Courtesy of Star-Tribune:By: Paul Walsh
(Photo Courtesy of vintagemnhockey.com)
Move over John Mayasich.
Your official state record for most goals in a boys high school hockey game is about to fall. And it's not even close.
Max Oshie, a star forward for the Warroad Warriors, scored 12 goals in a game on Jan. 6, 1948, as his squad defeated Thief River Falls 16-2, according to a news account of the contest.
That collection of four hat tricks easily tops what was thought to be the record of seven goals scored by Eveleth's Mayasich in a state tournament semifinal game in 1951.
Turns out, Mayasich said today, that seven was never really his highest one-game record anyway. He said he scored 11 goals in a 23-0 thumping of visiting Duluth Central in 1950. And it's a feat that he is not proud of, saying, "You should never do that against a team. It's embarrassing."
As for that and other moments of greatness, Mayasich shrugs them off. "I don't have anything, articles or anything, about records in high school," he said in a telephone interview from Eveleth.
"I don't consider them my records. I had good linemates and a good team."
Just this season, three other players scored seven in a game: Ben Hanowski of Little Falls, Michael Unzen of Moose Lake and Dan Billiar of Mankato East.
When it comes to verifying Oshie's goal barrage as the certifiable record, Ellen Giloy of the Minnesota State High School League said, "I would probably just need a copy of the clipping" from the Warroad Pioneer, adding that the MSHSL considers newspaper reports as "sound sources" for determining records.
Giloy said how the MSHSL collects records is simple. "The only way we hear about them is when people report them."
The Pioneer's coverage of Oshie's remarkable game came to the attention of startribune.com after one of his classmates read Monday's online report about this season's trio of seven-goal scorers.
In the game, played outdoors in Warroad, Oshie scored 11 of his goals against Thief River Falls netminder Ralph Engelstad. Yes, that's the same person whose name adorns the lavish hockey arena at the University of North Dakota.
While Oshie died in 2006 at age 78, his legacy lives on in the NHL. Great-nephew T.J. Oshie, a standout at Warroad in high school and North Dakota in college, plays for the St. Louis Blues.
2 comments:
Great article coach osh, erv will love it!
It's obviously a very close story to my heart. Uncle Max was my hockey hero. He was so excited when T.J. made the choice to come back and play hockey for his alma mater of Warroad HS and in the footsteps of many Chippewa relatives as well. It was the most important step in his development as a hockey player and a young man.
Coach Osh
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