1969

The U.S. put a man on the moon, and the hippies had a festival at Woodstock. 

We said that 1960 was the greatest year ever in Minnesota sports. Well, if the Vikings had only won the darned Super Bowl, 1969 would have been the biggest, the best, the greatest, the most above average. But, it was not meant to be. The Minnesota Vikings shocked the world, beating the defending NFL champion Baltimore Colts 56-14 in the second week of the season. They roared through their schedule at 12-2, then manhandled the L.A. Rams and Cleveland Browns to punch their ticket to Super Bowl IV, where they were twelve to 13 point favorites. They shocked the world again, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 23-7.

• Edina beat Warroad 5-4 in overtime to win the state hockey title. It was perhaps the second most famous hockey game in Minnesota history (after the Miracle on Ice) as it established the state hockey tournament as Minnesota’s premiere high school event.

#41 Athlete Henry Boucha Warroad took the road less traveled to the 1969 state tournament. They were a young team. Their star defenseman, Henry Boucha, was one of just two seniors on the roster. They were a modest 19-4, and had lost to Roseau in Region 8. They made it to state through the old back door (a game between two regional runners-up). At state, they edged Minneapolis Southwest 4-3 and surprised Roseau 3-2 as Boucha played all but 24 seconds of the first two games. Edina entered the 1969 state hockey tournament at 22-1, having lost only to Minneapolis Southwest. They clobbered Mounds View and South St. Paul in the first two rounds by a total score of 12-1.  Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Coleraine Greenway and star Mike Antonovich was beaten by South St. Paul 4-3. Antonovich became the first boy to lead two tournaments in scoring, outright (no ties). The final saw thrilling, end-to-end action, and Warroad was forced to prove that it was not a one-man team, and it did. Edina led 3-2 when Boucha shot the puck into the corner, then went in after it. An elbow came up, Boucha went down, and he went to the hospital with a ruptured ear drum. Fans still debate whether it was a dirty hit. Soon, Edina was up 4-2. Yet, Warroad came back to tie the game at 4-4 on a pair of goals by Frank Krahn to force OT. In OT, Warroad controlled the early action, but Skip Thomas scored at 3:09 and Edina had the first of what are now 13 state hockey titles. Eight of them came under legendary under coach Willard Ikola. Boucha played six seasons in the NHL before disaster struck again. Playing for the Minnesota North Stars, Boucha took a deliberate stick in the eye from the Boston Bruins’ Dave Forbes. His vision was impaired and he was never able to play again. Forbes and the Bruins paid Boucha more than $1 million in damages.

• The Minnesota Twins won the new western division but got swept by Baltimore in the first ALCS. Harmon Killebrewwas the MVP, going 49-140-.276. Rod Carew won his first batting title at .332. Fans loved new manager Billy Martin, but his drinking, a fight with pitcher Dave Boswell, and other stuff led to his firing after just one season. Fans never forgave Calvin Griffith for firing him.

• Gary Bjorklund of Proctor was Minnesota greatest long-distance runner, winning the cross-country title in the fall and running a record that still stands (as of 2019) in the mile in the spring in 4:05.1.

Year	Athlete of the Year	Team of the Year	Coach of the Year	Event of the Year
1969	1. Killebrew, 1B 2. Henry Boucha, Warroad hockey, D 3. Gary Bjorklund, Proctor, cross-country and track (state individual champion in both)	1. Minnesota Vikings (14-3 including playoffs, NFL champion) 2. Minnesota Twins (97-68 including playoffs, AL West champion) 3. Edina hockey        (26-1, state champion)	1. Grant 2. Billy Martin, Minnesota Twins 3. Willard Ikola, Edina hockey	1. The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-7, in the Super Bowl. 2. Edina defeated Warroad 5-4 in OT to win its first state hockey title. 3. The Vikings clobbered the defending NFL champion Colts 56-14 in week three.