Tony Couture is still getting recognized for the success of his Little Falls High School boys hockey team from a season ago. After tallying an undefeated regular season, the Flyers went 30-1 and finished in third place at the state tournament.
Couture, a 1985 Falls High School graduate, received the Tom Clifford Award on Saturday from the University of North Dakota because of such a successful season. The award was part of a busy weekend at UND, which featured the 35th annual Athletic Hall of Fame event and induction ceremony.
“This year’s inductees are a remarkable and deserving group of athletes who, to their respective programs, have been instrumental in building the storied history and tradition that is UND athletics,” said UND Letterwinners Association President Grant Paranica in a press release.
“We’re equally proud to be able to recognize this year’s Tom Clifford Award recipient, Tony Couture, and Honorary Letterwinner recipients, Pete and Eunice Kuhn, for their outstanding contributions in carrying our Fighting Sioux spirit and culture beyond the institution’s walls. If you’ve be any of these individuals, you know that they are very special people.”
The four individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame were Shannon Burnell (football, 1990-93), Mikki Cochrane (softball, 1993-95), Janine Etchepare (Swimming, 1988-91) and Dixon Ward (hockey, 1988-92). The 1993 football team was also inducted.
Couture played with Ward at UND and said it was fun catching up with the Hall of Famer, along with former coach Gino Gasparini.
“It was quite the honor,” Couture said over the phone Tuesday.
The Tom Clifford Award was established to honor former UND President Thomas J. Clifford and his long-time support of UND athletics. The award recognizes UND alumni who serve as athletic coaches at the high school or college level and have been successful in their sport the year preceding the award.
Couture admitted to being surprised by the honor, especially since current UND head men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol won the award in 2007 and current associate head coach Cary Eades is also a former winner. Eades was an assistant coach during Couture’s tenure in goal from 1988-91. Couture lettered in each of his three seasons at UND and appeared in 59 games, finishing with a 34-16-3 career mark. His .670 winning percentage is seventh all time in Sioux hockey history.
Couture’s Flyers will be visiting International Falls this season for an afternoon contest against the Broncos on Dec. 5. The puck is expected to be dropped at 4 p.m.
The surprises didn’t just end with the award for Couture, however.
Each Hall of Famer and award winner attended Saturday night’s UND-Cal Poly football game. Couture knew about UND defensive coordinator Mike Mannausau (1993 FHS grad), but he didn’t recognize a certain No. 99 until his name was flashed on the scoreboard.
“He was wild,” Couture said about Ty Boyle, a 2006 FHS grad. “And finally I got to look at him with his helmet on and sure enough, it was the same kid. It was neat.”
Couture helped coach Boyle from time to time when Boyle was a kid coming up through the hockey ranks as a goalie in the Falls.
“He had a huge game,” Couture said.
Boyle forced a fumble and later got his hand on a 41-yard field goal attempt, causing it to go wide left. UND won 31-17, ending a two-game skid.
Boyle has played in seven of eight games and has 12 tackles, a forced fumble and two blocked kicks. UND is 4-4 and 2-1 in the Great West Conference.
Going deeper ...
• Ryan Cramer (’04 FHS grad), is tied for fourth in scoring on the unbeaten Bemidji State University men’s hockey team. Cramer has three goals, which is tied for second on the team, and one assist in six games.
The Beavers hold a 5-0-1 record and are ranked 12th nationally by USA Hockey and 11th by USCHO.com. Both stand as BSU’s top rankings ever.
• Another Division I hockey player performing well is Brady Hjelle at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Hjelle, a former FHS student, is 4-1-1 in six starts with the Bulldogs. He holds a .913 save percentage and a 2.79 goals against average. UMD is 5-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the WCHA.
• Kelly Hams (’08 L-BF grad) and Hibbing Community College’s volleyball season came to a close Saturday with a loss to Central Lakes in the Region 13B Tournament. The Cardinals lost 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20), and finished the season with a 23-15 overall record. They were also the MCAC North Division Co-Champions.
Hams had a solid season, finishing as the Northern Division hitter of the week once and setter of the week twice. The sophomore was also named to the MCAC All-Northern Division Team and MCAC All-Tournament team.
• Another UND athlete, Josh LaBlanc (’96 FHS grad), continues to pad his UND cross country/track and field resume.
On Saturday, LaBlanc finished seventh overall in the 2009 Great West Conference Cross Country Championships at Van Cortland Park in Bronx, N.Y., earning all-conference first-team honors. He’s also the first ever UND men’s cross country runner to earn All-Great West Conference honors.
“Josh ran a great race,” UND head coach Mike Grandall said on the team’s Web site. “It was a good course, a little different, but a very good cross country course.”
• Kevin Flynn (’91 FHS grad) was recently featured in the Duluth News Tribune about the success of his Duluth East volleyball team — and about the success of the brain surgery performed on his 4-year-old son, Rory.
Rory had brain surgery on Sept. 30 to remove a tumor that was causing swelling in his brain. After 18 days, Rory, and Kevin, who was with Rory the entire time, returned home, according to the article by Rick Weegman. Doctors told Flynn there’s an 80 percent chance the tumor won’t return, the article said.
Flynn and the No. 3 Greyhounds play at No. 2 Forest Lake tonight in the Section 7AAA tournament. The winner advances to Saturday’s section championship.
• FHS grad Kevin Constantine is 13 games into the American Hockey League season as the coach of the Houston Aeros, and they sit in third place in the West Division of the Western Conference with a 6-7 record.
American Hockey League
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W L OL SL Pts GF GA
Manchester 9 2 1 0 19 34 17
Worcester 7 3 0 1 15 35 32
Bridgeport 7 6 0 0 14 29 31
Springfield 5 5 2 1 13 34 44
Lowell 5 4 2 0 12 37 35
Hartford 6 6 0 0 12 41 39
Providence 5 5 1 0 11 33 34
Portland 4 8 0 0 8 31 47
East Division
W L OL SL Pts GF GA
Hershey 7 4 0 0 14 38 22
W-Bar/Scra. 5 3 1 1 12 26 25
Adirondack 5 4 1 0 11 24 25
Albany 5 5 0 1 11 31 32
Norfolk 5 6 0 0 10 26 26
Syracuse 4 5 1 1 10 27 37
Binghamton 3 5 2 0 8 31 39
WESTERN CONFERENCE
North Division
W L OL SL Pts GF GA
Rochester 9 1 1 0 19 37 24
Hamilton 7 0 1 3 18 33 22
Manitoba 8 6 2 0 18 34 40
Abbotsford 7 4 2 1 17 40 47
G. Rapids 6 4 0 0 12 31 28
Toronto 5 3 1 1 12 30 30
Lake Erie 6 6 0 0 12 31 31
West Division
W L OL SL Pts GF GA
Texas 8 2 0 2 18 32 21
San Antonio 6 4 2 0 14 35 34
Houston 6 7 0 0 12 28 31
Rockford 5 7 1 1 12 36 38
Milwaukee 5 4 0 1 11 25 29
Peoria 4 4 1 2 11 32 38
Chicago 4 6 0 1 9 28 31
