Hockey was the vehicle that would take Warroad’s Bill Christian around the world, and he got his first taste of the metropolitan lifestyle as a high school freshman in 1953.

To that point in Christian’s life trips to the “big city” meant heading south and west to west to Grand Forks or Thief River Falls. The furthest east he had traveled was International Falls.

“It was an eye-opener for us to get down there,” Christian said about Warroad’s appearance in the 1953 state tournament at the St. Paul Auditorium. “We ate in nice restaurants. It was great.”

The first Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned state tournament was held in 1945. Warroad made its initial appearances in 1948 and ’49, finishing second and third, respectively.

While depth was an issue for most every program in that era, Warroad’s numbers disadvantage (perennial early era northern powers Roseau and Thief River Falls had considerably more students) made it difficult for the Warriors to establish themselves as a state tournament mainstay.

Warroad’s trip to the state tournament have almost always come in short bursts, one-, two- and three-year spans coinciding with the arrival and departure of extraordinary players.

In 1948 the Warriors featured brothers Max and Alvin “Buster” Oshie, and Buster Oshie returned to state in 1949.

The legendary Henry Boucha led Warroad back to state in 1969, and future NHLer Al Hangsleben helped power the Warriors to a return trip in 1970.

In the late 1980s, electrifying defenseman Larry Olimb fueled a run of state tourney trips, and current St. Louis Blues star T.J. Oshie did the same from 2003-05.
 
Even in 1953 the Warriors didn’t have an abundance of polished players. But they had the Christian brothers, Bill and his older brother Roger, and that was plenty.

With the Christians playing on separate lines to balance the scoring, Warroad upset Thief River Falls 2-1 in the Region 8 semifinals before losing 3-1 to Roseau in the region title game. Warroad’s runner-up finish was good enough to give it an automatic “back door” state tournament berth as the representative of Region 3.

“High school hockey was nothing like it is now,” Bill Christian said. “The schedule we had was maybe 12 games.

“High school hockey was all natural ice, and we wouldn’t get going until after Thanksgiving. It really ended up in the first of March. It was a pretty short season.”

Christian said the cavernous St. Paul Auditorium, which held about 5,000 spectators, was unlike anything the Warriors had ever seen. If Warroad’s players were awed by their surroundings, they didn’t let it diminish their play.

The Warriors crushed St. Paul Humboldt 5-0 in the quarterfinals as Bill Christian had a goal and two assists. Roger Christian had a goal and an assist the following day as Warroad beat South St. Paul 2-1.

“What I remember is just the crowds,” Bill Christian said. “I know they were small compared to what they are now. It was a big thrill for us to get there and play in front of that many people.”

Warroad was no match for Twin Cities powerhouse St. Paul Johnson in the championship game. The Governors lead by four goals after two periods en route to the 4-1 victory.

Bill Christian would play three more varsity seasons, including two more with Roger. Warroad, with its entire lineup returning from the previous year, was heavily favored to make a return trip to the state tournament in 1954. But the Warriors were upended by Thief River Falls 3-0 in the region finals. Unlike the previous seasons, the Region 3 back door berth went to the runner up in in Region 7.

The smaller of the two brothers, Bill was a 5-foot-8, 145-pound center who relied on his superior quickness and puckhandling ability.

“Billy was a little quicker because he was little smaller,” said Ed Streiff, a former Warriors forward who was on the 1953 team. “He was a little faster with the stick.

“They were pretty darn good players.”

Bill Christian attracted the interest of the University of Minnesota, and he enrolled there after high school. College freshmen weren’t allowed to play on the varsity at the time, and Christian described his junior varsity experience as a “lost season.”

He was happy to move on to the national team, and in 1960 he played an integral role in one of the greatest moments in U.S. hockey history.

Bill scored the trying and winning goals as the U.S. upset the Soviet Union 3-2 at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., en route to the gold medal.

Bill and Roger also played in the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. They later founded Warroad-based Christian Brothers, Inc., which for decades was a leading hockey stick manufacturing company.

The brothers are retired and living in Warroad.

-- Loren Nelson, MN Hockey Hub editor