A heated rivalry will take the next step in its storied history this weekend in the Copper Country as the
Portage Lake Pioneers and
Calumet Wolverines renew a century-old contest during the annual Gibson Cup series.
The best-of-three hockey series will begin Friday at the Dee Stadium at 7:30 p.m., then move to the Calumet Colosseum Saturday at 7:30 p.m. If the teams split, the series will be decided at the Dee Stadium Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
"This is a series that determines some serious bragging rights in our area," says Bruce "Cukie" Coppo, a 13-time winner of the trophy, with most of those as a player and the last few as coach for the Wolverines. "These are two teams who bring their very best game for one series, hoping to get their names in the Copper Country hockey history books."
It is a hard-nosed, old-time hockey series with two teams located just 12 miles from each other. The teams compete all winter long in the Great Lakes Hockey League, the nation's only full-check adult amateur hockey league. The games feature a lot of goals, hard hits and even the occasional fisticuffs.
The league's other nine teams range from Vernon Hills, Illinois, to Madison, Wisconsin and everywhere in between.
Last weekend the league held its annual playoffs, where the Pioneers finished as consolation champions, while the Wolverines rested up after failing to qualify for the tournament. Even with the Pioneers enjoying more success this year in league play, both teams know it's all forgotten heading into this weekend.
"I've played with teams expected to win and we lost," says Pat "Rico" McCarthy, who has been on every Pioneers team to win since 1982, a total of 14 titles. "It doesn't really matter who the better team was all season. Growing up in the area you know that it's more important than our league games and even the playoffs. You want to win the cup, you want to beat your biggest rival."
The Gibson Cup was first awarded in 1939, and since then has been the pinnacle of the Wolverines and Pioneers rivalry, which dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.
At the time the Pioneers were known as the Portage Lakes, the first professional hockey team in the United States. The Calumet squad was formed shortly after, and the teams battled in front of thousands of people, while also clashing against visiting teams from other hockey hotbeds such as Pittsburgh, Toronto and Minneapolis.
The first winner of the Gibson Cup was the Portage Lake Elks, which was the first of 18 times the Portage Lake organization won the cup. Calumet first won it in 1947, and has since been awarded the trophy 13 more times.
The Wolverines organization made a great run from 1979 to 1983, winning the cup for five straight years leading up to a 10-year hiatus from the battle as both organizations failed to field teams those years.
"The rivalry was at its most fierce at the time, the communities weren't so closely knit then," Coppo says. "It felt really good as a team to dominate at the time, especially because we were two really good hockey teams."
Since the return of senior hockey in 1994, the Pioneers have gotten the better of the series, winning 12, to the Wolverines' four, including a run of five straight from 1997 to 2001. Currently, the Pioneers are on a three-series streak, dating back to 2008.
"We've been blessed to have a surplus of local, talented players over the past 20 years, especially in goal." says McCarthy. "We've also had some really good leadership, people like Mike Hauswirth and Corey Markham, they've helped lead our team both on and off the ice."
This year the teams finished just three points from each other in the regular season standings, with the Pioneers going 10-9-1, including a two-game sweep of the regular season games against Calumet, which ended its season 8-11-1.
The Pioneers feature gifted scorers Roger Lewis and Pete Rouleau, who each played Div. 1 hockey before joining the Pioneers. The duo is joined by former Finlandia University standout Ryan Sullivan, who had 17 goals and 25 points to lead the team.
"We weren't consistent enough this year," says Pioneers defenseman Mike Stevens. "We definitely have a lot of talent though, and we're hoping to put it together for the Gibson Cup, which is a great series for us and for fans of Copper Country hockey."
The Wolverines are fielding mostly Calumet High School graduates, including the GLHL's penalty minute leader this year, Josh Frantti, and Logan Rastello, who scored 20 goals, finishing fifth in the league.
"We need to win it," says Rastello. "It's been a frustrating couple years, especially this year because we were better then our record. Hopefully we can show it during the Gibson Cup."
The cup is named after USA Hockey hall of famer John L. "Doc" Gibson, who was the first captain and leading scorer of the Pioneers team. He's considered the father of Copper Country hockey. More information on the Gibson Cup can be found at
Copper Country Hockey History or the Gibson Cup
website.
Michael H. Babcock is a graduate of Michigan Technological University who currently works at Portage Health after nearly 2.5 years experience working with The Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton. Michael's passions include technology, social media, hockey and cheese
Photos by Shawn Malone.