the 1970’s,  had a simple plan from the beginning, in his words, was “to throw their (the Russians) game right back at them.” Using this theme, Brooks and his staff created a six-month rugged training program with a strategy to bond the players as a team. Brooks surmised the only way that would happen in such a short schedule of time was to have his college players believe in one common enemy – Him. As the training program moved on, the players on the team became a very tight unit with idea that it was “us” versus Brooks. The players were constantly trying to prove to him that they’re good enough to play.

In early September, the team began a challenging exhibition schedule.  Beginning with an initial European tour in early September, the team played a 61-game pre-Olympic schedule against foreign, college and professional teams, ultimately finishing with a 42-16-3 record. It was during this time together that the players were introduced to Brooks' new offensive game plan called the 'weave.' Brooks felt that if his club was going to compete against Europeans, they had better learn how to play like Europeans.

Team USA staff put the call out to all of the colleges across the country in an effort to round out their roster for national and ultimate gold-medal glory. Brooks, who had just finished leading the University of Minnesota's Golden Gophers to the national championship in 1979, now had the responsibility of selecting the 20 players to represent his United States Olympic team. Brooks didn't take any chances; he went with what he knew - local boys. So, while 12 of the 20 players on the final roster were native Minnesotans, nine of those 12 were players whom Brooks had coached as Gophers.

Of the numerous standout All-American players who accepted invitations to tryout, it’s almost impossible to know how many players took the initial call to the home base of the Olympic team in Bloomington, Minnesota. Research and history tells us that there were three of the higher profile players who had talented and winning pedigrees on college squad that didn’t even make it to the touring team by September of 1979.

 

Boston College Eagle Joe Mullen

The top choice and first of the group of three never even made an appearance at the tryouts in Minnesota - Boston College Eagle sniper Joe Mullen. The future NHL Hall of Famer and three-time Stanley Cup winner had an outstanding college career where he was selected as an All-American in both 1978 and 1979. As a junior in 1978, Mullen even led the Eagles to the NCAA championship game against rival and eventual hockey legend and US Olympic team starter in net Jim Craig’s Boston University.

Right away, Mullen became heavily recruited by Brooks to be a potential “lock” for the final roster. However, because his father was ill at the time, he opted to instead turn pro and use the new income to help out his family. Mullen already made quite a splash in his international debut with the US national team at the World Ice Hockey Championships tournament in Moscow immediately after his college career had ended in the spring of 1979. He scored seven goals in eight games for Team USA and quickly signed a free agent contract with the NHL St. Louis Blues by the end of the summer.

Two other players who had legitimate shots at surviving the first initial cuts eventually became victims of a numbers game. Brooks and Team USA had their pick of litter of the best college hockey players of the late 70’s;  Colorado College’s  All American defenseman  Dave Feamster and Brown’s star backstopper Mark Holden didn’t make the grade.

 

Dave Feamster

Feamster might have been a player Brooks could’ve utilized in his “quick attack” style he was intent on implementing for his 1980 Olympic team. Feamster was an offensive, rushing defenseman who played four years at Colorado College, scoring 42 points in 39 games as a sophomore and was chosen 96th overall by the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. He also played on Team USA when it finished fifth at the 1978 World Junior Championships. Feamster enjoyed his best college performance in his senior year in 1979-80 with 50 points in 37 games. He was also named to the WCHA first all-star team and the NCAA west first all-American team.

Brown University goaltender Mark Holdn

For Holden, his hockey career once again collided with legend and eventual US Olympic team starter Jim Craig for a spot on the final roster. Holden and Craig will forever be linked after Holden, first choice of legendary Boston University head coach Jack Parker’for starting goaltender in 1977, passed up an offered scholarship to play at BU for assured playing time and an Ivy League education at Brown University. Boston University signed Craig in Holden’s place and the rest is history. At Bloomington, Holden was the odd man out against 1978 NCAA champion Craig, Brooks favourite and fellow 1979 NCCA champion Minnesota Golden Gopher Steve Janaszak and 1975 NCAA champion Michigan Tech Husky Bruce Horsch.

