Maven's Memories: The Sutter Bros Journey from Viking to Uniondale

From a visitor's viewpoint, there's nothing particularly special about Viking, Alberta, population about 1,400, give or take a dozen Sutters.
For starters, the town's existence is rooted in the fact that when the Canadian National Railway plotted a trans-Canada route, it spaced adjoining towns about a dozen miles apart. Viking was one of them.
The prairie farmland would grow grain be hospitable for raising cattle. In good time, Viking also would become renowned in sport. No less than six sons of Viking would make it to the NHL.

Two of them, Duane and Brent, eventually become stars on the dynastic Islanders. But if you asked the brothers, they'd guarantee that it never would have happened had it not been for their challenging origins.
Their saga began as farm boys in a pioneering ambience. Frankly, it would be difficult to imagine a more rugged atmosphere to test one's mettle.
The operative words for their young lives were poor and primitive.
Their harsh and often brutally cold environment shaped their personas that featured true grit and fierce determination.
MAVEN'S MEMORIES
WRITTEN COVERAGE
Bob Bourne's End to End Rush
Mikko Makela: The Flying Finn
Stan's 17 Birthday Memories
Jason Blake Played Big
Shirley Fischler Breaks Gender Barriers
Jim Devellano, The Other Architect
The 2003-04 Season
Mike Bossy's Road to the Islanders
The 2002-03 Homestretch
John Tonelli Five-Goal Game
Isles vs Leafs in 2002
The Amazing 2001-02 Season
Maven's Haven
Viking -- 90 miles east of Edmonton on Highway 14 -- was not a community for the faint of heart. To survive one had to display a high-intensity work ethic and accept the disadvantages of poor farmers.
Along with their brothers and parents, Duane and Brent learned how to live without running water, utilizing an out-house that could be as cold as a refrigerator's freezer and have no bathroom nor electricity.
"The tough Alberta farm life was what turned Brent and Duane into tough hockey players," said Jimmy Devellano, the Islanders chief scout who persuaded GM Bill Torrey to draft each of them.
The boys' rawhide rugged personalities were developed by herding cattle and other farm chores that were rooted in the lives of earlier Sutter settlers.
"As kids, we were raised in the house my father was raised in and where my mom and pop lived when they got married," said Duane. "We didn't get power until after my twin brothers (Ron and Rich) were born."
Living space was at an absolute premium and yet the kids made do because they really didn't have much of a choice.
"All we had," said Brent, "was a kitchen, a living room and two small bedrooms. And there were nine of us altogether. Yet, to us it seemed all perfectly natural."
Duane and Brent had to share a bed with big brother Gary. If they needed a drink the boys had to go out to a hard-water well. The bath tub was nothing more than a galvanized washtub.
A warm-water bath only was accomplished by melting snow on a pot-bellied stove and then emptying it into the washtub.
"If the cold served any useful purpose for us," said Duane, "it was that there was plenty of outdoor ice available to play hockey."
The year 1967 proved a turning point in their lives since Grace and Louis made farming work to their advantage. They now had enough money to buy a larger farmhouse with running water, electricity and a bathroom.
An unexpected bonus was a barn with a hay loft which the boys turned into a make-believe hockey rink. As for real ice hockey action, that took place at Viking's natural ice rink, otherwise known as the Carena.
"Even at the Carena," Brent remembered, "we were at the mercy of the weather, If it got too warm, we'd be without ice until it got real cold again."
On Saturday nights, the Carena featured Senior league games. Brent and Duane made sure to be there because there always was a chance they'd get some free skating time
Duane: "During the Senior games we'd ask the rink manager to let us scrape the ice between periods. We'd get it done as fast as possible so as to have time to hot dog it for the fans before the teams came back."

Neither Duane nor Brent were considered superior skaters at the time but their other assets were obvious. They were combative. Period!
"When we fought," said Duane, "Dad didn't get all that upset. He always told us, 'Don't back down from anybody.' He'd warn us that if he ever caught us not hustling, he wouldn't wait for us after the game."
If for any reason there was no ice at the Carena, nor on the nearby ponds, there always hayloft hockey. All they needed was a tennis ball, makeshift nets and street hockey sticks.
Brent: "If dad put any bales of hay up there, we'd just throw them back down. He soon figured out that it wasn't worth the effort."
But when it came to climbing the hockey ladder, Duane and Brent never spared the effort. In time, they would follow the route plied by their older brothers; Brian and Darryl
Tier 2 Junior hockey was a big deal in Western Canada and the Rustlers of Red Deer, Alberta already had been well-known as a basic training ground for aspiring pros.
Duane skating for them and made a reputation for himself that was good enough to lure big-league scouts. Soon, Brent followed suit.
"Our team was called the Red Deer Rustlers," said Brent. "Making the club at 15 was a big deal for me and I made the most of it. I was 17 years old when they made me captain."
In time, both Duane and Brent's talent plus exceptional leadership qualities were discerned by Islanders bird dog Jimmy Devellano.
"Before I came to the Islanders," Jimmy D recalled, "I had worked for the Blues and watched Brian Sutter show what Sutter leadership and grit were all about. Brian eventually became captain of the Blues.
"I knew if I could find another one or two like Brian for the Isles we'd be fine. That's why I kept my eye on the Rustlers and the Lethbridge Broncos, who played at a higher level."
Duane was plucked first - 17th overall in the 1979 Entry Draft by Devellano and Torrey. That was a no-brainer. Ditto, for Brent who also was picked 17th a year later.
When the Islanders won their first Stanley Cup in 1980, Duane had proven that he belonged. Bryan Trottier, already an Isles star, sensed that Duane had the goods right from training camp in September 1979.
"In this exhibition game against the Flyers," Trots recalled, "Duane played right wing on my line. Right off the bat, I could tell that he'd be a Class A disturber.
"On one play he got off a shot and then kept going at the net. Then he whacked the goalie's glove with his stick after the goalie made the save. That resulted in the first of three fights Duane had that night."
Brent's climb to Uniondale had a different aspect. By 1982 he was one of the Western League's most dominant players. In fact he had hoped to captain the Broncos to a Memorial Cup, emblematic of Canadian Junior hockey supremacy.
Devellano was in Alberta scouting Brent who had 46 goals and 33 assists after only 34 games. Jimmy didn't want to wait for any Memorial Cup games; he knew Brent was ready.
Broncos owner Denny Kjeldgaard and coach John Chapman were furious. "The Islanders knew we were chasing a Memorial Cup but they were convinced that Brent was ready," said Chapman.
"Brent sat in my office with tears in his eyes after he got the news. He wanted to go, but he hated to think what he was leaving behind. I told him that this was what he was working for and that he was ready for the NHL"
Brent was so ready that by June 1982 he sipped champagne from the Stanley Cup after Duane had his taste. A year later the brothers enjoyed the bubbly once more.
And when all was said and done, both Duane and Brent readily admit that tiny Viking, Alberta made them what they would become, champions as Islanders!