A well-deserved honor for Nystrom
Published 9:26 am Monday, November 28, 2011
Column: Aaron Worm, Behind the Mic
I was doing math the other day.
If you played boys’ hockey for Roy Nystrom in the early 1970s in Albert Lea and were 18, you’d now would be in your mid-50s. And if you had kids early in life, and they had kids early in life, you could have grandchildren that are in youth hockey, and your grandkids could go up to Roy and say, “Hey you use to coach my grandpa.”
That alone is a neat note to the coach that has notched 633 career wins and will be honored on Thursday when they officially name the Blue Rink at City Arena after longtime Tigers’ coach Nystrom.
When my wife and I moved to Albert Lea in 2006, and I have mentioned this on the radio before, the one coach that I was intimidated to talk to was Nystrom. I played basketball as a kid and didn’t really become a hockey fan until 1994 when I started attending every Huskies hockey games as a freshman at St. Cloud State University. My hockey knowledge has grown in the last 17 years, but still I am far away from being a hockey expert.
I remember the first time interviewing Roy. I was nervous I was going to ask some question that didn’t make sense because, again, I was a casual hockey fan interviewing someone who could write the encyclopedia of the game. Over the years it has been a pleasure not only working with Roy, following his teams and increasing my hockey knowledge because of him but also having met someone I am glad to call a friend.
With all the milestones and accomplishments that Nystrom has achieved, he is the most humble person I know. I never find out from him when he is about to hit a milestone I get the info from the best media relations person you could have, his wife, Jan. And I thank her for all the times she has given me the heads up on something going on with his career or with the team.
Back in December of 2010, when Nystrom became the all-time wins leader in boys’ hockey in the state of Minnesota, he said after the game, “My wife has got to be the best hockey coach’s wife in the world, because ever since we were married she never says, ‘Well are you gonna quit?’ There were a couple times maybe during my career, I thought maybe this is enough, and she says ‘No, this isn’t enough,’ so I do what she tells me.”
Behind every good man is a definitely a good woman.
Roy told me this week usually they rename a venue after someone has died. That may be true, but I am glad the City Council didn’t wait that long. He deserves every honor and every milestone he has ever reached. All the time he has put in to make these young men better hockey players and better people deserves to be recognized. I hope everyone can make it out on Thursday. It was an honor to do the call of the game when he reached milestone win number 617, and it will be an honor to be there for his special night this week.
KATE Radio Sports Director Aaron Worm’s column appears each Monday in the Tribune. He can be heard from 6 to 11 a.m. weekdays on The Breeze.