Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

CINDY CURLEY
2013 United States Hockey Hall of Fame Enshrinee

A pioneer in women’s hockey, Cindy Curley is a four-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Team who has helped  influence the growth of the sport across the country, including in her home state of Massachusetts.

Curley played collegiately at Providence College where she today ranks third all-time at the school with 225 career points.  Her 115 assists are also third best in Friar annals, while her 110 goals are fourth best all-time.  She helped Providence capture the 1984 and 1985 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament titles.  As co-captain her senior season in 1984-85, she was named the College Player of the Year and also to the ECAC All-Star Team after posting 62 points (33-29) in just 21 games.  She received Providence’s Paul Connolly Memorial Award in 1985, which is presented annually to the senior female athlete who has distinguished herself among peers both athletically and academically.  Curley was inducted into the PC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.  

Curley starred for Team USA in the 1990s, collecting three silver medals at International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships.  At the inaugural IIHF Women’s World Championship in 1990, she received all-tournament honors.  The 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points she tallied in five games remain single-tournament records at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.  She wore the red, white and blue again at the 1992 and 1994 IIHF Women’s World Championships.  In 15 career games, Curley accumulated 34 points, including 15 goals and 19 assists.  Additionally, she helped the U.S. earn the silver medal at the 1995 IIHF Women’s Pacific Rim Championship.

Since retiring as a player, Curley has continued to champion girls’ and women’s hockey as a coach and official.  Her dedication to improving grassroots hockey opportunities, as well as her extraordinary playing career, helped earn her induction into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

Curley has been active during her career with USA Hockey, serving as a volunteer in a variety of capacities, including as an athlete director (1995-2006), and as a member of the youth council 1999-2006), legal council (2005-07), girls/women’s section (2000-05) and safety & protective equipment committee (2001-07). Additionally, she was a member of the U.S. Olympic Athlete Advisory Committee from 2005-08.

BILL GUERIN
2013 United States Hockey Hall of Fame Enshrinee

Bill Guerin spent 19 successful seasons in the National Hockey League with the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. Picked fifth overall by the Devils in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, he played in New Jersey from 1991-97, winning the Stanley Cup in 1995.  Guerin was dealt to Edmonton in the midst of the 1997-98 season and was later traded to Boston in 2000-01.  The Boston College product earned NHL Second Team All-Star honors in 2001-02 when he posted a career-best 41 goals for the Bruins.  In 2003-04, his second of three seasons in Dallas, he racked up a career-high 69 points (34-35), reaching the 30-goal plateau for the third time of his career.  Following stints in St. Louis, San Jose and Long Island, Guerin reached Pittsburgh late in the 2008-09 campaign.  A few months later, he hoisted the Stanley Cup as a member of the Penguins.  When Guerin retired after the 2009-10 season he had earned 429 goals and 427 assists over his 1,263-game career.  Additionally, Guerin was picked for four NHL All-Star Games (2001, 2003, 2004, 2007).  He wore the Team USA jersey at seven major international events throughout his career, including three Olympic Winter Games (1998, 2002, 2006), two World Cups of Hockey (1996, 2004) and two IIHF World Junior Championships (1989, 1990).  He collected an Olympic silver medal in 2002 and helped the U.S. win the gold medal at the 1996 World Cup.

PETER KARMANOS
2013 United States Hockey Hall of Fame Enshrinee

Peter Karmanos has been a passionate builder and supporter of hockey at all levels of the game in the United States for more than five decades. Growing up in Detroit, hockey was always his favorite sport, but it wasn’t until he took his sons to a ‘learn to skate’ program that his passion grew into what it is today. His competitive spirit led to enormous success as the co-founder of Compuware, a Detroit-based technology performance company that was established in 1973.

Karmanos used the namesake of his technology firm to build one of American’s most successful youth club programs.  Compuware Hockey, based in the Detroit metro area, has produced several players who went on to outstanding hockey careers - including Pat LaFontaine, Al lafrate, Mike Modano, Eric Lindros and Kevin Hatcher.

Karmanos also supported the first American club to play in the Ontario Hockey League with the now-Plymouth Whalers.  The franchise has qualified for the OHL playoffs in 22 of 23 seasons and has produced 16 first round NHL Draft picks, including Americans like Bryan Berard, David Legwand, J.T. Miller and Ryan Hartman.

1n 1994, Karmanos’ reach expanded to the National Hockey League, when he acquired the Hartford Whalers and became the principal owner, governor and chief executive officer of the team.  Two years later, he relocated the club to Raleigh, NC, and changed the name of the franchise to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Since the team’s arrival in North Carolina, the Hurricanes have enjoyed success both on and off the ice, highlighted by winning the Stanley Cup in 2006.  The team has advanced to the conference finals three times in the last 11 season and captured the Eastern Conference title in 2002 and 2006. Additionally, in 2011 the Hurricanes staged a memorable NHL All-Star weekend.

