GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The year was 1971, the date was Feb. 27, the place was Duluth, Minn. The memory? So vivid at times, a bit foggy at others.
That's understandable, right? That was 52 years ago. I was then just in my second year as a sports reporter at the Grand Forks Herald. I was at the infancy of what is now a 53-year joyride of writing on UND hockey for the newspaper, and now for UND.
The Fighting Sioux had just finished a weekend series against the Bulldogs, splitting the two games on their way to a 14-17-2 finish in Rube Bjorkman's third year as head coach. .
A major snowstorm hit Duluth on Saturday and into Sunday. UND was scheduled to fly out of the Duluth airport on its school-owned DC-3 airplane, a World War II vintage turboprop piloted by a service veteran named Knox. I cannot recall his first name. I think he lived near Fisher, and was experienced flying those old airplanes that were just big enough to carry a hockey team and gear.
Because of the blizzard, we were stuck in the airport for hours on Sunday morning, waiting for the snow to end, the runway cleared, and the flight to take off.
As was a custom with that team, the players had an option of throwing a dollar into a pot, which would go to the player having the correct time span when the wheels left the runway on takeoff. That official time for wheels up was to be officially called by Brian DePiero, I think, who was a team captain with Mike Baumgartner.
It was a return trip to Grand Forks that carried some urgency. The team was scheduled to play the U.S. National team in Fargo on Monday, so the plan was to fly back to Grand Forks Sunday and then bus down to Fargo for the Monday game. At least that is my memory.
Finally, we were cleared for takeoff, and DePiero called out the time for official "wheels-up'' as we headed down the runway.
Someone looked out the window, and yelled, "Holy xxxx, the engine's on fire!!!'''
That got a good laugh from us all, considering the travel ordeal and long delay at the airport.
Trouble was, he was right. Flames were indeed shooting out the right engine shortly after lift-off. The plane was maybe several hundred feet into the air at the time, maybe a bit more, but I think we were all more panicked with immediate fear of a possible crash than the altitude of our plane.
Everything happened so fast. The pilot shut off both engines, banked the plane in a sharp turn, and landed us back on the runway so smoothly, as if a normal landing. It was over so fast, we didn't have time to understand the pure gravity of our situation.
It was hardly a normal landing _ but it was. It could have been one of the biggest air disasters in Minnesota history at the time. All 30-plus of us on the plane could have died, we realized later. Thanks to the great skill of our pilot who had been flying those planes in his military days, we landed as softly as a marshmallow plopped into a cup of hot chocolate.
Once in the airport, I recall talking with airport officials to piece together a story for the Grand Forks Herald. What several of them told me was that we were lucky to have the experienced pilot we did, or the outcome would have been far different.
In the airport, I remember goalie Jim Nelson from Grand Rapids coming up to coach Bjorkman, and asking how we were going to get back home. Bjorkman said that they probably would repair the engine, and we'd fly back to Grand Forks later in the day.
Nelson told Bjorkman that there was no way he would get back on that plane, he didn't care if he lost his scholarship or was kicked off the team. No way in hell would he get back on the plane.
None of us did. Eventually, a chartered bus was hired to take us down Highway 2 to Grand Forks. Problem was, the bus got stuck in a snowdrift shortly after we left the airport. The veterans on the team knew what to do. "Throw the rookies under the wheels,'' was the voiced opinion of the veterans.
Well, no, that didn't happen. We all did get out and help push the bus out of the snowbank, and home we went, eventually.
They did play the U.S. National team two days later in Fargo, skating to a 4-4 tie.
UND never flew that DC-3 again, I don't believe. That near disaster scared everyone from the players to the officials at UND making big decisions. The choice was made to scrap that plane as a means of transportation for the hockey team.
So with Minnesota Duluth here this weekend for a series with the Fighting Hawks, that's my trip down memory lane, into the air and down again. And heading down old Highway 2, just like the present-day Bulldogs did to bus here for the weekend.
Hawk-ey Talk with Virg Foss is a new weekly column about North Dakota hockey by longtime writer Virg Foss. Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald, including 5 NCAA title teams, before his retirement. Since his retirement, he's written about UND hockey exclusively for FightingHawks.com. This marks his 53rd season since he began covering UND hockey in 1969.