Holden went to be drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, 160th overall in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft after a solid freshman year at Brown. Holden finished his four years at Brown and was named an NCAA east first team all American in 1980.

The next six all played well enough to be invited to participate in the National Sports Festival held in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the end of July 1979. And all were a shade away from being involved in one of the greatest sporting feats Americans and world have ever seen. On defense, three stalwarts attempted to prove their mettle on the Team USA backend through Brooks’ grueling 6-month training period. A name very familiar with Brooks and who might have had an inside shot at a starting defenseman job was minor pro leaguer and former Golden Gopher standout, Les Auge. Harvard Crimson standout, Jack Hughes and the extensive international experience of US national team member Gary Ross all made the final cut down choices even more difficult for Brooks and his staff.

Hughes and Auge in yellow jerseys at Team USA practice

Up front, minor pro center and former Colorado College all-time points leader, Dave Delich, and one of the best hockey players ever to come out of Massachusetts, University of New Hampshire all-time points leader, Ralph Cox, rounded out the forward line depth during Team USA pre-Olympic tune up schedule of games. No amount of international experience could save minor pro netminder and former 1975 NCAA champion Michigan Tech Husky Bruce Horsch, to assume the third alternative to Craig and Janaszak in net.

Les Auge

Les Auge appeared to be a shoe-in for the 1980 Olympic team. Auge was a favourite of Brooks, possessing enough experience for the right mix of leadership and presence on a young Team USA. He was an all tourney defenseman at the 1974 Frozen Four. Auge played for Brooks at the University of Minnesota from 1972 to 75, earning a spot on the NCAA West First All-American Team in 1975. After several seasons in the minor leagues, Auge was reunited with Brooks at the 1979 IIHF World Championships in Moscow. Hoping to earn a spot on the Olympic Team, Auge stayed with the program, appearing in 29 exhibition games but was devastated when he was second-to-last cut from the final Olympic roster.

Gary Ross 

Gary Ross already knew what it meant to wear the Red, White and Blue for the US after representing his country in the last Olympics four years earlier in Innsbruck, Austria in 1976. His international experience made him a desirable player for the US Olympic team and was eventually named one of the last twenty-five players going into Lake Placid. But Ross was used sparingly, only suiting up for 12 of the 61 exhibition games, scoring a goal and six assists and was cut two weeks before the Olympic tourney.

Ross played for the University of North Dakota as a freshman, but switched to Bemidji State College, graduating in 1977. He also played for the 5^th-placed US at the 1976 World Championships in Katowice, Poland as a defenseman .

Dave Delich

Dave Delich, who remains the Colorado College’s all-time leader in career points, 285, and assists, 174, was the kind of sniper Team USA could’ve used to keep up with the powerful Russians and Scandinavians. Despite his impressive college career Delich was only used in 13of the 61 games, scoring 4 goals and 2 assists, failing to become a factor during final cutdowns before Lake Placid.

A two-time all-WCHA selection during his college career, Delich won the league scoring championship as a senior in 1978-79, when he amassed 70 points (25 goals and 45 assists) in 30 league games. He finished with 84 points (32 goals, 52 assists) overall that season, another school record which still stands. Delich’s only international experience was when he went on to skate for Team USA at the 1983 IIHF World Championships in Tokyo, helping the Americans finish first in pool B play and qualify for the 1984 Olympics with a 5-0-1 record.

Bruce Horsch

Bruce Horsch, who played for the Michigan Tech Huskies from 1974-78, is the most successful goaltender in school history with 58 victories. He was a member of Michigan Tech’s 1975 NCAA Championship Team, and in 1976, helped the Huskies to a Western Collegiate Hockey Association championship and an NCAA runner-up finish.

Following his playing career at Michigan Tech, Horsch was selected to the National Sports Festival in 1979. But Horsch had his work cut out for him to win a job on the Lake Placid squad as head coach Brooks made Jim Craig his No. 1 goalie almost from the start of training camp. Craig had led Boston University to the NCAA Division I hockey title in 1978 and started nearly half of Team USA's 61 exhibition games leading up to the Olympics; Minnesota Gopher Steve Janaszak and Horsch split the rest with Husky star goaltender only ending up with seeing action in nine games, letting in 25 goals, posting 3-3-1 record for a 3.66 goals against average. Horsch was the last goalie cut just before the team left for Lake Placid.


