For Taj and other old-line Billiken hockey fans

[bonwich]

The discussion of Tony Twist below reminded me of the following tidbit in Bernie's Saturday column:

"Attention old-school hockey fans: Organizers have decided to open the St. Louis U. Billiken Hockey Reunion Dinner to the public. It's to be held on July 31 on the SLU campus at the Busch Student Center. Guests of honor include coach Bill Selman and former players Bill Bestwick, Doug Butler, Len Cadieux, Sean Coughlin, Mario Faubert, Les Gould, Kevin Healy, Kent Jackson, Cha Karulak, Rick Kennedy, Ralph Kloiber, Charlie Labelle, Lindsay Midddlebrook, Michel St. Laurent and Michel Timperio. Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. and include dinner and a cash bar. For tickets ($35 each), call Pam Kennedy at 314-961-6714."

Note to Taj: I can think of a couple possible MCs who could very accurately recreate the audio atmosphere of the old Arena . (Do you suppose Dick McDonald is invited?)

[Taj79]

There's one for the old "whatever happen to ....?" books ... Dick McDonald. Anybody know what ever happen to this crackerjack of an AD? Given that its few and far between that old Billiken athletics folks move onward and upward (Romar, Yow, Wollard) and most seem to diappear or revert back to whence they came (Grawer, Albrecht, Coleman), I can't help but wonder what ever became of the slayer of big-time (?) collegiate hockey on campus.

What's sad is that of those listed, I only dealt with Selman (of course) and Butler, Jackson and Middlebrook. The others were even before my time ... probably in the height and heyday of true Billiken greatness. Frankly, its been so long ago that my thoughts on that period are just fond memories. Jud Williams would be a first rate MC as well. If I had stayed in St. Louis or stayed in touch, that would have changed my outlook.

Whatever happened to Chuck Durocher and Gary Murphy? They were probably my favorite players in my time. Dan ta-BOO-she (can't remember the exact spelling -- Canadien eskimo as I recall) as well.

Off to see the Mouse and company beginning this Thursday. Schasz? Any central Florida recommendations outside the standard fare?

[Kahok]

Those are names out of the past.

[Quickdraw]

Taj is right: the group named is certainly most representative of the earlier years of Billiken hockey. (I hadn't thought of Kevin Healy in years. Didn't he have a problem with a detached retina after an auto accident?) You'd think that they might have an easier time coming up with some of the local players from the later years, e.g. Denk, Pupillo.

I can't imagine Dick M. would have been invited. I'll never forget listening in on a conversation Dick was having with Ricky Frasier over lunch at the Co-Op. They both sounded like they would have had trouble earning any college credits at SLU.

[bonwich]

>I can't imagine Dick M. would have been invited. I'll never

>forget listening in on a conversation Dick was having with

>Ricky Frasier over lunch at the Co-Op. They both sounded

>like they would have had trouble earning any college credits

>at SLU.

If you'll recall, Ricky apparently never did earn any credits in his two full semesters at SLU, but somehow magically kept his gradepoint high enough to remain eligible in his subsequent matriculation. I can't recall if correspondence courses were involved way back then.

And wasn't it Dick McDonald who once was quoted as saying, "If we get a few more wins under our belt, you'll start to see our record improve?"