Calumet goalie Rick Maki waits on a shot in a 1976 game versus Hancock. Maki was in goal when CHS defeated Houghton in a 6-OT game later that season. (Courtesy Photo/Calumet High)

Anybody who saw the game will ever forget it.

The March 1976 Lake Superior Hockey League playoff match between Calumet and Houghton at the Michigan Tech Student Ice Arena was one, as they say, for the ages.

The late Don Miller of Houghton and CHS coach Gordie Lassila both said afterward no one deserved to lose the game, a 5-4 six-overtime decision for Calumet.

“You had two evenly matched two teams going at it,” Miller said. “There was nothing I could say to console the kids after that game.”

Lassila said it was a great example of kids playing their hearts out.

“No one deserved to lose that game,” Lassila said. “All of the kids played to their fullest ability.”

Both teams had loads of talent in 1976.

The Gremlins had players like Pat McCarthy, Daryl Lishinski, Bob Wuthrich and Tom Heinonen.

John Erickson was in goal that night for the Gremlins.

The Copper Kings boasted such players as Bob Steele, Bruce Salmela, Ken Helminen and Gerry Jarvey. The goaltender was Rick Maki.

Former Mining Gazette sports writer Pete Bousu said the talent level locally has seldom been higher.

“At that point in time, the league was very balanced,” said Bousu who covered the contest. “Just about every team around here had good talent.”

The Student Ice Arena was only in its fifth year of operation, and a crowd of nearly 2,500 was on hand that night.

Houghton had defeated Class A Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette to reach the finals, while Calumet drew a first-round bye and then downed Hancock for its berth.

Miller’s team had to play two OT sessions to beat Marquette the night before and was a bit winded.

“The Marquette game was a tough one on us,” he said. “But we regrouped and played pretty well.”

Thanks to some sharp net play by Erickson, Houghton grabbed a 3-1 lead after two periods.

But the Copper Kings rallied back in the final stanza as Steve Peterson tallied early in the period to make it 3-2.

After Houghton’s Heinonen scored for a 4-2 score with eight minutes left, it appeared to be all in the favor of the Gremlins.

But Peterson scored again, and teammate Ken Helminen connected with a minute remaining, to knot it 4-4.

That set up the extra sessions that would see both sides have their chances.

Houghton appeared to have won in the second OT but the goaltender’s best friend, the pipe, intervened. The same happened for Calumet a period later.

Both teams were becoming exhausted and it showed between periods.

“We just sprawled out on the floor in the dressing room,” Wuthrich recalled. “We didn’t have enough energy to do anything else.”

The end came at 3:17 of the sixth overtime when Calumet’s Duane Nordstrom poked a rebound past a diving Erickson.

“I was just happy to see the puck go in,” Nordstrom said afterward. “It was a great feeling.”

The state began sponsoring state-wide tourney play a couple of years later.

Houghton captured it’s only state title in 1982, while Calumet has brought home six crowns over the years. Hancock has won two titles.

The Copper Kings were also involved in a five OT game in the early 2000s, but that game ended up in a tie.

But no one will forget the 1976 LSHC championship game.

“I’ve never seen a game like that, before or since,” Bousu said.