Over the last five years, the Hurricanes have been among the top franchises in all of sports according to the ESPN Ultimate Standings, a collection of data and survey results that include on-ice success, community impact and overall fan experience.

Karmanos has collected a variety of awards for his contributions to hockey. The NHL honored him with the Lester Patrick Award in 1998 for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.  In 2010, Karmanos received the OHL’s Bill Long Award for outstanding contributions to the league and he was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.  In June 2012, USA Hockey presented him with the Distinguished Achievement Award.

RON MASON
2013 United States Hockey Hall of Fame Enshrinee

Ron Mason collected 924 victories over a 36-season head-coaching career while guiding the men’s ice hockey programs at Lake Superior State University (1966-73), Bowling Green State University (1973-79) and Michigan State University (1979-2002).  His win total ranks second in college hockey annals, while his winning percentage (.696, 924-380-83) is among the best all-time.

In 1966, Mason began the hockey program at Lake Superior State University. He led the Lakers to five NAIA tournaments in seven seasons, including a national championship in 1972.

Before departing LSSU for Bowling Green State University in 1973, Mason was instrumental in the creation of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, a powerhouse league in college hockey which endured for more than 30 years.

At Bowling Green, Mason turned the program into a national force.  Under his direction, BGSU made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament (1977-79), won a trio of CCHA regular-season titles (1976, 1978 and 1979) and captured the league playoff title on three occasions (1977-79).  His 1978-79 club finished with a school and then NCAA record 37 wins.  Mason was named the CCHA Coach of the Year three times (1976, 1978 and 1979) during his six-year tenure with the Falcons.

Mason stepped behind the bench at Michigan State University in 1979 and during his 23-year stay as head coach, the Spartans were a perennial NCAA and CCHA power.  MSU had two streaks of nine consecutive NCAA Tournament showings during his tenure (1982-90, 1994-2002).  In the midst of its first run, MSU won the 1986 NCAA national championship.  In addition, Michigan State won seven CCHA regular-season crowns (1985-86, 1989-90, 1998-99, 2001) and 10 CCHA Tournament titles (1982-85, 1987, 1989-90, 1998, 2000 and 2001) under Mason’s guidance.  Individually, Mason was named CCHA Coach of the Year four times (1985, 1989-90, 1999) and American Hockey Coaches Association National Coach of the Year in 1992.

Collectively, Mason guided 22 of his teams to the NCAA Tournament, tied for second-best all-time. Among the thousands of players Mason mentored were a pair of Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners in MSU’s Kip Miller (1989-90) and Ryan Miller (2000-01), 35 All-Americans and more than 50 future NHL players.

Following his coaching career, Mason served as MSU’s director of athletics from 2002-07.

He is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the Michigan State, Bowling Green State, Lake Superior State and St. Lawrence University Sports Halls of Fame.

DOUG WEIGHT
2013 United States Hockey Hall of Fame Enshrinee

Doug Weight’s 19-season NHL career included a Stanley Cup title, an Olympic silver medal and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship.

Weight dominated the North American Hockey League in 1988-89, posting 79 points (26-53) in 34 games for the Bloomfield Jets before heading to the college ranks.  In two seasons at Lake Superior State University (1989-91), he piled up 50 goals and 94 assists, receiving Central Collegiate Hockey Association All-Rookie Team, All-CCHA First Team and American Hockey Coaches Association West All-American Second Team honors.

Chosen 34th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1990 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Weight began his NHL career in full with the Rangers in 1991-92.

He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in the second half of the 1992-93 campaign and flourished with the club, tallying 157 goals and 420 assists in his eight-plus seasons.  He set career highs for points (104) and assists (79) during the 1995-96 season and posted a 90-point year in 2000-01.  Weight served as team captain during his final two seasons (1999-2001).

In 2001, Weight moved on to the St. Louis Blues, where he played three and a half seasons before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in January 2006.  An integral addition to the Hurricanes lineup, Weight helped the team capture its first Stanley Cup title that season.

Following a return to the Blues and a stint with the Anaheim Ducks, Weight played his final three NHL seasons with the New York Islanders. In 2008-09, he tallied the 1,000th point of his career.  Weight served as team captain of the Islanders from 2009-11 and was the recipient of the 2011 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contributions.

In 1,238 career NHL games, Weight scored 278 times and racked up 755 assists for 1,033 points.  He today ranks fifth in NHL history all-time among American players in assists and seventh in points.  Weight was selected to play in four NHL All-Star Games (1996, 1998, 2001 and 2003). 

Weight, who helped the U.S. win a gold medal at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and a silver medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, put on the U.S. sweater at nine major international competitions, including three Olympic Winter Games (1998, 2002, 2006), three IIHF Men’s World Championships (1993, 1994, 2005) two World Cups of Hockey (1996, 2004) and one IIHF World Junior Championship (1991).  The 14 assists and 19 points that Weight notched for the 1991 U.S. National Junior Team continue today to be single-tournament U.S. records.