Reusse: The amazing hockey life of John Mayasich seems fitting for a book

John Mayasich acceded to the wishes of his family and moved to the Twin Cities for most of the year earlier in this decade. As good planning would have it, there was both family and a new sports center with curling near the Chaska senior condominium where he would be located from fall to the spring.

John was visited in February 2023, and he still was an active curler — with a group of seniors informally on Monday morning, and then in a league on Thursday evenings.

Now, there were rumors that Mayasich, who turned 92 in May, had given up throwing the rock.

Say it isn’t true, John … that you have retired from active curling?

“It is true, and I would ask you this,” Mayasich said. “Why would you waste time doing something you’re getting worse at?”

Well, there’s always golf when you’re back home on the Iron Range for a few weeks in the summer, right?

“No, I gave that up, too,” Mayasich said. “Same reason. Why waste time getting worse?”

Even old-timers such as myself can only imagine how powerful Mayasich appeared roaring across the ice at that moment in time. From Eveleth, he became the all-time Gophers great, and a three-time Olympian — first in 1952, then for the magnificent U.S. silver medalists in Cortina, Italy, in 1956, and for the first U.S. gold medal at Squaw Valley, Calif. in 1960.

There are fabulous tales on the Eveleth days, and the Gophers days, and that hat trick of Olympics, and then the years playing for and running the Green Bay Bobcats … enough to make a book.

And now there is one: “John Mayasich: Immigrant Roots to Olympic Gold,” written by Roger Dier, a journalist who got to know John during those Green Bay days from 1959 to the mid-’70s.

“Once the book idea came about, my choice for a title was ‘Why Me?’” Mayasich said this week. “I’ve had that thought for a long time. A kid that grew up in a big family and with no money, immigrant parents scraping by every day. Why did I have all these good things happen to me in life?”

What helped was being a magnificent hockey player, and then through reputation and also numerous meetings in person, as good a guy as you’re going to meet.

The book can be found on Amazon. There is a signing scheduled in Eveleth on Dec. 20, but in this era of disappearing book stores, some outlet in the Twin Cities should get in on the action.

These Olympics are touching Cortina, where Mayasich, and Willard Ikola, and Dick Dougherty and so many of our hockey heroes won the silver medal in 1956. John Mariucci, another Eveleth titan and the godfather of Minnesota hockey, was the coach.

The hockey will be in Milan, if the poorly shaped rink is done in time, but the old arena where Mayasich, Maroosh and others beat Canada and won the silver … that ice sheet will be used for curling.

“Curling has grown so much it’s amazing,” Mayasich said. “I just watched the Korea rink in this tournament, and they’re great. I just sit here in watch it.”

John will be otherwise occupied on Wednesday night:

Mayasich, a member, will be there with the task of presenting Zach Parise, being inducted with four others. Considering the coming 70th anniversary of Cortina silver, and the United States’ “other” Olympic gold medal in 1960, this presenter could get as rousing of an ovation as the honorees.

As years have a tendency to be for super seniors, this has been a tough one for Mayasich in losing great friends. Willard Ikola, his goalie dating to Eveleth, died in January, and Dick Meredith, a two-time Olympic teammate, died two weeks later.

There are endless fabulous tales surrounding hockey in Eveleth, and Mayasich, and the ones about mother Mary are among those. She was always busy in the crowded home, raising 11 children (another, Rose, died very young during a flu epidemic), with the legend that she never saw “Johnny” play a game.

“We were playing Williams for the state title,” Mayasich said. “The game was tied late and I got a tripping penalty with three minutes left. She was listening on the radio.

“My twin brother, ‘Demo’ [Jim], came into the kitchen, and Ma said, ‘Your brother got a tripping penalty. If Eveleth loses, it’s going to be Johnny’s fault.’

Eveleth never lost a game in Johnny’s four seasons of winning state titles, as a matter of fact. And Mary never saw you play, right?

“Not exactly,” Mayasich said. “We would always play games in the street in front of the house. And I can still see my mother’s face in the kitchen window, watching. And then ducking back behind the curtain when we noticed her.”