It's do or die tonight for the Buccaneers
Des Moines Tribune
Monday, 4-2-82
by Don Clasen
11 Des Moines players will be making their final appearance in Bucs' uniform here tonight against Sioux City in the fourth game of the U.S. hockey league championship series.
A sellout crowd of nearly 4,000 is expected for the 7:30 p.m. faceoff at the Des Moines Ice Areana.
If Des Moines wins, it will even the series at two games apiece and send the teams to Sioux City for the deciding game Saturday night.
If the Bucs lose, regular-season champion Sioux City will win the Clark trophy.
No matter what happens tonight, Myles Hart, Scott Rupp, Bill Ries, Jeff Ulrich, Jeff Strandell, Doran Doty, Tom Miller, Jerry Schlief, Scott Lauder, Tom Schlief and Bob Wright will be making a final home appearance.
The 11 averaged 20 years of age the maximum to be eligible for junior A hockey.
Hart, the regular-season scoring leader is expected to receive a scholarship from North Dakota, which last weekend won the National Collegiate hockey championship.
Rupp is expected to have his choice of several colleges to attend and several other Bucs are expected to continue their careers in college.
Lauder has been offered a tryout with a professional team.
If the Bucs, who started the best-of-five series with two losses should win the final two games, the team will represent the USHL in the national Junior A championship tournament April 15-17 at Detroit Michigan.
That would pose a nice problem for Coach Ivan Prediger and players Hart, Rupp, Ries, Lauder, Greg Shivley, and Mark Pagnac. They are part of a 22 member USHL All-Star team that will play April 8-11 against squads from Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Switzerland in a tournament at Leysin, Switzerland.
The All-Stars are expected to depart April 6 and return April 14 to Chicago. The Bucs all-stars would then hustle east to Detroit instead of heading home.
If the Bucs are one of four teams in the national championship, other players will assemble earlier to practice.
No matter what happens tonight the ice at the arena here will be allowed to melt after Sunday afternoon's farewell potluck honoring the team.
Most of the Bucs will return home after the fete at 4 p.m.
If Sioux City wins tonight, team officials will have shelled out $3,500 for nothing. That's the cost of the re-icing the Musketeers' rink after a Tom Jones concert Wednesday night. The chore began early Thursday.
After tonight's game some of the Bucs best fans will put away their sweatshirts, buttons and other Mementos.
Jeri Freeman, Kelly Brookhart, Jill Morris and Cindy Webster of West Des Moines and Liza Hernandez of Urbandale are among the most loyal Bucs backers.
Hernandez, 12, wears a sweatshirt procaliming, "Rupper Rooter." Freeman, 13, has hers inscribed, "I'm a Doty fan." Brook hart, 12, has a shirt with "I'm a Hart fan." With Morris, 13, the plug is "I'm a Ries fan."
Webster, 12, is the only one who doesn't have to buy a new shirt. Her "LaDouceur Lover" outfit will be good next season because the 6 foot, 180 pounder out of Grand Forks, N.D., is one of eight players eligible to return.
Championship Series
MARCH 24 GAME
Sioux City 8, Des Moines 2
MARCH 26 GAME
Sioux City 7, Des Moines 4
SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAME
Des Moines 7, Sioux City 6 (overtime; Sioux City leads best-of-five series, 2-1)
TONIGHT'S GAME
Sioux City at Des Moines
SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAME
Des Moines at Sioux City, if necessary