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Origins of the Iron Rangers
(Artifacts relating to the beginnings of the team)

The Mining Journal
April 20, 1964
Fans Can Put City Club Into U.S. Hockey League
Franchise Granted, But 800 Tickets Must Sell By June

The success or failure of recent efforts to put a Marquette club into national hockey competition has been effectively placed in the hands of area hockey fans.

The Marquette Hockey Club successfully obtained a franchise from the United States Hockey League in Green Bay, Wisc Saturday, after officials of the club presented a strong case for membership in the national league.

The franchise is provisional, however, and is completely dependent upon the support of area hockey fans in this area as the USHL gave the Marquette club membership only upon the condition that season tickets can be sold for all seats in the Marquette arena by June 1.

Advanced sales to this degree would show the financial soundness of the plan to the League and would complete the Marquette Club's obligation.

In explaining Marquette's application to officials of the USHL Saturday, League Commissioner Harold Trumble of St. Paul, Minn. said, "We are more than happy to welcome Marquette as a member of our league, but we must be realistic about it's financial condition".

"All the other teams in the league have gone to considerable trouble and expense to start the United States Hockey League, and a financially weak team that could not complete its games could not be considered an asset to the league.

The Mining Journal
April 20, 1964
City Hockey Club Elects Officers, Ticket Sale Drive Will Begin Without Delay

Marquette's chances of successfully fulfilling the terms of their United States Hockey League franchise took a giant step forward last night with the election of an executive committee and the formation of plans for the forthcoming season ticket drive.

Elected to Official positions were Leonard St. Cyr, President; William Todd, Vice President; Richard Sondregger, Secretary-Treasurer; Les Roberts, Vice President; Del Meister, Vice President; and Wyndal Hudson, Executive Secretary.

Appointed to the board of directors by the officers were Jack McCracken and James A. Russell. The officers plan additional appointments in the near future to bring Marquette's board of directors somewhat in line with other teams in the league.

Sales Begin Soon
Ticket sales (some 800 season ticket must be sold to fulfill the terms of the provisional contract granted the Marquette Hockey Club by the U.S.H.L.) are slated to begin the early part of next week, and will be available to the public on a first-come first-serve basis.

The exact cost of season tickets has not been determined as yet, but is expected to range $25 to $50 per ticket, depending upon location. Fans will not be required to pay the full amount immediately, but will be required to make a small down-payment and sign a promissory note for the balance.  This is, in a practical sense, the only was team officials could devise to
handle the situation, as certain evidence of actual sales must be demonstrated to league headquarters on the first day of June.

The price range is based on 15 home games and the ticket office for the hockey squad will be the Chamber of Commerce building on South Front Street.

Recruiting Going On
Todd, Sondregger, and Roberts will be in Houghton Wednesday night for the purpose of contacting potential players for the Marquette team. Each team in the league is allowed seven Canadians.  Marquette's closest source is Michigan Tech, where graduating seniors with
varsity hockey experience are available.

In addition to the efforts to obtain Michigan players, the Marquette club has also contacted
Jimmy Jacobsen, former Sentinel defensive star and lately MSU's best defenseman, along with Tom Lackey, a native of the American Soo and leading scorer for MSU two years ago.

Marquette's squad will have to include at least seven American players, and local candidates will be given every opportunity to try out for the team.

The Mining Journal.
Friday April 24, 1964
Marquette Hockey Club Now U.P. Hockey Club, Tickets Will Go On Sale Wednesday

Officers and Directors of the Marquette Hockey Club met last night at the Chamber of Commerce building, and wound up a productive conference with a new name and a definite date set for the beginning of a season ticket sale drive.

In recognition of the regional nature of the plans to enter a team in the United States Hockey League this summer, both from the standpoint of player recruiting sources and hockey fans alike, the Official renamed themselves the Upper Peninsula Hockey Club.

In view of the June 1st deadline set by the USHL for the advance sale of 800 season tickets, as a provision to the franchise granted the club, officials set Wednesday as the kickoff date for the sale.

Three locations have been set for ticket offices. The Marquette Chamber of Commerce will serve as headquarters, with offices in Ishpeming and Negaunee. Representatives of the 
club will visit other U.P. communities to explain their efforts to put a club into the U.S.H.L and to sell tickets to townspeople there.

Two directors of the club will speak tomorrow morning on "The Community Speaks", a 9:30 airing on WDMJ, The Mining Journal Radio Station, in continuing efforts to acquaint U.P. hockey fans with the unique opportunity inherent in the U.S.H.L franchise.

