Happy Hour with John Gaskins

There was a lot that went into the Sioux Falls Stampede capturing the Clark Cup on Saturday night. Who the Herd brought in to skate with them and coach them is at the top of the list.
 
Ryan Cruthers was the coach who created the rare "family" culture in modern sports that many coaches and teams strive to have, but few actually attain. Linards Feldbergs is the Finnish phenom at goalie who saved his leg-splitting best for last. Joey Macrina was the shortest player on the ice, yet the most sure-fire player to deliver clutch goals, including the one that clinched the Cup.

Who are these people? Why did it work so well despite the Herd being on the brink of elimination four times in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and then having to slink back onto the ice in Muskegon on Saturday night after having blown a two goal lead in the final four minutes on Friday night when it appeared the Cup was theirs?
 
Why was it so perfect that Macrina scored the final goal? Is Feldbergs the best goalie in a rich history of netkeepers for the Stampede? What makes him so special? Why did the players rush to him for a team celebration scrum after Macrina's Cup clincher?
 
Let's go behind the scenes and hear the stories behind those decisions and moments, and learn how all these men ended up in Muskegon, Michigan, coaching and playing in double overtime and scoring a legendary goal — the first-ever walk-off goal for a Herd championship — that they and Stampede fans will be talking about for a very long time.
 
President and 20-year play-by-play announcer Jim Olander has witnessed (and called) all four USHL titles and had a big hand in the hiring of head coach Ryan Cruthers, who had been a part of four league titles prior as a player and bench boss and left a job as a professional head coach to come back to Sioux Falls and lead the junior amateur team he had fallen in love with as an assistant in 2022-23.
 
Those two men joined the Happy Hour host at Gateway Lounge to reminisce about what Olander calls a once-in-a-lifetime team.
 
It is about time South Dakota State's baseball team added to the abundant Summit League and Missouri Valley Football Conference trophies other Jackrabbit athletic squads have been piling up over the last 10 years.
 
That is how long Rob Bishop has been the Jacks skipper. A day after Bishop's 40-minute chat with the Happy Hour host about why and how this was the team to finally pull it off, Sioux Falls Live sports editor and long-time SDSU reporter Matt Zimmer gives his perspective on how meaningful this accomplishment is. 
 
Zim also helps the host preview the NCAA regional in Lincoln the Jacks are about to take part and what to expect from the Huskers. The host, who spent 10 years of his life in Nebraska's capital and attended (and miraculously graduated) from UNL, offers recommendations for the best places to eat and drink near Haymarket Park for Jacks fans making the trip.
 
Also on the docket from Gateway Lounge:
 
* Zim's time in the booth as an analyst for state baseball broadcasts and his observations on local talent improvement over the last couple decades
 
* Augustana legend Gretta Melsted's quantum leap to Minnesota to coach the Gophers
 
* How the Stampede swept Sioux Falls off its feet and drew massive crowds in the playoffs, which leads to some colorful stories from Sioux Falls Skyforce playoffs past

There was a lot that went into the Sioux Falls Stampede capturing the Clark Cup on Saturday night. Who the Herd brought in to skate with them and coach them is at the top of the list.
 
Ryan Cruthers was the coach who created the rare "family" culture in modern sports that many coaches and teams strive to have, but few actually attain. Linards Feldbergs is the Finnish phenom at goalie who saved his leg-splitting best for last. Joey Macrina was the shortest player on the ice, yet the most sure-fire player to deliver clutch goals, including the one that clinched the Cup.

Who are these people? Why did it work so well despite the Herd being on the brink of elimination four times in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and then having to slink back onto the ice in Muskegon on Saturday night after having blown a two goal lead in the final four minutes on Friday night when it appeared the Cup was theirs?
 
Why was it so perfect that Macrina scored the final goal? Is Feldbergs the best goalie in a rich history of netkeepers for the Stampede? What makes him so special? Why did the players rush to him for a team celebration scrum after Macrina's Cup clincher?
 
Let's go behind the scenes and hear the stories behind those decisions and moments, and learn how all these men ended up in Muskegon, Michigan, coaching and playing in double overtime and scoring a legendary goal — the first-ever walk-off goal for a Herd championship — that they and Stampede fans will be talking about for a very long time.
 
