Marquette Iron Rangers: Mirror Articles

Green Bay's pesky Bobcats were once again taught a lesson in ice hockey when they visited the Palestra last Thursday and when the fights had stopped and the game was called with 30 seconds left to play the hometown Iron Rangers were in front by a 9-3 count. The game was bitterly contested throughout as both teams were reluctant to give up anything. The Bobcats scored first on a rebound but after that it was all Marquette as the Rangers swarmed all over the cats and really poured it on in the third period with five unanswered goals. Marquette not only won the game but also the fisticuffs as Mike White decisioned Mike Funk, Dale Beerman took Dave Wheery, Bill Ostwald outpunched Larry Fuller and Barry Cook simply knocked Jerry Frenette loose from his senses with a hard body check against the boards. The game was called with seconds to go when the Green Bay players and some Marquette fans got into a stick swinging and punching match by the Bobcat bench and the city police were called to quite the participants. The referee wisely terminated play as Green Bay had no chance to win and the fans smelled blood.

Iron Rangers Win Five In A Row
Play Two More This Weekend
Marquette Mirror.
Wednesday. January 7, 1970.
     Displaying an amazing amount of stamina and desire the veteran Marquette Iron Rangers won three games in four days to go with two victories over Rochester the previous weekend and have now opened a large gap in the U.S.H.L. standings. On Wednesday night (New Year's Eve) the Rangers pounded out a 5-0 shutout over the Green Bay Bobcats in Green Bay and after a short rest Thursday, took off for the Canadian Soo where they squeaked by the Canadians 2-1 in overtime on Friday night and almost immediately played them again Saturday night in the Palestra and things went a little better as the Rangers won 8-4.

     In Green Bay, Marquette came up with one of the best games ever played by an Iron Ranger team and out shot, out hit, outscored, and out skated the frustrated Bobcats. The game was played before a full house (5,800) of partisan Green Bay fans but the crowd had little effect, as the Rangers were never better.

     On Friday night in the Soo the game was played in the large Memorial Gardens before a knowledgeable Canadian crowd and the fans were treated to a fine hockey game that ended in a 1-1 tie. Ozzie O'Neill won it for the Rangers with less than a minute gone in overtime when he converted Jerry Sullivan's perfect pass into a goal.

On Saturday night the Rangers were all over the visitors from Canada as they opened up an 8-0 lead after two periods. In the third period the Rangers let down in front of sub-goalie Lon Lytikainen and the result was four quick goals for the Canadians but it wasn't enough to hurt the Rangers. Contrary to other times, the Soo had a complete team here for this game but they were simply overwhelmed by the finely conditioned Marquette team.

This week the Iron Rangers play in Green Bay on Friday night and then play Rochester in the Palestra on Saturday night. If one of the teams in the league doesn't show more than token ability to stop the Iron Rangers, the league championship might be over before mid-season as the Iron Rangers are off to the best start of any team in the U.S.H.L.

Iron Rangers Keep Playing and Winning
With little rest, the Iron Rangers swing back into action Wednesday night, when they tangle in Green Bay with the Bobcats for the third Brebner Cup game. After that, they return to Marquette for Saturday night and Sunday Night games with the Levack, Ont. "Huskies" and a regular U.S.H.L. game against the Canadian Soo. Levack comes here with a reputation as being one of the strongest senior teams in Northern Ontario. They have sent several players to the top minor leagues and some to the National Hockey League. The last of whom is Ed Gocomin of the New York Rangers. Recently Levack defeated the strong team from Laurentan University of Sudbury, one of the best college teams in Canada. The Huskies feature pinpoint passing, good positional play and hard checking. They have a good reputation in Canada to protect and they do not want it tarnished by Marquette, a team almost unknown to most Canadians.

     Sunday night, the Rangers will take on the up and coming Canadian Soo in a league game. Game time is 7:00pm and the Soo will again come to the Queen City with mayhem on their minds. So far, Marquette has won every game against the Canadians but the gap is getting smaller as the boys from across the border adjust to the fast U.S.H.L. pace.

     Two straight victories over the Canadian Soo combined with Rochester's tie with Green Bay, was enough to give the Marquette Iron Rangers a razor thin lead in the United States Hockey League. Marquette is now out in front with 36 points as a result of 18 wins and 4 losses. Green Bay is right behind with 17 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie for 35 points. The two teams will play a Brebner Cup game in Green Bay, Wednesday night, February 5, but the result will not count in league play. The next league contest involving both teams will be in Green Bay, Thursday night, February 13.