Although the ticket drive is scheduled to begin Wednesday, those who have specific seat locations in mind can reserve seats by contacting the Chamber of Commerce in Marquette at any time before Wednesday. 

Season Ticket prices will range from $25 to $50, in gradients of $5, and will depend upon the location of the seat in the arena.  Provision has been made for the sale of tickets on a down-payment basis, with a promissory note covering the balance, due before Sept. 15, 1964.

A Part of the History of the Iron Rangers as Told by Leonard "Oakie" Brumm.
Interview for www.marquetteironrangers.com.
Oakie (at Schloegel's Restaurant in Marinette, WI.  Summer 2000):  Well, Dewey St. Cyr and I promoted it really. Leonard St. Cyr and I were neighbors. I had been playing in Waterloo and Des Moines, and there wasn't any senior hockey in Marquette. I was renting my house out, and the second year I rented my house the people who rented my house, college kids, pretty near ruined it. So I decided I wasn't going to go away to play hockey anymore, and the people in Marquette wanted a senior team. So we got Dewey St. Cyr, myself, and Jack McCracken, and Bill Todd…there were other people. We put the organization together, and there's a story in the program of who finally backed the team. We had to guarantee so many tickets for the league…when you read the story in the program as to how it got to start…Bishop Noah and my Dad put the final guarantee on it so it would be a success. And that's the way it started.

The Mining Journal.  1964.
25 Turn Out For Rangers Tryout Camp

The Marquette Iron Rangers opened their training camp last night with 25 prospects trying
out on the Palestra ice. Over 100 spectators turned out to get a birds-eye view of the local
hockey talent in practice. 

Local players looking impressive in practice were Ken Bullock, Rick
Olds, and Mike Greenleaf. This trio came up through the ranks , as
far as hockey is concerned, having played in the Marquette Junior 
Hockey Association.

Canadians playing for the Iron Rangers showed plenty of poise. They appeared to be ready
to go right now and will prove a great asset to the Iron Rangers.

Two of the lines in practice looked real good, especially the one centered by Bucky O'Neill,
former Sentinel.

Fans are welcome to attend the tryout sessions which are being held each evening in the 
Palestra.

Iron Rangers Tag 5-3 Loss On Scrappy Green Bay 'Cats
Mining Journal.  Winter 1964.

The Marquette Iron Rangers made their home debut an impressive one last night as Player-Coach Oakie Brumm's sextet scored early and late in the penalty-marred contest to whip Green Bay, 5-3 before a capacity crowd at the Palestra.

It was sweet revenge for a 5-3 loss to the same Bobcats last Saturday, as Coach Brumm stated after the victory over the veteran Bobcat sextet.  "We have been waiting since last May 1st for this", meaning the date when the Iron Rangers organized.

The Iron Rangers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Rick Olds took a cross-rink pass from Roger Venasky and beat Oysstein Mellerud at 1:40 for the first counter.

Rangers Grab 2-0 lead

Before the Bobcats could get their bearings the Rangers had another marker, this
time off the stick of Barry Cook who scored on a rebound after Mike Greenleaf hit 
the pads of mellerud from 15 feet out. The home fans were hardly seated, the clock reading
2:48 and the home team was leading, 2-0.

The Iron Rangers kept the Bobcats in check and after 10 minutes had elapsed, Johnny Mayasich's charges had only a single shot on All-American Bill Rowe, stellar Marquette Goalie. Mellerud was forced to stop seven in the same period of time.

The Bobcats came to life after that. Ken Ruohonen came close to scoring after taking a short pass from his wingman, Hank Therrien.  Seconds later Mayasich hit the post as the Bobcats really put on the pressure.

Yewman Beats Howe

At 14:52, Gordy Yewman and Jack Poole teamed up with Yewman beating Rowe with a close-in shot to put the Cats back in the game 2-1.

Marquette missed a great opportunity to add to its total early in the game as "Fuzzy"
Frenette was called for elbowing at 5:40 and before he could serve out his penalty, Tom Neveau was also "ticketed" for the same infraction at 6:15, leaving the Bobcats two men short.

The Iron Rangers cashed in at 19:25 as hard-skating Venasky upended Mellerud, a busy Norwegian if we ever saw one, and gave the hometown sextet a 3-1 first period margin.

The second stanza was all Green Bay, but only on the scoreboard, as the Iron rangers peppered Mellerud with everything but snowballs, but couldn't score.

