I also found this moving story on George Pelawa and how his life was cut short. George was a team mate of mine at Bemidji High School (football team) and the guy was amazing athlete but also an amazing person. It would not be unaccurate to say that everyone like Big George.
The George Pelawa Tragedy; A Personal Look Back
By: Timothy Oshie
Publisher
When I think back to my collegiate days and my journey back to Minnesota in 1986, I'm reminded each day how precious life is.
I was a Bemidji State University basketball junior college recruit coming via Everett Community College in Washington. It was in late August of '86, that I had the distinct opportunity to meet a gentleman by the name of George Pelawa.
We played golf together in an Native American Tournament near Bemidji. I can vividly remember his massive frame yet a very soft spoken young man. We had a chance to catch up on life and he told me he was excited to attend and play hockey for the University of North Dakota in a couple weeks.
That vision and opportunity never happened. George Pelawa was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Labor Day Weekend of 1986.
I can remember the Cass Lake / Bemidji communities mourning this special young man. I remember how the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and it's members were so devastated by the loss of this incredible young man. It was a very sad day for Native America as one its fine young members with lofty dreams and such a great heart was taken from Mother Earth.
Here are some of the google searches I found on George Pelawa this morning:
Almost 21 years ago (Labor Day Weekend), the Flames lost 1st rounder George Pelawa in a car accident. He was a day or two away from starting his freshman year at UND. He was 6'3" 240 lbs, 3 sport athlete; was named Mr. Hockey among all MN high school players his draft year.
The Flames still have a scholarship in his name at Bemidji High School.
A Song Dedicated To George Pelawa written by his father:
Tom Cochrane and Red Rider: This one still gives me chills. In 1986, the Calgary Flames drafted George Pelawa 16th overall. He was a prospect that had size to go with a scoring prowess. He was playing in the U.S. collegiate circles and was killed in a highway collision. The story is told from the fathers point of view. No hockey Dad can distance themselves from the lyric "My boy's gonna play in the big league/ my boy's gonna knock 'em dead" without feeling it's sting. It is a true Canadian tale that ends when "Ice meets metal/In the wrong lane to the big league".
Cochrane's broken hearted "Aaaah aha" wail makes one's neck hair stand on end. The truest of Canadian classics.
From SiouxSports.com Archives:
Big George Pelawa was a team mate of mine at Bemidji High School in football, he was a 3 sport athletic star. George played linebacker in football and could affect a game by himself.
George could have been a Division 1 athlete in Football, Baseball and Hockey. He was that gifted. I would have loved to seen him in a Fighting Sioux uniform. Unforunately returning from a gathering in his hometown late one night before his freshman season, he was killed in a car crash. What an awesome guy. It still makes me sad to this day to think about it...
George Pelawa was a NHL 1st Round Draft Choice of the Calgary Flames (16th overall) in the summer of 1986 and was entering his Freshman season at the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
Goon:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind comments and support of the Section 8A Web Site.
You know as much as anybody the time commitment to blogging but hockey and the pursuit to recognize kids as first and foremost in my opinion.
Section 8 is without a doubt one of the finest regions in Minnesota High School Hockey. Prior to the Internet, it was only a buzz that people remember about Section 8.
Now, everyday, media and fans and admirers of Section 8A can simply click on the site.
Go Sioux!!!!!
Mr. Oshie,
ReplyDeleteAny time you golf tourney sounds tempting, I was checking out the other blog that you write.
Goon and Mr. Oshie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Pelawa tribute. I was just a kid (probably in middle school) when I first saw George Pelawa throw opponents around like rag dolls in the MN state high school hockey tournament. I was very sad to hear about the car accident later that year. George seemed like a XL hockey version of a Jim Thorpe that would have been fun to watch the the college and pro level. Hats off to the Chippewa for producing such a stud.
-joe
Goon,
ReplyDeleteWhat is scary is the Mr. Johnson and I where just talking about this last night whilst enjoying some spirits :)
And now today you post an article on it. It is true, great minds think alike.
Did you read over at the DU blog that Trotter has signed with Montreal, and will likely play in the AHL first...And that he was rumored to be kicked out of DU and they just "waited" for the Canadiens to sign him, before making any announcement. Sounds like a cover up...
Fox College Sports Central aired "Ice Dreams" last night. I remember watching this show when it first aired some 7-8 years ago perhaps. Of course they had the segment on George Pelawa.
ReplyDeleteIt brought back memories of the summer of 1986, when I was just 12 years old, playing hockey back in Moorhead. Big George seemed invincible; it was hard to believe back then (and today) that he died so young.
Of course his last Section 8 game was a 10-0 pounding of Moorhead in the Section 8 title game in East Grand Forks (back when they alternated w/Thief River Falls).
Just think, had George lived, he would have won an NCAA championship in 1987, probably been on the U.S. Olympic Team in 1988, and perhaps turned pro and been a member of the 1988-89 Calgary Flames, winning a Stanley Cup.