Calvin Coolidge "Cal" Marvin (April 29, 1924 – May 9, 2004) was an American ice hockey

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and coach who led the

Warroad Lakers The Warroad Lakers were an American Senior ice hockey team from Warroad, Minnesota. The Lakers played in various Manitoba AHA and Thunder Bay AHA senior and intermediate leagues and were granted special eligibility for the Allan Cup and Hardy C ...

for nearly 50 years and was inducted into the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

in 1982.

Career

Marvin's father George immigrated to Warroad from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and bought a lumber company that would eventually become Marvin Windows. Calvin with the fifth of five boys and while three of his brothers would work for the family company, Cal would find a different career path. Cal served in the

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, fighting on

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

during the

Mariana and Palau Islands campaign The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November 1944 du ...

. Even in the midst of the war, Marvin was enamored with hockey and wanted his small hometown to have a rink of its own; he named the Warroad Arena Fund as the beneficiary of his $10,000 life insurance policy (roughly $145,000 in 2020). After returning from the war, Marvin and Dick Roberts held several

fundraisers Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

for the community and by 1947 had raised enough money to build the city's first ice rink. Before the rink had been built, however, Cal had put together the first Lakers team in 1946 to compete against other senior teams in north-western

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Marvin had also began attending the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

in 1946 and with the help of

Red Jarrett Glenn LeRoy "Red" Jarrett (October 23, 1907 – April 26, 1962) was an American football and basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete ...

he brought back the varsity ice hockey team. Marvin brought in most of the players for the first few years, including many of the players on the Warroad Lakers. Marvin began playing for the team in his sophomore season and also served as an assistant coach for

Don Norman Donald Arthur Norman (born December 25, 1935) is an American researcher, professor, and author. Norman is the director of The Design Lab at University of California, San Diego. He is best known for his books on design, especially ''The Design ...

. Because college games were usually only played on Friday or Saturday, Marvin and many of his Fighting Sioux teammates were able to concurrently play for both UND and the Warroad Lakers. Cal retired as a player after the 1951 season but remained as the Lakers' head coach for most of the next 45 years, leading the team to the 1955 United States Intermediate title, and the Canadian Intermediate Championship in both 1964 and 1974. He took a short leave to coach the US National Team at the 1958 Ice Hockey World Championships, finishing fifth out of eight. With all of his accomplishments, it was the players that he coached that proved to be Marvin's greatest legacy. Over a dozen Lakers alumni played for the US National Team including

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and Roger Christian, who won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

. Several players also reached the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Henry Boucha Henry Charles Boucha ( ; born June 1, 1951) is an American former professional ice hockey center. Boucha played in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) between 1971 and 1977. In the NHL he played for the Detro ...

, Clarence Schmidt and Dave Christian (Bill's son). Towards the end of the Lakers' existence, then being coached by Marvin's son David, the team produced an incredible run by winning three consecutive

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

s (1994-1996) and narrowly missing out on a fourth in 1997; no other team has won more than two in a row. Warroad was also one of only two American teams to win the Cup (the other being the

Spokane Jets The Spokane Jets were a senior men's ice hockey team that played out of Spokane, Washington. They played in the Western International Hockey League (WIHL) from 1963-64 through 1973-74. Prior to 1963 the Spokane Flyers were the city's entry in the ...

\ Flyers). The Lakers suspended operating after 1997 when they couldn't find a league to play in but returned for a brief time in 2001 as the 'Islanders'. They competed in two more Allen Cup tournaments before stopping for good in 2003. Over the course of his career Marvin was inducted into the Warroad High School Athletic Hall of Fame, North Dakota Athletic Hall of Fame (1977), United States Hockey Hall of Fame (1982) and Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame (1997).

Personal

Marvin and his wife Beth married in 1949 and had 12 children. The two remained together until his death in 2004.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marvin, Cal 1924 births 2004 deaths American men's ice hockey defensemen Ice hockey coaches from Minnesota North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players Warroad Lakers players United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Military personnel from Minnesota United States Marines Ice hockey players from Minnesota