LUCAS AT LARGE
M I K E LUCA S • UWB A DGERS.C OM
Wild nights were a staple at Coliseum
I
n light of this weekend's UW
men's hockey series at the
Veterans Memorial Coliseum,
it's only fitting to revisit some of the
sights, sounds and squirts over the
30-plus seasons that the Badgers
played their home games at the
Alliant Energy Center venue previously known as the Dane County
Coliseum.
There was the sight of diminutive Michigan goaltender Robbie
Moore sitting atop the cage during stoppages in play. Moore was
an acrobatic, 5-foot-5, 150-pound
showman, a fan's favorite. Moore
wound up playing his last season as
a pro with the Milwaukee Admirals
of the IHL.
There was the sight of dastardly
Minnesota defenseman Billy But-
18 » VARSITY
MAR CH 7, 2013
ters raking his stick across the
Plexiglass next to the visitor's
bench; stirring up even more hatred
out of the self-proclaimed "Mad
Dogs'' who inhabited the CC-2 section. Butters, most recently a UW
assistant, was never a favorite.
There was the sight of Butters'
teammate, Mike Polich, stopping in
front of the UW bench (Polich had
Bugs Bunny ears) and poking his
stick at a few players in the front
row, including Dean Talafous. During the ensuing melee, Polich had
his jersey pulled off. He left the ice
without it.
There was the sight of Norm
Cherrey scoring four goals against
Minnesota-Duluth ― three of them
shorthanded. And there was the
sound of Bob Johnson afterward.
"The crowd got Norm going,'' he
said. "When he's out there killing a
penalty, he can open up a throttle
and fly after the puck.''
There was the sound of the late
Phil Mendel, the longtime public
address announcer at the Coliseum,
and his warm greeting ― "Good
evening, hockey fans'' ― before the
opening faceoff. Once play began,
there was the sound of Martha's
cowbell; Martha was the wife of the
legendary Badger Bob.
There was also the sound of
whistles; over 8,000 whistleblowers, serenading Michigan State
coach Amo Bessone, who signaled
line changes by whistling. Bessone
referred to the Sieve-chanting,
rubber-chicken-on-a-stick-waving
fans as "Banshees." Sports Illustrat-
