http://www.twincities.com/2017/03/07/fo ... ate-title/
By BRIAN MURPHY | brianmurphy@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: March 7, 2017 at 1:11 pm | UPDATED: March 7, 2017 at 3:36 pm
They were the “No-Name Outstate Boys,” unheralded on the ice and blissfully naïve as party-crashing darlings of the 1977 Minnesota boys hockey state tournament.
Nothing captures the spirit of the thing like a bona fide underdog from the boonies knocking off one powerhouse after another in the big city and being feted back home as conquering heroes.
It has been 40 years since the shaggy-haired teenagers from Rochester John Marshall swept through heavily favored Minneapolis Southwest, South St. Paul and Edina East to become the first southern Minnesota big school to win a state title — and the last.
Sixteen of the 18 Rockets who made history at the bygone Civic Center are reuniting this weekend in St. Paul during the 2017 state tournament to reminisce about those three days when state hockey fans were absolutely smitten with them.
The boys are now in their late 50s. Some are balding, others paunchy. But memories remain as sharp as the skates they wore parading around the championship trophy in front of 17,083 fans, which then was largest crowd to ever watch a hockey game in Minnesota.
“I still live in Rochester and it’s amazing how many people I stumble into this time of year who still bring it up,” said Scott Lecy, the Rockets’ former star forward. “I just remember going to the tournament as a kid and reading the programs about the anniversary teams. That last page was the 40-year. All of a sudden we’re on that last page. Where did 40 years go by?”
Today Rochester is a growing metropolis of 110,000 residents. Four decades ago it was half that size. High school hockey in the city took a back seat to football, basketball or track and field. Still does.
One can draw a straight line from Red Wing to South Dakota and not find a big-school state champion or runner-up south of that rudimentary border.
Culture and participation numbers are part of the reason. Outdoor hockey does not thrive in southern Minnesota as much as traditional hockey areas like the Twin Cities metro, the Iron Range or along the Canadian border.
Rochester is something of a hockey island. Rochester High made four consecutive appearances starting with the inaugural state tournament in 1945, finishing second in 1946.
The city also was home to the Mustangs of the defunct United States Hockey League, which once catered to college-stars-turned-professionals. Many were talented enough to play in the NHL but unable to break through until the parochial six-team league finally expanded in the late 1960s.
John Marshall coach Gene Sack played for the Mustangs. So did the fathers of Scott and Todd Lecy and Bruce Aikens, who formed the Rockets’ top scoring line in 1976-77.
As a senior, Scott Lecy scored 61 goals and 112 points — sixth-most in each category among the state’s all-time scoring leaders.
“We were really blessed to have parents who knew the game and coached us up there,” Lecy said. “We would get together on Sunday nights to scrimmage, and the old Mustangs would divide up. We were cocky. Thought we were real good. And these guys would turn it on and show us how it was done.”
LONG ODDS AT STATE
The 1976-77 Rockets were relatively inexperienced and not very deep.
Scott Lecy, who scored 53 goals as a junior, was one of only three seniors and completely off the recruiting radar. College coaches were put off by his diminutive 5-foot-5, 150-pound stature.
Lecy’s line combined for eight of the team’s nine state tournament goals. Workhorse Jeff Nelson was a shutdown defenseman who averaged an unheard-of 30 minutes per game back then. Goaltender Paul Butters was just a sophomore.
The Rockets impressively defeated Bloomington Jefferson during the regular season but also were smoked at home 7-0 by unranked Simley. An eight-game winning streak carried the Rockets to St. Paul but few observers paid them much attention.
The 33rd Minnesota Boys Hockey State Tournament included established powers Roseau and Grand Rapids along with South St. Paul and Edina East, which was in its 14th tournament having won titles in 1969, ’71 and ’74.
“Edina East Team May Be Best Ever” read the banner headline in the March 16, 1977, Pioneer Press sports section.
The Hornets were 22-1 and boasted the most prolific offense in the state. Top line Gordy Hampson, Bret Bjerken and Mel Pearson accounted for 16 of the 26 goals the team scored in three section playoff blowouts. Each had more than 50 points.
Moreover, Edina East had only allowed 1.39 goals per game.
“The one thing in the back of my mind going to the rink and getting ready to play in front of that crowd was, ‘I hope nothing like that Simley game happens,’ ” recalled defenseman Paul Brandrup. “It was neat to be in that same group of good hockey players, but there was always that fear, too.”
Breezing to a 4-1 quarterfinal victory over Minneapolis Southwest took the edge off.
