Joey Payeur
Nobody can accuse John Gasparini of being too big for his britches—even with him about to enter the annals of sports history for this area.
The Fort Frances native, known to most as “Gino,” turns 69 next month and got quite the early birthday present as it was announced last week he will be inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in the Builders category at a ceremony Sept. 27 in Thunder Bay.
“Isn’t that something? They must have been hard up for candidates for me to get in this year,” joked Gasparini, who unfortunately won’t be able to attend the induction dinner due to a prior commitment made months ago.
“I was surprised and really honoured,” he added.
“To be recognized by your hometown area . . . this is one to be cherished.”
Gasparini played for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux from 1964-67.
Then after a stint in the International Hockey League, he was hired by his alma mater as an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team in 1971.
Upon being promoted to head coach in 1978, Gasparini led North Dakota to Division I national championships in 1980, 1982, and 1987—posting a record of 392-248-25 while running the bench for 16 seasons.
He then took his expertise to the USHL, where he was named commissioner in 1994.
The president’s title was added to his duties in 2003, holding both jobs until retiring in 2009.
A talented hockey player even for his below-average stature, Gasparini burned up the ice at the old Memorial Arena as a youngster, although his fondest memories of that rink are as a spectator.
“I got to see that great Fort Frances Canadians team win the Allan Cup in 1952,” he recalled from his current home in Grand Forks, N.D.
“I sat in the aisle in the old arena—it wasn’t old then—and I remember there were so many great players in Fort Frances at that time.”
Gasparini was recruited to play for the Fighting Sioux, where he spent three seasons doing all he could to fit in at the collegiate level despite being outsized in most of his on-ice battles.
“Being only 5’8” and 150 pounds, I had to be quick as a hiccup,” he chuckled.
“I was an inch too short to be a pro player.”
So Gasparini took to coaching like the proverbial duck to water, being named the WCHA’s coach of the year in his rookie season as head coach.
That year almost ended in storybook fashion before Gasparini’s troops were stopped one step short of a national title by a “miracle” worker who would become an American legend the following winter.
“We lost to Herb Brooks and the University of Minnesota [Golden Gophers] in the national championship final,” Gasparini said of the Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who guided the U.S. Olympic team’s “Miracle on Ice” run that ended with the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Gasparini is a staunch advocate of the U.S. college hockey system as a way for a player to maximize their potential.
“The college game has really evolved and is very competitive today,” he noted.
“It’s a great chance to develop players as not only players, but people.”
Gasparini also tipped his hat to the Fort Frances players and coaches who preceded him to North Dakota.
“There were guys like Julian Brunetta, Ronnie King, Bill Selman, and Bob Peters that went there before me,” he remarked.
“There is a lot of Fort Frances heritage influencing the game at North Dakota.”
The school also is the origin of what has become Gasparini’s regular moniker for the past 45-plus years.
“I had a father, Vincent Lino Gasparini, and a brother of that same name,” he explained.
“When I got on campus, my teammates found out and were always asking me, ‘What happened to you?’” laughed Gasparini regarding his less Italian-sounding name.
“So they nicknamed me Gino and the name has stuck forever.”
When the USHL came calling for his services in 1994, Gasparini jumped at the chance to be in charge of what then was a league trying to garner a foothold in the American junior hockey scene.
“We went through a lot of changes in my tenure,” recalled Gasparini, who watched the league grow to its current 16 teams.
“We went from being a good Tier 2 league to the only Tier 1 junior league in the U.S. today.
“There used to be 30-40 college commitments per year received by our players, where now it’s 100-200 a year,” he added.
“We used to get one or two drafted by the NHL each year. Now it’s 20-30 a year
“It [the USHL] has evolved into one of the great developmental leagues in the country,” Gasparini stressed.
“There is a solid foundation of ownership and criteria in how we handle our operations that gives us a great sense of pride,” he explained.
“It’s a tribute to the history of the ownership of the league.”
Gasparini currently works for a consulting firm that works co-operatively with everyone from universities to architectural companies.
But he always will keep a place in his heart for his hometown.
“I owe Northwestern Ontario a great deal because you have to start someplace,” Gasparini said.
“I owe a lot to my background,” he noted.
“You have to know who you are and where you’re from to know where you’re going.”