President and 20-year play-by-play announcer Jim Olander has witnessed (and called) all four USHL titles and had a big hand in the hiring of head coach Ryan Cruthers, who had been a part of four league titles prior as a player and bench boss and left a job as a professional head coach to come back to Sioux Falls and lead the junior amateur team he had fallen in love with as an assistant in 2022-23.
 
Those two men joined the Happy Hour host at Gateway Lounge to reminisce about what Olander calls a once-in-a-lifetime team.

It is about time South Dakota State's baseball team added to the abundant Summit League and Missouri Valley Football Conference trophies other Jackrabbit athletic squads have been piling up over the last 10 years.
 
That is how long Rob Bishop has been the Jacks skipper. A day after Bishop's 40-minute chat with the Happy Hour host about why and how this was the team to finally pull it off, Sioux Falls Live sports editor and long-time SDSU reporter Matt Zimmer gives his perspective on how meaningful this accomplishment is. 
 
Zim also helps the host preview the NCAA regional in Lincoln the Jacks are about to take part and what to expect from the Huskers. The host, who spent 10 years of his life in Nebraska's capital and attended (and miraculously graduated) from UNL, offers recommendations for the best places to eat and drink near Haymarket Park for Jacks fans making the trip.
 
Also on the docket from Gateway Lounge:
 
* Zim's time in the booth as an analyst for state baseball broadcasts and his observations on local talent improvement over the last couple decades
 
* Augustana legend Gretta Melsted's quantum leap to Minnesota to coach the Gophers
 
* How the Stampede swept Sioux Falls off its feet and drew massive crowds in the playoffs, which leads to some colorful stories from Sioux Falls Skyforce playoffs past

Another weekend in May. Another couple of championships for our local South Dakota sports teams.
 
Two weeks ago, USD softball, Augustana softball and Augie baseball won their conference tournaments to clinch an NCAA Tourney berth.
 
Over Memorial Day weekend, SDSU's baseball won its Summit League Tournament title in 13 years and its second all-time.
 
That's a sweep of the four diamond sports tournaments for our Div. I and Div. II teams in South Dakota. Of those four teams, only Augie baseball had a winning regular season overall record.
 
All we do is win-win-win, no matter what-what-what... the record is. And all we do is win when it matters most.
 
The Jackrabbits, like the Coyotes softball squad, are in the NCAA Tourney with a below .500 record. And, like the Yotes, the Jacks are paired to play Nebraska in Lincoln.
 
SDSU's coach Rob Bishop, like now-former USD softball coach Robert Wagner, is in his 10th season at the helm and has finally captured his first league tourney title and NCAA berth.
 
So how and why was this team, with its 24-31 record and a hefty 7.00 regular season ERA, the one that got hot and took down 800 lb. Summit League baseball gorilla Oral Roberts? 
 
It was only the fifth time in 27 years the Golden Eagles did not win the Summit League tourney title. The Jacks were 0-6 against ORU in the regular season and 0-19 against the Golden Eagles in the Summit League tourney before beating ORU twice in three games in three days.
 
Bishop tells the story of his team and their May run.
 
Meanwhile, the Happy Hour host tells the story of how the Stampede lived up to their "tough guy" image that head coach and Long Island native Ryan Cruthers crafted with several players who were cut from other teams.
 
The Herd were 4-0 in elimination games in the playoffs. In all three series, they lost Game 3 in crushing fashion and came back to win Game 4. This time, it happened in double overtime after blowing third period leads in each of the last two games.
 
The final 15-second sequence that seized the trophy is a perfect snapshot of the season, a sequence — with sublime play-by-play call of 20-year Voice of the Herd Jim Olander — that will go down in Stampede and Sioux Falls sports lore.
 
The Happy Hour host does a deep dive on those 15 seconds and the heart of the champions.

The Happy Hour host tells the story of how the Stampede lived up to their "tough guy" image that head coach and Long Island native Ryan Cruthers crafted with several players who were cut from other teams.
The Herd were 4-0 in elimination games in the playoffs. In all three series, they lost Game 3 in crushing fashion and came back to win Game 4. This time, it happened in double overtime after blowing third period leads in each of the last two games.

The final 15-second sequence that seized the trophy is a perfect snapshot of the season, a sequence — with sublime play-by-play call of 20-year Voice of the Herd Jim Olander — that will go down in Stampede and Sioux Falls sports lore.
The Happy Hour host does a deep dive on those 15 seconds and the heart of the champions.