Jack Hughes

Of the six players who had the best shot at making their way to Lake Placid, Jack Hughes was a last-minute injury call-up away from avoiding the final cut. The minor pro leaguer and Harvard Crimson star defenseman had made it through the intense 6-month training camp and was poised to take a spot on the back line of Team USA. Fellow defenseman Jack O’Callahan had suffered ligament damage in his knee after a hard check from Russian Valeri Vasiliev in the Madison Square Garden exhibition game, an injury that put his status in doubt for the Olympics. Head coach Brooks was saddled with a dilemma. He had less than 48-hours to submit his 20-man final roster and there would be no changing it later. If O’Callahan couldn’t go, the roster spot would be wasted and would leave the team with only 5 defenseman. Brooks considered calling back Hughes but then if O’Callahan got better Brooks would be robbed of his toughness and depth of commitment. In the end, O’Callahan had a miraculous recovery and the Hughes, who played 49 games with Team USA, scoring 3 goals and 15 assists, was cut by the team just prior to Lake Placid.

Hughes was chosen 142nd overall by the Rockies in 1977 after he was named to the ECAC first all-star team and rookie of the year after a stellar freshman year at Harvard University. He returned to school for two more seasons and made the conference second all-star unit in 1978. While at Harvard, Hughes set career records (since broken) for points (79) and assists (63) by a defenseman.


Ralph Cox at University of New Hampshire

University of New Hampshire star right winger Ralph Cox was another player who was days away from skating for the 1980 "Miracle" Olympic squad. An exceprt from Feburary 25th, 2000 edition of the Hartford Courant newspaper summed up Cox's experience.

 - When I moved to Hartford in 1984 to cover the NHL, Mark Johnson, by then the Whalers' captain, walked across the locker room to introduce himself. He (Johnson) grabbed my hand. The first words out of my mouth were, "Thank you." He didn't ask for what. Even four years after the Miracle On Ice, he knew.

He just smiled.

We all smile again this week.

Sitting around the locker room one day, Johnson relived coach Herb Brooks' stirring pregame speech before the Russia game. His voice quivered as he recounted the words:

"You were born to be a player. This moment is yours."

Ralph Cox was born to be a player. The moment was not his.

He had been the all-time scoring leader at the University of New Hampshire, and still is among the top goal scorers in NCAA Division I history. There was a fierce rivalry between East and West in those days, and many New Englanders claim Cox should have been a lock to make the Olympics. Then again, nobody thought another Massachusetts kid would be at Lake Placid and Eruzione turned out to be a national hero.

``There was a banquet in a Minnesota hotel," Cox said. "Herb pulled me into a private room. I can still remember hearing the words, 'You're not coming.' He handled it with dignity.

``He had a difficult time deciding the final lineup. Sure, I felt I had earned a spot. But it's tough to argue when they won the gold medal. Who knows what goes through a coach's mind at that moment in time?''

Cox would have his chance to find out. Before giving it up recently, he scouted for the Pittsburgh Penguins for 10 years. Brooks, who took over as Penguins coach this season, also worked for the team.

They saw each other a number of times. They got along well, even played golf together. Walking the fairway, they never discussed what happened in that Minnesota hotel room.

"I never brought it up," Cox said. "He didn't either. I know it wasn't easy for him. He took a lot of flak over the years. A lot of people didn't say a lot of good things. He was a good coach, very knowledgeable, with a stern hand. He delivered. I was always thrilled for the guys. Some I knew since travel teams when we were kids."

“Getting cut was a tough moment,'' Cox said. ``But you learn there are a lot of tough moments in life. I figured that out. “Let me tell you. Death and taxes are a lot worse.'' -

Team USA skates at practice in late 1979

Drafted Into Obscurity < Dave Simpson >

He was part of group of new breed of young hockey stars that were going to keep Lord Stanley’s Cup behind a glass display case in New York’s Nassau County Coliseum for the next decade. But pro hockey’s heavy expectations beats up the best of them, including a player who was considered the best junior player in North America in 1982, Dave Simpson, who’s rocky road never lead him to suiting up for an NHL game while sending him into hockey obscurity in less than five years.

