Interviews/Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson. March 2001.

First of all, Ron, it's a real pleasure to meet you.

Ron: Well, thank you.

What do you remember about actually playing the games? ...the sounds? ...the crowd? One thing Mr. L'Huillier mentioned was the capacity crowds.

Mrs. Johnson: [Speaking to Mr. Johnson] Well, you said you never really heard the crowd.

Ron: No I didn't pay much attention...I looked at the crowd one time and I said to myself, "Boy oh boy no wonder those guys are scared to come to Marquette". That crowd in the old Palestra; they'd be leaning over just shouting at you. It never got to me because I had played a long time. I was never home wherever I was [referring to the many teams and many cities he had played in before the Iron Rangers]. Wherever I played it was...

You played in Philadelphia...?

Ron: Yeah. And that was the old rink too. It was like the old Palestra where they were sitting right there. You know you'd go to Calumet and somebody would throw a cup of hot chocolate at you through the fence at you...stuff like that.

Mrs. Johnson: Green Bay was good for that.

Ron: Yeah.

Mrs. Johnson: And Gordy Yewman from Green Bay. He was the one that people got on the most. Oh he hated to come here. And Dale...what was Dale's last name? He wasn't a player. He used to holler at Gordy Yewman. I can't think of his last name right now.

Was there a particular win or loss that you remember?

Ron: No. There were too many. The best time we had was when we won the league and we only lost two games all season. It was easy. We had a centerman Bobby Cox. He was the best hockey player I ever played with. He would just nod his head and any time he wanted to go we had the thing going. He would nod his head to Dale, he would nod to the right-winger, and the left-winger would be pulled in to me, give the puck to Dale, Dale would fire it across to the right-winger, and the left-winger would just tip it up in between the defensemen and in the net. Boom! Chuck! Gone! It happened so quick the other team didn't know what happened. But the Carlson boys were fun. A lot of fun in those days.

Mrs. Johnson: My daughter had gone to a rummage sale in Muskegeon, and she said, "Look at this, a picture of the Iron Rangers". He said, "Do you know the Iron Rangers?". She said, "Yeah, my dad played for the Iron Rangers". He said, "I did too. I'm Jeff Carlson!". It was his house.

Ron: But the movie Slap Shot, I mean, you can almost pick out every player on the team that was just like the Rangers.

What players, including opponents, stand out in your mind?

Mr. Johnson: Well Bobby Cox, I think, was the best centerman I played with. When he wanted the draw he had it...and right where you wanted the puck. Right on your stick. And he wouldn't do it all the time, but he would just say, "No". Half the time he would just put his stick there, but if he wanted that puck he was going to take it. If he needed that puck he was going to take it.

Where was he from?

Mrs. Johnson: Way up in Canada.

Oh he was a Canadian?

Ron: Oh yeah.

Any opponents stand out as being good?

Mrs. Johnson: ...or bad?!

[Laughter]

They always said Mayasich was good.

Ron: Yeah, he was a good hockey player. Those years when they used to fly him in to Green Bay to play...it was awesome.

Jimmy Coyle has been mentioned.

Ron: Yeah. He was good. Paul Johnson used to play for Rochester, Minnesota.

Mrs. Johnson: He was good too.

Ron: I went to training camp with him and played against him a lot of times. I knew his style. When he started winding up and had the puck at the blue line...if he got by you he was going to score. So the minute he started winding up I'd run right at him. I'd hit him right as he was meeting the puck and knock him right on his a**.

Mrs. Johnson: ...and he'd holler at you.

Ron: Yeah. He'd holler at me. "What do you think you're doing?!"

That's funny how you used to know so many players from other teams.

Ron: Yeah. I used to sharpen all the skates for the Iron Rangers, and when the Bobcats would come I would show up an hour early just to sharpen all their skates too.

Mrs. Johnson: Remember in Green Bay when you'd go to the dressing room? Some of the fans would come in and bring you a beer.

Ron: I used to sharpen the skates...

...Oh I heard you needed sharp skates for the Palestra.

Ron: Well, the Rangers had their own skate sharpener in those days. We used to carry it with us on the trips.

Is there a humorous story that you can tell about those times?

Mrs: Johnson: Those Carlson's were fun.

Ron: I came to the rink one night and it was locked up. But we always had a key to get in. It was hidden some place. It's snowing. Steve is in the front seat sleeping with his feet out the window. Jeff is in the back seat and he's got his feet out the window. And Jack is laying in the trunk. It's winter and they're in t-shirts. I said, "What are you guys doing?" They said, "We knew you'd be here to open up!".

What is the story of how you got on the team?

Ron: Well, I played for the Sentinels. I mean I played with Oakie...

Mrs. Johnson: Well like you said you didn't have to try out.

Ron: You see we were allowed five Canadians. The rest had to be all Americans. Caster was from the American Soo. And then there were people like Buddy Williams and all those guys from Detroit. We had Fred Barry for a while, but he couldn't make practice because he was living up in Houghton. He was delivering beer.

Right.

