Dick Roberts, a Warroad hockey legend as a player and a coach, died Tuesday at age 93.

Roberts grew up playing hockey on the outdoor rinks in Warroad in the early 1940s, then was a Gophers defenseman for three varsity seasons starting in the winter of 1945-46.

Later, Roberts coached youth hockey in his hometown, leading the Warroad bantams to a state title in 1964, and then spent a decade as the coach of the high school.

Roberts was behind the bench when the Warriors played Edina in the famed state championship game of 1969.

It was the first year the one-class tournament had moved from St. Paul to Met Center in Bloomington.

The building was jammed and Edina won 5-4 in overtime after Warroad superstar Henry Boucha was smacked into the boards and had to leave the game.

Roberts was even more notorious as the toughest hombre on the senior Warroad Lakers — known as "Dirty Dick'' in northern Minnesota and the Canadian cities where the Lakers often played.

Two decades ago, a Star Tribune reporter walked into a Warroad bank with Roberts and John Henneman, the bank president, shouted, "There's Dirty Dick Roberts,'' and then proceeded to tell this story:

"We were playing the [Roseau] Cloverleafs one night. A guy cross-checked Dick in the choppers. He looked at the guy, spit a half-dozen teeth at him, then chased him down and kicked the daylights out of him."

Roberts and his wife Marty, a Roseau woman, were married for 72 years. Dick is survived by Marty, and a hockey family that includes granddaughter Maureen Greiner, the women's coach at Concordia (Moorhead), and grandson Jay Hardwick, the current boys coach at Warroad High School.

Patrick Reusse

Hull picks Wildcats

Grove running back Evan Hull announced that he has committed to Northwestern University.

"I am thrilled to move on to the next step — from the Maple Grove brotherhood to the Northwestern football family," Hull posted on Twitter. "The best is yet to come."

The 5-11, 190-pound Hull led the metro area in rushing last season with 1,915 yards and 19 touchdowns.

JIM PAULSEN

Cold nixes prep games

All of Tuesday night's high school sports events in the metro area were either postponed or canceled because of plunging temperatures.

.MIAC games off

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) has postponed all men's and women's basketball games set for Wednesday.

Games scheduled for Wednesday will be played at 7 p.m. on Thursday except for the Carleton at Augsburg women's basketball game. It will be played Monday at 7 p.m.

Etc.

• Tyler Sheehy of the Gophers was named the NCAA's second star of the week in men's hockey and the Big Ten's first star. The senior captain had one goal and six assists last weekend in a split with Wisconsin.

• Lexy Ramler and Ivy Lu of the Gophers were named the co-Big Ten gymnast and event specialist of the week, respectively.