Simpson with the London Knights

- photo by Cybertek Designs

The Isles drafted Simpson in the third round, 59th overall in the 1980 NHL entry draft. Long Island super hockey architects Bill Torrey and Al Arbour were already one Stanley Cup into a Canadiens-like dynasty and continued to furiously stockpile future franchise cornerstones, the six-foot, 190-pound, centre for the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights was off to the reigning Cup champs with a slick-style pedigree that was projected to add nicely to a potent New York line-up. With no need to rush star prospects in the system, Simpson was promptly sent back to London two training camps in a row. By the spring of 1982 Simpson demonstrated he was force to be reckoned with at the major junior level. Simpson put up a spectacular season with the Knights, scoring 67 goals and adding another 88 assists for 155 points in 68 games and was named the 1982 Canadian major junior player of the year.

Simpson with the NY Islanders in preseason action

Going into 1982 with New York’s dominating back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, Simpson had the deck stacked against him roster-wise. The Isles depth at centre was a solid as any team in the NHL with perennial all-star Bryan Trottier, fellow 1980 draft pick, highly-regarded Brent Sutter, speedy Wayne Merrick, clutch performer Butch Goring and solid but unspectacular Billy Carroll. Even though Simpson had put astronomical numbers in junior he was immediately dispatched the Central Hockey League to spend two successful but frustrating seasons playing for the Islanders farm team in Indianapolis. Fate dealt Simpson another blow to his burgeoning pro career as he saw his NHL chances diminish further when future Isles superstar and first round pick Pat Lafontaine joined New York late in the 1984 season from the US Olympic team. Lafontaine was installed in the New York lineup without even seeing one minute of training camp time or minor league seasoning. Canadian Olympian Pat Flatley also was instantly added the Islanders lineup after the conclusion of Sarajevo, adding to Simpson’s bitterness and disillusion with the minor leagues. 
       

Simpson with the CHL's
 Indianapolis Checkers

 Simpson’s pro hockey fortunes went from the pro hockey’s penthouse to the outhouse as Isles traded the discouraged centre to Vancouver with the stipulation that he must make the Canucks team for the transaction to be completed. Simpson played one pre-season game for Vancouver while nursing a groin injury through most of the training camp. And unfortunately, Canucks management was unable to make a good assessment of his skills. Late in the September 1984 training camp, NHL president at the time, John Ziegler nullified the trade. Simpson immediately reacted by quitting the Islanders organization and pro hockey, planning his long term goals without ice returning to his hometown and university. “The pro hockey life bored me to death so I quit,” said Simpson, who was quoted by the Montreal Gazette early in 1985. “After two hours a day at the rink the most important thing you had to do was deposit your pay cheque…” “Now I’m going to graduate this spring with a BA in political science, then I’ll go either into law or for an MBA.”  But five months later Simpson couldn’t stay away from the rink; he was eventually wooed by Dave King and the Canadian national team and he went on to score one goal and five assists in 10 games.

Simpson with the Baltimore
Skipjacks in 1985-86

In an attempt to save his NHL dreams, Simpson persuaded the Islanders to trade him to the Pittsburgh Penguins before their September 1985 training camp. The Penguins had recently drafted Simpson’s highly-touted NCAA Michigan State star and younger brother Craig second overall in the June NHL draft. The older Simpson knew there was no guarantee he’s make the roster but decided to take a chance at playing with his little brother. “I hope sometime during the course of the year, I get a chance to play in the NHL,” said Simpson, quoted from the Pittsburgh Press in 1985. By the end of camp in early October, Pittsburgh management had finally stuck the death nail into Dave Simpson’s melodramatic professional hockey. Penguins’ coach Bob Berry cut Simpson, sending him their AHL farm in Baltimore. Simpson never got the NHL call up during Pittsburgh’s 1985-86 season that eventually lead to him ending his pro hockey career less than five years after it started.

