One of the Carlson (not Hanson) brothers

By John Hamre
Let’s Play Hockey Guest Columnist
 

In the spring of 1976, the movie “Slap Shot” was filmed, in Johnstown, Pa. The now-iconic movie was based upon the minor league hockey team playing there. Written by the sister of a Johnstown Jets team member, “Slap Shot” starred legendary actor Paul Newman. The script portrayed the Johnstown Jets in the movie as the fictitious Charlestown Chiefs. The three hockey playing brothers in the movie – the Hanson Brothers – were inspired by Jeff, Jack and Steve Carlson, brothers who each played for the Johnstown Jets.

 

Originally from Virginia, Minn., the Carlson brothers were young and early in their professional hockey playing careers during their time playing for the Johnstown Jets (1974-76). Steve and Jeff Carlson both played starring roles in the movie as two of the three fictitious Hanson brothers. Jack Carlson was not able to star in the movie.  He had been called up to play for the Edmonton Oilers (WHA) at the end of the 1975-76 season and through their spring playoff run. He was replaced in the trio of Hansons by Dave Hanson, also a hockey player of the era, originally from Cumberland, Wis.

 

Jack Carlson’s major league professional hockey career spanned from 1974 through 1987. He played for the Minnesota Fighting Saints, the Edmonton Oilers and the New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association; and for the Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League. In total, he played in 561 regular season and playoff games (combined NHL and WHA), recording 70 goals, 72 assists, and 1,251 penalty minutes. Carlson played at the highest levels of professional hockey – in the Stanley Cup Finals (in 1981 with the North Stars), and he competed for a WHA Championship, too.

 

Today, Carlson is the consummate professional, as a sales representative for Air Freight Unlimited. Having played in both the WHA and NHL in an era when enforcers enforced – and he was one of the best – Carlson is today a dedicated USA Hockey-certified youth hockey official. The longer I listened to Jack Carlson, my intrigue with his part towards inspiring “Slap Shot” shifted to a deeper appreciation, realization and respect for his entire hockey career, and his mentorship towards the players in youth hockey games which he now officiates.

 

Carlson has a gleam in his eyes which shares his passion for the game – the same passion a kid exhibits when playing for hours on a winter’s frozen pond. Carlson is a big man (6-3, over 200 pounds), with a joyful and energizing smile, a strong voice, and the firm and respectful handshake of a true heavyweight. Speaking with him, he will address you by name, with direct eye contact and a confident, welcoming smile. He will share with you stories of an era of hockey now gone by, and recall people and events from throughout his career. He will convey his lived understanding of how respect is earned, how respect is shown, and the deepest honors found within ice-hockey.
 

Jack Carlson and his older brother by one year, Jeff, both graduated from Virginia High School in 1973; their younger brother, Jeff, graduated in 1974. On the hockey rink, they played as the ‘Carlson line,’ with Steve in the middle, Jeff on the the right and Jack on the left. Besides the three linemates, they also had an older sister and brother. Carlson’s father worked in the mining industry on Minnesota’s Iron Range outside of Virginia, and their mother worked three jobs. Coming out of high school, the three hockey players had a couple of small college offers to play hockey, but unfortunately they didn’t have any scholarship offers that would make going to college immediately possible within their family means.

 

“We (Steve, Jack, and Jeff) decided to play junior hockey for the Minneapolis Jr. Bruins,” Jack said.

 

The Jr. Bruins played in a junior league made up by the Minnesota Jr. Stars (coached by Doug Woog), and a couple of teams in Thunder Bay, Ontario. In the early 1970s, junior hockey was meant to be a developmental pathway for good players who needed more time to fully develop after graduating from high school, or who needed the additional playing opportunity for exposure to college scouts. 

 

Having been drafted by the both the Detroit Red Wings in the 1974 NHL Draft, and by the Minnesota Fighting Saints in the 1974 WHA Draft, Carlson began his professional hockey career with the Fighting Saints. He played for their minor league affiliate, the Johnstown Jets, during 1974-75. His brothers would also play for the Jets. Ultimately, the three brothers, without intending, provided inspiration for the Hanson Brothers characters in “Slap Shot.”

 

“Midway through the 1974-75 season, I was called up to the St. Paul Fighting Saints, and I never played in the minors again,” Jack Carlson recounted. “At the time, on the Fighting Saints, we had Gordie Gallant, Pat Westrum, Bill Butters, Dave Keon and others. And we were the Fighting Saints.”

 

The Fighting Saints, and the WHA, each experienced financial challenges. The Fighting Saints actually folded twice, and the WHA ultimately merged many franchises into an expanding NHL. 

 

“In the second year of the Fighting Saints (1975-76) they folded for the first time. I went up to Northern Minnesota and stayed with my mom and dad,” Carlson said. “My brother Jeff called me, and said they were making a movie called ‘Slap Shot.’ They wanted to know if I wanted to be in it. I didn’t now the costs involved, the amount I’d be paid, the amount of time they would be filming – I needed some particulars. My brother said he’d have someone with the film call me. I didn’t hear from them for a few days. In the meantime. Edmonton called and wanted me to play their last nine games and the playoffs. After agreeing with Edmonton, I got a call from a producer about the ‘Slap Shot’ role of the Carlson brothers.”

