Calumet hockey great Johnny Whittaker is pictured in his Boston Store uniform. (Courtesy Photo)

CALUMET — Of all the outstanding hockey players produced in the Calumet area, one stands out as having the utmost respect from friends and foes.

The late Johnny Whittaker was that player.

Whittaker, with the exception of football icon George Gipp, was one of very few athletes to have two memorial trophies named after him after he died in 1955.

The late Bob Erkkila, a longtime northend sports historian, said Whittaker was multi-talented.

“He put together one of the finest all-around athletic careers ever around here,” Erkkila said in a 2010 interview. “A natural athlete.”

Of course, Whittaker is remembered most prominently for his feats on the hockey rinks. But he was also an outstanding fast-pitch softball player.

One other trait set him aside, that of being of a truly sportsmanslike person.

“(Whittaker) was the fastest skater I ever played with — or against — up here,” said former teammate Frank “Puppy” Gresnick. “He always played hard, but he played fair all the time.”

Raised in the Blue Jacket Location, Whittaker starred

for local youth teams, including the Pine Street Trojans.

When he reached the age of 20, Johnny accepted an invitation to go to Chicago and play for the Boston Store team.

The Boston team was a member of the Midwest Amateur Hockey League and was owned by Baby Ruth magnate Otto Schnering.

After helping Boston Store to the league title and being named to the all-league team in 1934, he attracted the attention of scouts from all around the country.

He spent two years with the Baltimore Orioles of the Eastern Amateur League.

He returned to the area in 1937 to play for Joe Savini’s Calumet-Laurium Olympics of the Northern Michigan-Ontario League.

His league high 32 goals and overall play led the team to a championship.

Perhaps his biggest moment came in 1939 when he led the C-L Chevrolet team to a MacNaughton Cup win over a favored American Soo team.

“He was very proud of that MacNaughton Cup win,” Gresnick said. “He really got a lot of satisfaction out of it.”

Whiitaker, who totaled 174 goals and 176 assists playing for several teams between 1938 and 1954, won several sportsmanship awards.

Late U.P. Hall of Fame selectee, Tony Bukovich, coached Whittaker for one season with the Painsdale V-8s.

“Johnny could bring the puck in as well as anyone whoever played around here,” Bukovich noted. “And he was as nice a guy as you would ever want to meet.”

Elected to the U.P. Hall of Fame in 1998. Whittaker played senior hockey until 1954.

The two trophies named after him went to the winner of the Portage Lake-CLK hockey series and the winner of a series between the northend and southend in fast-pitch.

The Pioneers and Wolverines now play for the Gibson Cup.