SJR

The 1988-89 hockey season was unquestionably one of the finest in SJR history. The team compiled a record of 25-1-2, second only to the undefeated season recorded in 1983-84, and played three games in Switzerland over Christmas vacation, winning all three.

SJR advanced to the state finals against Delbarton with in overtime win against Randolph, an 8-2 victory over Chatham, and a 5-4 overtime thriller against Montclair. They approached the game ranked first in the state of New Jersey, but when the threat of a measles epidemic surfaced at Delbarton, the NJSIAA cancelled the championship game and declared both teams co-champions. It was the greatest game never played.

The ’89 team was led offensively by Ken Blum, who had 50 goals and 59 assists for 109 points during the regular season and was named league MVP. Ken was drafted the following year by the Minnesota North Stars. Linemates Phil Eboli and Craig Gottschall each posted 60 points seasons, and the rest of the team’s firepower came from Dave Infantino, Dave Justini, John Lively and Mark Umeda.

Defensively, SJR was led by Francois Marquis, as well as seniors Scott Williams and Chris Frosk, junior Tim Allen and sophomore Ken Dusebout. Brad Pearson was solid and unshakeable in goal, recording 6 shutouts and a 1.85 goals against.

And so in terms of New Jersey athletics, the championship remained the greatest game never played until 2009, when players from both sides got to talking about the possibility of taking the ice to decide the championship. What seemed to little more than a pipe-dream, gradually began to take shape as a fundraiser for cancer research. The task of re-assembling the teams twenty-one years later proved to be surprisingly easy, as both schools found that most of the players from 1989 were still playing hockey years later.

By the time the teams hit the ice on April 4, 2010, the Frozen Flashback, as it was now called, had become much more than a game. A sold out crowd filled the Mennen Arena, the site of the original game, and the story was covered by news media that ranged from the Daily News, New York Times and Wall Street Journal to the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

The final score was 3-2 in favor of Delbarton, but the real story of the game was the more than a quarter of a million dollars raised for cancer research, and the sportsmanship, camaraderie and team-work of the long time rivals of these two proud hockey programs.

The 1989 Frozen Flashback squad was recognized in the fall of 2010 with a citation from the New Jersey State Senate, and became the first sports team ever inducted into the Saint Joseph Regional High School Hall of Fame.