Heros of Hockey Day announced for 2011

 FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – In the lead up to Hockey Day in Michigan, the CCHA office has received nominations for Heroes of Hockey Day from all over the state. We have been overwhelmed with wonderful stories of people’s commitment to growing the game of hockey in their community. Selecting four Heroes of Hockey Day was a difficult task with so many deserving nominees, but the individuals you are about to meet are undoubtedly worthy of this honor.
 
Roger Parr (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.)
 
  Roger Parr has been a youth hockey coach in the Sault Ste. Marie area for two decades, spending the majority of his time working with mite-level players. Parr’s passion for working with players that are new to the game led him to create the Hockey Initiation Program, an initiative designed to help develop skills, specifically skating, in three-and four-year-olds from Sault Ste. Marie. In that program, he has been known to use some creative and fun teaching methods, including putting PVC sleeves over the youngsters’ sticks to get them to roll their wrists properly, as well as having them chase a remote-control truck with a golf ball tied behind it.  As one parent put it, “his goal is to make sure that each child wakes up every morning asking if they have hockey practice that day.”
 
In addition to coaching in and organizing the Hockey Initiation Program, Parr also puts together “mite shootouts” at Lake Superior, Sault High and Soo Eagle games, and helps run the Kaines Classic, a mite minor tournament played on the Soo’s natural ice rink.
 
Ron Baum (Kentwood, Mich.)
 
In over three decades of work in hockey, Ron Baum has been instrumental in the development of hockey players and hockey coaches. For 35 seasons, Baum served as the varsity coach at East Kentwood High School, racking up a state record 623 career victories, winning a state title in 1990, three runner-up finishes, capturing 21 league titles and making 14 Final Four appearances. In addition, Baum mentored current CCHA student-athletes Max Grover (Bowling Green) and Eric Alexander (Ferris State), and coached Michigan alum and current Washington Capital Mike Knuble. In 2000, he became the first hockey coach inducted into the State High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and was part of the inaugural class in Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
 
In 2010, Baum was awarded USA Hockey’s Walter Yaciuk Award for his commitment to coaching education and the development of coaches within the organization.  He was one of the first 40 coaches to earn USA Hockey’s master level certification.
 
Currently, Ron serves as director for Hockey Specialty Camps, which he founded. A three-year player at Western Michigan University, Baum continues to teach part time at East Kentwood High School and is an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University.  He is on the Board of Directors for the West Michigan Sports Commission and continues to serve as the ice hockey steering committee head for the Meijer State Games of Michigan.
 
Mike Rucinski (East Lansing, Mich.)
Nominated for this honor by the Greater Lansing Amateur Hockey Association Board of Directors, Mike Rucinski is the assistant manager at Suburban Ice East Lansing, but his involvement in the hockey community goes far beyond his role at the local ice arena. Rucinski stepped up to lead the American Development Model program in the area, a role the board felt he was perfect for because of his “energy and conviction…as well as his passion for the sport of hockey.” He is described by those that know him as the consummate “hockey guy”, a man that has done countless selfless acts and given so much of his personal time to support and grow the game in his community.  As described by Mike Gilmore, a former Michigan State goaltender and current secretary of the GLAHA Board of Directors, “our association is in a much better place due to the efforts of the entire Suburban Ice East Lansing staff, especially Mike Rucinski, he is truly a ‘Hero of Hockey Day’”.
 
Mark Nebel (Marquette, Mich.)
This Hero of Hockey Day received the greatest outpouring of support from his hockey community. Marquette native Mark Nebel coached at least one hockey team for 18 straight seasons in his hometown. He has coached at every level of youth hockey, as young as mites and as old as midgets, and has also been on staff for the Marquette High School squad. One season, he was on the coaching staff for three different teams in Marquette. He also had a stint in officiating, working midget AAA, high school and NCAA hockey. This marks the first season in almost two decades that Nebel has not coached at least one team in the Marquette area. Hockey parents in the area are quick to praise his upbeat attitude, his passion for his community, and love for children and the game of hockey.