|
|
|
MAIN SECTION
PHOTO GALLERIES
TEAM INFO
FAN SECTION MISCELLANEOUS
|
Steve Carlson. May 2003. What do you remember about actually playing the games? Mr. Carlson: Well,
you have to remember that I was 18 years old when I played there. What I remember most about Marquette when I first
got there is The Palestra…with no glass…you get hit, and you knock
over someone’s drink that was sitting on the boards. But I also remember a lady getting hit with a slap
shot right between the eyes. It
looked like a bullet hole, and then blood started dripping down her
face. I remember thinking,
“Whoa…pretty scary.” Wow. Mr. Carlson: Yeah.
And then we moved into the luxurious new building with a big
furnace. It was quite an
experience going from high school hockey to there. Yeah, I think a lot of people around here
forget that you were only 18 years old when you played here.
I know I didn’t realize that.
Next question: Is
there any particular win or loss that you can remember? Mr .Carlson:
Holy smokes. That’s
a long time ago. You’re
looking at almost thirty years ago, so no there really isn’t…well actually
there was a game where Oakie Brumm put a bounty on a player’s head.
I think his name was…Ernie… …Dupont? Mr. Carlson: Yeah,
Dupont. It was a
fifty-dollar bounty on his head for whoever would knock him down in the
first shift, and my brother Jack dropped him. Interviewer:
[Laughter}
Mr. Carlson: Yeah,
that was pretty interesting. But
fifty bucks back then wasn’t very good. Are there any players that stand out in your mind?
Including opponents?
Mr. Carlson: Brian Lunney. Brian Lunney stands out…but I don’t know…I won’t say why [Laughing]. But it was just the way he played. It was pretty interesting. You had Whitey, Oz O’Neil.
Ronnie Johnson: He
looked like he’d been through the wars a few times.
Good player, though. Mike
L’Huillier, he was a forward right? Yeah. He could fly.
Barry Cook: Mr.
In-Shape [Laughs]. Was he really?
He had a body like…you see I have the body of a Greek God. He had one like a g**d*** Greek! Actually Barry Cook was our captain. Actually Whitey worked for an electronics store
didn’t he? Colorvision I think. Yeah, that’s right. All right next question. Ok. Can
you say anything about the road trips to different cities?
Mr. Carlson: Well I remember flying in the Cessna
airplanes where you had the pilot and three players in each plane, and
you’re 100 or 200 feet above the ground flying to these different
places…it’s pretty scary especially when you’ve never flown
before. I’ll bet. Mr. Carlson: One
time we were flying back into Marquette, and we were ready to land on
the runway during a snowstorm. We
almost hit the ground when the pilot pulled it back up…it was the
highway instead of the runway! The
lights he saw were from the highway instead of the airport. Incredible. Mr. Carlson: Once
in a while you’d get a luxurious plane with two propellers.
But you’d be going down the runway, and one of the engines
would be on fire! …That
would be a little scary also. Yeah, many players have mentioned those
flights. What is the story
as to how you got on the team? Mr. Carlson: Well
the thing with that is that we tried out for Waterloo a couple weeks
before that, and we played in a couple of inter-squad games and did
quite well…probably made the team…and Jack Pardee, the player-coach,
said that we weren’t good enough to play for him.
So we didn’t have anywhere to play.
Well, we heard that Marquette was looking for players, so we got
in the car and drove to Marquette…and…we asked for a tryout. Simple as that huh? Well, Marquette thanks Jack Pardee. Can you say anything about the fans in the
Palestra at that time? Any
words that would describe the fans…good or bad? Mr. Carlson: Well…you
see…you can never downgrade the fans in your home arena.
They treated us very well. They
loved the way we played. Our
philosophy back then was that, “If you have the puck you’re going to
get hit.” And that’s
the style, in the old Marquette Palestra, that’s how they liked
watching hockey played. We
fought when we had to, we played when we had to, and it’s a
blue-collar ice arena where the fans just like good honest hockey
players. If you gave it all you had they’d love you, and we gave it
all we had. I’ve got to ask you:
Have you set foot back in Marquette since then?
Mr. Carlson: Yes.
Actually about five years ago they had a reunion, and Jeff and I
went back there. It’s
amazing how people fly rumors all over the place; Jeff was killed.
Jeff was dead. [Author’s note:
Jeff is alive and well.] Jack
wasn’t there. I’m not
sure why. I think he was working.
But it was quite a reunion, and it was good to see the old boys
back. Actually I see Oakie
Brumm around once in a while. He
lives outside of Milwaukee. You may or may not be aware of this, but you
and your brothers were very popular during your time here…and even
after you left. And that
was before any movie deal that you made.
I remember as a kid… Mr. Carlson: [Laughs] I was a kid! It’s funny though. Our
daily routine was getting up at noon everyday, going to this one bar in
downtown Marquette and watching the Three Stooges because we didn’t
have a TV in our apartment. We
had a place near the lake. There
were four of us who lived there, and I slept on the couch.
So we’d go watch the Stooges, go to practice, and then we’d
go to the bar and have a grand-old time until 12:00 or 1:00 in the
morning…go home…and then start all over again.
It was the same routine everyday…everyday…we had to watch the
Three Stooges at this one local pub. Do you have any thoughts on how hockey is
different now as compared to back then? Mr. Carlson: Oh,
you want to talk about nowadays? Well
when we played hockey we wore garter belts.
Now when they play hockey they wear money belts.
