WYHA Ice Times Feb 2006
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ICE TIMES PUBLISHED BY THE WAYZATA YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATION Our fathers before us n a time when District 284 Artificial ice was a novelty, with Edina and Iyouth hockey players skated Minnetonka the only cities in the area that outdoors in used gear or bulky owned indoor rinks. Each bus trip cost the snowmobile suits, when fathers team $20 and renting ice was $40 an hour. shoveled snow from neighbor- About a year after the association was hood rinks, and when mothers formed, Bob Penningroth, a Wayzata hock- had to rub their sons’ toes in the ey parent, approached Dorsey about build- warming house between shifts in ing an indoor hockey rink for the school a game or practice, the idea of district and youth program. Some board forming an association and tak- members traveled across Minnesota and ing the hockey game indoors spoke with other organizations about the was formed. intricacies of building and maintaining an In the spring of 1968, Ed Miller, indoor ice arena. Dorsey also traveled to the Wayzata High School hockey New Jersey to investigate Icemat, then a coach, approached the fathers of newly developed mat system that would the 184 boys then playing hockey allow better freezing of the ice. Wayzata under his guidance and suggested was one of the first cities in Minnesota to forming an organization. A f o r m a l Ready to finally break ground for the the Wayzata High install the system. The mats also enabled association, he said, would allow School ice arena on Aug. 28, 1972 are (from left to right) the rink to be disassembled during the off- John Lindell, school board chairman, Jack Dorsey, first pres- more boys to participate in hock- ident of the District 284 Youth Hockey Association, Jim Continued on page 2 e y, as well as give him the assis- Graven, school athletic director, and John Hawthorne, school tance he required to continue with board member. Printed in the Aug. 31, 1972 issue of the February 2006 Volume 8 Issue 2 the program. Wayzata-Plymouth Minnetonka Sun newspaper. Our fathers before us 1 The time was ripe for develop- What is SCRIP? 4 steps on the basketball court, Dorsey ing an association and expanding the youth Mite Madness 5 accepted the offer to preside over the asso- hockey program. With the debut of the Volunteer Policy Changes 5 ciation and remained in that position for Minnesota North Stars in 1967, a craze for Girls Goalie Get-Together a success 5 the next eight years. hockey erupted. High school and youth pro- U10 takes 3rd in two tournaments 6 “I saw what the program was about and grams emerged across the state, and even U12B Blue takes 2nd in tourney 6 since that time, I’ve been very enthusiastic though it wasn’t highlighted, even a few Wayzata Coach Scores 7 about hockey and the hockey program,” girls programs developed—including one in Carl Davis Hockey Clinics 7 says Dorsey. Wayzata that was coached by Dr. Robert PeeWee B2 Royals wins tourney 8 With zealous support from the growing M a y, a father of two girls on the team and a Academic Award Program 9 Wayzata bedroom community, the newly Wayzata dentist who also served as the team U14A scores big in tourney 9 formed association built six lighted outdoor dentist for the Minnesota North Stars. Squirt B White wins tourney 10 rinks at the elementary and junior high “It was just hockey fever out there with Advanced Mite C 10 schools. Warming houses were built and the North Stars at the time,” says Jack PeeWee C Royal wins trophy 11 light poles were raised. Many kids learned Dorsey, the association’s first president, Tournament Schedule 11 to play hockey at Klapprich Rink, still a during a recent phone interview. Bantam White helps with drive 12 favored Wayzata outdoor rink. About 45 hockey parents gathered at P e e Wee B1 Gold has solid season 13 But the program was in poor shape: Hart’s Cafe in Wayzata on March 23, 1968, Ongoing BlueLine Services 13 M i l l e r ’s high school team had few wins and eager to discuss the formalities of a pro- PeeWee A helps at FMSC 14 fault was placed on the lack of practice ice. gram. Dorsey, the father of seven boys and BlueLine Calendar of Events 14 The team either practiced on the high three girls, all hockey players, was nomi- Sponsor Highlights: s c h o o l ’s outdoor rink or was occasionally nated as the president of the District 284 Wiese Law Firm 15 bussed to indoor arenas across town— Youth Hockey Association. While he