The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-26
REVIVAL OF HOCKEY
OWN CITY LEAGUE COMPELs IN
TEREST IN GREAT ICE
GAME
COVERED Kinks ARE NEEDED
Guaranteed Protection From Wealth.
IL er, Spectators Would Turn Out in
Large Numbers-Chance for
Enterprising Promoter,

= Winnipeg, city famed for it's hockey
tfeams, curriers', skaters and oarsmen, has
t0ust added another Eastern scalp to it's
klbelt by successfully defending the STAN
ksey cup, emblematic of the hockey cham
Epionship of the world, against a team as
Egood as Eastern Canada can produce.
kFor nearly ten years this prairie city has
mad things about its own way on the ice,
falthough the Twin Cities have furnished
ISkaters that are equal to their own Nc
kCuDcgh, and sportsmen all over the coun-
TRY have the highest respect for the VIM
E1lipeggers both as sportsmen and enter
talnerS. The question at present upper
most is, since the East cannot furnish
khockey material good enough to carry
away the trophy, why should the West
mot have a try?
/ Hockey has been systematically neglect
Jed in the Twin Cities for years, and
Eprlnclpa1y because the people have not
kibeen given an opportunity to see what a
EFoyal game it is. This year, however,
tfhere has been a revival, and a good
tEized league has been formed to compete
ttor the Dunbar cup, "a handsome trophy
donated by z. j. GieSen, of the Clarendon
Motel. Interest in the games has been
well maintained and before the present
season Is over, a healthy boom should
llaYe been inaugurated. There is no game
jim existence which combines rapid move
ment with consummate skill as well as
public begins to realize this, the game
will jump into popularity.
A st. Paul enthusiast in discussing the
situation yesterday said: What we need
TO awaken interest in the game is two
large covered Kinks, one in each of the
Twin Cities. Let some enterprising cap
italist invest in two Kinks which Will
present sheets Of ice, say 210X190 feet, pro-
wide plenty OF comforta BILE seats, advertise
The games we'll, and you will see hockey
Hboom that viii take both cities by storm.
kWatching even a well played game on
IAN open rink is not a pleasant task in
this latitude, and even the keenest en-
kthusiasm is not proof against freezing
fleet and benumbed noses. But ma large,
iWeu lighted, covered rink the case is
different. The spectators are comfortable
land can admire the movements Of the
players before them. and I defy even
Football to arouse the enthusiasm that
AgOod hockey can. There is more agility,
tquicker thinking, and even greater skill
than is required in football. The element
fof brute strength does not enter into the
iBame at all, and when both goals can
De in danger two or three times inside
hof a minute what more exciting form
3of sport can he asked?
| Il am SURPRISED that this matter has
not been taken up before. There is money
in it for the first one to try it. In Win
nipeg four years ago such a rink as L
with several others which had been pop
aular for years, and the investment has
proved a big winner. The rink need not
be idle between seasons, either, for in
The summer tennis, indoor bicycling and
theatrical entertainments can be utilized
to keep the place going.
VIII Take Some Time.
q sThen as to the class of hockey that
could be furnished it stands to reason
that we could not expect to beat the Win
Integers for at least two or three years.
In Manitoba hockey players commence
their training from the time they are big
enough to grasp a bent stick and sprawl
about on frozen ponds on vacant lots;
when they grow older any budding talent
is quickly observed and carefully foster
ed, and that is how the Stanley cup has
found an abiding resting place with the
Victoria club. Every player on the team,
with the exception of one or two, was
born in the town, and most of them have
been members of the club for from three
to ten years.
In this part Of the country we have
skaters who are as speedy as the Mani
tObanS, but they have not the trick Of
handling their sticks, and the thousand
and one points that go to make up the
finished expert are unknown. But we
can develop talent of this sort; we have
h season almost if not quite as long as
THAT in Winnipeg, and once interest is
properly awakened, we shall have players
growing up in all parts Of the city. The
first thing to do is to get the Kinks, and
the rest will follow. I feel confident, and
so do others who have given the matter
any study, that with proper facilities
there are hockey possibilities in the two
cities that are undreamed of. Already in
the Eastern states they are producing
teams that hold their own with the best
OF the Ontario and Quebec aggregations.
New York, Pittsburg, Boston and Phil
adelphia have clubs that would given
even the Winnipeggers a good game, and
why then is the West tagging in the
rear? We have every natural advantage,
and the movement only awaits a good
Start to become popular and successful"