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DASSH is Expanding Hockey Horizons in Duluth

10/03/2014, 4:00pm MDT
By Greg Bates - Special to USAHockey.org

Hockey is the sport in Duluth, Minn.

With the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team winning its first national title three years ago, interest in hockey is at an all-time high in northeastern Minnesota.

However, there was an area of hockey that was missing in the Arrowhead Country. People with special needs who were interested in hockey didn’t have an organization to play with in Duluth. Those individuals were forced to travel to the Twin Cities, 150 miles away, to compete.

Kelly Erickson and Christian Koelling wanted to change that. The duo started Duluth Area Special and Sled Hockey (DASSH). Entering its third full season, DASSH divides into two programs: special group and sled group.

“There are many other special teams and sled hockey teams in Minnesota, but in Duluth we find that we have a really unique population of individuals,” said Erickson, who, with Koelling, is the co-founder and co-director of DASSH. “We have a very large amount of adults who like to play hockey, whether that be in our special hockey program or our sled hockey program — that’s something unique that not all areas around Minnesota have.”

To help get DASSH started and running smoothly, the organization received two grants in early 2013 from The USA Hockey Foundation. The grants have gone a long way in helping DASSH improve over the last three years.

“You can’t even explain how important it is,” Erickson said. “It’s so expensive to try and get something like this going. We were fortunate that we had a lot of people that helped partner with us to get this pilot program going.”

The organization joined forces with the Minnesota Special Hockey, Hendrickson Foundation and Courage Center Duluth in getting the program off the ground.

“We wouldn’t even be here if we didn’t have that support as we started up,” said Koelling, who is the director of hockey operations at the University of Minnesota Duluth. “A lot our participants don’t have the resources. To have that support, to take the barrier down of costs of equipment, costs of initial fees and stuff, that’s a big advantage for us to get this thing off the ground.”

DASSH used its USA Hockey grants for ice time, program operation (supplies, volunteer support), water bottles, practice jerseys, gear bags and tape, amongst other things. The organization has money remaining that it will use to help fund this season’s activities.

The grants also aid in helping keep costs low for participants. For those players who can’t pay to play, the organization won’t turn anyone away and will provide them with a scholarship opportunity.

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Special and Sled Programs

The main program through DASSH is the special team, which is comprised of roughly 12-14 players who have developmental disabilities, but can compete in stand-up skating. The group ranges from about age 7 to adulthood and varies in skill.

This season, the players will have a special treat, as UMD men’s hockey captain Adam Krause will be coaching the team. Krause, who hails from nearby Hermantown, has been involved with the program in previous years.

Koelling will still help coach the special team, along with a number of other volunteers.

“To be honest, it’s one of the highlights of my week to go spend an hour with that group,” Koelling said. “They’re just a fun group to be around. To see them get better is really rewarding.”

In the first two years of the program, the team has only been using its ice time to practice. This season, Koelling wants to get more competitive.

“The big thing on the agenda this year is that we’re going to get some games with some of the special teams that are around the state,” Koelling said. “We’re working on that and we’re hoping to make a trip down to the Twin Cities area, and we will be inviting a couple teams up to Duluth as well.”

The sled team is a small group with generally four competitive and two non-competitive players, ranging in age from 10 to 22, Koelling said. The team is designed for players who are cognitively delayed and unable to play stand-up hockey.

“The kids that come out have a great time at doing it,” Koelling said.

According to Koelling, it’s tough to find a good sled coach, but DASSH has secured one of the best for this season in Lee Costley. The veteran coach was recently an assistant for the Sled Hockey Player Development Camp, which was hosted by USA Hockey.

DASSH is trying to attract more sled hockey players to join the team this season. The organization purchased five sleds so players can try the sport and don’t have to buy equipment right away.

In addition to special and sled groups, DASSH is looking to expand this year and add a program for deaf and hard of hearing players. Koelling feels like there’s a need for that type of hockey in Duluth.

There are a lot of positives going on with DASSH and organizers want to continue building on the momentum.

“We’re really focused this year on trying to grow our special participants and increase that by three or four players,” Erickson said. “We’d also like to double if not triple our sled hockey group.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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Morrison, a Minneapolis native who played on the 1968 Olympic team in Grenoble, France, was the only American to be among the top 10 scorers (tied for eighth) in the tournament, registering two goals and six assists in seven games. In 1967, he completed an illustrious collegiate career at current NCAA champion, Yale University, where he was named first-team All-American East as well as first-team All ECAC his senior year.

He left Yale as its all-time leading scorer, with 51 goals and 68 assists for 119 points. 

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Following amateur athletics, Morrison attended Harvard Business School and, after a stint with Kidder Peabody, went to work for the Pillsbury Company, where he rose to the position of Executive Vice President and President, Pillsbury Consumer Foods Group. After the company was acquired by Grand Met (now Diageo), he decided to join three longtime associates to form Goldner, Hawn, Johnson & Morrison, which quickly became a highly successful private equity firm.

Morrison received an extraordinary opportunity to wear a different Team USA uniform, when, in the middle of his presidency, former college classmate, George W. Bush, requested that he serve on OPIC (the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) and, later, PFIAB (the Presidential Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board), overtures he happily obliged.

While his sense of duty to country is longstanding, Morrison has also maintained an enduring commitment to Minnesota, which has been home to he and Chris, his wife of 46 years, since 1975.

He and his son, Jeb, have invested in a handful of small Minnesota companies and Morrison has been a longtime director at Andersen Corporation (Bayport, Minn.) and Hormel Corporation (Austin, Minn.).

Jeff Ettinger, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer at Hormel Foods, is quick in his praise. 

"Jack Morrison has been an outstanding member of the Hormel Foods Board of Directors since 2004,” Ettinger said. “He is a man of broad interests and experience, from his Pillsbury days, to other boards, to the Bush White House, to his hockey connections, to his private equity success. He brings both business sense and common sense to his role as lead director with our company."

Jay Lund also lauded Morrison’s contributions and character.

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Although numerous exciting opportunities have come Morrison's way since his playing days, his family and friends, above all else, are his abundance. Kelly, his daughter, resides in Minnetonka and Jeb is close by in Hopkins. They each have three children, which makes him one busy grandfather – as five of his six grandchildren play organized hockey.

It's an identity that suits him though and, in his eyes, the most enjoyable "jersey" he's ever worn.

“I love the game and have always been most comfortable when I’m on the ice,” Morrison said. “The only thing better than that is watching my grandchildren play.”

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