ini- Luminaire Recyclers 15 which was time-consuming and costly. tially wanted his sons to follow in his foot- Sponsor Page 16 BLUELINE ICE TIMES www.wayzatahockey.org FEBRUARY 2006 1 2005-2006 WYHA Fathers BOARD OF DIRECTORS Continued from page 1 season for other events and activities such cover the remaining cost of the arena. Later, as school dances. According to Dorsey, once it was established to be more financial- however, the arena was only utilized by the ly advantageous to add the refrigeration sys- PRESIDENT hockey programs, a few gym activities, tem during the initial building process, Greg Gibson 763-557-0854 and the high school baseball team for pre- another $80,000 was needed. This would [email protected] season practices. also cover the cost of adding bleachers to VICE PRESIDENT Using the information from their the arena. A second pledge request ensued. ADMINISTRATION research, the association members pro- E v e n t u a l l y, the hockey association’s com- Paul Hahn 763-478-6160 posed to the school district in 1970 their mitment escalated to $200,000, and in the [email protected] plan to contribute money toward the con- fall of 1974, heaters, insulation, a refresh- struction of an unheated ice arena with a ment stand and lavatories were installed. VICE PRESIDENT YOUTH TRAVEL, dirt floor, no spectator bleachers, and a Support for the covered ice arena came POLICY BYLAWS metal roof over natural ice. To save money, in letters from the Minnesota A m a t e u r Casey Whelan 763-577-0152 the board decided to forego adding a Hockey Association and other districts that [email protected] refrigeration system to make artificial ice indicated their interest in purchasing ice at VICE PRESIDENT C LEAGUE, until later. The building would provide ice Wayzata. But once the rink opened, the ice ACE COORDINATOR from November through May and would was rarely vacant. Ron Fiemann 763-476-4152 be built adjacent to the high school, the “We couldn’t keep the kids out of there. [email protected] current Wayzata Central Middle School. We always had something going on with According to Dorsey, the building was house league games and traveling games,” VICE PRESIDENT MITES later referred to as “the barn” by other Dorsey recalls. Dan Sorenson 763-476-6780 associations. “It was cold inside that metal The enthusiasm for the youth hockey pro- [email protected] building during the wintertime. But it was gram and the excitement over building an great ice,” he says. indoor rink was shared by the entire com- VICE PRESIDENT, BLUELINE PRESIDENT By then, nearly 400 boys were skating in m u n i t y. Hockey parents were not only asked Jerry Trapp 763-509-9117 the district’s hockey program. Once the to make personal pledges, but were also [email protected] rink was built, it would be donated to the asked to raise at least $150 per family school district with the stipulation that the through outside sources. Neighborhood TOURNAMENT school would be responsible for the man- businesses readily contributed to the arena, DIRECTOR / SCHEDULER, agement and maintenance of the ice, and including Wayzata State Bank which pur- DISTRICT 3 CO-REP that 700 hours of free ice time was guaran- chased and donated a $12,500 zamboni. Brad Langfus 763-557-6558 teed to the youth hockey program. Hockey players went door to door selling [email protected] Under the direction of Penningroth as the chocolate bars for 50 cents and cans of DISTRICT 3 CO-REP chairperson of the Covered Ice Rink Booster unpopped popcorn, and hockey parents Mike Tabery 763-553-0786 (CIRB) fundraising commit- [email protected] tee, the association’s eff o r t s took off . COACHES COMMITTEE “[Penningroth] was the Eric Jones 612-385-4058 guy behind the whole [email protected] fundraising program. He w o u l d n ’t take ‘no’ f r o m MARKETING anybody, and he would be Mark Myhra 763-476-1285 [email protected] out talking to the business- es and places like that,” VICE PRESIDENT GIRLS Dorsey said. “Bob was a Corey Jensen 763-540-0447 goer, and he kept after it [email protected] and kept after it and kept after it.” (see www. w a y z a t a h o c k e y. o rg / b o a rd / b o a rd . a s p I n i t i a l l y, all district hock- for complete list of volunteer positions ey families were asked to and e-mail addre s s e s ) make a three-year pledge toward the association’s $100,000 commitment; the Sketch of the proposed Wayzata Ice Arena. Printed in the Dec. 4, school district agreed to 1969, issue of the Wayzata-Plymouth Minnetonka Sun newspaper.