Posted: 3/12/03

Forest Lake's Mr. and Mrs. Hockey

It was a February evening some 47 years ago, but George Deegan remembers it like it was yesterday.

He and his father were watching the sports on the evening news, listening to a preview of that nightís state hockey tournament games. The year was 1956.

After watching the news, on a whim the two hockey nuts decided to go down to the old St. Paul Auditorium and watch the games.

Ever since, George has never missed a boys state hockey tournament. Heís been a season-ticket holder since 1959. He began bringing his wife Darlene in 1969 ñÝa year before they were married ñÝand when the tournament moved from the St. Paul Auditorium to Met Center, he took advantage of an opportunity to increase his number of season tickets from two to four.

With those two extra tickets, he was able to bring his two sons ñ Jason and Chad ñ along ever since they were able to walk.

Make no mistake about it, the boys state hockey tournament has been an important and emotional part of the Deeganís lives. And they love every minute of it.

ìItís just something we do together year after year,î Darlene said. ìThatís our vacations for the year. We all looked so forward to it.î

In many ways, the Deegansí way of life parallels the blue-collar world of high school hockey.
George grew up on a dairy farm. Dairy farmers donít get vacations, so George and his father would often times milk the cows in the wee hours of the morning or possibly all afternoon so they could get to the tournament.

ìMan, we would milk those cows, sometimes at four in the afternoon so we could get to a game at 6:30 or 7, especially during the state tournament,î George said.

Georgeís father had spent time working at the old slaughter houses in South St. Paul and subsequently knew several parents of South St. Paul hockey players. Immediately, the Packers became Georgeís favorite team.

He even remembers watching retired Gophers hockey coach Doug Woog play for South St. Paul for four years.

ìHe was just a little guy, but he was a good player,î George said.

George says the St. Paul Auditorium is still his favorite hockey venue.

ìIt was just a crazy place,î he recalled. ìIt was jam-packed. There were no Fire Marshals around, and people filled the isles. It was just so jam-packed. And, you were allowed to smoke so by the start of the second period, there was always a huge cloud of smoke hanging down around the ice.

ìAnd it would get so loud in there. Just deafening. You couldnít even hear yourself think.î

When George met Darlene, he began taking her to hockey games. When she went in 1969, it would be the first in a string of consecutive trips which has now reached 34 years.

A lot has changed for Darlene in those years. These days she can rattle off the names of some of the greatest players and their accomplishments from the tournament. That was far from the case four decades ago.

ìI never knew beans about hockey before we got married,î she said.

Sheís gone from that level of knowledge to having this to say about the performance of St. Paul Johnson goalie Doug Long in the 1970 tournament when he had 124 saves in three games.

ìMy God, that was a whale of a game (when Long had 61 in one game). They couldnít get nothing past him, and he was just a little guy.î

Nothing has stopped the Deegans from going back every year to make more memories. Not even the annually dreaded ìstate tournament blizzard.î

Although, there was that one year when they tried to follow a snow plow home from the tournament. Darlene said the snow was falling so hard and fast that you couldnít even see the median or shoulder on the freeway, so they just stayed behind the snow plow.

But, without knowing it, they followed the plow right off the freeway and onto Hwy. 96. By the time they realized they werenít on the freeway anymore they were in White Bear Lake. A 30 minute drive took them more than two hours that night.

ìWe shouldnít have tried to come home that night,î George admits.

ìThere ainít much that can stop us from getting to hockey,î Darlene said.

When it came time to start bringing Jason and Chad, the memories got that much better, the Deegans said.

Many times one of the kids would fall asleep at the tournament. And to get them out of school for the tournament, George and Darlene would write notes stating the family was going out of town.

ìWell,î Darlene said, ìwe did go out of town. But, everybody knew where we were going.î

Because theyíve had their tickets for so long, you would have a hard time finding better seats to watch the action from.

And in Georgeís nearly five decades of watching the tournament, heís not sure things are getting better with time. He remembers when the tournament programs cost a quarter and contained no advertising. Now the programs are $5 and you have to weed through the advertising to find the information you want to read.

He, ìreally hates,î seeing the red light go off behind the officialsí table indicating a television time out. Heís gone from not paying for parking to seeing prices of $10 a day. He pays more than what he did many years ago for a beverage at the tournament, which back in the day, George said, ìwas probably about two bits.î

He use to buy a quarter-pound Baby Ruth candy bar for a dime and bring it in to the tournament. George realizes it will never be the same as it was, but he knows why things have changed so much.

ìItís all about the money now,î he said. ìIt never use to be that way. The money has taken over.î

He says the tournament has gone from being the place to be to being a place to be seen at. He canít believe it when people come to the tournament and after two periods leave.

Of course, he always stays until the bitter end. That includes the night in 1996 when Apple Valley beat Duluth East 5-4 in five overtimes in the semifinals. Leaving early would be a sin in the Deegan family.

No greater sin has been committed against the state hockey tournament, George and Darlene say, than when the decision was made to go away from the one-class system.

ìIt really seemed like a terrible setback,î George said. ìNobody was really in favor of it in the general public.

ìIt will never really be the same. You use to have to win four or five games just to get to state and there was always the chance for that big upset. Thatís what really made it great. Now, some teams play three or maybe even two games to get to state.î

Darlene agreed. She said she always rooted for the northern schools.

ìBy golly, when those teams made the tournament and they came down and played the big schools,î she said, ìthose were the big games.î

No game sticks out more in the mind of Darlene than the 1977 games between Edina East and Rochester John Marshall. John Marshall became the first southern Minnesota team to win a title that year with a shocking 4-2 upset.

ìThat place just exploded like you wouldnít believe,î Darlene said. ìProbably 98 percent of the people in there were rooting for John Marshall, because everybody hated Edina.

ìIíll always remember that game. Man, oh, man.î

For George, it was the dominate Roseau teams of the late 50s and the International Falls teams of the mid-1960s which won three straight titles and 58 games in a row.

ìThey were just the greatest teams you could ever, ever see,î he said.

George is 62 now and Darlene 54, but they arenít quite ready to call it quits for the state tournament.

They will have the opportunity to pass their tickets down some day. Most likely to son Chad and his wife Naomi, who live in Farmington and are just as big of hockey fans.

In fact, Darlene said she sees a lot of similarities between Chad and Naomi and her and George. But, most importantly, they are all passionate about high school hockey.

ìThose kids (playing in the tournament) really put their hearts into it,î Darlene said.

The same way George and Darlene have put their hearts into following high school hockey in Minnesota.

And they donít see a state tournament weekend coming in the future when they arenít there when the first ñ and last ñ puck is dropped.

ìI figure I should still have another 20 good years,î George boasted.

ìAnd Iíll be right there beside him,î Darlene added.

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