The Global Game < 1986 IIHF World Championships >

With all the recent media chatter about the Canadian collapse at World Junior Championships in Alberta on New Year’s Eve, there has been a lot made about the “mediocre” goaltending put forth by the Maple Leaf. Many experts and hockey insiders point to the fact that there hasn’t been a dominating goalie prospect for Canada in some time. Not since Marc-Andre Fleury in 2003 and 2004 and Cam Ward in 2007. For even more to chew on there are only 12 Canadian-born goalies in the top 30 NHL net minders this season. That’s not even 50%!! And remember the long and storied roster of Canada’s masked men of International hockey legend: Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Rogie Vachon, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Grant Fuhr just to name a few.

All of this controversy over the net position made me peruse through Canadian International hockey history to find another Canadian debacle between the pipes, namely, Canada’s entry at the 1986 World Hockey Championships in Moscow. Played annually at the same time as the beginning of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the World Championships are not high on the priority list of the Canadian hockey professional. Many experts and fans associate the tourney and especially Canada’s rosters with the also-rans of the league – tarnished star power, sub-par players on stuck on tragic, losing rosters.

Not the first time Hrudey backstopped Canada
 internationally. - Photo grab

In late April of 1986 Hockey Canada might have iced the most haphazard net-minding trio in Canuck International history. Imagine backstopping the true north, strong and free with the unfortunate goaltending pedigrees of such non-notables as Jacques Cloutier, Corrado Micalef and “bandana’ed one” Kelly Hrudey? Of the three chosen to patrol the net for Canada only Hrudey had a half-respectable playing resume at the time. Hrudey was a two-time goaltender of the year winner in the Central Hockey League (one the three NHL minor league feeder leagues) in 1982 and 1983. He was an upcoming hot rookie in the New York Islanders post Stanley Cup dynasty, with a chance at supplanting the great legend Billy Smith. Sharing the Islanders nets with Smith, Hrudey’s steady 3.21 goals against, .906 save percentage and 19-15-8 record in 45 games helped lead the Long Islanders to a 39-win season and an quick 0-3 first round playoff exit.

Micalef (left) in the pre-skate in 1986 - Photo grab

The next two goaltenders chosen would have any hockey hardcore fan wondering what Hockey Canada executives with thinking when they reached out for help in nets. The rest of this “help” came in the form of two goaltenders whom had difficulty staying in the NHL as full timers. Corrado Micalef’s unspectacular play in 1986 had him split time amongst three leagues, two of them minor, posting a dismal 5.52 goals against, .848 save percentage, winning only one game in a paltry NHL 11 games that season. His Detroit Red Wings were as unspectacular, finishing as the NHL’s cellar-dwellars. In his defense, Micalef might have been asked by Hockey Canada because of his work for his country in an early version of the World Junior Championships in 1980 at Helsinki, Finland. Micalef backstopped his country to one win in the tourney as Canada finished a disappointing fifth. As an interesting side note, Micalef never played in an NHL game after 1986. He headed to Europe the next season, ending his professional playing career in 2002.  

Cloutier wears the Maple Leaf for
the first and last time in international
compeition. - Photo grab

The third of this regrettable goaltending lineup was Buffalo Sabres backup Jacques Cloutier. Cloutier had been up and down from Buffalo’s farm team in Rochester over a seven-year span since being drafted by the Sabres in 1979. In fact Cloutier hadn’t seen a minute of NHL action until a year before this tournament in 1985, albeit only one single game. By 1986, Cloutier only saw 15 games in which his 3.37 goals against, .886 save percentage and 5-9-1 record certainly wasn’t enough to challenge Sabre’s star starter and reigning NHL goalie of the year, American Tom Barasso.

So let’s total up the damage that piled up on Hockey Canada brass’ feet. One average goaltender, who just broke through to have a reasonably successful first NHL campaign – Hrudey. Two career minor leaguers in Micalef and Cloutier, with the latter playing only 16 total NHL games in his seven year professional career. Not a lineup you’d have any hint of confidence in at all especially for this Canadian version as they were putting on the Maple Leaf in the den of Soviet Mother Russia’s bear.     

