We celebrate the 1983 Wayzata Club Hockey Team and one of its stars, Jonny "The Mouse" Mikkelson, who once told me "Our team was so good the varsity wouldn't play us." When asked why he didn't play varsity Mouse said, "Too little." Cutest ever. So, we salute the greatest Club Hockey Team ever, a squad so vaunted even Jim Craig's Miracle team wanted nothing to do with it. Trottier, Bossy, Gretzky, Messier ... dead! Long live the 1983 Wayzata Club Hockey team!
MOUSE DROPPINGS
BYJONMOUSEMIKKELSON,
THEMOSTDEVOTEDRUBE
INRUBENATION
Ask anyone who was a Minnesota North Stars fan what was your best memories of the ol’ green and gold and you will get the EXACT same answer… Playoff games versus the Blackhawks. Yes, this is now the Wild vs Blackhawks, but goosebumps may still come out of a 22 year hibernation.
The matchup might look pretty lopsided on paper. Chicago 36W 7L 5T, Minnesota 26W 19L 3T…. Chicago 155 goals for - 102 against, Minnesota 122 goals for – 127 against… You know what I say about that? PERFECT!
Let’s look back at the past.. 1981-82 Minnesota wins the Norris Division, Chicago finished 4th. MN 37 W 23 L 20 T (Yes, the North Stars got more ties than Sean Kemp gets on Fathers’ Day) Chi 30-38-12… MN 346 goals Chi 332g. MN 288 goals against Chi 363ga… I remember opening game, 15,784 screaming fans at Met Center. Chants of “Secord Sucks” echoing through Bloomington Minnesota. “Dino, Dino!” just as loud (Dino Ciccarelli agitated the Blackhawks more than Chris Kluwe does to Vikings brass). This was the beginning of one of the greatest rivalries in sports. Then, game 1, overtime, crowd goes from manic to silent in one second. Darryl Sutter scored. I was in the last row of the upper deck. All I remember is the goal light flashing, Met Center dead silent except for the Blackhawks hootin’ and hollerin’. Really? The heavily favored North
Stars lost game one and eventually the series 3 games to one.
The intensity of the North Star-Blackhawk rivalry kept going through a lot of the 80’s. Dino-Secord. Broten-Savard. Plett-Grimson. Meloche-Bannerman. It was truly must-see TV. Chicago beat out Minny again in ‘82-‘83. North Stars won ‘83-‘84. Chicago
‘84-’85. The only building louder than Met Center was Chicago Sadium. “Dino
Sucks!” The National Anthem with that enormous pipe organ. Unbelievable!
As the North Stars slid in the standings throughout the rest of the ‘80’s, the rivalry tapered off….. Until 1989-90 then 1990-91. In ’90-’91, Chicago had a record of 49-23-8. MN 27-39-14. Goals For: Chi 284 MN 256, Goals Against: Chi 211 MN 266. Mismatch!!!!
The heavy underdog Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4 games to
2 and went on a miraculous run to the Cup Finals, only to lose to Pittsburgh.
Fast-Forward to now…..Chicago 36-7-5, MN 26-19-3. Goals For: Chi 155 MN 122 Goals Against: Chi 102 MN 127… Mismatch!!! PERFECT!!! That’s exactly what we want to hear.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most grueling matches you’ll see in sports. Can the Wild beat out the speedy Blackhawks? 4 words…. PHOENIX DID LAST YEAR. Let’s
Play!
