By Lee Bloomquist
Duluth Knight Ridder Newspapers

EVELETH, Minn.

The crowd was standing, the band was belting out fight songs and the players were ready to mix it up.

At the center of the hockey rink stood a referee with a puck in one hand and a whistle in his mouth.

The defending champions, wearing their snappy blue jerseys, looked across the rink at their competition, wearing purple jerseys with a duck on the sleeve.

Tweeeeeeet!

The puck dropped and the game was on.

Eight sets of wrinkled hands holding canes as hockey sticks whacked away at the puck. Onlookers cheered and waved banners. Participants grimaced as they tried to shoot the puck into the net. Goals brought smiles to the faces of players and fans.

From the sights, sounds and action, it looked like any of the thousands of hockey games played in Minnesota each year.

However, this hockey game was far different.

This recent game pitted gray-haired grandmas and grandpas from the Mesabi Nursing Home in Buhl against grandmas and grandpas from the Golden Crest Healthcare Center in Hibbing.
The game, pitting the aptly named Golden Crest Golden Eagles against the Mesabi Home Mighty Ducks, was the first Iron Range Cane Hockey League game ever held at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth.

It might not be the last.

For about 10 years, cane hockey has been a popular activity at some Minnesota nursing homes.

Cane hockey is a sport in which nursing home residents compete in a game much like traditional hockey. Differences are that the participants use canes instead of hockey sticks; the "rink," is smaller; a larger and softer "puck" is used and players must remain seated.

In other words, no body checking from Grandma.

"Only in Minnesota can you have a governor that is a wrestler and 90-year-old people that play hockey," said Tary Runde, Mesabi Nursing Home's recreation director and coach of the Mesabi Home Mighty Ducks. "Most people think that when you check into a nursing home that you check your personality at the door. But that's not true. These people may be 80 or 90 years old, but they still like to compete."

It's believed that Minnesota's Iron Range, a hotbed of hockey, is the only area in the United States where nursing home cane hockey is played.

In 1992, the sport started at a nursing home in Aurora. It soon became so popular that it became part of the Senior Olympics.

"It got so popular that it was taking up a lot of time at the Senior Olympics and they had to drop it," Runde said. "It kind of sat on the shelf for a while until some of my partners and I talked about it and said, 'This is too good of a sport to let it die.'"'

Letters to gauge interest in restarting cane hockey competition were mailed to nursing homes across the Iron Range.

Today, 12 teams compete in a league that holds games from January to August. The teams come from a geographic area running from Aurora west to Grand Rapids and from the central Iron Range north to Ely.

Like young athletes, cane hockey competitors perform stretching exercises before games to avoid injuries.

Games consist of three eight-minute periods with a five-minute water and rest break between each period. Substitutions are made during the breaks.

Each team consists of four players - a forward, center, defenseman and goalie.

Games are played on a 25-by-6-foot floor on which the "rink" is outlined by tape.

Using canes, players try to shoot a 6-inch-diameter, 2-inch-thick foam puck into a small goal at either end of the rink. Competitors are seated along the sides of the rink across from an opposing player.

A tournament at the end of the season awards the winning team a traveling trophy. Last year's champions - crowned in competition at the St. Louis County Fair at Chisholm - were the Golden Crest Golden Eagles.

Whether during the regular season or in the tournament, the action is fast, furious and - for the competitors - fun.

"It's just nice to be able to get in a group and have a little fun," said Mike Milkovich, captain of the Golden Crest Golden Eagles. "It doesn't hurt me if we lose a game. Even if we have close games, it's a lot of fun."

Organizers say the competition benefits residents physically and emotionally. They say the competition, camaraderie and social aspect of the game also help residents.

"My residents love it," said Gigi Brown, recreation services director at Golden Crest Healthcare Center in Hibbing. "Physically, they get the active motion. Mentally, they're trying to work out how to get the puck to their teammate. The benefits are phenomenal."

Practices are usually held twice a week. Sometimes, even practices can get a little wild.

"We're doing a little bit more than bingo, birthday parties and Bible studies," Brown said of nursing home activities like cane hockey. "I've been hit in the face (with the puck) a few times during practices."

Tom Sersha, executive director of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, said he was surprised at the intensity of last year's cane hockey tournament competition.

The April 13 Golden Eagles vs. Mighty Ducks game at the USHHF was the first time cane hockey was exhibited at the hall. The game attracted a crowd of about 75 people, many of them relatives of the players.

"They take it very seriously," Sersha said of the players. "It just goes to prove that, here in the state of hockey, you're never too old."

For the record, the Golden Crest Golden Eagles again proved to be tough to beat. Led by high-scoring center Mary Rich, the Golden Eagles won 10-5.

Rich wielded a wicked cane and a displayed a nasty backhand shot. She finished with a hat trick and then some-but everybody was enjoying the competition so much that nobody counted her scoring total.

"I guess it just comes natural to me," Rich said. "I try hard."