Hrudey in action in 1986

Moscow seemed like an easy place for a Canadian hockey player to get up for and play in. With storied Soviet-Canadian hockey battles over the years, it should have motivated even the weakest of squads to come out and prove to the world that Canada and the NHL rules. But that was not to be the case for the Canucks in 1986. Canada finished 4^th in the prelims with a lackluster 3-4-0 record, allowing 22 and scoring 24 in seven games. All four losses came at the hands of tourney contenders 4-1 Sweden, 3-2 Finland, 3-1 Czechoslovakia and one completely forgettable 4-0 blowout at the hands of the top of their game Krutov, Larionov, Makarov “green line” home team Soviet Union. Included in those losses, an anemic Canadian offense only could generate a lowly 4 goals in four games.

In the final round Canada was served another humiliating loss to the Soviets 7-4 in the first game. The Canadians made a valiant comeback in their second round robin tilt, pushing the Swedes to a 6-5 win, setting up a bronze medal game with Finland. A deadlocked 3-3 score heading into the third period gave Canada a breath of life and a reasonable shot at salvaging a disastrous tournament with a medal. With under three minutes to play, tiny Vancouver Canucks sniper Tony Tanti ( a man who once broke Wayne Gretzky OHL rookie goal scoring with 81 goals in 67 games) scored his 5^th goal of the tournament, capturing the bronze medal.

Drafted Into Obscurity < Kirk McCaskill >

Many hockey players who get to skate in the professional North American hockey leagues are not just limited to puck skills. These men of ice are talented athletes who skate in excess of 20 mph, deftly handling a solid rubber disc the size of 1 inch by 3 inches through a crowded parade of competitors weighing over 200 lbs and possess an uncanny timing to fire the puck off their sticks up to and over 100 mph.

One of these talented men of ice figured he could throw a baseball faster then he could shoot a hockey puck and went on to pitch for two teams over an above average 11-year Major League Baseball career - Kirk McCaskill.

Before Kirk McCaskill took the to the mound in his first MLB game in Los Angeles, he skated as a pro hockey prospect in the NHL's Winnipeg Jets farm system in Sherbrooke, Quebec.


Baseball pitcher Kirk McCaskill playing
 ice hockey for the AHL's Sherbrooke Jets 

The University of Vermont grad played a full-four year career for the Catamonts from 1979-1983. In 1981, McCaskill's hockey career was taking off. He lead the Catamonts, getting NHL scouts interested in his on-ice prowess, scoring with 51 points in 32 games. The Winnipeg Jets came calling in the summer of that year, drafting McCaskill in the fourth round, #64 overall at the 81 NHL Entry Draft.

It appeared that the Jets had some talent on their hands because by 1982, McCaskill had his finest college season, scoring 30 goals and 49 points, becoming an NCAA All-American first team all star and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker award. 

McCaskill playing for Vermont in 1982 -
photo courtesy HistoricImages.com

By the spring of 1982, McCaskill was keeping his baseball hopes alive by signing a pro contract with the California Angels, playing Class A baseball in Massachuesettes which didn't affect his college eligibility. When the fall came, McCaskill went back to school for the start of the NCAA hockey season. In January 1983, McCaskill left the University of Vermont to join the California Angels spring training camp in Arizona, playing in lower pro baseball leagues over the spring and summer. But he refused to give on the puck dreams and eventually returned to hockey by the fall of 1983 by siging with the Jets.  

At Winnipeg's training camp in September 1983, McCaskill failed to impress Jets coaching staff, having head coach and long time pro Barry Long commenting, "McCaskill plays hockey the way he plays baseball - once every four games." 

McCaskill was unable to hook on with Winnipeg Jets roster and was sent down to their AHL farm team in Sherbrooke. McCaskill played out the full 1983-1984 year in Sherbrooke, scoring 22 points, with 10 goals and was called up for one NHL game but never was put in the lineup.

Kirk McCaskill pitching for
the Los Angeles Angels in 1991
- photo courtesy Panini America Ltd.

McCaskill walked away from hockey after his frustrating experience in Winnipeg and devoted himself completely to baseball in 1985. The Kapuskasking, Ontario native made his major league debut in May of 1985, never looking back and finding his way into hockey obscurity. 

