Not much hockey gossip to report from around here lately.  There was an item in
the St. Paul paper a while back that Gophers' sophomore center Brian Bonin would
be invited to the Olympic Festival, but I've yet to hear any other invitees.
 
Also, congrats go to a certain Daniel Patrick Trebil named to the Winter Quarter
1994 Institute of Technology Dean's List.  A GPA of 3.75 in at least 12 credits
of classes is required.  Since Winter Quarter ran Jan 3 - Mar 19, I think that's
a pretty impressive accomplishment on (sophomore defender) Trebil's part right
in the heat of hockey season.  (Guess that's why he's a National Merit Scholar,
huh?)
 
And now the article from today's Minnesota Daily.  I hesitate to post something
this fluffy when there's actual NEWS on the list, but Bonnie Hankinson is quite
a character, so I'll charge ahead anyhow.  If you don't want to read a cute
feature-type piece, I'm sure you know what key to hit!
 
Headline: HANKS1.STO
Publish Date: 06/03/1994
 
Tris Wykes
 
<W0I>Staff Reporter
 
In order to survive, younger siblings have to be tough, resilient and
able to keep a secret.
 
In Casey Hankinson's case, you also have to be willing to play
goalie.
 
For thousands of kids across the state, winter means neighborhood
hockey games in which they reluctantly guard the net while
projectiles whiz by their ears and over their shoulders.
 
Hankinson spent a share of his time being a target for his older
brothers Peter and Ben. In fact, the Edina High School senior and
University hockey recruit swore off the rite of netminding early on
in life, due to a face-to-face meeting with a flying puck.
 
``We'd suit him up in net and his face would just be over the (leg)
pads,'' Peter said. ``One day our friend Randy Skarda fired a shot
off his forehead. It was only a sponge puck, but it was about ten
degrees outside so (the puck) was pretty hard. I think that's when
Casey decided he wanted to be a forward.''
 
The youngest Hankinson can still remember that shot by Skarda, who
went on to play at the University and with the St. Louis Blues of the
National Hockey League.
 
``It hurt like hell,'' said Casey, who was eight years old at the
time. ``Pete and Ben knew I was just a little guy and they were
taking it easy, but Randy took a slap shot from about 15 feet away
and I was out like a light. That was the last time I played goalie
with him around.''
 
Casey is neither little nor a target anymore. Still growing at
6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Casey is a somewhat overshadowed part of the
Gopher hockey program's seven-member 1994 recruiting class. He also
intends to play baseball at the University.
 
Casey' family has iron-clad connections with University athletics.
 
His father, John, a member of the University's class of 1965, was a
record-setting Gopher quarterback and the football team's Most
Valuable Player his senior year.
 
Peter and Ben were both four-year letter winners and hockey team
captains, Peter in 1989-90 and Ben in 1990-91. Bonnie, mother of the
three Hankinsons, attended the University for two years and was a
Gopher cheerleader before finishing school in New York.
 
With such strong ties to Gopher sports, Casey will be easily
recognizable to the thousands of die-hard fans who follow Minnesota
athletics. And, as one might expect, his physical and athletic
characteristics are a mixture of those his older brothers possess.
 
``He's got Ben's size and demeanor off the athletic field and a lot
of Peter's skills on it,'' John Hankinson said. ``He's definitely his
own person, but he's had the benefit of their experience and their
advice.''
 
Ben, who played for the NHL's New Jersey Devils and their top minor
league affiliate this season, was known more for running over
opponents than scooting around them. Peter, the Gophers' scoring
leader and MVP during his senior season, succeeded on speed and
deception, playing several seasons of minor league hockey before a
shoulder injury ended his career.
 
Though all three brothers have taken their athletic talents to bigger
venues, it was in the backyard that their basic skills were honed.
 
The yard featured an ice rink in the winter and a diamond named
``Brothers Field'' in the summer, and it was often full of youngsters
from early morning until lights out.
 
``We had a multipurpose facility back there,'' said Peter, who
recalls waking up late at night and seeing the yard's lights ablaze
and his father flooding the rink surface while wearing rubber boots
and gloves.
 
``I'd be out there 12 hours sometimes, but I enjoyed doing it because
I enjoyed watching them skate so much,'' John said. ``They were
getting their exercise and their friends would come over, and they'd
come in for lunch with their skates still on.''
 
