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Copper Country Hockey Legends last name beginning with
...
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X-Y-Z |
B
Ralph Bammert, from the
 Clemeth
Banfield, (1917-99) a Dollar Bay area businessman, Clem was a
President and long time member of the Copper Country Junior Hockey Board
and one of the key people that got local youth hockey off the ground. Clem
was very generous and paid for many local players to play sports. He
helped found the Michigan Tech Huskies Club with Herman Gundlach and Jack
Howard in 1956, and was inducted into Michigan
Tech's Sports Hall of Fame in 1989. |
Clem Banfield |
  William
A. Fred Barry, (19--to1988) was born in -- a Calumet native, "A
standout in football, hockey and baseball, Calumet native Fred Barry was
regarded by many as the best all-around athlete in the Copper Country
during his career. He received a football and hockey scholarship to
Michigan Tech but left school after his freshman year to play semi-pro
hockey, helping the Portage Lake Pioneers win the Gibson Cup in 1953 and
the U.S. Senior Men’s national title in 1956. He twice led the CLK
Wolverines to the Gibson Cup. He was invited to baseball tryouts with the
Kansas City Athletics and New York Giants and played in the Copper Country
Twilight League and fast pitch softball." He was inducted into the UP
Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. |
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Jim Baudino Jim, along with John Horeck and Rip Williams |
Justin Bean, born 19-- in -- a Hancock High School hockey player -1999, plays
for the local Finlandia University Hockey Team.
Renae Bergh, born 19-- in -- a Houghton native, played for the local 19U Girls Keweenaw Wings (K-Wings) (1998-?); she now plays with Shattuck St. Mary's Girl's Hockey Prep team (2002-present).
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Herb Boxer |
Jay
Boxer, born 19-- in -- a Hancock High School hockey player, including the
1987 State Runner-Up team. Jay, a son of Herb, went on to play two seasons for
Michigan Tech 1988-90; he then coached 4 seasons in the USHL 1993-98.
Marc Boxer, born 19-- in -- a Hancock High School hockey player, including the 1987 State Runner-Up team. Marc, a son of Herb, went on to play 4 seasons at Miami University, Ohio 1991-95 and played semi-pro hockey for 4 seasons 1995-99; he was Asst. Hockey Coach for Michigan Tech 2 seasons 1999-01. Marc now works with USA Hockey in Colorado Springs as Coordinator of Youth Hockey Programs.
Harry Bright, born 19-- in Winnipeg, Manitoba, played on the 1905-06 Portage
Lake Professional team. A Harry Bright also played for the Montreal
Shamrocks in the 1902-03 season.
Peter
J. Buchmann, born 19-- in --, played 3 seasons for Michigan Tech and
captained the Huskies' hockey team during the 1958-59 season. He went
on to play hockey with the semi-pro Green Bay Bobcats from 1959 until 1965,
and coached the Bobcats from 1965-70. He was also an assistant coach of the U.S.
National Team during the 1969 World Games in Stockholm, Sweden. He has coached
youth hockey in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for over 15 years. Buchmann was the
director of the annual "MacInnes Memorial Classic" alumni hockey game
which was played each year from 1972 to 19?? during the Alumni Homecoming. In
1982, her received the Bob
D'Alvise award for his contributions to Tech's hockey. Peter was inducted
into the Michigan
Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.