If you watch the NHL now…the playoffs…it’s a glorified
senior men’s no-hit-league. Tuesday
night No-Hit League. You
know, you’ve got the commissioner who’s trying to get the fighting
out of the game. You
can’t touch anyone anymore or else you’ll get an interference or
obstruction penalty, and the game is getting boring.
How many times do you see a good solid hit any more?
No one wants to get hit anymore.
They dump it in. No
one fore checks. Many players have mentioned that…that you
would play your own game, and the refs wouldn’t play a very big part
in the game when… Mr. Carlson: Well
the refs are told what to do. Andy
Van Helman, who I know very well, and the other referees that I know
around the league cannot referee a game because they get instructions
from the league on how to referee it.
They keep changing these rules.
You can’t do this, and you can’t do that…you can’t
hit’em any more! You
can’t go in the crease. You
can’t touch the goaltender any more.
I mean, ‘Come on.’ If
he leaves the crease he should be hit.
It’s just not as exciting any more, and I don’t believe the
players back each other up like they used to.
When a player gets crunched they don’t…well let me put it
this way; What happens when Scott Stevens hits someone when they’re
playing Ottawa, and 95%
of Ottawa’s team is European. I believe that there should be a new rule like the Europeans
have a rule: You’re only
allowed 2 or 3 Europeans on your club, and that’s it.
That’s like when the Americans or Canadians go over there
you’re only allowed 2 or 3 foreigners on your team. I think we should
have the same thing here. Any memories of Oakie Brumm?
At the time I played Oakie never when on the road
trips. He had his
construction company, and we played on our own.
Every once in a while he went, but he stayed home a lot and ran
his construction company. Oakie…[Laughing]
Oakie always claims that he made us hockey players.
I always like to yell at him, ‘Oakie.
You didn’t make me nothin’.’
But he did give us a chance to play. And the reason you left the Iron Rangers was what?
Well, I signed a contract with the Minnesota
Fighting Saints…moved up to another league in the North American
Hockey League. We were
under contract to the Minnesota Fighting Saints, and they shipped us to
Johnstown, Pennsylvania in the North American Hockey League after the
year in Marquette.11 Oh…interesting. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions, so I’ll hurry up here: What memories do you have of the City of Marquette and The Palestra? Mr. Carlson: When we played there there was no other hockey there. They only had the big football team, and now they’ve got Northern University there. But we were the only hockey there at that time besides youth hockey. But…Marquette…I love the city. It’s got a lot of snow. We did a lot of tobogganing and outdoor stuff. It’s a beautiful city, and I really enjoyed myself there. We had a ball. You know we didn’t make any money. We made no money at all, and we just had fun.
You know we had a great bunch of guys on our hockey club who
loved being together, and we played good hockey.
Unfortunately we ran into Thunder Bay in the playoffs, and we got
beat out. I suppose you’re been asked this a million
times, but do you have any comments on the movies you’ve done? Slapshot I is a cult classic. You know everyone said, “Don’t do Slapshot II.
Don’t do sequels. You’ll just ruin the first one.”
Well I disagree with that. We did Slapshot II, and I’ll agree
that it wasn’t as good as the first one. But we had a couple of
messages in there such as don’t change the rules of the game.
The game is great as it is.
Don’t change the rules. Message
number two is…when the Hanson brothers got cut, and we left the team.
Baldwin goes into Busey and says that the Hanson Brothers are the
heart and soul of the hockey club.
You look at the NHL playoffs. It’s not the superstars that are
winning games. It’s the
third and fourth liners. Those
are the heart and soul of the hockey club, and they don’t get the
recognition that they should. But
it’s always the superstars, and they’re great hockey players, but
they don’t win the championships.
It’s the third and fourth liners.
Look at Detroit. It’s
the Maltby’s, the Draper’s, the McCarty’s.
These guys are winning the championships.
Granted Steve Yzerman, Shanahan, Brett Hull…these guys are
great, it’s these third and fourth liners…that’s another message.
That’s why I said that Slapshot II had more effect on people
the way the game is played now. Just
quit screwing around with the rules. Is the first movie that you did reminiscent of the
Iron Rangers at all?
Mr. Carlson: No.
It was more reminiscent of our year in Johnstown when we signed
with the Minnesota Fighting Saints.
The girl who wrote the film traveled with us and watched how we
played. We got arrested in
Utica, New York for going into the stands after the fans.
We did jump a team in warm-ups against the Minnesota Norsemen in
the playoffs in the first round. They
forfeited the game and wouldn’t come back out on the ice.
Ah, you know, that’s the way we played.
Our mentality was that if you have the puck, then you get hit. If a fight breaks out, then so be it. You know that’s the way the game should be played.
And we won the championship that year.
So that movie, number one, was based on our life with the
Johnstown Jets. Can I ask a final question?
Mr. Carlson:
Sure. The difference between the Rangers and the
Johnstown Jets: Were they
radically different then? Mr. Carlson: Ah…yes…yes
they were actually. We had
7 or 8…really…tough…guys in Johnstown. We had Paul Holmgren. We
had Pat Weststrom. We had
Jack…my brother Jack…my brother Jeff…Dave Hanson…Dave
Birch…Vern Campagado. We
had a very tough team, whereas in Marquette we had some tough players
but not as many. We had more of a skilled team in Marquette. Again this was awfully nice of you to take the
time to answer these questions. Mr. Carlson: Sure.
No problem. You take
care. (marquetteironrangers.com appreciates the time of this player and nationally known figure of hockey in America for spending this time with us.) |
