March 9, 2008
To: NDAHA
From: Greg Evenson- President
Re: NDAHA Hall of Fame induction
Chair- David Duckworth
I'd like to share with all of you an honor that NDAHA bestowed upon James Kalbrener of Grafton. James was inducted into the NDAHA Hall of Fame yesterday at a ceremony in Grafton at the NDAHA Bantam A state tournament. I've included a newspaper article from the Grafton Newspaper that explains the nomination and extent of the work James did for Grafton Hockey and ultimately for hockey in North Dakota.
NDAHA hasn't recognized an individual for inclusion into the NDAHA Hall of Fame for several years and James Kalbrener is a deserving choice as we begin again to recognize those individuals that have made a significant impact on the youth of North Dakota that play hockey.
I want to thank David Duckworth for his work as the NDAHA Hall Of Fame Chair for making this happen. I'd also like everyone to know that we realize there may be other individuals in the state that you may think also deserve this special recognition. We intend to begin again the annual induction of those individuals deserving this award. If you have someone in your association or community that you would like to nominate please send a nomination letter to David. David is an NDAHA NE District Director and his email address is on the NDAHA web site.
hall of fame

Kalbrener inducted into amateur hockey hall of fame

Published by Travis on 2008/2/21 (136 reads)

Induction ceremony to take place March 8

It has been almost eight years since James L. Kalbrener passed away of a sudden heart attack, but his memory continues to live on, not just with his family and relatives but in the many lives he touched during his coaching career.
Although Jim only lived to be 56, he is soon to be honored among others who have went above and beyond the call of duty when he is named to the North Dakota Amateur Hockey Association (NDAHA) Hall of Fame, an organization that has been around since 1954.
Paul Callahan of Grafton nominated Kalbrener for the honor. In his nomination letter Callahan wrote, “He coached every level of youth hockey, ran the refs and lined up the games and drove the bus. Grafton would definitely not be where we are today without his guidance early on. He hooked Grafton on hockey. We continue to honor our top Bantam player who meets the guidelines with the Jim Kalbrener award.”
Jim Kalbrener was born James L. Kalbrener Jr., the son of James L. and Mildred (Boatman) in Valley City, May 31, 1943. He grew up in Grafton and graduated from Central High School in 1961. He graduated from UND in 1965 and married Theresa Mihulka on Sept. 14, 1963. Terri, as she is known, currently resides in Grafton.
Jim grew up playing hockey for Nash with the likes of Bill Daley, Ray Gourde, Roger Raumin and Robert Anderson. The Nash team was coached by George Ellefson and managed by Earl Anderson. The year was 1958 and the team was gearing up for the state peewee tournament. The team had a record of three wins, two losses and one tie.
Having played hockey for Nash and later independent hockey for Grafton, a couple of small towns, as a coach Jim always expected his teams to compete.
“One thing about Jim that I will always remember is he never let us by with the excuse of us being a ‘small town’ or ‘the little guy,’” said Chad Mears, who was a member of Grafton-Park River’s 2001 state championship team. “When we would say, ‘well that team is from Grand Forks, they are supposed to beat us because they are from a bigger city,’ he would be quick to correct us and say, ‘they put their skates on the same way you do, just because they are from a bigger city does not mean they are better players.’”
According to his wife Terri, there was no high school hockey in Grafton so he played independent hockey for the Grafton Millionaires. He tried out for the UND hockey team in 1961, but was cut in the final round, she said.
“In college Jim came home on the weekends to help Sonny Wentz coach hockey in Grafton,” Terri said. “After graduating UND he came back to Grafton in 1965 to coach VFW Hockey. He coached squirts, peewees and bantams until about 1992. He also coached high school junior varsity after that.” He was the assistant coach when the Spoilers won the N.D. State High School Hockey Championship in 1991.
Besides coaching his three sons, Paul, Scott and Jason, he also coached his brother Mike Kalbrener, who also went on to coach VFW hockey for many years.
According to Rob Mihulka, former Spoiler and Sioux hockey player, Jim was Grafton hockey.
“Whether it was coaching, flooding or shoveling the ice — Jim was always there,” he said. “He got up every morning and would work on hockey before his job at the State School and then after work again he would coach little kids. He closed the outdoor rinks after all the kids left — he never left the kids coachless.”
Although Jim coached youth teams to state titles and many other tournament championships, his coaching was much more than just winning and losing. While many of his former players don’t remember many of the scores of their games, they do remember Jim’s life lessons.
According to Paul Shereck, a member of the Spoilers championship team of 1985, Jim taught his players the meaning of respect, courtesy, integrity, teamwork and most of all to be accountable.