| Joseph
Toney Bukovich "Jo Buk" aka "Eggs" (Nov 16, 1920 to January
4, 2007) Born in nearby Painesdale, Michigan, Joe started skating when
he was 7 years old. His first organized hockey was playing for the Painesdale
Pontiac Chiefs at the age of 16. He played on the young Painesdale
Panthers Athletic Club team that won the MacNaughton Cup in 1936-37. Joe was a fast
skater who played right wing. Joe played
pro hockey with the Fort
Worth Rangers in their inaugural season 1941-42 in the American Hockey
Association. The Fort Worth team had their first training camp in Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan. They finished second in the Southern Division; their
team & league was disbanded after this season because of World War II
when
travel restrictions, shortages and the draft were too much for a minor
league to overcome. During the 1945-46 season, Joe played on the Los
Angeles Monarchs team in the PCHL, which ended up landing him a position as an
"extra" the winter of 1945, in one of the first full length hockey movies
ever made, called the "Gay Blades" also known as
"Tournament Tempo". The movie's story was about a big league
hockey star who is spotted by a beautiful gal who was a movie talent
scout. Actors in the movie included Frankie Albertson and Gene Rogers and
Allan Lane. Joe, and other players on the Monarchs team, and former NHL players
such as Bob
Gracie, Ossie Asmundson and Alex Bud Cook, were the skaters and the skating
legs of the actors in the movie. In 1946-47, Joe and his brother Mike, played for the Duluth Coolerators, in the Northern League, a league which also included three Canadian teams. Joe was on the Portage Lake team when they won the Gibson Cup Championship in 1948. At one time, all three Bukovich brothers Mike, Tony and Joe played for the Portage Lake team. |
Joe Bukovich  Ft Worth Rangers 1941 Photos courtesy of Joe & Marge Bukovich
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| "Before a game, Joe would go on the ice and scrape down "his" side of the ice so when he got the puck in a game, he could skate real fast controlling the puck." In a 1948-49 Portage Lake game program, Joe was featured as the player of the week; it was written that "observers rated Joe the fastest man in the league last year" (he was out during the program's season, from knee surgery due to a baseball injury.) Joe skated with the Pioneers until 1955 before retiring from the game. Joe sharpened skates at his home for over 40 years since he got his first sharpener in 1959. In one day he sharpened 107 pair of skates for busloads of school teams who came to town. In the 1950's coach John MacInnes considered Joe the unofficial assistant hockey coach of the MTU Huskies. He would take the puck and play keep-away with the players: he would tell the kids "bring your own puck, you're never going to get mine!" He was so good, that it took many players to get the puck from him! Joe was a mentor and coach to many local hockey players; Tech players and locals still talk about Joe playing with them after practice. Into his 80's, Joe was still skating twice a week at noon time with the seniors, at the Dee, and still hit his boxing punching bag several years after that, keeping in shape from his boxing and baseball days. Joe always had great stories to tell; he was quick to break into song verses or credit his good health to his "Croatian vitamins." For many decades, Joe has been a hockey supporter in this area for both youth hockey and Michigan Tech University hockey. Because of the contribution Bukovich made to Tech hockey, he received an honorary varsity hockey letter from MTU in 1975. In 1978, the hockey alumni honored him with an Award of Recognition at a dinner banquet. |  Daily Mining Gazette As part of the Copper Country Hockey Centennial project, Joe was interviewed by the Keweenaw National Historical Park; this interview tape is in their archives.
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Mike Bukovich
Photo courtesy of Mark Bukovich |
 Anthony
J. "Tony" Bukovich,
born August 30, 1916 in Painesdale, played hockey on the local Painesdale
and Houghton teams. He had the opportunity to play
winger for the Detroit Red Wings (1943-44, 1944-45). He played 17 games
with the Red
Wings, scoring 7 goals and 3 assists, wearing jersey number 2. Tony
was dropped from the Red Wings roster to make room for a new player to the
organization: a 6 foot, 18 year old called Gordie
Howe. From 1943-47, Tony played on and off for the Indianapolis Capitols and in
1947-48 for the Minneapolis Millers and the Cleveland Barons. After that he returned to Houghton and
organized the Portage Lake Pioneers as a player/coach. Over the next eight
years, he lead the Pioneers to four Northern Wisconsin-Michigan-Ontario
League Championships; and in his final year here, he coached the Pioneers
to a National Championship Title in 1955 at the U.S. Amateur Tournament in
Lewiston, Maine. In 1958, Tony
become the first Coach
of the Green Bay Bobcats, the first professional hockey team in Green
Bay. Tony
was inducted into the UP
Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. Tony
was also an amateur baseball player; Tony led the Detroit Auto Club to the 1942 Worlds
and St. Joseph to the 1948 U.S. Baseball Congress titles.
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Tony Bukovich |
| Tony
Bukovich, Jr. born 1942 in Painesdale, played 3 seasons,
1962-65 for the Johnstown Jets, Pa. A
newspaper article dated Feb 9th, 1963, captions his picture with: "Top EHL
Rookie - Tony Bukovich Jr., youngest player in the league and one if its
most promising rookies... He is rated as a top U.S. Olympic squad prospect
for next year." The article goes on to say Tony Jr at 6'1" 185 pounds... is
the only American-born and American raised player in the 9 team Eastern
Hockey League and ... Tony is on Portland's negotiation list for next
year... on January 27, 1963 he joined the league's 20 goal scorers as he
pumped in a pair against Charlotte, NC, a team which features Jackie
LeClaire', Ching Johnson and a half dozen other former pros." For the 1965-66 season, he played for the New Haven Blades. Tony then played center for the first professional hockey team in Green Bay, the Green Bay Bobcats, for 3 seasons 1966-1969. His father, Tony Sr. coached the team their first year. Tony Jr. had a try out with the Toronto Maple Leafs before playing with the Bobcats. need a picture of Tony Jr here... |
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Joe Burcar |
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