     Marquette defeated the Canadian Soo 6-3 in the Soo and 6-4 in Marquette over the weekend. Both games were hard fought and hard-hitting, especially the game in the Soo. The Canadians led in both games but wilted under pressure from the faster Iron Rangers. In both games the Soo demonstrated better passing and more finesse around the net, but simply lacked the conditioning and speed of the Iron Rangers. The Rangers first line of Gerry Sullivan, Wayne McQuaig, and Ozzie O'Neill were particularly impressive in both encounters with Sullivan standing out over all.
Last Thursday the Iron Rangers broke Green Bay's 11 game winning streak with a 5-4 Brebner Cup win at the Palestra. Marquette dominated the play most of the time and led 3-0 and 5-2 at various times. Green Bay goalie, Mike Curran was responsible for holding Green Bay in the games as he came up time after time with tremendous saves under the most difficult conditions. The game was played to a capacity crowd and was fast and exceedingly rough throughout. The win leaves Marquette and Green Bay tied at 1 game each but the Bobcats lead in total goals 8-7.

Rangers Slip By Bobcats.
Marquette Mirror.
Wednesday. December 3, 1969.
     The Marquette Iron Rangers handle the Green Bay Bobcats their second straight defeat last Saturday night before a capacity crowd of over 3,000 people in the Palestra. The final score was 4-3 but the Rangers were going away at 4-1 in the middle of the second period when a brawl broke out featuring Green Bay's goalie Mike Curran and Gordie Yewman and Marquette's Bob Caster and Coach Oakie Brumm. Caster was ejected after pounding Curran with several well-placed punches when Curran came up to the Marquette bench trying to get Caster. Brumm was ejected after taking Yewman's stick away from him when tried to hit him with it. Brumm offered Yewman some of his own medicine but Gordie declined the invitation from a safe distance. Yewman also was ejected and in the process, making several ugly faces to the crowd much to their delight.

     Marquette never regained their pre-brawl polish and the Bobcats almost tied the game up in the last period when they put on a furious display of power. Marquette's goalie Brian Lunney tightened up as pressure built up and the Rangers held on to win by one. Ozzie O'Neill scored two goals, one on a breakaway, Steve Sopher also scored one on a breakaway while Bill Ostwald scored his after skating through the entire Green Bay team at the four-minute mark of the first period.

     The Iron Rangers will take on the "new" Soo Canadians in two games this weekend. Friday night in the Soo and Saturday night in the Palestra. The Soo leads the Iron Rangers by one point in league standings and a double win by either team would widen the gap considerably. Tickets for Saturday's game are on sale at Richard's Sports Shop (reserved seats) and Bucks Tog Shop on N. Third Street (general admission).

Ozzie O'Neill and Mike Greenleaf to play for U.S. Nationals.
The United States National team for this season has made a request for the services of Ozzie O'Neill and Mike Greenleaf of the Iron Rangers. The Nationals will play in Bucharest, Romania during the later part of February, 1970 as part of the World Class "B" Championships. The United States used to be in Class "A" until last year when Green Bay represented the U.S. and ended up last in the tournament dropped to Class "B" while the winning team in Class "B" was elevated to Class "A".

Ozzie is presently the leading scorer in the United States Hockey League and is ideally suited for the International play. He is extremely fast, clever and has tremendous stamina. In addition he is good around the net. Mike is still a member of the U.S. Army but has been working out with the Rangers while on leave. The Nationals are expected to have him place on temporary duty to the Nationals as assigned to the Iron Rangers for training. He has been wounded in Viet Nam and will be discharged in May after two years of service.

Both boys will join the Nationals in Minneapolis after the Rochester series for a tryout and the nationals will return them to Green Bay in time for the Green Bay game on New Year's Eve. However they will not leave the Iron Rangers for any amount of time until the actual tournament in February and then only for two weeks.

If they make the team they will be the first players from Marquette to play on or join a National team since Weldon Olson in the early 60's.

Mustangs "Easy" Win for Rangers
Marquette Mirror.
December 17, 1969.
Completely overpowering the Rochester Mustangs was comparatively easy for the Marquette Iron Rangers this past weekend as they took a 10-2 win from the Minnesota entry. The Rangers started fast with two goals in the first 40 seconds and from then on it was nothing but trouble for Rochester. The superior conditioning of the Rangers kept the puck in the Rochester zone almost all nigh and Marquette's spare goalie Lon Lytikainen played the third period. He played extremely well as he came up with big saves and allowed only one goal. Ozzie O'Neill scored three goals and two assists while Jerry Sullivan scored one and assisted four times. Rochester never could get going as the faster Rangers kept them off balance at all times. The only thing that kept the score where it was, was the bad passing by the Rangers.

