Before they were college stars: 1945-46 Minneapolis Central Pioneers
At the beginning of the 1945 school year, Minneapolis Central High School announced varsity hockey would make its triumphant return. The Pioneers hockey program had been on hiatus due to World War II. That winter, the school welcomed hockey back for the first time in five years. When the 1945-46 roster was finalized, it was primarily made up of underclassmen. While this young team finished in fourth place in the conference with a record of 5-3-2, there were two skaters who would each later be inducted into multiple hall of fames.
A freshman named Bob Johnson made the 1945-46 team in his first varsity tryout. He would become a standout hockey star by the time his high school career was complete. He attended one year at North Dakota after high school and then transferred to his hometown college to become a Gopher. He played two seasons under John Mariucci. After college, he briefly coached high school varsity hockey at legendary Warroad High School and then Minneapolis Roosevelt before heading back to the NCAA – this time as a coach. He went west to Colorado College and served as the head coach for three seasons before accepting the head coaching position for the Wisconsin Badger’s men’s team. He brought three national championship trophies to Madison and earned the nickname of Badger Bob. He also coached the 1976 U.S. Olympic team during his Wisconsin tenure. In 1982, he moved up to the NHL and became head coach of the Calgary Flames. In 1990, he accepted the same position for the Pittsburgh Penguins and won the first Stanley Cup for the franchise in his first season as head coach. The Penguins defeated his hometown team the North Stars in six games. His expression of “it’s a great day for hockey” was so popular that it was used as a marketing slogan by the Penguins at one point in the 2000s. Johnson was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame, Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and Hockey Hall of Fame.
Another future college sports standout starred on the Minneapolis Central hockey team in 1946: upperclassman Bill Kuross. Bill, a junior during the 1945-46 hockey season, was a three-sport star for Central High. In addition to being a varsity skater, he excelled at football and notably tennis throughout his high school career. He and classmate Dick Roberts won the boys doubles state championship his junior year. He was also ranked as the top singles player in the state at one point. After graduation he would go on to play the same three sports for Augsburg College; located just four miles away from where he attended high school. He continued playing three sports in college and he once again excelled at tennis. He won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tennis championship three times (twice for singles and once for doubles). After graduation, he was called to active duty in the Navy in 1954. He played tennis for the All-Navy team and won the All-Navy East championship. After returning home from service, he continued to play tennis while doubling as head football coach of Minneapolis Washburn High School for four years. Kuross was inducted into the Augsburg College Hall of Fame and Northern United States Tennis Association Hall of Fame.
Byron Petersen, a senior on the team, had waited his entire high school career for hockey to come back to Central High School. As one of the few upperclassmen on the team, Petersen was one of the leaders on and off the ice. After graduation, he attended the University of Minnesota and then transferred to the University of Chicago to focus on a career in Optometry. After moving back to Minnesota, he and his high school sweetheart, Gloria Thompson, were married in 1950. Dr. Petersen and family moved to Mound, Minnesota in 1955 where he practiced optometry at the Mound Medical Clinic. Dr. Petersen later founded the Mound Eye Clinic and served the residents of Mound and surrounding communities until he retired in the 1990s. He was also a dedicated member of the local Jaycees and involved in the Chamber of Commerce. Both he and Gloria were avid volunteers as they each achieved more than 1,000 volunteer hours at the local care center. They also volunteered with Meals on Wheels and he tutored students in math. The two of them received the WCCO Good Neighbor Award in 2018 for their decades of volunteer service. Petersen, now age 97 and living in Spring Park, Minnesota, has fond memories of playing sports with Bob Johnson when they were kids. He reminisced about how he would play pick-up games of baseball on 44th Street and 4th Avenue with him and others from the neighborhood when they were growing up. He recalled that the assistant varsity hockey coach, Reverend Gordon Bennet, was a very kind coach and, first and foremost, wanted everyone on the team to enjoy the game of hockey. Byron was thrilled to finally be given the chance to play organized hockey after the war. The uniforms the team wore on the ice were loaned to them from the varsity football team. Byron Petersen is near and dear to this author’s heart as I am proudly his grandson. I likely wouldn’t have seen the photos that led me to writing this story if I hadn’t taken a look at his 1946 senior yearbook while visiting him this summer.
Minneapolis Central High School closed its doors forever in 1982 along with two other Minneapolis public schools. The school building that had been standing since 1913 was demolished soon after. However, the gymnasium was spared due to it being recently built. To this day, a gymnasium still stands on that site as a local rec center. Famous Minneapolis Central alumni also include Halsey Hall, the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Famer; William “Pudge” Heffelfinger, the first professional football player in America; and Prince, the world-famous musician.
Photo Credits: Both photos are from the 1946 Minneapolis Central High School Yearbook. In the featured team photo, it is presumed that Bob Johnson is in the bottom row, second from the left wearing the 37 sweater. Bill Kuross is kneeling next to Johnson in the far left of the bottom row wearing number 28. Petersen is third from the left in the top row wearing number 31. In the secondary photo, a Pioneer skates in on the opposing goalie.
