I appreciated and enjoyed your recollections of the late, great John MacInnes in last week's Alumni Letter. He was a true gentleman, great coach and an outstanding ambassador for MTU. I first met John when I was a high school senior --when my parents and I visited Houghton to see what Tech was all about, versus other schools that I was considering. He gave us a very insightful and honest look at what to expect, and I was sold! That was 1962, a year that Tech won the NCAA hockey championship.
After that, I did not have any serious contact with him other than seeing each other around the campus. But I was impressed with the fact that he remembered me and always asked how things were going. The ensuing years saw some great hockey, with stars like Tony Esposito, Rick Best, Ricky Yeo, Wayne Weller, and many, many more! It was a fantastic era in collegiate hockey. I cannot remember all the stats, but during those years (62-67) I am sure we won a lot more than we lost. I never missed a game at Dee Stadium, playing in the Pep Band for the first couple of years, and then sitting next to the Penalty Box as a guest of Peggy Foley and her family's season tickets. Those were the days!
I don't know if anyone else remembers, but there was a 'black spot' on the John MacInnes heritage that occurred during that era. It seems that the East Coast liberal press was dismayed that a 'hick, minor league school' like MTU could be such a major contender in national collegiate hockey, and TIME Magazine did an expose on our program. I wish I had kept a copy, but I didn't. As I recall, it was an unnecessarily critical article about John and his dedication. It focused on his pre-game jitters and resulting gastro-intestinal issues.
In the summer of 1967, I found it necessary to attend the summer session in order to pick up the one or two classes that I needed to graduate. As it was during the VietNam build-up, it was further necessary that I take 8 credit hours to be considered a 'full-time' student -- and thereby avoid the draft. So, to round out my schedule with 8 credits, I signed up for a PE class -- Golf 101, with John MacInnes as the instructor! It was great -- two afternoons per week on the Portage Lake links. He taught us the basic mechanics, the rules and etiquette, etc., and we all had a good time.
To this day, I am still not a very good golfer -- but I do have a helluva slap shot!