Another battle for first place will take place this Saturday night when the Canadian Soo visits the Palestra again. Currently the Soo is tied with the Iron Rangers at 11 points apiece. However, the Rangers are considerably ahead in the loss column. In addition to this, the Soo has to play Green Bay in the Soo on Friday night before coming to Marquette. The Soo has added two more hometown boys and will be out for a win and blood when they take to the ice. Goalie Matt Thorpe will be back in the nets and the Soo knows they have to beat Marquette with some consistency if they are to win the U.S.H.L. title.

Game time is 8:00pm The Palestra will be heated and tickets are on sale at Richards Sports Shop and Bucks Togs.

Rangers Lose to Soo
The 1969-70 hockey season got off to a bad start for the Marquette Iron Rangers as they lost 3-2 to the Canadian Soo in the Lock City. The Soo showed a balanced team that was in surprisingly good condition and their goalie, Matt Thorpe, played his best game against the Rangers. Marquette out shot the Canadians but were unable to put the little disk in the net as several shots bounced off the pipes, arms, legs, and sticks rather than go in. The game was extremely rough with 18 penalties being called and at least that many more missed. Referee DeLuca simply is not up to the USHL play and while he favored neither team his inconsistency was the only bad part of the otherwise well-played hockey game.

Rangers to Play For Championship Tonight
Tonight the Marquette Iron Rangers will play the final game of their fifth
season and by winning will bring Marquette the United States Hockey League
Championship for the first time. The opponent for the game will be the Sault
St. Marie, Ontario, "Canadians" and although they have not defeated the
Iron rangers this season, the Canadians always put up a good contest. Last
Sunday night, the Canadians went down before the determined Iron
Rangers 8-2 but not before the Canadians had scored first and generally made
life miserable for the locals.

     In a season that promised to be the best in USHL history with six teams competing
and turned out to be one of the most frustrating and despair, the Iron Rangers were the only team in the league that adhered to the league rules, played the games when scheduled (Marquette never changed any dates...the other teams did) and did their best to keep the USHL from faltering. In doing this, the rangers demonstrated that Marquette had the best team and it is only fitting that they should emerge with the title. While Green Bay was on the top of the league through most of the season due to an accelerated schedule, it was common knowledge that Marquette had a superior team, and if it wasn't for the Bobcats outstanding goaltender, Mike Curran, the Iron Rangers would have buried the Wisconsin team under an avalanche of goals every game.

     Because of an unbalanced schedule and other quirks not known to most hockey
leagues, the attendance at the hockey games the last two months has not been what it should be. It is apparent that Marquette now has one of the finest senior hockey teams in the U.S.A, if not the finest, and the board of directors and players deserve the citizens' support in this last possible championship game. The players have done their part and given Marquette the best team in its long history of hockey. Even in defeat, the Rangers were often times superb, and when they were not, they still gave 100% effort.

     As of this writing no one knows what is in store for next season in the line of hockey whether it will be more of the USHL, a revived northern Michigan-Ontario League or just exactly what. The Marquette Iron Rangers have brought to Marquette
the best hockey available under the conditions and if they play their regular game tonight should climax the season with a championship.....something that is not won every day in Marquette. Show your appreciation and thanks to the Iron Rangers and their administrators and attend the game tonight. Game time is 8:00pm.

Iron Rangers Split-
Play Green Bay Sunday
January 14, 1970.
The Marquette Iron Rangers maintain a commanding lead in the USHL after splitting two weekend games. Friday night in Green Bay the rangers were victims of Green Bay desperation as the Bobcats disregarded league orders and used a former Bobcat defenseman as referee to cinch the game. The actual score was 5-4, Green Bay, in overtime at that, but the score was anti-climatic as nothing the Iron Rangers could have done would have won the game for them. Previously the Rangers had defeated the Bobcats 5-0 in Green Bay and Green Bay refused to rehire or pay the neutral league referee.

     Bruce Shutte was the referee and his performance was so crude, it made the whole spectacle a farce...the only consolation the Rangers had was the fact that it was only their second league loss. The league's leading scoring twosome of Jerry Sullivan and Ozzie O'Neill were literally held by Green Bay and Shutte refused to recognize holding or interference of any type.

     Saturday night in the Palestra the Iron Rangers came up with a solid game to defeat a surprisingly strong Rochester Mustang team 7-2. Marquette came on strongly in the final period with three goals to cinch the contest.   Rochester, with several U.S. Nationals on their team came to town with a big, fast, smooth passing team but could not finish around the net. The shots on goal were even but Brian Lunney saved the game for the Rangers numerous big saves. The game was fast and well-played throughout and the difference between the team's was the Rangers' ability to capitalize on their scoring chances.

