By RYAN STIEG

Journal Sports Writer

MARQUETTE – “Hello out there, we’re on the air, it’s ‘Hockey Night’ tonight. Tension grows, the whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice. The goalie jumps, and the players bump, and the fans all go insane “

The first set of words out of Stompin’ Tom Connors’ anthem “The Hockey Song” are synonymous with the sport and for some fans, it might bring up images of big, tough players pounding each other into submission as they chase the puck in front of a roaring crowd.

The Marquette Iron Rangers are trying to conjure up those images this weekend as they hold their home opener at Lakeview Arena.

To headline the event, tonight during their game that starts at 8 p.m., the Iron Rangers are bringing back three former players who are also iconic images of old-time hockey, the famous Hanson Brothers from the movie “Slap Shot.”

In reality, the Hansons are actually Steve, Jeff and Jack Carlson from Virginia, Minnesota, though Jack was not in the film as he was called up to the National Hockey League’s rival, the World Hockey Association, at the time.

All three played for the old Iron Rangers squad back in the 1970s in the Palestra and Steve Carlson says that their careers began in the Upper Peninsula.

“Going back to Marquette, that’s where our hockey careers pretty much all started,” he said. “It’s interesting because we went to Waterloo (Iowa) before we went to Marquette.

“We went to Waterloo and they wanted to keep me but cut Jeff and Jack. And I said ‘No, we’re sticking together.’ That’s when we found out that Marquette was looking for players and we headed up to Marquette.”

Carlson said that he had fond memories of playing in the Palestra, which was a different type of rink than you’ll find today.

“Playing in the Palestra, now that was interesting,” he said. “There was no glass on the side boards and there was chicken wire at the end. When you’re about 10 feet away from the boards, you’d look up and there’s a balcony over your head with people looking down at you. That was a pretty interesting building to play in.

“The players there were just a good bunch of guys. For a kid who just got out of high school and going up there to play in a man’s game as a child, it was pretty interesting and it was fun.”

Carlson also said that there were a couple of times where they flew into Marquette and things got a little nerve-racking.

“When we would travel, we’d take four Cessna planes and one of the brothers is a copilot and two other brothers in the back with the hockey bags and then you’d fly to Des Moines or Sioux City (Iowa) or Waterloo.

“That’s one of the first times I ever flew and there’s a couple of times when we were going back to Marquette, we couldn’t find the airport and then the pilot would’ve be like ‘There it is, there’s the runway.’

“When we were going down, we had to jack it back up because it was the highway. We couldn’t see because of the snow. It was pretty scary stuff. Welcome to pro hockey.”

Over time, the Carlsons built up a reputation as goons, who would drop the gloves at a moment’s notice and start a brawl on the ice. Steve says that his brothers played more of that role than he did.

“Thank God I played with my two brothers because everyone else thought I was tough,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t the tough one at all. I think I invented turtling. I was more of a skill player.

“Jack and Jeff were the enforcers. Not that they didn’t have any skills at all. We played well as a line.

“What’s interesting is that when we played there, we got 35 bucks a game each and I think there was $10 per goal and $5 for an assist if we won the game. So now we can pocket some money here. I get the goal and Jeff and Jack get the assists. If Jack gets the goal, Jeff and Steve get the assists.

“I went on to play 14 years (including a stint in the NHL with Los Angeles), Jeff played 11 years and I don’t know how long Jack played (he played in the NHL with Minnesota and St. Louis), but that was the start of our careers.

“Everything started there. After that, it was great because we signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and our careers moved on.”

Since their playing days, the Carlsons have been ambassadors around the country for the sport doing a wide variety of events to promote the game.

“We travel a lot, we still promote the game of hockey, we promote the love of the game, we do a lot of charity work,” Carlson said. “We just love doing it. We’re getting to the age now where it’s getting tough, but we still love doing it.”

Carlson also says that he is glad that there is a team like the Iron Rangers back in the area and that he and his brothers are looking forward to returning to the place where their careers began.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “We’re very honored and we’re humbled by this. It’s a great surprise.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.