By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer
—
I called the communications director for the University of Minnesota hockey program Friday afternoon and asked him if he had any information on Harold Paulsen.
“Who?” he said.
I couldn’t really mock or ridicule the guy. It was only about an hour earlier that I had learned about Paulsen, who died in Mankato a week ago at the age of 91.
But in that hour I learned quite a bit about the man and was a little surprised that Paulsen’s name wasn’t ringing more bells in Minneapolis.
So I explained to him that Paulsen was “the other guy.”
Perhaps 70 years ago, Paulsen didn’t have such a dubious distinction. Back in 1940, he was named All-American along with a teammate who would become much, much more famous and go down as a hockey legend in Minnesota. That teammate was John Mariucci — the man who would go on to coach the Gophers and win nearly 200 games, the man who got his name on the Gophers’ hockey arena.
Minnesota has had 39 first-team All-Americans in its storied history, and the list reads like a who’s who of “The State of Hockey” (to coin the Minnesota Wild’s famous phrase), with Mayasich, Ross, Yackel, McCartan, Williamson, Nanne, Woog, Broten, Micheletti, Bonin and Leopold, just to name more than a few.
The first two, however, were Mariucci and Paulsen, who earned the honor after leading the Gophers to an undefeated season and second national championship.
This was before the NCAA and the WCHA. Minnesota played Yale, Illinois, Michigan Tech and Michigan that season and toppled clubs called Amesbury and Brock Hall in the AAU tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y., to claim the national title.
A year later, Paulsen, who was known as “Babe” because of his boyish looks and small stature, was the Gophers captain and graduated as the program’s all-time leading scorer. Just how many goals and assists he compiled is sketchy, however, as Minnesota’s individual record book only goes back to 1950.
Paulsen went on to become the first “modern-era” coach at Michigan State, one of just four the Spartans have had. He coached just two seasons, going 6-25-0 before stepping down. He got the program started, but the other three coaches went on to win national championships.
Paulsen ended up in Mankato, of course, teaching health and phy ed for 26 years until he retired in 1988. Here, he ended up being as known for his handball game probably more than his hockey prowess and played the court sport well into his 70s.
One of the great parts about covering hockey in Minnesota is hearing many old-time hockey stories. I would have loved to sit down with Babe Paulsen and hear tales of his high school days on the Iron Range, his games with Mariucci in Minneapolis and his start with the Spartans in Michigan.
I got just a taste this week and am at least glad that he’s no longer an unknown legend.
Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Read his blog at mankatofreepresshockey.blogspot.com
