CALUMET — He was given his colorful nickname by fans in Marquette, but the late Frank “Puppy” Gresnick never forgot his Copper Country roots.

Gresnick grew up in Raymbaultown, just south of Calumet. It was an area rich in hockey tradition back in the early 20th century.

“There was hockey going on everywhere,” recalled Gresnick in a 1998 interview. “You didn’t have to look very far to find a game.”

For him, that meant playing for Raymbaultown, Swedetown or one of the many neighborhood teams.

While every location had its own rink, the upkeep had to be handled by the kids.

“We didn’t have anybody to get the rink ready,” he said. “But it was The Great Depression and we had plenty of time.”

When it came time to move on from youth hockey, Gresnick looked south.

He found a job — and a team — playing for the Baby Ruth squad in Chicago. Formed by several wealthy businessmen in the Windy City, the league was a talented one.

“It was a competitive hockey league and my team had some good players,” he said. “We won the league title my first year down there.”

A tall (around 6-foot-2) defenseman, Gresnick found takers in the Eastern Hockey League with the Baltimore Rovers and Washington U-Lines.

In Washington, Puppy played for “Ching” Johnson, also a noted NHL player.

Returning to the area in 1939, he was convinced by northend coach Joe Savini to join the Calumet Chevrolets, who already had a pretty good player in Johnny Whittaker, a flashy forward.

“He (Whittaker) was as fast as greased lightning on the ace,” he said. “The fastest skater I ever saw.”

The two standouts combined talents to help the Chevrolets capture the Gibson Cup in 1939.

He later played for CLK Radars with Whittaker and helped that team to success as well.

Owen O’Brien was a teammate on the Radars and remembered Grenisck well.

“Puppy was a no-nonsense kind of guy,” O’Brien said. “He had the respect of his teammates and of opponents.”

Portage Lake and Marquette were keen rivals of Calumet in the Northern Michigan-Wisconsin League.

It was while playing a game in Marquette that fans there stuck the label on him because of a bald head and his size.

“It started out as Pappy … and turned into Puppy,” he explained.

Bernie Ruelle of Portage Lake and Gresnick developed a friendly rivalry.

“There was a lot of respect between the two guys and they became good friends … off the ice,” O’Brien said.

Ruelle, a very good player himself, said that Puppy had one annoying habit.

“If he scored a goal, he would toss his stick up the air and catch it,” Ruelle said. “He had some showmanship.”

After helping the Radars to a MacNaughton Cup and a Gibson Cup in the 1951-52 season, the northend legend retired.

He later helped coach youngsters in the C-L-K area.

He was especially proud of the great success, with six state titles, Calumet High hockey teams have enjoyed.

Gresnick died in 2002.