Rob Beer

1 month ago | inforum.com | Rob Beer

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota high school boys hockey tournament turns 81 this week after its humble beginnings back in 1945. Now, it’s a spectacle — garnering national acclaim and media attention — that has captivated the State of Hockey, other states and even parts of the world as well for generations. As this season’s tournament begins, we’ll turn back the clock once again to the first state tournament where — surprise — two hockey-rich communities played for the title.

1 month ago | inforum.com | Rob Beer

FARGO — It was 34 years ago when Cardinal Muench basketball would call in its last game report to The Forum’s sports desk. As a college student working at the newspaper during the winter of 1990-91 and taking those calls, I had to learn quickly the “u” came before the “e.”Suffice to say, I knew very little about the north Fargo seminary next to Edgewood Golf Course, just that the basketball team seemed to lose more games than it won.

2 months ago | inforum.com | Rob Beer

FARGO — There are images seared in my mind from more than 40 years ago of my teachers getting burned by the speed and athleticism of the Minnesota Vikings. And boy, was it funny. It still is. See, back in the day, a handful of Vikings players would travel around the Upper Midwest and play basketball games against teachers, coaches, service organizations or top-flight amateurs.

2 months ago | inforum.com | Rob Beer

FARGO — The Minnesota North Stars began its inaugural season in 1967, one of six new teams entering the NHL that year. With training camp in Haliburton, Ontario, preseason games were played in that general region near Toronto. Tom Reid recalls the early training camps in Haliburton, where Wren Blair, the North Stars’ first coach and general manager, used his hockey facility to house the team there.

2 months ago | postbulletin.com | Rob Beer

FARGO — Much like Becky Dooley, the first girl to play on a North Dakota high school boys baseball team in 1974, Carrie Preusse needed to put up a fight. In 1984, Preusse was a sophomore at Fargo South. Already a cross country and track standout, hockey was her winter love. She began playing park board hockey in Fargo in second grade and eventually played for the Southside Flyers Bantam B team. It was her fight in 1984 that opened the doors in North Dakota for girls to play on boys teams.