The Global Game

The Tale of Two Thomas'

Before the jaw-dropping, acrobatic game-saving style of Boston Bruins star goalie Tim Thomas came along, oddly there was a hockey player with the same name who donned red, white and blue of the USA Hockey 25 years earlier.


Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas playing for Team USA at the 2010 Olympics

The two-time NHL goaltender of the year suited up for team USA in 2010 in Vancouver. Thomas was a back-up to fellow Michigan native Ryan Miller, helping the team to a silver medal.

Wisconsin Badger
Tim Thomas

Wisconsin star defenseman Tim Thomas was a smaller puck-rushing d-man who anchored the Badgers blueline in the early 1980's NCAA Div I men's hockey. Thomas' prolific college career ranks him fourth all-time among UW Badger defenseman, collecting just over a point a game average over four years with 154 points in 151 games.

Early in the 1984 season, Thomas was tapped to join the United States men's national hockey team to compete in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Going into the tournament the 1984 team carried in the uneviable pressure of living up to the "Miracle On Ice" 1980 gold medal winning team four years earlier. Version 1984 had the same formula that team organizers used in 1980 - a college-laden roster, featuring future star NHL'ers such as Pat LaFontaine, Chris Chelios, Al Iafrate and Ed Olczyk. With all that firepower, experts expected at least a medal round berth, but the Americans flamed out, finishing far out of the medals, seventh overall with very average 2-2-2 record.

Team USA's Tim Thomas in
pre-olympic action against the
 Minnesota North Stars in 1984

Unfortunately for Thomas, he was the last cut from the final 20-man Olympic roster heading to Sarajevo after playing for the US squad in all the pre-olympic games. On his return to Wisconsin, the Minnesota native continued his fine play for the Badgers, making second team All-American in 1985 and posting a very impressive 63 points in 42 games.

Although he was never drafted into the NHL, Thomas played 20 minor pro games for Indianopolis Checkers and Balitmore Skipjacks from 1986 to 1988, registering a respectable 14 points, before retiring from hockey for good in 1988.

The Global Game

Free Agent Frenzy

Can you remember a time when the Detroit Red Wings were a struggling franchise and a doormat of the NHL? Look up the sports news from the early 1980's and you'll find a team in desperate need of talent and identity. Lean times were upon the Red Wings as the team was shut out of the NHL post season six out of nine seasons, including a run from 1979 to 1983.

A year before in 1982, a new era was beginning to unfold in the Motor City hockey arena. Pizza magnate and avid sports fan Mike Illitch bought the team and installed up and coming assistant general manager Jimmy Devellano as the Red Wings new GM. It seemed as though Detroit's fortunes were slowly turning around. The Red Wings finally got back to the post season in back-to-back years in 1984 and 1985 being oustaded in the first round in both years, while adding one of the greatest players ever to wear the winged wheel on his chest - Steve Yzerman through the NHL draft in 1984.

By 1986, the Red Wings organization were ready to take the next step in the NHL winning heirarchy. Wanting to make a huge splash  Devellano waded into the undrafted, free agent waters, looking for those players that were not caught in the net of the NHL scouts trollers. Illitch gave Devellano the "all go" signal to allow the team to spend as much money as possible to land the biggest diamonds in the rough.

Those diamonds came in the form of a trio of  US college hockey players Ray Staszak, Tim Friday and Dale Krentz that were best forgotten by Red Wing fans. 

Ray Staszak

Staszak was coming off a wildly successful season as a junior at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Staszak was the CCHA player of the year and first all star after putting up 72 points in 38 games in 1985. Detroit needed a leg up on their Norris division foes and Staszak, standing at 6'0" 200 lbs, looked like he might be one of those talented gems that fell through the extensive NHL scouting ranks. And in the summer of 1985, Devellano was so convinced of Staszak's future pro potential, he signed the Pennsylvania native to highest free agent contract in league history at a whopping 1.3 million dollars over four years !!! This was an unheard of sum for such an unheard of player. Hockey experts and pundits throughout North America could believe what they have seen, heard and read.

