Joel Kirkish (left), poses with Corey Markham, Micah Stipech and Mike Hauswirth prior to the start of the first game of the Gibson Cup series Thursday night at Dee Stadium in Houghton. Portage Lake retired his jersey in a ceremony prior to the game. (Photo submitted)

HOUGHTON — As the crowd arrived at Dee Stadium and found their seats Thursday night before the start of the Gibson Cup series, the Portage Lake Pioneers and Calumet Wolverines paid tribute to a man who was instrumental in bringing senior hockey back to the area. The Pioneers retired the jersey of Joel Kirkish.

Bringing senior hockey back

“In 1992, he and some other guys were kicking around the idea of firing senior hockey back up,” said Houghton High School coach Micah Stipech. “It was him, Scott Leonard, and Rick Jurkanis. There’s been many people involved throughout the years, but those were the original guys.

“There were two events that happened that first year. There was a senior hockey tournament at the Dee Stadium, and then (the team) went to a tournament in the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie).”

Kirkish had to track down the team jerseys, which had been mothballed in the 1970s.

“Those were the first things we did, and to get it going the next year, we busted out the old Pioneers jerseys from boxes with mothballs,” Stipech said, “from the 70s or whenever the team went defunct.”

Mike Hauswirth said that Kirkish’s efforts are well known.

“Joel brought it back, right? I mean, senior hockey was, I’m going to say it was mothballed for 10 or 12 years,” Hauswirth said. “Quite honestly, Joel single-handedly took the lead and got it back going for the Portage Lake Pioneers. He did all of the legwork, all of the going out and soliciting advertisements, everything to get it, recruiting guys to come and play, getting us eventually set up to play in the league, (even) encouraging Calumet to get another team, and then eventually, convincing them that we need to start playing for the Gibson Cup.”

Stipech was involved as a player early in the return of the Pioneers, so he is forever grateful to the efforts and time Kirkish put in.

“(There were) lots of classic names, but the driving force, I mean, Joel went out and got sponsorships, raised money, created a schedule, contacted other teams, built a schedule.

“I think, maybe, Year Two, the team went to nationals in Chicago on a bus. Then, Year Three, I was involved. My first year, I was a freshman at college, me and Buster (Roberts).”

Roster building became a key component of finding a way to sustain the Pioneers beyond a couple of seasons.

“At that point, you’re still struggling to get players and trying to build a team. (You end up playing) a lot of road games, and (we) played in nationals again,” said Stipech. “Then the third year we were in, we were on probation, or a defunct member, or whatever you call it, to get into what’s now the GLHL (Great Lakes Hockey League). They wanted to see how we do. There’s a lot of good stories from that time.”

Building rosters and lifelong friendships

Hauswirth is proud of how Kirkish’s efforts have impacted generations of hockey players, along with the greater community of the Copper Country. His son, Brett, is one of the key contributors for the Pioneers. His father, Bob, also played for the Pioneers.

Brett scored two goals and two assists Friday night to help lift the Pioneers to a 7-0 win over the Wolverines to claim the Gibson Cup for the third straight year.

“I think it’s just, it’s one of those stories that not a lot of people know about, but the amount of work that he did, and the good that it’s done for our community, I’ll be honest with you, those were some of the funnest years of my hockey career was playing for the Pioneers,” he said. “Now I get to watch my son do it. If I go way back, my dad did it, right? So, the Pioneers are a huge part of the Copper Country history. I guess it wasn’t dead, but it was mothballed for all those years and Joel got it going.”

For Hauswirth, the Pioneers mean much more than just the years he spent playing for them. Being a Hancock native, he grew up playing with the Houghton kids and the Atlantic Mine kids in youth hockey, but then moved on to playing against them in high school. With the Pioneers, he got to reconnect with them, and that has led to lifelong friendships off the ice.

“It’s more than hockey, right? A lot more than hockey,” he said. “We’ve all built these great friendships that came out of it. That’s kind of the neat part. You know, to this day, a lot of these guys, someone might be a little bit younger than me, or they’re from Houghton, I’m from Hancock, whatever, but we’re great friends. It all started with that connection.”

Along with playing with players who grew up in another town, Hauswirth also pointed out that friendships also grew out of playing alongside skaters who were both younger and older than himself.

“It’s a huge deal,” he said. “You also deal with a wider age band, right? So, some of the kids that I played with, some of the guys that I played with in youth hockey, but I played Pioneers also with guys younger and older than me. So you not only rekindle, but you meet new people.”

Stipech agreed.

“The stories and the relationships you had, that was the biggest thing that we were talking about was how that created more hockey memories for us,” he said. “Like whole lifelong friends who, they went to different schools, and maybe, sometimes, guys from out of the area, you become lifelong friends with these guys, because you’re playing hockey together. It was another opportunity, and then to go to the Gibson Cup game and see another generation doing that, it’s continuing, and it’s because guys like Joel got it going again and really spearheaded it.”

Senior hockey gives opportunities

Hauswirth, who like his father, played collegiately at Michigan Tech, also talked about how having the Pioneers and Wolverines back in the area gives young players a place to continue to play competitively after high school or college.

“So the Pioneers can be a great option to continue playing hockey at a competitive level for kids that didn’t get the chance to play juniors or college,” he said. “But, it’s also a great opportunity to continue to play at a competitive level for those that did. I think for those that did, even, like myself, it’s like, ‘Oh, this is fun.’ You don’t have to worry about making a mistake or anything like that. It’s just good fun. It’s a little bit different for everybody, but at the end of the day, there’s just a lot of guys that are having a lot of fun, and they get to compete, and we all love to compete, right?”

For Hauswirth, building those bonds are what really matters.

“There’s a special bond for the guys that played together at one point or another in a career,” he said. “When you look at the Pioneers, just simply the road trips that you make, and the time that you spend with the guys on the road, and whatnot, it forms these deep friendships that last forever. Then it just tentacles out to beyond the Pioneers too. I mean, just guys playing hockey together, right? Whether it be at the college level or even on some of the rentals. But it does seem like there’s strong bonds in the hockey community, for sure.”