It’s A Great Day for Hockey

After spending my summer and fall outdoors, I’ve read several articles recently about Wisconsin hockey, and they inspired my return to writing. Of course, “it’s a great day for hockey” was the catchphrase of Bob Johnson, who coached the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team between 1966 and 1982 and led Wisconsin to three national championships.

One of the articles appeared on November 3rd in the Wisconsin State Journal and reported on a tribute to the Suter family at the December 2nd UW-Michigan hockey game. Three generations of the family – Marlowe and his sons, John, Bob and Gary, and Bob’s son Ryan – have supported hockey in the Madison area, and the tribute to them is well-deserved. Three of the family members were on the team that won the Badgers’ second national championship in 1977, and that season is the real inspiration for this posting – because I participated, voyeuristically, in that history.

Growing up in Louisiana, I knew nothing about hockey when I arrived in Wisconsin in 1975. However, during my second year on campus, excitement about the hockey program grew as Bob Johnson returned after coaching the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. In his absence, Badger hockey struggled to a 12-24-2 record in 1975-76 under interim coach Bill “Rocket” Rothwell. I “snagged” two 1976-77 season tickets for the Saturday night series at the Dane County Coliseum, several miles south of campus (the Kohl Center did not open until 1998). The tickets were in a corner, normally a prime viewing area, but they were at ice level and behind the UW band, which meant we had to stand the entire game to view play. The other unfortunate part of our attendance was departing from the Dane County Coliseum. With over 7,000 spectators heading home at the same time and only two parking lot exits, we endured interminable traffic jams in sub-freezing temperatures waiting for my 1974 Ford Pinto’s heater to do its job. But those are the only two negative things I can remember about that season.

When I started writing this posting, I wondered if we saw the Badgers lose a game that season, which was almost the case. The first loss we saw was on New Year’s Eve to Moscow Spartak, a professional Russian team, but the game was listed as “exhibition” and the score was only 1-2. The only “official” loss we attended was to Minnesota, 4-5, on January 8. A month earlier, the Badgers had swept the Gophers on their home ice by scores of 4-3 and 7-2. Also losing at home three times on Fridays, the Badgers compiled a home record of 20-5-0. With even better away (13-2-1) and neutral site (4-0-0) records, the Badgers finished the 1976-77 season 37-7-1, winning 83.3% of their games!

The other pretty incredible thing about that season, from a purely personal perspective, is that we secured tickets to the final game of the WCHA playoffs. By compiling the league’s best regular season record, the Badgers secured “home ice” for the tournament’s duration. By the time the playoffs entered the championship round in the third week of March, fans learned that the Badgers’ home ice at the Dane County Coliseum was booked for the World Dairy Expo, and the WCHA venue was shifted to the 3,500 seat Hartmeyer Ice Arena on Madison’s east side. Over 7,000 season ticket holders at the Coliseum were invited to apply for seats through a lottery. Miraculously, we won the lottery. It was miraculous both because we got tickets, but also because our seats were in the first row behind the Badger bench on the blue line. We spent the entire game peering over Bob Johnson’s shoulders.

Of the many ways to describe the Badgers’ 1976-77 season, one might be “payback can be sweet,” courtesy of the Michigan Wolverines. That is because the Badgers opened the season at home on October 15 with a Friday night overtime loss to Michigan, 6-7, before beating the Wolverines six other times that season. On Saturday night, the Badgers returned the favor, beating the Wolverines by an identical score, also in overtime. In February, the Badgers swept the Wolverines on their home ice, 3-2 and 11-8. Besting Colorado College and Minnesota in the first two rounds of the WCHA playoffs and facing off once again against Michigan for the tournament championship, the Badgers won the total goal series 9-4 (4-0 and 5-4). Both teams secured bids to the NCAA’s “Frozen Four” national championship tournament in Detroit’s Olympia Stadium. The Badgers’ first round game against New Hampshire ended in a tie, before Wisconsin scored the go-ahead goal 43 seconds into overtime, winning 4-3. Facing Michigan for the seventh time that season for the national championship the next night, the two teams ended regulation play in a 5-5 tie, until a back-hander by Steve Alley secured the win for the Badgers 23 seconds into overtime.

Another way to describe the Badgers’ 1976-77 season, and borrowing a phrase from futbol, might be, “it’s a beautiful game.” During that season, the Badgers scored more goals than any other WCHA team, and their total equaled 103 more goals than they surrendered (264-161). That margin also led the league and was considerably larger than the margins posted by Michigan (49) and Notre Dame (44), the two closest rivals. Of their 264 goals, 93 came on the power play, converting 39% of their opportunities, with many of those goals credited to the line of Steve Alley, John Taft, Craig Norwich, Mike Eaves, and Mark Johnson.  Norwich was a defenseman but, nonetheless, led the team in points with 83 (18 goals and 65 assists), and the team’s scoring leader was a freshman, Mark Johnson, with 36 goals.

The “real” beauty of the Badger team was that they outskated their opponents. Many teams could not skate with the Badgers and resorted to a physical style of play, leaving the Badgers in need of an enforcer to counter other teams’ physicality, which brings us back to the Suter family. Bob Suter accepted that role, leading the team in penalties, and was described by Coach Johnson as fearless. When he skated over to the penalty box to serve time for an infraction, he was greeted by his dad, Marlowe, who ensured that each guilty Badger served his full allotted time before returning to play. Bob’s older brother, John, also played on the 1976-77 team. Both Bob Suter and Mark Johnson went on to win Olympic gold medals, playing for the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” team. Unfortunately, Bob Suter died unexpectedly in 2014, and a memorial service was held for him – where else – at the Dane County Coliseum.

The 1976-77 season was a magical time to have season tickets to Badger hockey, and I count myself fortunate for that experience.

I don’t have any hockey-related music from my past to end this posting. However, I recently received a concert promotion for Daryl Hall, who is touring with Todd Rundgren. I love Rundgren, and since I haven’t posted anything since June, I’ll conclude by saying, ”Hello, It’s Me”.