Image via WikipediaFighting Sioux beat writer Brad Schlossman has an awesome article on former Bemidji Lumber Jack star George Pelawa. I had the pleasure of meeting George when I moved to Bemidji, Minnesota in 1984. I transferred my senior year of high school from International Falls, Minnesota to Bemidji, Minnesota, where I met George Pelawa who was also playing football for the Bemidji Lumber Jacks. I can tell you everything that they said about George Pelawa was true, George was an amazing athlete, and an awesome person, I don't think that you could meet a nicer guy and I can't ever remember anyone ever saying anything negative about him.
Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald --- George Pelawa was 6 feet, 4 inches and about 240 pounds.
“The biggest hockey player I ever saw,” UND associate coach Cary Eades said. “He was a real, living Paul Bunyan.”
He could skate, puck-handle, shoot and hit, too.
The rare skill set made the Bemidji native one of the most coveted players that northern Minnesota has ever seen.
Eades recalls rejoicing in the Sioux hockey office 25 years ago when Pelawa committed to UND, then watching the power forward dominate at the 1986 state hockey tournament.
Three months later, the Calgary Flames selected Pelawa in the first round with the No. 16 overall pick. At the time, no Minnesota-born forward had ever been drafted higher.
“He had the total package,” said Eades, an assistant coach who helped recruit Pelawa. “The sky was the limit for him. There was an unbelievable amount of potential for him. . . just never realized.”
A week after moving into the dorms at UND, Pelawa was killed in a car accident just north of Bemidji.
An estimated 2,000 people attended the funeral at the high school auditorium.
Among those in attendance: UND head coach Gino Gasparini, U.S. Olympic head coach Dave Peterson, Miracle on Ice coach Herb Brooks and Calgary Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher, whose son Chuck will make the home state team’s draft pick Friday night in Xcel Energy Center as the general manager of the Minnesota Wild.
Pelawa’s parents, Frank and Winnie, are considering making the trip to St. Paul for the event. It will certainly conjure up many memories of the guy who was affectionately known as “Big George.”
