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Messages from the original message board in 2001.

Posted by Dan on September 16, 2001 at 13:22:13:
Great web site,Brings back memories of having Ozzie O'neil and Pigion Summers as coach's in Marquette for WLUC.TV in Marquette Juinior Hockey.Ozzie and Pigion did a great job!

Posted by Stanley on July 28, 2001 at 21:15:17:
When you see Sully skate with the puck and make some outstanding moves, you'll find you mouth open. But when you see Brian Lunney make some outstanding save, your mouth open and you find yourself standing.

Posted by Sean Willman on July 21, 2001 at 12:58:02:
I really enjoy this website! Though I don't have any memories to share, they say I got a piece of the palestra... chewing gum. During games as a toddler, I would pick at the gum stuck to the ground and get a good taste of it too. I suppose the game was so great no one had noticed that in my own way I was getting a piece of the excitement too. Thanks again for the website. Something to look at while out to sea... Navylife.

Posted by M.E. on July 11, 2001 at 05:01:22:
Fortunately, I'm able to visit Marquette frequently these days. Sometimes, late at night when driving North on 3rd Street,(Still seems odd--3rd used to be a one-way going South.)when the light is just right, it seems like NMU's PEIF building looks a little different. Low front section, high rounded roof and the outline of an old sign painted by Barry Cook's sign company. Then I realize it must be a reflection from the power plant smokestack strobe lights. Or maybe I just should have left the 3rd Base before last call. Memories of the Iron Ranger days are strong even for those of us who have left Marquette!

Posted by Bob Vidlund on February 21, 2001 at 22:28:11:
There was no place like it...The Palestra and Iron Ranger games. You had to bundle up not only to get to the game, but often had to keep your coat , hat and gloves on for the game... it could get pretty cold in the Palestra. The propane heaters that were under the bleachers were not enough on the really cold nights. You had to be pretty alert when you were in the bleachers since there was not any glass or screens on the sides of the rink, only in the corners and behind the nets. Between periods there was no Donor's room, just the lobby area where everyone went between periods to get hot chocolate or pop and a hotdog. Mr. and Mrs. swanson were behind the concession counter and knew most of their customers by name I lost interest in hockey when Lakeview Arena opened. It seemed so bright. and sterile. The Palestra, the Iron Rangers and the fans who attended games there will always have a place in my heart. "Go Rangers".....never knew who that was.

Posted by tim bazinette on February 20, 2001 at 16:55:24:
the best memory for me was when i played on the squirt all star team [exchange club] and we won the state championship at the palestra then we were introduced on the ice at the end of the 1st period of the rangers and bobcats game. also cold saturday morning practices when there was fog on the ice cause it was so cold we used to have to do laps to raise the fog to see the puck

Posted by Jay Lauscher on February 17, 2001 at 12:25:02:
Thank you for providing such great memories of my youth. Although I never played hockey the Iron Rangers were a big part of my youth. I loved to go to the games at the Palestra (even if it was always freezing cold). It kept the winters in Marquette interesting with all of the different players the Rangers had. Who can forget the early years when the team struggled and then to see them succeed was great!!! They were OUR team and we were proud of them. Great job on the site..

Posted by Keith Nease on February 18, 2001 at 07:20:39:
Thank you for all the time and effort you put into the site. It brings back many memories of going to Sentinel and Iron Ranger games with my Father as a child.

Posted by bill on February 13, 2002 at 15:31:09:
In Reply to: Posted by on February 14, 2001 at 22:17:12:
: i remember going to the games and my dad was a the score keeper for a few yrs. it was great to view the games from the score box. but the best part was keeping score and turning the big score wheels ..lol but i think my favorite player was ronnie johnson... are there any real good pictures of the palestra anywhere?

Posted by SWEEPER on February 13, 2001 at 18:52:40:
One winter nite long ago, Oz and i were talking about the three brothers ,that Okie brought in, Oz didn't think they would be here long,but we saw the movie before it was made.oh for the days of long ago, Sentials , Ironrangers, Americans,and all the sweepers and the gran old lady the Palestra.

Posted by Don on February 11, 2001 at 06:56:10:
Some of my fondest memories as a kid, growing up in Marquette, were nights at the Palestra. If my aging memory serves me correctly, the Iron Rangers played many of their games on Thursday nights. These were always more fun & exciting to watch, than those played on Sunday afternoons. I, along with many ofther Rangers fans, was a Bobcat-hater. Oh how we loved to see Fuzzy Frenette or Gordy Yewman get into it with the likes of Pigeon, or Dale Beerman, or Barry Cook. Never saw an Iron Ranger lose a fight. The brand of hockey played during the Iron Ranger era in Marquette was some of the best to be had anywhere. Having been associated with some of the former players & hearing tales of road trips, one can only imagine......oh the good old days.

Posted by Ric O'Neill on February 04, 2001 at 18:13:09:
This site is great! I was very young during this time but can still remember skating at the PALESTRA. My Dad was a Sweeper(Manual Labor Zamboni).

Posted by anne on May 10, 2001 at 21:22:38:
First, this is a great site. Keeps Marquette people in touch from far flung places. I was only about 8 at the time, but I remember one of the last games at the Palestra. My dad played for the Iron Rangers and I remember falling asleep on my mom's lap sometime late in the second period. I woke, startled to a loud roar and it turned out there was a fight. I asked my mom why daddy was hitting that man....later I woke to ask why my dad was bleeding. I guess this could sound like a bad memory if you are not from the UP, but to me this is a great one. I learned to skate in the Palestra, I got my third set of stiches falling down in the Palestra (the nurse told me I was a much better patient than my dad), I road around with my dad in that crappy old Ranger's bus, we would "jimmy" the door at the Palestra at the crack of dawn so that we could skate at the crack of dawn, and I had my first crush in the Palestra. That building was torn down over 25 years ago but it still looms large for me. In fact, I have a great pen and inc drawing that my mom had done for me that still hangs in my office in New Mexico. Funny how a broken down, cold, smelly building could hold such fond memories for so many people...

Never missed a Green Bay game when Fuzzy Fernette was playing. The Fan's could harrass him to the point where you could "egg him on" into a fight with somebody. He was in so many fights that he got pretty good at it.

During the slow part of every Game a guy sitting up by the East Stairs above the penalty box would yell: Gooooooooooooo Raaannngggeeeerrrrrrsssss!!! It became like a trademark that I remember vividly to this day!

True Story: Marquette native (my Bro) owns a limo company in Dallas. When the Star's won the Stanley Cup we were hired to drive the players anywhere they wanted to go to keep them from getting behind the wheel. The night Tom Hicks (Star's Owner) had the biggest party I had the pleasure of driving their Ft. Worth Farm club team's GM/Coach. Turns out he used to play for the Thunder Bay Team and was very familiar with the Rangers and the Palestra. Talk about a small world! [fr. Chris in an e-mail to www.marquetteironragners.com]