It is possible that, for some, this is the greatest high school hockey jersey in the state of Minnesota. Of the ones I know of, certainly this one is the co-leader: tied for 1st with my Henry Boucha Warroad Warriors jersey.
Neal wore this sweater as he developed into one of Minnesota’s finest all-time native players. It’s hard to describe his popularity, honestly. If you talk with hockey fans that were North Stars fans from 1980 to 1993 and ask them who their favorite player was, my guess is that 75% of them would pick Neal. Add to that these three things:
1. being a small town Minnesota kid that had success at the state tournament;
2. Having a dominant career with the Gophers during the dynastic mid- to late-1970’s, during which time he scored a National Championship-winning highlight reel goal and won the inaugural Hobey Baker; and
3. Playing under Herb Brooks again, this time winning a gold medal with the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic squad.
The guy has just done it all and he did it in Minnesota. He was always going to be a good player, but somehow Neal got himself into all of the right places at all the right times. His resume hasn’t been duplicated and it may never be, but just think of how we would feel about watching this all happen again. Imagine this: in a year from now, you hear about some kid from Thief River Falls that’s lighting it up as a freshman and stars for his club at the state tournament 3 out of 4 years in high school; he doesn’t leave for junior, he stays with his buddies and tries to win the tournament. He doesn’t win the tournament, but he goes to the Gophers when they’re great. He stays for 2 year, wins a championship, and becomes one of their best of all time. Next, between his freshman and sophomore year, he goes with the Olympic team and wins a gold medal that many people will remember as the greatest sporting event of their lives. No big deal, right? Well oh, and did I mention that he’s a Wild 2nd round draft pick? There wouldn’t be any hype for that kid, right? There’s not even a way to duplicate that Neal was the first American player to score 100 points in a season, or to in any way simulate being the face of a beloved franchise that moved (only for both player and team to separately go on and win Stanly Cups somewhere else *no bitterness*), and so that’s what I mean about Neal just doing everything. I’m not sure there’s a way to be more of a hockey icon in Minnesota than Neal is. Maybe that kid I keep hearing about from TRF will get there.
I remember years ago watching a documentary on Fox Sports North (it was about either the 1980 Olympic Team or the 1979 Gophers yeam, but I don’t recall which) and being struck by something that Dan Brooks said. This was the mid-70’s and Herb asked Dan as a kid if he would like to go on a little scouting trip up North with him. Herb said he was going on the trip to scout the best high school player in the state. Dan played a guessing game to find out where and to whom this trip would take him, throwing out likely upper classman names like maybe Micheletti or Baker. Herb instead said that it was a freshman named Neal Broten. Wouldn’t you love to go on that trip with Herb? I think Dan said he went. I hope he did, anyway.
Neal wore this sweater as he developed into one of Minnesota’s finest all-time native players. It’s hard to describe his popularity, honestly. If you talk with hockey fans that were North Stars fans from 1980 to 1993 and ask them who their favorite player was, my guess is that 75% of them would pick Neal. Add to that these three things:
1. being a small town Minnesota kid that had success at the state tournament;
2. Having a dominant career with the Gophers during the dynastic mid- to late-1970’s, during which time he scored a National Championship-winning highlight reel goal and won the inaugural Hobey Baker; and
3. Playing under Herb Brooks again, this time winning a gold medal with the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic squad.
The guy has just done it all and he did it in Minnesota. He was always going to be a good player, but somehow Neal got himself into all of the right places at all the right times. His resume hasn’t been duplicated and it may never be, but just think of how we would feel about watching this all happen again. Imagine this: in a year from now, you hear about some kid from Thief River Falls that’s lighting it up as a freshman and stars for his club at the state tournament 3 out of 4 years in high school; he doesn’t leave for junior, he stays with his buddies and tries to win the tournament. He doesn’t win the tournament, but he goes to the Gophers when they’re great. He stays for 2 year, wins a championship, and becomes one of their best of all time. Next, between his freshman and sophomore year, he goes with the Olympic team and wins a gold medal that many people will remember as the greatest sporting event of their lives. No big deal, right? Well oh, and did I mention that he’s a Wild 2nd round draft pick? There wouldn’t be any hype for that kid, right? There’s not even a way to duplicate that Neal was the first American player to score 100 points in a season, or to in any way simulate being the face of a beloved franchise that moved (only for both player and team to separately go on and win Stanly Cups somewhere else *no bitterness*), and so that’s what I mean about Neal just doing everything. I’m not sure there’s a way to be more of a hockey icon in Minnesota than Neal is. Maybe that kid I keep hearing about from TRF will get there.
I remember years ago watching a documentary on Fox Sports North (it was about either the 1980 Olympic Team or the 1979 Gophers yeam, but I don’t recall which) and being struck by something that Dan Brooks said. This was the mid-70’s and Herb asked Dan as a kid if he would like to go on a little scouting trip up North with him. Herb said he was going on the trip to scout the best high school player in the state. Dan played a guessing game to find out where and to whom this trip would take him, throwing out likely upper classman names like maybe Micheletti or Baker. Herb instead said that it was a freshman named Neal Broten. Wouldn’t you love to go on that trip with Herb? I think Dan said he went. I hope he did, anyway.