Green Bay, in the meantime, tallied twice to knot the game at 3-3.  Jackie Poole got one by Rowe at 9:35 on a shot that went over the back of Jacobson, who had dropped in front of Rowe to protect him.

Marquette kept Mellerud on edge for quite a spell but he was fantastic on a few of the shots, especially on a breakaway by Bob Cox along with Venasky midway through the period. 
Mellerud was real busy in the second stanza, with 13 saves to his credit.

Cats Tie Score

George Hill put the Bobcats back into the running as he meshed one at 19:20 to tie the score at 3-3 which was the way the third period ended and final 20 minutes of action began.

This set the stage for the "bell ringer" as the Bobcats got off on the wrong foot right from the start.  Ruohonen had been penalized as the buzzer sounded and that left Green Bay short-handed.

Brumm Hits

That was only the beginning of the end for the favored Bobcats. After hitting the post twice during the "power play", Coach Oakie Brumm showed the 'Cats that he can still bulge the twine as he whistled in a thirty-footer past Mellerud to give the Iron Rangers the added incentive they needed to win.

Behind 4-3, the Bobcats put on pressure and tried in vain to knot the count, but failed.
The Iron Rangers had a scare at 5:28 when hustling Matt Oreskovich, attempting to grab the puck in the Green Bay zone after a long chase with two Bobcats, hit the Green Bay net along with a Green Bay player and laid on the ice for nearly ten minutes. He skated away, however, and received a deserving ovation from the Marquette fans.

Rough 3rd Period

Olds and Frenette went to the "cooler" for a little punching around but no damage was done while they were off. The fans were brought to their feet with 4:15 showing on the clock as the referees had their hands full after Venasky was bounced around by two Bobcats in succession.

After falling to the ice, he got plenty of support from his teammates but the Bobcats also brought in reinforcements.  This led to the "serving of time" for five players and long delay in the game as the officials decided who was going off and what for.

Both teams played with two men short for the next two minutes. Green Bay found themselves with two in the 'sin bin' as coach Mayasich was nailed for tripping at 3:10.

The Iron Rangers salted the game away on a "picture play" at 19:22 as Rick Olds hit his second counter of the night on a neat pass from play-making Bob Cox. Marquette has now evened its season mark at 2-2.

The next home contests for the Iron Rangers will be against the league-leading Rochester sextet on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 19-20.  They travel to Rochester for a contest tomorrow night.

Sixteen penalties were called in the contest by referees Bob Gilray and Bob Kasubeck. Rowe had an easier night of it, having been called on to save 20, while his opponent Mellerud, saved 28.

730 Fans Cheer Favorites As Iron Rangers Tangle
Mining Journal.  Winter 1964.

More than 700 Marquette hockey fans cheered on their favorites last night at the Palestra as the Iron rangers tangled in an intra-squad game wchich was won by the "Blacks" coached by Jim Jacobson, 8-3.  Playing Coach Oakie Brumm led the "Whites" in a fast-paced contest.

Kravis Scores First

Bruce Kravis, the American Soo speedster, hit the first marker of the game when he bulged the twine at 6:58 of the first period on a pass from Brumm to give the "Whites" an early lead. Three minutes later Jim Jacobson of Marquette tied the score at 1-1 as he hit a 40-footer on a pass from Richie Olds. The "Whites" took the lead once again as Bob Cox, Kimberley, B.C. center, beat Chip Yokum at 10:38.

          Both teams played hard throughout the game and only fine play
          in nets by the two youngsters, Chip Yokum and Don DeVooght, 
          kept the score down. Brumm was impressed by the desire of the 
          younger players on the team as they checked hard and at times
          tempers flared, much to the delight of the fans.

Leading 2-1 going into the second period, the "Whites" led by Kravis, Bucky O'Neill, Ron McNabb, Jim Bystrom, Joe Parkinen, and Ron Bannon on the forward lines and Brumm, Ron Johnson and Mark Gilson on defense just could not keep pace with the speedier "Blacks".

Hill Ties Score

George Hill, ex-Michigan Tech Captain from Flin Flon, Man. tied the game at 2-all at 9:58 of the second stanza as he skated in on DeVooght alone and slipped the rubber disk past him.

Bob Cox had two opportunities to get the "Whites" back in the game but was foiled both times by the fine goaltending of Yokum of Dearborn.

Big Wayne McQuaig put the game on ice for the "Blacks" as he hit a pair of consecutive goals, the first unassisted at 12:27 and the second on a pass from Hill at 16:32.