     Next Sunday the Bobcats will return to the Palestra in what has to be classed as a grudge match. The Iron Rangers are so incensed at the shabby treatment received at the hands of the Green Bay management that they are going all out not only to beat Green Bay but physically subdue them by whatever means necessary. Game time is 8:00pm. The Palestra will be heated. Get your tickets early because the action is going to be fierce.

Rangers Win Title
As expected the Marquette Iron Rangers clinched their second straight USHL title when they beat Green Bay 5-2 last night in the Palestra. The Bobcats made a game of it all the way and never let up but it was to no avail as the Rangers had too much speed and too many guns. This is the earliest the title has ever been won to our knowledge and the Iron Rangers did it with a superb performance in most of their road trips. They lost only three games up to this point and two of them were by one point and one of these was in overtime. The third loss was by two goals (3-1). The first loss was to the Canadian Soo at the Soo in the first game of the year; the other two were to Green Bay in Green Bay. Otherwise, they won all the road games with the exception of one tie in the Soo. This gave the Rangers a road record of 8 wins, 3 losses and 1 tie to go with the 11 wins at home. The 19-3-1 record was good enough for the title and the Rangers, in posting this record, displayed some of the best hockey ever played in the USHL.

The leagues All-Star game Friday night in the Palestra turned out to be somewhat less than a huge success as few fans turned out and both All-Star goalies were unable to play. Curran from Green Bay was hospitalized with a perforated ulcer and Thorpe from the Soo was unable to get off work. Playing in the net for the Stars was Mike Brown from Sudbury, Ontario, who is actually Iron Ranger property but until recently was not able to get the proper visa to attend NMU.

Marquette completely dominated the game as they shot out to a fast 6-0 lead and went into the early minutes of the second period before relaxing. The final score was 10-6 for the Rangers in a breeze, as the locals used various combinations in an effort to let everyone play.

Saturday and Sunday the Rangers dropped their first weekend series in a couple of years as they went down to defeat twice at the hands of the Rochester Mustangs 9-3 and 8-4. Apparently the Rangers had little to play for as they had sewn up the championship two days before and their performance showed it.

There Will Be Hockey Again This Year
After a summer of indecision and frustration the United States Hockey League has finally announced a four-team alignment for the coming season with Marquette opening at the Canadian Soo on Friday night November 7^th. The Iron Rangers home season will start the following weekend when they host the rebuilding Rochester Mustangs at the Palestra Saturday November 15^th.

Each team will play 30 games with Green Bay and Marquette playing 14 away and 16 at home while Rochester and the Canadian Soo play 14 at home and 16 on the road. The season will end in early march to allow plenty of time for playoffs although definite setup for this has not been announced.

An attractive feature of the Iron Rangers’ home schedule will be the USHL All-Star game to be held in the Palestra on Sunday night December 28. As defending League Champions the Rangers will have the privilege of playing the best-combined players the league has to offer. This is the first time for Marquette for Marquette to be so honored.

Other outstanding features of the schedule are single Saturday night games at home combined with individual Thursday night games. In addition the Rangers will play arch-rival Green Bay in Green Bay on New Years’ Eve. A traditional battle that has drawn many Marquette fans.

Commissioner Hal Trumble retained his position as league commissioner through default but gave considerable evidence of a much better league performance this year.

Marquette is defending champions but will be extremely hard pressed to maintain their position due to a strengthening Canadian Soo and Rochester while Green Bay will have most of their strong team return.

In other developments at the league meeting this past weekend team rosters were increased from 14 to 15 and the player deadline was moved back to January 20, from January 1.

The champion Iron Rangers are expected to start practice around the 20^th of October and all members of last year’s team are expected back along with several former junior players recently returned from military service.

Team President Bob Hoppe announced that season ticket sales will start immediately and anyone with questions may contact him at the Public Service Garage.

Green Bay To Play Here Thursday
The revenge minded Green Bay Bobcats will invade the Palestra this Thursday night for a game originally scheduled for March 5. The Bobcats this season have suffered mightily at the hands of the Iron rangers and the last report were determined to dish out plenty of punishment even though they have no chance of overtaking the rangers. In addition this past weekend the Bobcats were handed two humiliating beatings on their own ice in front of capacity crowds as the Canadian Soo shut them out on Saturday night, 2-0, and on Sunday afternoon, the Des Moines Oak Leafs of the International League landed on top of them to the tune of 9-8. The Bobcats will not relish three consecutive beating in the same week and Marquette fans can rest assured, Gordy Yewman and company are not just coming for the ride.

Marquette will be without the services of Ozzie O’Neill presently playing in Rumania with the U.S. Nationals but he will be replaced at right wing by Mike Greenleaf. It is also possible Barry Cook might not be able to rejoin the team in time for the game because of his father-in-law’s funeral down in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

The Palestra will be heated and music will be furnished by the Marquette High School Pep Band.