By Lars Hjelmroth
Legal News
In the nomenclature of historians, Tom Mustonen is a primary source. He has lived the hockey history of both peninsulas in Michigan.
It was 50 years ago when Mustonen and a mostly inexperienced U.S. National Team embarked on Sabena Airlines flight No. 548 from New York Idlewild Airport to Brussels. They were starting their International Ice Hockey Federation quest towards the World Championship. At the time, Boston hockey legend, Walter Brown, owner of the Boston Bruins and then vice president of the American Hockey Association, said in The Christian Science Monitor, “I don’t see any team with the strength of the Russians or Czech Republic. Our boys may have a rough time of it.”
That was a correct prediction as the U.S. Nationals started its 14-country tour with a group of ex-collegians. USA coach Harry Cleverly of Boston University fame set his first line with Marshall Tschida of Providence College on the right. Cleverly had John Poole, who was in the Army, in the center spot and the left-winger Tom Mustonen of Michigan State. The top defensive pair was Frank Silka, also of MSU, and John Warchol of East Orange, N.J.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of that tournament. And the storyline was just one anecdote of the many forgotten and seemingly lost to history highlights documented at the Sports and Entertainment segment of Hockey Day in Michigan, held February 16. The symposium part of Hockey Weekend Across America was presented recently at the Westland Public Library.
The multi-media presentation, moderated by Raymond Rolak, highlighted the robust rivalry of the Michigan State and the University of Michigan hockey programs. Also showcased was the unique story of the short-lived University of Detroit collegiate ice hockey team. The U of D Titans played their home games at the Olympia in 1968-70 before sparse crowds. Bloomfield Hills attorney Jimmy Williams concluded his collegiate career as the acting player-coach. This was because the head coach, James Kerwin, walked away in disgust after the U of D administration cancelled the program with only two weeks left in the season.
Rolak, who has a long hockey pedigree, just completed work in Hawaii as the associate producer for the full-length motion picture comedy, “Get A Job.” He told of how Detroit attorney Robert Plumpey and Dave Bentley revamped youth hockey by instituting a skill level classification for the 1970 State Championships.
“The action revolutionized hockey in America, brought forth a classification system, and promoted the growth we have today,” Rolak said.
Rolak also had timelines regarding women’s hockey development, highlighting attorney Walter Bush and Minnesota editor Patti Riha.
Rolak dissected the 1971 Detroit Common Pleas case allowing the Detroit Catholic Central High School freshman team sponsored by the Detroit Safe-Rai Co. to play and be eligible for the City of Detroit Recreation Department (Bantam age-group) Championship. As a 19-year-old college freshman, playing baseball at Wayne State University, Rolak wrote an amicus brief outlining the merits of school location and the amount of time spent in Detroit as a factor for recreation residency eligibility. The brief turned the tide.
From that modest house league hockey team, three of many outstanding teammates stood out. Mike Brown and Steve Banonis went on to play collegiate hockey in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and both had brief pro careers. Bryan Gruley, while playing high school hockey, went on to became an All-State defenseman. Of greater note, Gruley won a Pulitzer Prize while writing for The Wall Street Journal.
Current Detroit area lawyers Walter Piszczatowski and Charles Clos also worked as part-time recreation hockey instructors and were appropriate to the action. Clos, now a specialist in youth sports defense litigation said, “We were all Detroit hockey ambassadors. The programs developed coaches and coaching protocols still in use today.”
Mustonen echoed the comments.
“We ate a lot of sausages from the street vendors in Germany and got to experience Fasching (German Mardi Gras). We enjoyed the cultural sights also. Frank (Silka) and I both felt fortunate to be able to experience that enrichment. We went to Red Square and were treated very VIP. We got invited to the front of the line to see Lenin’s Tomb. It was cold and we had our long wool USA parkas on and presented ourselves with grace and diplomacy. We looked sharp as a group.”
After touring with games in Europe, Team USA struggled at the World Championships losing all but two games, defeating West Germany 8-4 and tying East Germany 3-3. The lopsided 17-2 loss to Sweden on March 12 prompted a telephone call to the team from President John F. Kennedy, who wanted to see what he could do to help improve the U.S. hockey program. Kennedy developed a love for hockey at Harvard, his alma mater.
“Jack Kirrane who was the USA captain for the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympic Gold medal winners, was a Massachusetts friend of President Kennedy,” Mustonen said.
Lufthansa, Aeroflot, LOT, KLM, CSA and Aer Lingus were new airline names to seek out in theses transcontinental airports and even stranger were some of the airplanes.
“We became experienced international travelers very quickly,” added Mustonen, now a retired educator. “We were immersed in international law and regulations, along with the Cold War and Iron Curtain bureaucrats.”
In that era, players who tried out for the National and Olympic hockey teams paid their own way to training camp. The amateur rules were very strict and making the team required a four-month commitment. Some of the players were already in the military and were subsidized with a small stipend. Others got just $50 a month for expenses.
“There was so much talent in Michigan back in the day, Jimmy Siebert, Paul Coppo, goalie Patrick Rupp and, of course, Jack Roberts,” Mustonen said. “They and many more were capable of NHL careers. Denny Ribant and Al Moran, who both played Major League Baseball, would have had great hockey futures also.”
The ‘63 World Championships were coming off with the awkwardness of the 1962 IIHF Championships held in Colorado Springs. The U.S. earned the bronze medal that year, but neither the Soviet Union nor Czechoslovakia was present in Colorado Springs in ‘62. The two Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the event due to the United States’ refusal to give entry visas to communist-ally East Germany (in protest of the erection of the Berlin Wall just seven months earlier).
Mustonen added, “Coach Cleverly was an anxious flyer and so on the long flight home from Dublin we sent our two complimentary Scotch whiskeys to him. Needless to say, he was very glowing when it was time to deplane. There was a team parade before the tournament and we were presented a small but beautiful crystal drinking vessel with the three Swedish gold crowns on it. Sweden, the spectators and the supporters, were gracious hosts.”
Of great interest at the February 16 program was the documentation of the 1959 Michigan State ice hockey team, which was officially declared as the first Big Ten Conference Hockey Champions. This allowed them to go to the NCAA finals in Troy, N.Y., hosted by RPI. This history will be vital to the future of the new Big Ten Hockey Conference, which will feature six schools next year. The branding and scheduling will be a valuable property for the Big Ten Network.
This May, USA Hockey will send NHL players to represent America in the top group of countries participating in the IIHF World Championships. USA will play its first game versus Austria on May 4. There will be 16 countries competing in the top division. Team Russia is the defending World Champions.
Rolak concluded the February 16 program with a series of stories regarding Red Berenson and Mel Wakabayashi and the special relationships of college coaches, John Mariucci, Al Renfrew and Amo Bessone. He also highlighted the many national championship teams from the metro Detroit area. The making of the 1987 award-winning docu-drama, “The Hobey Baker Story,” which had been narrated by Rolak and produced in Minneapolis, also was discussed.
Mustonen smiled and added, “Berenson was fast-tracked for the U-M Law School after his All-America season with the Wolverines. Pro hockey got in the way. He has been the benchmark as the University of Michigan head coach.”
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