Was Detroit actually breaking the bank for a untested college hockey player?  Yes, they had and now the pressure was on the 22-year-old to produce early and often.

But it was never to be for Staszak. Although he made the opening night roster for the Red Wings it would take four NHL games to supplant his future as a hockey oddity. Four games would all Staszak would ever see at the NHL level as he was sent down to the Detroit AHL farm team in Adirondack. A series of injuries to his shoulder and stomach permanently derail his once promising career and sour the Red Wings on this million-dollar flash-in-the-pan.




Tim Friday playing for RPI

Detroit continued it's 1985 college free agent foray, going after championship pedigreed defenseman Tim Friday. Friday was a star defenseman on the 1985 NCAA Div I champion Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers hockey team.



Friday with Detroit in 1986



At 6'10" 190 lbs, Friday wasn't a huge presence on the back end but he was known to be responsible in his own end of the ice and for finding the space for a quick pass up to the forwards. The Red Wings were trying to get younger on the back end and made a few trades to get the right combination speed, skill and size. Friday was supposed to fit that bill but after 23 games, posting no points and putting up a -9, the native of Calfornia was sent down to the AHL for the rest of the 1985-86 season after inccuring a shoulder injury. Friday regained his top form again in Adirondack, while helping the AHL team to the 1986 Calder Cup league championship. Friday never saw the bright lights of the Joe Louis Arena and the NHL again as he retired from hockey that summer, reportedly due to a worsening shoulder injury.

Dale Krentz was a solid forward

Krentz with Adirondack in 1988





Drafted Into Obscurity < Dan Dorion >

The annals of National Hockey League are littered with incredibly talented also-rans and could've beens. A multitude of players who, if they had the right coaching and situations, might have gone on to dazzle a generation of fans and captivate their never-ending dreams of championships.

  

Dorion with Utica in 1987 

One such player had all the talent, magic hands and ice presence to succeed but none of the size to play such a physically demanding game - Dan Dorion. Standing at a diminutive 5'9" and weighing a small 180 lbs, Dorion was always given the unenvial task of proving himself time and time again because of his tiny stature. Even though he was a proven dominating sniper at every level of hockey he had played in, Dorion's size was always in question. And this was the case again in the summer of 1982 when the New York native was tapped by the newly-minted New Jersey Devils. Dorion's stock fell as a far any talented player's stock could fall as the Devils made him their last pick in the 12th round of the entry draft.

The NHL's braintrust have always held the belief that bigger is better. Year after year general managers around the league task their scouting staff to find the next great player who combines the important measures of size, speed and talent. And its always the same critirea in that same order. For players like Dan Dorion, who have incredible talent, the deck is consistently stacked against them. No matter how many goals they score (ironic, isn't that the object of the game??) little men who burn out the lamps with league-leading titlting tallies always seem to be looked upon with suspicion.

Western Michigan Mustangs

Maine in 1987

Dorion was lighting up the USHL for Austin, 96 points in 50 games, as an 18-year-old when the Devils came calling. The tiny scorer continued his development in the US college ranks at Western Michigan University. While with the Broncos, Dorion put up some prolific numbers running up an incredible 293 points over his four college years, placing him 8th overall for career NCAA men's hockey. In 1986, he was the runner up to the Hobey Baker award for best men's hockey player and was a finalist for the award two year's earlier in 1984.

 After such an amazing college career one would think NHL scouts would've been knocking down his door for a chance to draft such a talent. But it wasn't to be for Dorion as his size became his major stumbling block.

Utica in 1989

Dorion playing for his country in 1986

Dorion finally got his crack at the NHL in the spring of 1986, playing three games while adding his only points - one goal and one assist.
He was on his way to hockey obscurity after New Jersey left him to languish in the AHL for the next season in 1987, finally giving him another taste of NHL action - one last game in 1988.

Dorion as he could see the writing on the wall of his limited NHL career. He was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers AHL farm team in 1988 and Dorion was on his way to Europe permanently a year later in 1990.
As a footnote to his pro hockey career, Dorion had a four-year-run in the British Hockey League, starring for Nottingham and Humberside to close out his time on the ice.