 

Perhaps, here is all you need to know about Jack Carlson: “I told the producer that I had agreed to go play in Edmonton and could not come to film. The producer responded by saying, ‘You haven’t signed a contract yet with Edmonton.’ I told them I gave them my word, and that was as good as a contract. The film producers had my brothers in the movie, and they went and got Dave Hanson for the filming. If I had a dollar now for every time I’ve been asked about ‘Slap Shot.’”
 

The second time that the Fighting Saints folded, Carlson went to Hartford, Conn., to finish the 1976-77 season with the New England Whalers. While with the Whalers, Carlson had the opportunity to play with hockey legend Gordie Howe and his two sons for three seasons, and to play for a WHA championship. I asked Carlson what it was like to play with a player of Howe’s stature?

 

“The way players like Gordie Howe act, the way they handle themselves, when they are not on camera. They are just class acts – the Gordie Howes, the Wayne Gretzkys, the Mario Lemieuxs,” Carlson said. “They know they are good. They don’t have to tell you. When you are playing with a Gordie Howe, he makes you realize the game doesn’t owe you, you owe the game everything. There is no entitlement.”

 

From Hartford, Carlson was traded back to the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars. In 1978-79 Lou Nanne was the general manager, and Glen Sonmor was the head coach. Sonmor had been the general manager of the Fighting Saints when Carlson was there and knew the player he was bringing back to Minnesota onto the North Stars. Carlson competed on the North Stars team that advanced to the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals.

 

Carlson shared about Sonmor: “He was a positive, players’ coach. He was intense, and surrounded himself with other good coaches – J.P. Parise, Murray Oliver. And he could motivate! He hated having his teams being intimidated by any others.”

 

In 1984, Carlson retired from professional hockey at the age of 30.  
 

Since 2007, Jack Carlson has been a certified USA Hockey referee. At the time he had some knee issues, and felt he needed to start doing something for activity. Carlson had already coached and umpired fastpitch softball with his daughter Lauren’s teams as she was growing up. He is a certified fastpitch softball umpire, and in the summer umpires competitive U10 up through U18 games.

 

On officiating ice hockey, Carlson said, “People ask me what the one thing about refereeing that has caught my eye. I said I didn’t know the rulebook was that thick. I thought it was about 1/16 or 1/8 of an inch thick. I found out the rules book is about two inches thick!

 

I really enjoy youth refereeing – teaching on the ice, working with Squirts, PeeWees, Bantams. I could do higher levels but I don’t want to. I’ve refereed up to girls 14U, and also the Adult Hockey Association.”

 

On youth athletics I asked Jack if there was any observation in particular, or anything he would change if he could. 

 

“There is so much hockey out there. I wish I could change that,” Carlson said. “They are playing year round and that’s not right. Chasing that dream. The moon, stars, everything has to line up just right. When we were kids, and March rolled around, our dad would call us in and tell us, ‘There are three nails in the garage. Go hang up your gear and pick up a bat and ball.’

 

“The thing a lot of people don’t realize is that talent is God-given. Either you have it or you don’t. People don’t ask about heart, enough. People ask me, ‘Jack, how many fights did you win or lose?’ I don’t know, but I do know I showed up for every one of them. You’ve got to have heart. You have to have the passion. (A player) can’t have mom and dad asking, ‘Are you going to shoot pucks today?’ Or a friend taking them to a movie instead. Look at a Zach Parise – his dad never had to push him; he did it all on his own.”

 

On his observations refereeing youth ice hockey, Carlson said, “When refereeing, I can see when kids are well coached, how they respect the game, how they are raised at home. Sometimes a kid will tell me to get out of the way on the ice, or say something about a penalty called. When I got a penalty in Bantams or PeeWees, my dad would have handed me my (butt) if I said anything back to a referee. I mean, I’ve never seen a referee change their mind.

 

“One thing I’ve seen in refereeing, players will see and respond to their coach. If the coach yaps, then the players (tend to) yap. If coaches can’t control themselves, how do you expect players to? Being a referee has been an eye-opener for me. I enjoy refereeing; it’s exercise and it’s fun being around the kids. When you get to referee, people know who you are, and you get to teach kids about the game through refereeing.”
 

From the movie “Slap Shot,” many one-liners became slang within the language of hockey. ‘Putting on the foil,’ and ‘Who owns the Chiefs’ are a couple that come to mind. Much humor was derived in the movie from circumstances of intimidation and fighting in hockey, and the antics of the characters in the movie in many off-ice scenarios. After speaking with Jack Carlson and listening for quite a while, I respected him too much to ask any more about the movie.

 

“I’ve been blessed with two jobs,” Carlson said. “I was a professional hockey player, and have worked for the same company for 31 years. I played with great players – the Brotens, the Hartsburgs, Gordie Howe, Bobbie Hull, the Espositos. I look at it from that standpoint – wow! With hockey players, it’s camaraderie. I owe the game everything, the game owes me nothing. I had the chance to go to the highest levels, and I enjoy refereeing now.”

 

Oh, and if you are a youth hockey player in a game that Mr. Carlson is refereeing, I would definitely advise you not telling him to get out of the way.
 

During a 22-year coaching career, John Hamre has coached PeeWee, Bantam, high school, NCAA Division I, Junior A and minor professional hockey. He was the video coach for the 1994 USA Men’s Olympic Team, coached within the USA Hockey NTDP, and at many USA Hockey festivals. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.