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Raise to the rafters: NMU hockey honoring 3 greats to open season

NMU hockey honoring 3 greats to open season

By Steve Brownlee 9 min read

MARQUETTE -- You can call them pioneers, evoking images of wagon trains driving across western America in the 1800s.

But these are pioneers of a different sort, coming from the 1970s, though for young hockey players in today's world, that might seem to also come from an era before telephones, automobiles or -- heaven forbid! -- computers and smartphones.

The hockey program at Northern Michigan University will honor three players who started their collegiate careers in the first three years of the program during the second half of the '70s and into the early 1980s. And for those hockey-playing youngsters, yes, they had phones and autos in those days.

For the first time in NMU history, each will have a banner raised to the rafters on the first night of the upcoming season at the Berry Events Center, commemorating the jersey retirements of Don Waddell, Tom Laidlaw and Steve Bozek.

Waddell and Laidlaw played for the Wildcats from 1976-80 and Bozek from 1978-81.

Saturday's announcement was made by current NMU athletic director Rick Comley, who also happened to be the Wildcats' head coach for all three players, having mentored the program through its first 26 seasons from 1976 to 2002.

"I am beyond thrilled to announce our first jersey retirements," Comley said in an NMU Sports Information news release about the announcement.

"While the selection process was challenging because of how many great players we had in the early years, it also brought back great memories for me, and we ultimately decided on Waddell, Laidlaw and Bozek.

"If you look at the history of Northern Michigan University hockey and look into the record books, it is clear why these three are deserving to be the first three we honor.

"While I hope to honor more in the coming years, the 50th anniversary season is the perfect time for this first batch, and it is going to be a very proud moment in October to hang their names in the rafters and begin the process of recognizing some of the great players that we have had at Northern Michigan."

NMU hockey will celebrate its 50th anniversary season starting this fall and running throughout the 2026-27 campaign under the mentorship of another of Comley's former players, 1991 national champion Dave Shyiak.

The formal ceremony for the banner raising takes place on Friday, Oct. 2, with events related to it beginning in the late morning.

A celebration luncheon opens the festivities at the Holiday Inn of Marquette at 11:30 a.m., with a buffet luncheon provided at 11:45 a.m. and the event program running from noon to 1 p.m. with a range of speakers.

A post-reception social hour with a cash bar is also scheduled from 1 to 2 p.m., allowing fans to mingle with the honorees and with members of the current Wildcat team.

Tickets required for this event can be purchased through the NMU Tickets website at tickets.nmu.edu for $45 each for the general public and $25 for those ages 18 and under.

The banner-raising pregame ceremony that evening comes in Northern's season and home opener against Miami of Ohio, with the opening puck drop scheduled for 7:07 p.m. at the Berry.

Single-game purchase of tickets for the game will also be available online or at the NMU ticket office starting on Sept. 3.

Here are some biographical sketches of each honoree:

 

Don Waddell

A member of the first NCAA Division I NMU hockey team in 1976, he immediately made an impact.

Waddell still holds three of the top four single-season point totals by a defenseman in program history. He also has two of the top three single-season goal and assist totals by a defenseman.

Among all players at Northern, he is also fifth in career assists and ninth in career points.

Just to boot, he's still No. 1 in Wildcats' history in career goals, assists and points by a defenseman -- all by fairly wide margins.

Named CCHA Player of the Year in 1978, Waddell served as a team captain his junior season. And as a senior, he helped guide the Wildcats to the NCAA national championship game in 1980.

A multiple CCHA First Team selection, he was also named to the preliminary U.S. Olympic roster for the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 team, though a broken leg during pretournament play sidelined him before the Olympics.

He was inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. 

Waddell was named to the U.S. National Junior team in 1977 and 1978, and was drafted 111th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1978 NHL amateur draft.

Waddell played for the U.S. World Championship team in 1983 and came back to take on the general manager's role in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2005. He was also an assistant GM for the 2004 U.S. World Cup team.

Waddell was a minor league player-coach and GM from 1985 through 1997 before his first NHL front-office role, where he was hired and served in 1997-98 as the assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings under Ken Holland, a season the Wings won the Stanley Cup.

He has since been affiliated in front-office positions with multiple NHL teams.

