Clayton Freeburg, a self-proclaimed rink-rat known as “Bucky” on the ice, and perhaps the greatest defensive coach in Minnesota history, joins Rick Alm, Carl Davis and Mark DeCenzo in the 2015 Minnesota Coaches Association Hall of Fame class.

Freeburg grew up in South Minneapolis, within sight of Riverside Park, where he played pick-up hockey.

“We had great times being rink rats – I learned so much from those days,” Freeburg said. “There were kids that just never left and picked up so many skills. All of us city kids played at Riverside Park, which was great because it was of a cliff and shaded so we could play a little longer than most.”

Freeburg’s mother nicknamed him Bucky early on, and the name stuck.

“I was big into tennis too, and coached for 20 years at Roosevelt,” Freeburg said. “I was always Clayton in the tennis circle and Bucky in the hockey circle.”

Bucky’s father, a speed skater, taught him to skate at age five. He didn’t start playing organized hockey until his sophomore year of high school, but went on to play at St. Cloud State University. In 1959, Freeburg was named captain and the Huskies went 11-2 under head coach Jack Wink.

Freeburg made a short stint in the United States Hockey League, where Bob Johnson and Herb Brooks once played.

“We had a great U.S. hockey league in those days,” Freeburg said. “Everybody just out of college played in that league and we made a lot of contacts there.”

One of those contacts was Johnson, the legendary University of Wisconsins coach. Johnson was wrapping up a coaching his stay at Minneapolis Roosevelt and recommended Freeburg to fill his shoes.

“I was assistant coach for a year, then old Bob recommended me for the job,” Freeburg said. “That was 1964. Then I coached the 66-67 (state tournament) team and stayed there for 22 years. Every four or five years we would get a group of players to stick together and have a pretty good team.”

The Teddies were conference champions in 1974 and 1978, and their players continued on into colleges, the NHL and the Olympics.

Among those players was goalie Ron Docken, who graduated from Roosevelt in 1967.  Docken played at the University of Minnesota for three years before signing with the Johnstown Jets in the Eastern Hockey League and being chosen to play “Lebrun,” the backup goalie for the Charlestown Chiefs in the 1977 film Slap Shot.

“During the seventies there were Roosevelt players all over, but they tended to be defensemen” Freeburg said.

From the 1974 team, Mike Knoke, Reed Larson and Bill Johnson went on to play collegiate and professional hockey. Larson, known for a booming slap shot, played one year at the University of Minnesota and 14 years in the NHL. He was the first American player to score 200 goals in the NHL and played in three all-star games.

From the 1978 team came Mark Donnelly and Mike Ramsey. Ramsey played one year with the Minnesota Gophers, 17 years in the NHL and was the youngest player on the 1980 Gold Medal Olympic team.

“Bucky was very innovative, a little ahead of his time there,” Ramsey said. “We were left-wing locking before NHL teams were. When I was a kid playing I didn’t realize that, but after 31 years and playing in the NHL I realized the stuff we were doing was ahead of our time.”

Ramsey played three years of varsity hockey and four years of varsity tennis at Roosevelt High School.

“I played tennis for Bucky too, as a tennis coach he was unbelievable,” he said. “He took athletes and made them into good tennis players. I spent a lot of time around him. He’s a good person, a great man and a good role model.”

Freeburg had a gift for spotting talented young players and bringing them to their full potential.

“I picked them out of Bantams and made sure the best players were becoming defensemen,” Freeburg said. “When you have your best players back there you learn to play in your own zone. Everyone asks which crew was better, the four in 1974 or the four in 1978, but it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

“The biggest thing I did was put the best players back on defense. We won all our championship games by one point. I put them back there and they got a lot of work – power play, kill penalties, you name it.”

Freeburg drilled his players on fundamentals and taught them to block shots by practicing with tennis balls – a drill that high school coaches still use today.

Bucky has been retired for nearly 20 years, but remains close to the Roosevelt hockey community through an annual golf tournament.

“We had a very close-knit group in Roseville,” he said. “In a 20-year span we all know each other. Every year we have the golf tournament, get together and talk about old times.

"It’s a great honor to be recognized by the Coaches Association and be included with these guys. I didn’t think anything like this would every come up, but I’m really excited to see everyone and talk about old times.”

The Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame Induction Banquet was first held in 1991.  The first inductions into the Hall of Fame were the Cliff Thompson Award winners from 1977 until 1991.

2015 INDUCTEES
Rick Alm - Minneapolis South
Carl Davis - Wayzata & Buffalo
Mark DeCenzo - Hibbing & Apple Valley
Bucky Freeburg - Minneapolis Roosevelt & Southwest