OUR EVERLASTING TRADITION
Big A HG
As each season passes, North Dakota Fighting Sioux fans continually pour their emotions into their beloved program while proudly proclaiming and boasting about our cherished tradition. This tradition is unique, not alike any other in the college hockey world, and among the greatest in all of sport. However, as I learned of these traditions through my growth to becoming a life-long Fighting Sioux fan, it was commonplace to wonder where these traditions came from and what they truly meant.
North Dakota hockey has come to be known as a program that elicits hard-working, hard-nosed, grind-it-out athletes and coaches. Once you are a Fighting Sioux, you are a part of that family forever. Players arrive on campus and are immediately transformed from boys to men. Off the ice, the young men tied to the team are known as humble and well-spoken, whom never take credit for their own personal accomplishments. The coaches are tough and rugged, and instill a mentality of hard work and team building from day one. Oftentimes, it takes weeks or months for these traits to grow over the course of a season, but they are commonplace from one coach and player to the next. All of these characteristics have taken a small-town university in a state most wouldn't dare visit in the heart of hockey season to the elite echelon of college hockey. Many Sioux legends have come and gone (but never are forgotten), each of whom has been transformed in a way that will be carried on with them for a lifetime, and it's all thanks to one man who gave birth to it all.
His name is Cliff Purpur.
Many Sioux fans may recognize the name, most notably from the Purpur Arena in Grand Forks. Cliff "Fido" Purpur Grew up in Grand Forks in the 1920s and '30s, raised by a family who never had it made. There were many hardships for he and his family, but Cliff was set out to set things straight. Their family was in debt, and their house needed some major repairs. As a teenager with tremendous hockey skill, Cliff promised his parents that he'd use his determination and love of hockey to one day make things better. Eventually, he made his way into the National Hockey League, ultimately playing for Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis.
Cliff was by no means your typical hockey player. He was 5'5", not weighing more than 157 pounds in his career. His tenacity at the elite level of hockey earned him the nickname "Fido", dubbed by a Minneapolis sports writer due to the way he "hounded" opponents. He was fast and skilled, but his physicality set him apart, sometimes sending players 70 pounds heavier than him flying over the boards with monstrous hits. Cliff, who played with his brother Ken on the Grand Forks Amerks team of the States-Dominion League, scored 4 goals in 25 seconds one game, and when Ken mentioned the fact they he thought Cliff had a record, Cliff said "Let's get another one." And that he did.
When playing with the Chicago Blackhawks, Mr. Purpur had a recognizable teammate, John Mariucci. While together, the two set in stone plans to each go back to their respective home states after their time in the NHL, and create and grow programs for each respective school they came from, Cliff's being the University of North Dakota, John's being the University of Minnesota. Both Cliff and John lived up to those promises.
Cliff took his natural traits and applied them to a program that wasn't in existence at the time, the start of a tradition that would forever bear his likeness. Purpur never coached a championship team at North Dakota, but he did so much more. This tradition we all know and love started with this one man. He gave everything his all, and reaped the rewards...but never keeping anything for himself.
After making the NHL, Cliff followed up on his promises of fixing up his family's home and paying off his parents debts. He came home after that great pro career, and continued to give and give and give some more. He created this now proud program from nothing. Cliff built rinks all around the community, and walked the streets for any donations he could come up with, just for scholarships. His efforts were tireless and not once did he ever give up.
As each new Sioux player enters our program, they become molded into the shape of our North Dakota traditions. This mold bears the face of the man who started it all, Cliff Purpur. So, when a new team takes the ice each year, we know exactly what to expect. A tireless team who is humble off the ice, works tireless on it, and never ever gives in to anything that could bring them down. It is essential we never forget these roots, for every win and every championship were all born from this true North Dakota legend. This is what tradition is, and will continue to be for many more years.
"I love my teams, I love you, and I love my country and North Dakota. I would die for North Dakota." --Cliff Purpur