Bonnie has similarly fond memories, though two years ago on New
Year's Day, a slap shot by Casey caromed off the rink's boards and
cut her in the mouth. She needed 35 stitches.
 
``I had always wanted to know how to hit a slap shot and I dragged
Casey out there to show me how,'' Bonnie said. ``I didn't lose any
teeth but my bottom lip got chewed up.''
 
From the backyard, Peter and Ben went on to earn hockey scholarships
to the University. Though neither was a high-profile recruit, both
wound up as leaders of their teams at the end of four years.
 
Casey is now in a similar starting position, having failed to draw
notable attention from Division I programs until his stellar
performance in the Chicago Showcase postseason prep hockey series
late in the winter.
 
``I talked with Coach Woog in the middle of the season, and when I
hung up, I told my parents `Well, I don't think I'll be at
Minnesota,''' Casey said. ``It was out of my control, but (the
University) was the place I wanted to go most.''
 
The youngest Hankinson wasn't completely ignored by collegiate
suitors, however. Casey made a mid-season recruiting trip to Yale
and, after the Chicago Showcase series, he had official visits
planned to North Dakota, Colorado College, Northeastern and
Wisconsin, among others, though he hit a slight snag while filling
out an application for the last school on the list.
 
``I took it to my mom and told her it needed to be signed but she
said, `Well, I don't think I can sign that because I hate the
Badgers,''' Casey said, laughing.
 
{Now you all know why I HAD to post this!}
 
Fortunately for Hankinson family relations, Minnesota extended an
offer soon after. Casey has verbally committed to play hockey but
won't sign a scholarship tender until former Gopher and 1994 Olympic
hockey team member Craig Johnson decides whether to return to the
University or sign a professional contract.
 
Once Casey arrives on campus for good, he will face a stiff challenge
in trying to suit up for two teams whose seasons overlap virtually
the entire academic year.
 
With the hockey team paying his bills, Casey is aware that sticks and
pucks must come before bats and balls. But should Hankinson be held
out of hockey competition his freshman year, baseball may be the
beneficiary.
 
``Hockey's what I'm there for right now, and that's number one, but
I'd like to play baseball and I think it could happen,'' said Casey,
a switch-hitting shortstop on the ball field and a center on the ice.
 
John said that his youngest son will need determination and needs to
set priorities in order to succeed in both sports. Edina High
baseball coach Jim Luther, Peter Hankinson and Casey himself all said
they anticipate his having to make a choice between the teams at some
point.
 
``I think you can (play two sports) but you have to get everything
else in place first,'' John said. ``You're over there to get an
education, play hockey number two and then whatever else fits in. It
takes a while to adapt.''
 
Peter earned three letters in baseball while at Edina and played two
seasons with a summer league team of Gopher varsity baseball players
during his time at the University.
 
``I definitely would have liked to play baseball (at Minnesota) but
the hockey season is so rigorous and I would have had to take batting
practice on Sundays during the (hockey season),'' said Peter, for
whom baseball ceased to be a viable option after he initially injured
his shoulder during a college hockey game. ``Eventually you have to
pick one.''
 
Whichever sport he chooses, Casey will have the full support of his
family. Peter now lives in Edina and has season tickets to Gopher
hockey, though his viewing pleasure may be undermined by nerves the
next few seasons.
 
``I saw almost all his games this year (at Edina), and it was fun
watching him get better as the season went on,'' Peter said. ``I'll
probably be nervous next year. When I played I never got nervous and
I never understood why anyone would, but watching Ben play on
television, I know how it feels to be a parent because you have no
control.''
 
Peter probably won't get as wound up as his mother did for the first
game of his Gopher career in 1987.
 
``I had to spend the game in the first aid room because I
hyperventilated,'' Bonnie said. ``I'm real intense and excitable and
all of that cheerleader stuff comes out in me, although the third
time around it's more relaxing.''
 
As befits a former college quarterback, John is nearly always calm
when watching his sons play. Once known for coolness under pressure
and wizardry with a football, John is now more likely to be
approached by fans who link him to Peter's tying goal in the 1989
NCAA championship game, or a wild scuffle instigated by Ben.
 
``I've gone through the whole spectrum,'' John said. ``It used to be,
`Didn't you play quarterback for the U?' Now nobody remembers me.
It's, `Didn't your kids play here?' and that's great too.''
 
 
Pam Sweeney                            Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask]      1993 & 1994 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
                                  1994 NC$$ PHinal PHour!!!
                                        Ski-U-Mah!!!