As most of us remember, Dave Spehar and Cris Locker were inseparable. Locker would feed Spehar for a breakaway and Spehar would connect. Their on the ice relationship was on that every Minnesotan will never forget. However, their off the ice attitudes were totally different. While Spehar was getting good grades and staying out of trouble- Locker was the exact opposite. His freshman year he was caught for drinking and driving. Then as a sophmore he skipped class numerous times and was suspended for the Section Finals and the State Tournament. And in the summer of 1994, he was caught again for drinking. This time he was put on probation and had to do 112 hours of Community service. With his past, college coaches were a little scared to offer Locker a full ride at their school. Meanwhile, Dave Spehar had an offer to go play at the U of Minnesota. One he accepted not making the grade at the U of M, Locker decided to take an offer from Wisconsin. However he learned he was academically ineligiable. So he went to play for the Sarina team in the OHL, a Junior team in Canada. After four games there he decided to leave and go play out in Seattle for their Junior team. After two games he came to Minnesota to play for the Rochester Mustangs of the USHL. He played the whole season there. I went to watch him numerous times. I was impressed. His skating is often slow, but he is so rink smart that he can play with the best of them. Cris Locker is now attending classes at the University of Minnesota in hopes he will be able to play next year for the Golden Gophers. "I am in one of his classes and he is there everyday " said Spehar. Locker has a long way to go to play at the U, but coaches like his commitment. "Cris and his dad came to see us this summer and asked what he could do to play here. We gave him a list of things to do, he fulfilled everyone of those." said Assicoate Head Coach Mike Geunzel. If Locker keeps his commintment, next year we could see Spehar and Locker reunited once again. Wouldn't that be something for Minnesota hockey fans to see? But more importantly, for Cris Locker to see!
GO BACK TO THE ARCHIVES INDEX PAGE.