Marblehead, Winthrop coaches hope for a Winter Classic of their own

If the weather cooperates, the Marblehead and Winthrop high school hockey teams could take part in a memorable stretch of games at a Boston venue whose name is usually associated with baseball.The Headers and Vikings have a chance to join the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston College Eagles and Boston University Terriers as squads that will play at Fenway Park in January. The Bruins and Flyers take to the ice at Fenway as the headline event, the “Winter Classic” of the National Hockey League.Asked to describe his team’s reaction when it heard of the possibility, Winthrop coach Dale Dunbar said, “They obviously were out of their minds. They couldn’t believe it.”However, he added, “I think the coaches were more excited than the kids.”Marblehead and Winthrop will play at Fenway if BC and BU play at the ballpark at their scheduled date of Jan. 8 and leave their rain date of Jan. 9 open. That frees up the ice for a 1 p.m. Headers-Vikings showdown on the ninth. If BC and BU are unable to play on Jan. 8, the college squads will take to the ice at 1 p.m. on Jan. 9, and chances are that plenty of folks in Marblehead and Winthrop will hope for good weather that weekend.Both Dunbar and his Marblehead counterpart, Bob Jackson, mentioned one of the top sports names in Winthrop – hockey star Mike Eruzione, who helped the US national hockey team upset the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics – as a key figure in the talks to get a high school hockey team at Frozen Fenway. While Dunbar cited Eruzione (who is also an assistant coach at Winthrop) as the one who spearheaded the initiative, Jackson also credited Dunbar with helping start the process.”They (Eruzione and Dunbar) called us back in August and asked if we were interested in participating,” Jackson said. “We said, ‘Yes, we would.'”And so, if the game takes place as scheduled, the Headers and Vikings will take buses to Fenway. Marblehead would get to serve as the home team for the matchup, “just because that was the way the schedule fell,” Dunbar said.The game is a matchup of teams with only one loss between them, pitting the undefeated Headers (3-0) against the 3-1 Vikings, who are the defending Northeastern Conference champions.”It’s a great rivalry,” Dunbar said. “We’re really good friends with the Marblehead coaches.”For three of the Marblehead players, this would be their second time playing at a Boston pro sports site in two months. Jake Kulevich, Mike Bernato and Sam Snow all got to play at Gillette Stadium as members of the Marblehead football team that reached the Super Bowl.And if the teams get an “assist” from Mother Nature, both squads could get to savor the thrill of playing the sport made famous by Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque at the ballpark made famous by Ted Williams and David Ortiz.”It’s quite an experience for everyone involved,” Dunbar said.NOTES: One of Jackson’s coaches, Tom Colby, got to skate at Fenway as part of a charity fundraiser. “He had a great time,” Jackson said. “He said it was a great experience. He told them they’d enjoy it if they had the opportunity.” ? Dunbar has a reason to follow the Bruins-Flyers and BC-BU games as well as the upcoming Vikings-Headers game. He played at BU and saw action in “a couple games with the Bruins in the ’80s,” he said. ? Asked whether Eruzione will play a role in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Dunbar said, “I’m not sure yet,” but noted that he has been involved in every Winter Olympics since 1980.