The issue of age was part of what led to the demise of the WIHL, the precursor
to the WCHA.  Here's a couple of quotes from some former Minnesota coaches
that might help explain the context of that time and a little of the context
of Minnesota recruiting.
 
JOHN MARIUCCI:
On being labeled anti-Canadian: "That's wrong.  My contention was the teams we
were playing were bringing down 22 and 23 year old Canadians who were playing
Junior A hockey, and competing against our high school kids.  That's what I
was fighting, the age deal.  We wanted to control the Canadian kids.  I mean I
brought in Louie (Nanne).  I brought in Murray Williamson.  I could have had
my whole team Canadian, but then I would have destroyed the high school
program. If I didn't have a program at the University for Minnesota kids,
where were they going to go?"
 
GLEN SONMOR:
"He told me 'Glen, if we don't give these kids a chance to play, promote the
Minnesota high school tournament, and get these kids as accomplished as the
Canadian players, they'll have no place to go when they're finished, and the
program will die.'  So he had a clause put in at the U that said the Canadians
who were older and were getting paid couldn't play for Minnesota.  He promoted
the Minnesota kids, and he figured the Gophers would take their lumps at
first, but he'd get the program on its feet."
 
HERB BROOKS:
"He wasn't against Canadians, he was just pro-American.  This was in a day
where there were no age restrictions, and very little restrictions other than
they couldn't have turned pro yet.
 
"I patterned several aspects of my coaching after John.  He was a pioneer and
faced immense competition as a coach.  When the '80 Olympic team won the gold,
John said it was one more piece to the puzzle for American hockey.  I shared
these hopes, dreams and aspirations with John, and was proud of the fact that
there were 12 of us from Minnesota on that team.
 
"St. Cloud was a very positive experience for me, and John was very
influential in that endeavor as well.  We felt that there were more kids in
Minnesota than opportunities for them.  He encouraged me to go up there for a
year, get the program from division three to division one, raise money for the
new rinks, and get them going in the right direction.  Then I left.  John was
very much a visionary, and had a lot to do with my decision in going up
there."
 
 
For a non-partisan view, here's a quote from a former Michigan State coach.
 
AMO BESSONE:
"Don't forget there were a lot of great Canadians that played Gopher Hockey.
But, back then there were only two places you could get Americans: Minnesota,
and Boston.  Mariucci had a gold mine of kids out there.  I used to harass him
about taking all the good kids and not leaving me any to choose from.  So he
said he would send me a list of recruits.  He would keep the top ten, and I
could keep the bottom ten.  I tried to recruit up there, but the Minnesota
kids wanted to play for John.  It was incredible, they were loyal as hell to
Minnesota.  Nowadays, if I were still coaching, I could recruit out of
Detroit.  They don't have a high school program like Minnesota's, but their
Junior leagues are the best in the counrty.  I attribute that incredible high
school program to Maroosh (Mariucci).  He was committted to the people, and he
just did it all up there."
 
Doug P.
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