“He taught the fundamentals and techniques of the game of hockey that I am grateful to him for, but he was there to teach you about life and how to conduct yourself in the big game of life,” he said. “Oh sure, he got on me quite a few times and at the time I did think he was unfair about it. Looking back, I see the lessons of hockey and life that he was trying to teach every boy and girl that walked through those doors of the Grafton Arena on 5th Street.”
While Jim was a firm, but fair coach, he was also a player’s coach and could see the potential of a player, in a lot of cases long before the player could.
“When I was 11-years-old I had to make the decision between hockey and basketball. Basketball was actually my better sport at the time. Coach Kalbrener was the only reason I chose hockey because of the confidence he gave me. Coach Kalbrener told me to skate whenever I could,” Larry Bellerud said. “I started to develop more and more, by the time I got to bantams I had caught up with more of the kids and was playing a regular shift. I was fortunate enough in 1978 to be on the first Grafton High School Hockey State Championship team my junior year and was the first line center on our state runner-up team in 1979.”
Don Swartz, who went on to play hockey at UND, actually quit hockey when he was in fifth grade to play basketball, but because of Jim’s influence, came back to hockey and was Grafton-Park River’s coach when they last won a State High School Hockey Championship in 2002.
“I was fortunate enough to have Jim as a coach and I coached with him. I was always impressed with the way Jim handled his players and their parents. Much of my coaching philosophy was modeled after him,” he said. “He treated every player as an individual. He tried to develop all his kids and in that vein he started the B teams in hopes of giving those players more ice time to develop. He thoroughly enjoyed coaching and being with kids.”
While Jim had a unique knack for communicating with children and it should be added many generations of players and while he enjoyed it, this should by no means take away from his keen insight on the game of hockey and how to be successful at it.
Rilie Morgan, who currently coaches the Fargo North Bantam B team, played for Jim while in squirts, peewees and bantams and was a member of the 2001 Spoiler State Championship team, commented on Jim’s coaching abilities.
“In my early years, Jim broke down a three on two for us. As a team we went through this situation step by step literally, and then we practiced them every once in a while, Jim would talk to you and give some advice, or tell you what to look for after having completed a three on two,” he said. “Looking back at it now, I can see he was teaching us about all the options we had. He taught the importance of being creative without ever having said the word. Some of the drills he used with us, I use in my practices today.”
According to Morgan, Jim also taught the intangibles of the game which are heart, hard work and determination. These intangibles help explain the mystery of Spoiler hockey.
Dan Gaustad, a member of the Spoilers 1985 State Championship team, said that although none of the kids currently playing have been directly impacted by Jim’s hockey passion they certainly have been touched by his tireless efforts.
“When I travel around to other towns, they are simply amazed that a town of this size can compete and be successful against teams from communities that are 10 to 20 times larger,” he said. “What I remember is Jim made sure that regardless of where the other team was from, they were no better or worse than anyone in our locker room.”
“In thinking about it now as an adult, it is truly astounding the amount of time and effort Jim put into this program — from coaching all ages of kids, scheduling games, attending practices (even at the frigid outdoor rink on 8th Street where frozen feet was the common occurrence), to driving the bus for away games.”
The one person, who probably knew Jim best said it best in summing up Jim’s overall contribution to the continued success of Spoiler hockey.
“Kids that play sports are exposed to many situations that prepare them for life. It was a place to make new friends. It taught kids how to win or how to lose with dignity. It taught kids discipline because they had to learn that it was a team sport and they had to share with others,” she said. “Some coaches teach that win or lose it’s always fun to play the game. Jim hated to lose and he pushed his players hard, but when they lost, they lost as good sports.”
Ironically, between the first and second period of this Saturday’s State High School Hockey Championship game, Grafton’s 1978 championship team will be honored — arguably a team that Jim had the most influence on.
“It was right during Jim’s prime. We all grew up with Jim as our coach,” 1978 champion Scott Hills said.
The NDAHA plans to honor Jim during the Bantam A-1 and A-2 State Hockey Tournament being hosted in Grafton and Park River the weekend of March 7-9. The induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 8, at 5 p.m., at the Centennial Center in Grafton.