Ron: The reason I went to Regina is...We had a team called the VFW Warriors. So
we got this team together and we were going to play in the National Championships in Duluth.
OK, We had...I think there was Bucky, me, we picked up a guy from the Soo, Coppo, Kessler, Frenette from Portage Lake, Fred Barry, and I can't remember who else. But we made this U.P. team, and we got on the ice. All we had for a jersey was a sweatshirt with a stencil on it, and nobody had the same kind of pants. Nobody had the same kind of socks. Some had different color socks on each foot. We got on the ice, I think it was the Quebec team, cripes they had stripes and presses going down their uniforms, and they're going around the ice like this [mimics the arrogance of the opposing team at that time], all brand-spanking new... But we hammered them.

Oh yeah?

Ron: Yeah. But anyway the scouts were in the stands, and we ended up winning the Championship. So right away Regina picked me up. We had Tapani in the goal. They picked him up. Coppo came with us but he wanted to go to Tech instead out of high school.

Mrs. Johnson: But when you first went away wasn't it Saskatchewan that you went to?

Ron: Yeah. But we (Regina) belonged to the Montreal Canadians.

OK. Those scouts must have been laughing at those uniforms.

Ron: Yeah. It was a ragtag bunch.

A ragtag bunch who won the championship. Next question: Can you say anything about the fans in the Palestra at that time?

Ron: The fans in Marquette were all my friends. I never refused to say hello to anybody. I talked to this one because I worked with them. I talked to them.

Mrs. Johnson: The kids used to be always waiting there and you'd always give them your stick.

Ron: I wouldn't give all of them away, but if they were cracked or something...Oh yeah I gave them a lot of sticks.

Mrs. Johnson: They (the fans) were loud.

You and Wayne McQuaig would drive the bus wouldn't you?

Ron: No, my brother-in-law and I would drive it.

Mrs. Johnson: Wayne drove it too, though.

Ron: Yeah, but after a while. We broke him in on it.

Oh, ok. So you were the main driver?

Ron: Yeah. I'd take off right after the game and run maybe 300 miles, and then I'd say, "There. It's yours". You had to have somebody else in case I got hurt. So, Wayne wanted to drive so we showed him. He didn't have a license to drive it, but we got him driving so there was more than one coming back.

Mrs. Johnson: Remember that time when you were coming back from the Soo and the bus took off and left Bobby Caster?

Ron: [Laughing]

[This story may be printed at a future date]

Is there a humorous story you can tell about those times?

We played on a Thursday and a kid high-sticked me. I chased him right into the bench. Right in the players' bench. And he went up into the stands as I chased him into the stands in the Palestra. Someone said, "Get out of here!" I said, "Well, you're a man, but that little S.O.B. I'm going to get him!" So the next period he changed jerseys and put a different number on! And then that Chiachini, the guy I was talking about before, says, "You little S.O.B.", he said. "Everybody on the g** d*** Soo team is afraid of you. That's the only way they'd let me play is to beat the h*** out of you!".

So he wasn't that good of a hockey player? That was just his way of getting on the team...by being hired as a thug?

Ron: Well he was no superstar. And then he ended up as my partner on defense with the Rangers! After we got to know each other we ended up as pretty good friends.

Literally thousand of people from Marquette think of that team as very special. Why do you think that is so?

Ron: Well, you look at Northern. Everybody's got a helmet, a face shield. They look like robots. The Rangers didn't have masks and what not...the facial expressions...they'd talk to you.

Mrs. Johnson: You could tell who was on the ice without having to look at their number. You felt closer to them I think.

Ron: Yeah, and the players would talk to the fans in the bleachers.

Mrs. Johnson: They'd sit on the edge of the boards and talk to them. Any delay in the game and the players would go jump up on that ledge and talk to the people.

Ron: Even a guy like Lun. He sold wine to distributors. Well, he's sees people in the store and he's going to talk to them. The Rangers were more...I don't want to say unprofessional...but they would talk to you.

They were real people.

Mr. Johnson: Yeah, real people.

That's when sports meant something...I guess everyone in town could say, "I know
one of the Iron Rangers".

Ron: And that's one of the reason the stands were packed.

Was there any involvement with the team by women? Minorities? Kids?

Yeah, one year we played in Green Bay and this...after the game this girl came up to me and said, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I said, "Yeah. What do you want?" She said, "My brother is a cripple, and he just loves you". I said, "Why me? Doesn't he like any of the Bobcats?" She said, "No, no. He likes you". She said, "If I got him to the game next time you're in town would you meet him?" I said, "Sure". She said, "'Cause he listens to the games and he just loves you". "Well bring him in". So I got it all set up. I said, "Guys, I'm bringing this kid in after the game. Not during the game. After the game to meet all the players". Well, the Bobcats got wind of this and snagged him before he came to our dressing room, but he made it and we gave him a hockey stick and pucks. But I thought, "Why me? Why not one of the other guys or one of the Bobcats? And why not someone off of one of the other teams?" I just...

You never forgot that, huh?

Ron: Oh yeah...never forgot it.

Mrs. Johnson: That's one of the high points.

Note: In an event that probably typifies this player...
After previewing the text of the interview before publishing in which he was referred to as Mr. Johnson, this player made only one editing request: "You don't have to call me Mr. Johnson. Just put Ron on there. That's fine."