The Atlanta Thrashers, an expansion team, hired Waddell as its first general manager and vice president of hockey operations in 1998, and he managed the franchise and filled in as interim head coach on two occasions from 1998 to 2010.

After a period as a scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins and executive roles with USA Hockey, Waddell joined the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014 as team president. He assumed dual roles as president and general manager in 2018.

On May 29, 2024, Waddell was named president of hockey operations and general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he remains today.

Tom Laidlaw

Laidlaw was a team captain in each of his four years and a critical part of the defensive corps alongside Waddell during the Wildcats' first four seasons.

While Waddell provided the offensive spark among blueliners, Laidlaw brought heavy physicality and a steady defensive presence, making him an instant fan favorite. Laidlaw holds the all-time NMU record for career penalty minutes with 410 and single-season penalty minutes with 137. 

Laidlaw played 124 games in his four seasons, still ranking highly in defensemen career scoring numbers at Northern -- ninth in points and assists and 11th in goals.

A multiple CCHA First Team selection, his 30 assists and 38 points in the 1979-80 season are ninth and eighth, respectively, in a season by a Wildcats' blueliner.

Laidlaw led all NMU defensemen in points in 1978-79, and played a major role in guiding the Wildcats to the 1980 NCAA tournament championship game, where he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.

He was inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Laidlaw enjoyed a 10-year NHL career from 1980-90 after being drafted by the New York Rangers in 1978. He stepped directly into the Rangers' lineup in the 1980-81 season, instantly becoming a regular. He played in seven seasons for the Rangers, including being named alternate captain and playing a crucial role in the 1985-86 Rangers team that made a run to the conference semifinals. Overall in New York he played in 510 regular-season games, posting 20 goals, 99 assists and 561 penalty minutes.

Laidlaw was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1987, where he spent his final four NHL seasons. Serving as a veteran blueliner during Wayne Gretzky's first season in L.A., Laidlaw played in 195 games for the Kings, recording five goals, 40 assists and 156 penalty minutes.

Following retirement and a brief stint in the International Hockey League, Laidlaw spent over two decades as a hockey agent, including founding and running Laidlaw Sports Management for 17 years. Along with being a color commentator for the Kings and a motivational speaker, in 2019 he became the first NHL player and Canadian-born person to compete on CBS' long-running reality competition show "Survivor."

Steve Bozek

Bozek was an explosive offensive force for the Wildcats during a golden era that overlapped Waddell's and Laidlaw's, becoming NMU's first All-American in hockey before transitioning to a solid 11-year NHL career. 

He played three seasons at Northern, forming part of the potent core that propelled NMU to the 1980 national championship game. After compiling 24 points as a freshman in the 1978-79 season, Bozek exploded for 89 points in 41 games as a sophomore, helping lead NMU to the NCAA finals.

A multiple CCHA First Team pick, he then led the CCHA in scoring with 90 points in 44 games as a junior, where he was a First Team All-American in 1981 and a finalist for the inaugural Hobey Baker Award the same year.

In Wildcat history, Bozek holds two of the top three single-season point totals, two single-season goal totals among the top eight, and two single-season assists totals in the top six. His career totals rank No. 7 in NMU history in points, No. 5 in goals and No. 8 in assists.

Bozek’s 13 game-winning goals is tied for the most ever at Northern, his 47 assists and 89 points in his second season are the most by a sophomore, and 90 points and 55 assists in his third season are the most by a Wildcat junior ever.

He was inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

Bozek was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 1980 draft and went straight from Northern to the NHL, where he played 11 seasons as a two-way forward and penalty killer.

He spent his first two seasons with the Kings, where he set a team rookie record at the time by scoring 33 goals, before being traded to the Calgary Flames ahead of the 1983 season. He played for the Flames until 1988 generally as a defensive forward, playing a key role during the Flames' run to the 1986 Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens.

Bozek then played three seasons with Vancouver, twice winning the Canucks' Fred J. Hume Award as their unsung hero in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. He then joined the expansion San Jose Sharks in their inaugural 1991-92 season before a brief stint in Europe and retiring.

Following his retirement from pro hockey, Bozek earned his master's of business administration from Harvard Business School.

Story contents based on a Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the honors. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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