CALUMET – Like all of the people inducted into the Calumet High School Sports Hall of Fame this weekend, Carl “Cookie” Johnson and Al Savini contributed on the playing field.

But the late Baraga High basketball coach and Calumet senior hockey coach kept on teaching after leaving CHS.

Johnson, who led his teams to 309 wins and several conference titles, was represented by family members and former players Saturday.

His youngest son, Carl Jr. recalled that his father never took wins or losses too seriously.

“He was a low-key kind of guy,” his son remembered. “He didn’t let too many things get to him. But that may have been from his upbringing.”

Johnson was a senior in high school when he enlisted in the Navy during World War II and served four years. When he returned home, he earned his high school degree and then went on to attend Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan University.

Prior to that, he was the captain of the 1942 CHS football team that went undefeated – still the only unbeaten team in school history.

Pat Duguay, who played for Johnson in the mid-1970s, said his former coach always had a plan.

“He had a knack for watching a game a few minutes, calling a timeout and then making the necessary adjustments,” Duguay noted. “He was a very good coach and teacher.”

Johnson was voted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame a few years ago.

Savini, who played on the same baseball teams with the legendary George Gipp, played baseball and hockey in high school. He was also a great organizer.

His niece, Valerie Zimdars, said her uncle was intensely interested in all sports.

“He was a star in hockey, that was his favorite sport,” she said. “But he liked all sports.”

Savini was largely responsible for the formation of senior hockey in the the northend, according to historian Bob Erkkila.

“He (Savini) played a big role in getting senior hockey and junior hockey going up here,” Erkkila said.

Savini coached Calumet teams to four MacNaughton Cups and two Gibson Cups in his career. He was also the manager of the old Colloseum and the new Amphridome.

Also inducted Saturday were: Al and Greg Eckhart, Tim Baroni, Kristen Hager Peterson and Tim Frantti.

The Eckhart brothers starred in football and track in the middle 1960’s. Both went on to play football at Michigan Tech.

Baroni was a three-sport standout in the middle 1970s. He scored 988 points in basketball. He went on to play three seasons of basketball at Michigan Tech.

Hager Peterson was a three-sport star in high school and went on to play four years of basketball at MTU. She was the first CHS female or male cager to score 1,000 points in her career.

Frantti was another multi-sport standout. He went on to play four years of football at Northern Michigan University and had a tryout with the Detroit Lions. He’s been the head of the CLK Junior Hockey Association for 25 years.