Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

Starting in 1959 through (known information at this time 1981) WCCO Radio hosted a weekly radio event aptly named the Prep Parade Show where local long-time Star Tribune sports writer Sid Hartman, alongside former University of Minnesota Athletic Director Paul Giel were the main hosts.  WCCO had several players, coaches, referees and fans alike as guests on the show to discuss all things pertaining to high school sports, talked about on the AM 8-3-0 radio dial, and prided themselves as: The only radio series in the state devoted exclusively to the coverage of Minnesota high school athletics. 

As apart of the once popular and proud WCCO radio program, a yearly state wide Prep Parade All-State M.V.P. team of players and hockey coaches were nominated as inductees held at culminated Prep-Parade sports dinner, along with a named co-sponsor of the dinner induction event.  Nominations were voted by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, WCCO staff, and the Prep Parade advisory board.  Of note, the prep-parade advisory board was not biased as to only Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) participants, as in 1969 players from private schools not yet apart of the MSHSL, were additionally inducted as apart of voted All-State team.  Additionally - for reasons unknown - the Prep Parade appears to have ceased in 1981, with the Associated Press (AP) All-State 1st and 2nd teams beginning in 1979, and later AP Player of the year award).  As part of the hosted induction ceremonies with the hockey members, basketball and football inductees were voted in as WCCO All-State members.

WCCO TV later would hold the boys tournament TV rights from 1983 to 1991 that would be considered The Golden Age of State Tournament Coverage.  WCCO-TV bought the rights to the event and it turned out to be an all-station undertaking with Mark Rosen and Ralph Jon Fritz as studio hosts and other station personnel handling between periods and games features.  The best move the station made was bringing in outside help to handle the play-by-play.  In 1983, veteran Canadian broadcaster Don Chevrier would call the action for several games and also brought in was then Wisconsin badgers broadcaster Paul Braun.  The following season, Chevrier was replaced by fellow Canadian Chris Cuthbert, who handled the remaining years of WCCO’s coverage.  But what set the station’s coverage apart from its two predecessors was the outstanding camera work and production.  The overall sound and vision looked more like a network quality broadcast.

WCCO in 1959 was a trailblazer with this induction ceremony, as they also can be considered by many to have changed State Tournament TV broadcasting on Radio & TV.  

Phone calls to WCCO to seek additional missing years/inductions were 'not known, and likely lost to time' by WCCO station staff.  We are now seeking additional information pertaining to the missing years inductees from 1965-1981, to remember the accomplishment of induction of this once proud Prep Parade.