GRANDE PRIAIRE, AB
September 26, 2019
A special visitor for the Erkkila family
Forward Sam Erkkila joined the Storm in the off-season of 2019 from South of border in Calumet, Michigan. This year, Calumet, Michigan, and the Calumet Colosseum were selected as the winner after an online vote. The rink will receive $150,000 in upgrades and there will be festivities and player appearances prior to the Detroit Red Wings hosting the St. Louis Blues in a nationally televised preseason game at Calumet Colosseum. NHL.com staff writer David Satriano is in Calumet to provide all the sights, sounds, highlights and news leading up to the game and had a nice piece on the Erkkila family:
“Bob Erkkila was one of the driving forces who made hockey a staple in Calumet. He was involved in the game for over 50 years at the high school and with Michigan Amateur hockey.
Erkkila died in February, a few months before Calumet and the Calumet Colosseum were named winner of Kraft Hockeyville USA. But a special tribute took place for him Monday when his family spent time with the Stanley Cup.
“He knew everything about hockey, the history of everybody no matter who it is,” his son Dan Erkkila said. “You can say a name, if they played a game in the NHL, he probably knew who they were. And the Cup would even mean more than that. The names and just the whole thing and how much bigger the Cup and winning it is than any player, that’s what he was about.”
The Cup was brought to Bob Erkkila’s residence where his family marveled at the trophy and took pictures and swapped stories about how much Bob meant to them and the town.
“He was very big when we were growing up as far as hockey is concerned,” his grandson Tyler Kangas said. “Any time we had a hockey trip anywhere, whether it was down state Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, he would always come with us. It was always very special. He used to do radio up here, hockey broadcasting, and he would bring me to the games with him up at [Michigan Tech] and I’d get to go sit there and be his statistician. I’d get to watch the games from up high and listen to him on the radio. That was very special.”
Bob Erkkila had 10 children, 42 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, each of whom inherited his love for the game.”
The full article can be found HERE
