• Tuesday-What'sUP January 9 - 10:38 pm

The Calumet Coliseum (formerly known as the Calumet Armory) was alive with the sounds of skates on ice and sticks on pucks this weekend. The Escanaba Hawks, sponsored by Check and Cash (the dark uniforms) traveled here to play the Keweenaw Storm, sponsored by the Daily Mining Gazette (the lighter uniforms), in Squirts AA Hockey. I was there to catch some of the action as my great-nephew Derek, #13 on the Escanaba team was playing. That first photo was him getting into position to score a goal, which of course I missed by a fraction of a shutter! Sure is fun to watch the intensity of these youngsters skating up and down that rink. I was especially impressed by the skating ability of several girls on the Keweenaw team...you go girls! :->

Now these pictures take me back to when my boys were young adn we sat OUTSIDE in the freezing cold to watch them play hockey. There was no inside rink where we were. When we lived there for a while, they did play in the Armory though. That was definitely better.

Our grandson has been involved in squirt hockey now for 2 years and we attended 4 games of his over the New Years weekend in Allen Park, Mi..He had a few goals and a great part of the game is watching the "gal" goalie save the bacon for them on many plays. Many of the rinks in the downriver area have 3 sheets of ice (12 rinks within 15 minutes of here) so one can watch hockey every day of the week except for a month or so in the summer.
I do still remember playing outside hockey in Hubbell, Tamarack City, Hancock, Lake Linden and Laurium as a kid and even a few rinks in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Especially remember playing the Duluth AFB outside, on top of the hill at about -10°.

My grandaughter Angela (Belanger) is 16 and an awesome hockey player.....her abilities amaze me. I'm from the old school, sigh, would never have thought girls could play such a rough sport. I love watching Ang on the ice.

Have a great day all you snow lovers......

God Bless...........

I have never watched girls play ice hockey. Do they get as rough as the boys?

My wifes Mother had one of the first all girl hockey teams in the state of Michigan. It was down state and around 1931. She was from Laurium and her name was Irma Seppala and graduated from Calumet High. She was a Physical Education teacher.

My grandmother's sister, Helmi Tikkanen, from Redridge, married a guy named Herb Seppala (they are both deceased) and my cousin, Kay Martin, is also married to a Seppala. Way to go Irma!!

I have seen girls get pretty tough, a friend of mine was a goaly on a boys team and they didn't mess with her. Saw her knock a few down on the ice.

My mother played for the Tamarack Hockey team back in maybe the late 20's or early 30's. [Tamarack location in Calumet not Tamarack City] Every neighborhood had their own rink; "yellow-jacket", "blue-jacket", "red-jacket", "Centennial" and many more.

Afternoon All.
Have been a lifelong Hockey 'enthusiast' played, coached, and refereed. Had the most fun being a Ref with 50% of the calls being either right or wrong. It was a great way to stay involved in the game. Grandson has nicknamed me "Grandpa Hockey". Back in the '60s' played some hockey at Lauren Grove, anybody know if they still have a rink there? Growing up back then I would say that 95% of the rinks were outdoors. Enjoy the day everyone!!

I would venture to say you really can't tell which sex is behind the uniform buy the style of play anymore - hockey is hockey - at last - don't ya love it?! As a former hockey mom I sure do.

Have to disagree with you becky, at the college/semi-pro/professional level women lag so far behind its almost silly, i mean a boys high school team beat our USA Womens olympic team...dont get me wrong though, its great that girls can play and appreciate the game also and im all for it...

Oh boy Derek, you just opened up a can of worms. What else are women failures at? Didn't you ever hear the term "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"?

You Go Girls!

anyway you look at it.It looks like fun to me.

Yep, Rhb, it is supposed to be fun, after all they're just kids!

Okay kids, fight nice!!

To answer the question if there is a difference between girls and boys hockey, the major difference is that girls hockey doesn't allow body checking.