Scott Lecy had a hat trick. The Rockets proved the moment was not too overwhelming. Or as Sack, their late coach and chief wiseacre, told reporters afterward:
“Our defense has gone to an extreme trying to be martyrs. I don’t believe how many times our defensemen went down to block shots,” he said. “And our sophomore goalie played very well. It’s amazing, really. Butters got out there in front of 17,000 fans and didn’t turn to cream.”
Butters was even better against South St. Paul. He made 37 saves to earn the shutout. Todd Lecy scored the game’s only goal midway through the third period.
DAVID VS. GOLIATH
Edina East shut out Roseau 2-0 and outgunned Grand Rapids 6-5 to set up the coveted David vs. Goliath title match.
The Hornets’ suburban roots and championship pedigree made them easy to vilify while the crowds embraced the nobodies-from-nowhere Rockets, who were riding the momentum and surviving on adrenaline and “pizza power.”
The press stirred up the class warfare angle. The Rochester Post Bulletin noted sardonically that Rockets players spent their $12 meal money on pizza and junk food while Edina players “ate cake and steak at the St. Paul Athletic Club.”
No longer just happy to be there, Rochester fans distributed thousands of buttons that read, “We’re In It. Let’s Win It!”
“We’re new blood and we’ve got the crowd with us,” shrugged Sack.
Crusty, sarcastic and driven, Sack was a tough-as-nails guy from St. Paul who compiled a coaching record of 315-141-18 in 22 seasons at John Marshall. He died of leukemia in 2001 at age 75.
“Our team was a reflection of Gene’s attitude on life; he was such a great guy,” recalled Scott Lecy. “He was constantly coming up with nicknames that had us laughing. He never took anything too seriously. We weren’t uptight because of him.”
It showed in the first period as the Rockets opened a 2-1 lead on goals by Scott Lecy and Aikens.
“We came in pretty strong underdogs, but once we got that first goal and went back and forth, I could tell the guys had it in them,” recalled Butters. “We weren’t going to be slammed and rolled. The momentum just built as we went into the second and third period. And you could feel the support from the whole arena. It was the big underdogs against Edina.”
Butters was sensational as Edina East attacked in waves, outshooting John Marshall 13-3 in the second period and 15-4 in the third. Goals by Scott and Todd Lecy in the third period put the Rockets in command.
Butters stopped 37 of 39 shots and was dog-piled after the final horn. Sack tossed his hounds tooth fedora into the air.
Suddenly Scott Lecy was a household name.
“He’s the sweetheart of the tourney,” said then-Gophers coach Herb Brooks. “If he’s only 155 pounds, he’s got a 140-pound heart. He’s just a super hockey player.”
Lecy ended up going to Wisconsin, where he won an NCAA championship in 1981. Brooks did nab Butters, who played for the Gophers from 1979-83.
The 1976-77 Rockets ended up yielding nine Division I players.
After returning to Rochester, the team was greeted by 3,000 people during a rally at the John Marshall gymnasium to revel in a victory unlike any other in Minnesota high school hockey.
“We didn’t pay for food for two weeks at restaurants,” Scott Lecy said. “It was the excitement of a small town winning. They just embraced us. It still carries over.”
Lecy played one season professionally in the Netherlands before retiring in 1983. He coached John Marshall for five seasons and now is an agent for Elcor Realty in Rochester.
Butters worked more than 30 years at Cargill before retiring to Flagstaff, Ariz.
Brandrup owns Superior Screeners in Rochester.
In 2007, they got together at the St. Paul Hotel during the state tournament. For the first time as a group, and with their wives, the Rockets watched a videotape of the championship game victory over Edina East.
Ten years later, they are down a teammate. Defenseman Kevin Bakken died in 2009 of a brain aneurysm. Forward Jeff Meyers, who lives in Florida, is unable to attend this year’s reunion.
“It’s a neat bond,” said Brandrup. “Amazing how you can pick right up where you left off 10 years ago or 30 years ago. I can’t believe it’s been 40 years.”
FROM NO-NAME OUTSTATERS TO CINDERELLA CHAMPIONS
Rochester John Marshall’s road to the 1977 Minnesota boys hockey state championship:
March 17-19, St. Paul Civic Center
QUARTERFINALS
South St. Paul 5, Hill-Murray 2
Rochester John Marshall 4, Minneapolis Southwest 2
Grand Rapids 5, Mounds View 1
Edina East 2, Roseau 0
SEMIFINALS
Rochester John Marshall 1, South St. Paul 0
Edina East 6, Grand Rapids 5
CHAMPIONSHIP
Rochester John Marshall 4, Edina East 2
40 Years ago (Rochester JM)
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
-
GoldenBear
- Posts: 746
- Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:38 am
-
Cake Eater Boy
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2006 1:06 am