Perhaps no college women's team in the country has been better at designing a limited game worn jersey each year than the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldog program has a strong jersey game -- fans will recall the CCM Duluth Tribute sweater of last year and the sharp replicas of their current gold jerseys. But in the midst of a season that has been anything but forgettable, the UMD women's hockey staff came together for arguably their best threads yet.
The Bulldog program currently has an online auction underway for a 1950s era jersey that UMD wore last Saturday against Minnesota State University, Mankato, and will wear again this upcoming Friday when they host the No. 1 University of Wisconsin. The cream colored retro jerseys were born out of creative effort between Director of Hockey Operations Nick Bryant, head coach Maura Crowell, associate head coach Laura Bellamy and assistant coach Ashleigh Brykaliuk this past fall. The staff poured over Bulldog hockey history -- both men's and women's -- before deciding on a jersey from the 1950s.
Little did Laura Bellamy know, it shared some of her family history as well. The Duluth native had always known her grandfather Dick Bellamy had played hockey for UMD, but she had never seen him in his college hockey jersey until her dad found a picture of him as a result of the vintage jersey creation. The jerseys were identical.
"My family bleeds maroon and gold," said Bellamy. "Obviously my grandpa attended UMD and played hockey, which is neat to look back on now in what remnants of programs and pictures are still available. I knew he had played at UMD, but hadn't seen his 1952 picture and the number he wore (4) until my dad found it this year."
Dick Bellamy had a true love of hockey. It carried him to a hockey letter at UMD in 1949, where the Duluth Central graduate was an engineering major. He then served 19 months with the Marines in California as an aircraft mechanic, and came back to UMD to letter again over the 1951-52 season. The UMD Sports Guide for the winter of 1952-52 described Bellamy as a "high-scoring, fast skating right wing." A litany of incomplete statistics from the early decades of the program only paints small fractions of Bellamy's career. For example, Bellamy logged at least a goal and three assists over the 1953-54 seasons, but the amount of games he played in or full statline is unknown. In a box score from Dec. 31, 1952, Bellamy was the lone Bulldog to score in an 8-1 loss to Michigan Tech, a goal recorded just 1:04 into the first period. Outside of those glimpses, not much else is known about Bellamy's career, but in the wide scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. Where the annuals can't fully track Dick Bellamy's UMD hockey history, his family fills in the rest.
"He passed on that love to my dad, who grew up playing on the rink at Glen Avon, which was a short walk from his home," said Bellamy. "Both of my parents did the same for me and my brother Cory growing up. We essentially lived at the Piedmont Heights rink, also a short walk from home for us, during the winter months. That love of the game has shaped my life--including my college decision and career choice--ever since."
Laura Bellamy's grandpa never got to see his granddaughter coach for his alma mater -- he passed away in 2013. But the youngest Bellamy will get to see, for a second time in eight days, her team sport jerseys almost identical to what her grandfather wore all those decades ago. A replica jersey worthy of the current Bulldog women's squad, inspired by one that instilled a family passion for generations after. Decades of Bulldog hockey all stitched together in one jersey. Might be hard to put the right price on that after all.
** To bid on UMD's 1950s Replica CCM Jerseys, click here.
