Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times
Ralph!!! I know it was a different time but Ralph was truly a special player. The first time I ever heard his name was in, I think, 1974. My wife worked with a woman whose son played for Archbishop Williams and she kept talking about this kid whose stick, she said, had a magnet for the puck. That kid was Ralph Cox. When he was a high school senior, I remember going to see Archies play Stoneham (captained by another UNHer, Paul Surdam) in the old Garden. Archies won, they had a fantastic team, but Ralph was the center point. By that time I knew he was going to UNH and I wondered how he would fit in. UNH already had Hislop, Cox, Lumley and this freshman from Billerica Bob Miller. Needless to say he fit in nicely. A lot of Ralph Cox memories while he was at UNH. But two stand out. One was in the wildest ECAC semis and finals ever in 1977 (10-9 win over Cornell, 8-6 loss to BU in the final). One goal stands out because it happened right in front of me. He comes down the right wing, takes a pass from Miller and in one motion fires a wrist shot, top corner by the frozen goalie. Another was his senior year. UNH is playing Clarkson at the infamous Walker Arena. Clarkson (I think Jerry York was an assistant there then) had tremendous offensive teams. UNH falls behind in the first period, but Ralph scores one. He scores another in the second, then takes the game over in the third, scoring two more to seal the win. Just a great player.
Although I knew he had broken an ankle leading up to the Olympic tryouts, and I am sure it hampered his abilities on the ice, he was the leading scorer on the team throughout most of their tour of Europe and North America. It was pretty much acknowledged that Herb Brooks favored the western college players, particularly those he coached at Minnesota, over the eastern ones. There were only five eastern guys on the roster, the four from BU (Silk, O'Callaghan, Eruzione, Craig) and Ralph. I am pretty sure he would have added more to the team than some western guys who made it. And I am sure these arguments would have been given if the US had gotten trounced. But you can't argue with success. And the one thing that success gave us was the final, grudging acknowledgement by the NHL that US college players could play the game. I've gotten to know Ralph a bit since those days. The last time I saw him was at last years NCAA's in Boston. He was walking through the Garden concourse with Tim Burke and Gordie Clark. Should have taken a picture. But what you see in this video clip is the way Ralph is in person, always a gentleman.