Even though my point of view won't be liked, I find boys hockey much more entertaining. I was in a high school band that played at sporting events, girls hockey was my least favorite to watch (I'm female). The skating is slow and without checking the game is too tame. And our girls were state champs the first few years it was a high school sport. I think it's great the girls are playing and being supported, but if you really want to watch a good game, watch the boys.

Well said Almn..........

Bottom line, there is a difference between boys and girls, men and women, thank God.

I Love Hockey it's fun to watch or play no matter who you are.Just ask my two defense dog's.
I hope a Embryo Stem Cell fight don't start!

And we can all thank Gary Bettman for the declining interest in the NHL. He's been doing his best to try and turn it into girl's hockey. That's not a slam on girls hockey, they've just done their best to take all the rough play out of the game that it's getting boring to watch. There is no fear of retribution if some marginal player cheap shots a star player, so you see a lot more of the dirty stick work and such. I've been an NHL fan since the 60's and from what I've seen, the game was at it's most popular in the mid-70's through the mid-80's. In the 70's it was the Flyers and the Canadiens, the perfect mix of goon squad and pure talent. In the 80's you had the run and gun offense of the Oilers. Hockey was a fun game to watch then. I still watch on a nightly basis, (satellite is great) but the game is getting boring. Time to get down from my soapbox now, just my opinion.
Mr. Deb

Speaking of girls and hockey, one of our former employees here at Pasty Central (and the webmaster's daughter) was a player and back in April 2002, she went to Alaska with the MTU Husky Women for the National Finals.

Let me see now, part of the A.U.P.reads as follows,,, "On any daily Cam Notes Page, limit your postings to 2 messages, unless you are the photographer responding to feedback about your photo"......... This case is also rested....

Mr. Deb,

I hate to differ, but I find the NHL quite entertaining now. I did not like all the clutch and grab in the past years.

I commend Bettman and the officials (not to mention the way that Shanahan took the lead) for trying to get rid of the clutching and grabbing - in my opinion, that was not hockey. I get a laugh out of the way they call it the "new NHL" all the officials are doing (for the most part) is enforcing the rules that are on the books. Could there be some leeway - maybe.. But I enjoy watching NHL games...

They are doing the same in the beer league I am playing in. When one guy complained about all the hooking calls in one game, I simply said "keep your stick on the ice where it belongs and there will be no calls.."

I do agree that the 80's NHL was very good hockey.

I still play and I am in my 40's. The beer league team I play on has a few women on it (one woman is one of the better skaters - she is also a figure skating coach).

I did watch some of the Olympic women's game and found them very entertaining.

In my opinion, if a person is a true hockey fan, they will watch any game and find it very entertaining (I do).....

I'll agree that the "changes" made in the last couple of years have made the game better but. I'm not a fan of the hook and hold variety either. In my opinion, and its opinion only, I think the game took a downward turn when the instigator rule was put into effect. It took away the fear of delivering a cheap shot. Fines and suspensions are not the answer, most of those guys could buy and sell us. Hockey policed itself just fine for decades. The Flyers of the 70's took it to the extreme, but every arena in the league wanted to get tickets when they came to town. If Gretzky and Kurri hadn't had Semenko in the background, do you think they would have worked all that magic on the ice?
Mr. Deb

Not to get away from all the hockey talk but after moving from Dollar Bay to Hubbell, my sisters and I would walk to a ice rink in Tamarack. Does anyone remember where it exactly was? We sure had fun at that rink!

I agree with you ALMN, but I'm really glad the girls can play. However, when the Winter Olympics are on, I always watch the girls play if I get the chance. It's just not as exciting as watching the boys play! Go Wings!!

Mr. Deb,

That is true.

That is why I don't like comparing Gretzky to Gordie Howe. Howe had to (and did) take care of himself while putting up his numbers. As you pointed out, Gretzy had some other 'enforcers' do that for him - in my opinion, that is what started the downward spiral.

Yes the NHL did go to extremes with trying to get a way from the clutch and grab.

I agree that the instigator rule did compound the problem.

The cheap shots will always be there - does the Burtuzzi / Moore incident ring a bell?

The Tamarack rink was up on a hill wasn't it? Like up from M-26? Over near the school?