ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Charlie Boike was honored on three separate ice sheets in the city of St. Cloud on Friday, Dec. 30.
Boike, a 17-year-old junior at St. Cloud Tech High School, was killed in a car accident after driving home from a St. Cloud Crush hockey game on Dec. 10.
Before the St. Cloud State men's hockey team's 1 p.m. exhibition game against the University of Manitoba on Friday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, there was a moment of silence for Boike, who was a big Huskies fan.
Call it coincidence or perhaps something spiritual was on hand as the Huskies' first goal of the game was scored by Adam Ingram at 1:17 of the first period. Boike wore the No. 17 for the Crush.
At 3 p.m., the Crush boys junior varsity team played St. Cloud Cathedral in the Granite City Showcase at Ritsche Arena. St. Cloud State players Brendan Bushy, Chase Brand and Joe Molenaar helped drop a ceremonial first puck before the game.
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The Crush won the game, 1-0, with the lone goal being scored by Joe Hess with 11:17 left in the third period. While Boike wore No. 17 in high school, he wore No. 11 during his youth hockey career.
St Cloud Jv beats St Cloud Cathedral JV 1-0. Standing room only crowd here at the MAC pic.twitter.com/U1G6INNdb4
— FollowThePuck (@FollowThePuck) December 30, 2022
At 7 p.m., the Crush boys varsity team played Cathedral in the Granite City Showcase at Torrey Arena. St. Cloud State captain Spencer Meier and assistant captain Micah Miller helped drop a ceremonial first puck before the game.
The Crusaders won the game 2-1 on rebound goals in the third period by Landon Swenson (8:41) and Cole Hwang (12:46).
When the opening faceoff for both games occurred, both teams started with four skaters, playing without a right wing for 17 seconds. Boike played right wing. Both teams wore special jerseys for the games with Boike's name in the upper right corner of the chest, "Skate Free Charlie" logos on the shoulders and the words, "Hug 'Em Tight" below the numbers on their backs.
The jerseys were made with the help of donations from the booster clubs of both schools and the St. Cloud Youth Hockey Association.
As the varsity game was being played, there was a video played on a loop of photos and videos of Boike from throughout his life.
As fans entered the Municipal Athletic Complex for the high school games, there was a sign hangining that had the No. 17 with a halo around the top of the numbers, wings on a Crush logo and the words "BOIKE SKATE FREE CHARLIE."
After they made it upstairs, there was an enlarged hockey photo of Boike from this season hanging off several rafters in both Ritsch and Torrey arenas. On the walls, there were handmade signs from St. Cloud Youth Hockey Association teams honoring Boike. Fans could also get free white T-shirts that had the Crush logo with wings on it, a halo around the No. 17 above it and Boike's initials (CJB) on the front with his last name and No. 17 on the back. The shirts were made available with the help of donations from local businesses.
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Before the varsity game started, the public address announcer had the members of both the St. Cloud State men's and women's hockey teams stand to be acknowledged for their support at the game.
After the varsity game, members of the Crush and Crusaders varsity and junior varsity teams along with members of both SCSU teams gathered in a circle at center ice to show support for the Boike family. Family members Jeff (father), Erika (mother) and brothers Drew and Lewis came onto the ice and were given flowers and were embraced by the Crush coaching staff after a stick salute by the players.
Drew played defense for the Crush before graduating from Tech in 2020. Lewis is a forward on a bantam (14-and-under) youth hockey team in St. Cloud. Jeff has been a youth hockey coach at all levels for many years. Erika has been a youth hockey volunteer and is the director of housing and game day operations for the St. Cloud Norsemen.
The Norsemen had an NAHL game Friday in Aberdeen, S.D., but were on hand at the Crush junior varsity game to show support on Wednesday.
They boys made it to the Crush JV game on Wednesday to support Charlie before hitting the road to Aberdeen. Catch the NORSEMEN action later today!@stccrushbhockey pic.twitter.com/q5lDUqmptP
— St. Cloud Norsemen (@StCloudNorsemen) December 30, 2022
4 added to Skating Wall of Distinction
Before the varsity game between the Crush and the Crusaders, there was a ceremony held at Torrey Arena's Skating Wall of Distinction. The wall honors volunteers and players from the St. Cloud area. Players who are honored on the wall have to have played at least two seasons of NCAA Division I hockey or played professional hockey.
There were four people added to the wall on Friday: St. Cloud Youth Hockey Association volunteer Duane Koepp and former Cathedral players Will Hammer, Austin Poganski and Nate Schmidt.
Koepp has been a coach in the association since 1976 and is a former Tech High School player. Koepp received the Herb Brooks Youth Hockey Hall of Fame Award on July 25.
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After graduating from Cathedral, Hammer went on to play for St. Cloud State from 2017-21 and helped the Huskies reach the national championship game as a senior.
Poganski played for the University of North Dakota from 2014-18. He helped the Fighting Hawks win the 2016 national championship and was the team captain his senior season. He is playing professionally in the Seattle Kraken organization for its AHL team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Schmidt played for the University of Minnesota from 2010-13 and helped the Gophers reach the 2012 Frozen Four. He is playing in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets.
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