Augsburg Now December 1974

              VOL. 38 NO. 4
DECEMBER 1974
Ice Arena Dedication November 23
On Saturday, November 23rd. Augsburg
College will realize a dream come true.
It seems fitting on the 50th anniversary
of hockey at Augsburg College that she
should dedicate a new ice arena. And
what an arena it is! Adjoining Si Melby
on the east side of the building, it stretches out along Riverside Avenue in a beautiful concrete and glass design. Located
directly on top of the ground where
the old outdoor rink used to be, it
provides Augsburg with the first
indoor arena in Minneapolis designed
specifically for hockey and one of
the finest facilities in the state. Saturday
evening, the school will have an opportunity to show off the arena. Open to
the public at 6:00. the dedication ceremonies will begin around 6:45. It
will include an exhibition of figure
skating by some of th« professionals
on staff for lessons, and a display of
some of the youth hockey events
that will be taking place throughout
the year at the arena. A few stalwart
souls will make an attempt at a quick
broomball game to show the spectators
a great sport often talked about but
seldom seen. Following this will be the
traditional Alumni-varsity game with a
little twist. The first period will be a
scrimmage between some of the older
alumni and the varsity reserve unit.
The second and third periods will be a
game between some of the more recent graduates and the varsity squad.
In the past this has always been a great
event but with the added attraction of
our own arena, it should even be more
exciting.
Between the first and second periods,
the championship team from 1927-28
will be honored with a special presentation. The conference room at the ice
arena is going to be dedicated to these
men and it is hoped that at least five
of the team members will be in attendance. A reception for the men will be
held prior to the game in the conference,
room but the presentation will be
during the intermission.
The arena itself, has two full regulation rinks, eight locker rooms, a full
pro shop and is carpeted throughout.
Because it is the first indoor arena
in the Minneapolis area, it will be the
home rink for all of the Minneapolis
City (district seven) youth hockey and
will greatly expand their program. In
addition to being home ice for Augsburg, it will be home for Macalster
and Hamline as well. Lessons will be
available from professional figure
skaters and quite a bit of open skating
time is available as well
We are quite proud of the facility here
at Augsburg and hope that a large
number of alumni and friends of the
school will come back that evening to
join in the dedication ceremonies and
enjoy a great evening of entertainment.
Augsburg's new Ice Arena ajoins SI Melby Hall, facing Riverside Ave.
Fifty years of hockey at Augsburg
"They are a breed unto themselves
these hockey men!" Quote, Ed Sauge-
stad. "You will find them in an ice arena
at 2 o'clock in the morning; you will
find them playing a scrimmage game as
if it were the Stanley Cup finals; you
will find them out in 15 below zero
weather skating; they eat, sleep, breath
and live the game." This has been the
tradition of hockey here at Augsburg
college and it continues the same way
today.
Fifty seasons ago. a small group of
men brought the sport to Augsburg
and made a tremendous name for themselves. A lot of people remember that
team as the Hanson brothers team,
but it included a lot of people. There
was. of course. Swanson, the goal
tender, and defensemen Mclnerny
and Larson to name just a few. In a
short period of time. Augsburg was one
of the leading hockey teams in the
nation and stayed in that position
until the mid-thirties when interest
in the sport waned and tight money
affected the already small funds for
team support. With the oncoming of
World War II. hockey passed from the
scene until 1946.
Oscar Hanson, then famous as a
Chicago Blackhawk star, came back to
help a player-coach. Howie Clark put
together a team. that, in the words of
the 1946-47 Augsburgian. "returned to
conference wars in an outstanding
manner and . . . gave the conference
teams a rough time."
Survival for the hockey team was still
a tenous one. Existing under rugged
conditions, directed by player coaches
and working with little or no funding,
the hockey torch was carried, flickering and momentarily going out. into
the mid-fifties. In 1955-56 Edor Nelson
took over the coaching duties and
hockey was on its way for good.
Aided by player-coach Saugestad in
1958, Augsburg became a strong
conference competitor once again.
When Ed graduated from Augsburg
in 1959 he was appointed head coach
and hockey has since grown steadily
under his direction. They have been
in the thick of conference action every
year and have finished second in all
but three seasons since 1959. In the
early sixties they went undefeated one
season only to suffer a disappointing
loss to University of Minnesota Duluth
for the conference title.
"There have been so many good men,
so many good teams that it is hard to
know where to start," commented
Saugestad. "As soon as I start to
mention a few I'm sure I'll leave someone out. Of course I have to mention
the terrifically tough front line that
played for us the year we lost to Duluth.
These three were Robin Prigge. Bruce
Ranum. and Jim Ekstrand. The goalie
that year was Rick Keuhne and one of
the top defensemen I had was Bob
Hammer. This was really the first team
I coached, and from then until now,
there have been a bunch of great guys.
All of my team members have given
everything they had on the rink and
we have developed more and more
each year until last year we had our
first NAIA All-American team member
in Bill Ross. I couldn't even begin to
pick one hockey team or one player
as being the best or the greatest
because they were all good and they
were all great to the team".
This year? Well, it's hard to predict.
Augsburg is of course one of the top
contenders but the current league is
really strong. St. Thomas. Gustavus
Adolphus. and Concordia college all
have top teams and you can never
count St. Mary's out of any conference
race. "We have as good a chance this
year as we've ever had to be first at
the end of competition, but we won't
be able to lose many games at all.
We have an expanded program this
year with an added varsity reserve unit
coached by Doug Smested and that
should really help. A lot of good players
are back, but they are also being
challenged by some sharp new men.
It will prove to be an interesting year."
It has proved to be an interesting career
for Augsburg hockey so far and with
the new facility, top notch staff and
some excellent players, the future
for the sport here looks just as promising. Good luck Auggies'