Bob Bestul

Ely hockey coach Bob Bestul said that he could bring his varsity hockey players to help with moving the rink.He thought that other community groups could help out as well.

"The Lincoln Rink is an important part of the community.We just need to work together and find the best solution," said Bestul.

Poderzay consulted with former Ely coach Bob Bestul, who became an assistant at Hibbing after leaving the Timberwolves following the 2002-03 school year.

"He said, 'I'm not telling you what to do, do what makes you happy,' " Poderzay said.

Bestul says he advised Poderzay, and other players who contacted him, to stay at Ely and make the best of it.

"I pushed him to go the other way more than anything," Bestul said.

Days later, however, Poderzay surprised Bestul by showing up in his social studies class at Hibbing after having just enrolled.Poderzay lived with the Walters family on weekdays and drove 45 minutes back to Tower on weekends.

"That's the only reason I transferred to Hibbing," he said of the Ely coaching staff situation.
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Bestul, now principal at Nashwauk-Keewatin, says a Marshall booster tried to entice three of his players at Ely to transfer a few years ago, a claim that Marshall officials steadfastly denied.

"Open enrollment is done for the wrong reason a lot of times.Other times it's done for the right reason," Bestul said.

ELY -- Bob Bestul was talking to his ninth grade civics class about freedom Tuesday morning when he learned of the terrorist attacks against the United States.

Another teacher at Ely Memorial High School walked into his classroom and told him : You've got to see this..

After the initial shock of watching TV footage of the attack on the World Trade Center , Bestul switched on the television in his own classroom.

He told his students to be prepared for what they were about to see.They would view an event in which a lot of lives were taken , he told them.

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Bestul -- who also teaches 12th grade Social Problems and 11th and 12th grade psychology -- said he had his students watch television reports throughout the day and let the events unfold in front of them..

At the end of each class he held discussions with the students , talking about what they knew so far and what the consequences there might be nationwide and worldwide.

And they spent time talking about the freedoms we take for granted , he said.

Bestul said he wanted the students to understand as they watched television reports of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon , that there are people in there.This is not a movie..Young people tend to be desensitized to violence from what they see on TV and in movies , he said.This was an eye-opener..

Although the students were in shock , they handled it really well , Bestul said.They tried to put themselves into that position..

He had recently been talking to his psychology classes about events that stand out in a person's life.Throughout their lives , they will remember this day , he said.

During the next weeks and months , Bestul expects to continue to talk with his students about the attack as they continue to learn more..

Many people are calling Tuesday's events the most horrific attack since Pearl Harbor , Bestul said.

His hope is that parents and grandparents will see this as an opportunity to teach kids about history.Maybe some students have grandparents who went through Pearl Harbor , he said.Such discussions have the potential to bring us all together..

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Ely coach Bob Bestul said his squad did lose energy , but he also said that his Timberwolves just missed some openings.

I think we had plenty of chances , even at the end , he said.Just one little mistake and we didn't get the win.The way I look at it , we didn't capitalize , but we give them credit.Their goalie came up big at the end , and they took advantage of what we gave them..

After Ely's Nick Levar snuck one past the Devils' Kurt Koski to make it 5-4 in regulation , Koski stopped all other shots through the extra frame.He finished with 29 saves.

"Give Eveleth a lot of credit, for the way their young kids handled themselves on the ice," Ely coach Bob Bestul said."They bottled up our first line and prevented a couple of scoring chances."

The first period was a battle of neutral zone play, that either coach was pleased with.

"The first period was pretty ugly," Bestul said."Neither team could sustain any offensive pressure."

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"The loss still hurts but just not in the seeding," Bestul said."Our first line has to bury the puck when they have the chance and tonight it just didn't happen."

According to Hibbing assistant coach Bob Bestul, Cathedral is a team that can capitalize on errors in front of the net.

"We can't have any letdowns," Bestul said.
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Bestul can say the same thing about the Crusaders, especially between the pipes.

"Their goaltender impresses me," Bestul said.

"We lost a big chunk of our team last year, but Matt continued to work hard," Ely coach Bob Bestul said.

Bob Fink, senior -- Fink finished with 24 goals and 32 assists on the season for coach Bob Bestul.
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"He played 40 of the 45 minutes out there," Bestul said."He's one of our top scorers of all time."

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"He's one of the hardest working kids I've ever had," Bestul said."He spends a lot of time on the ice.He's one of the more tenacious players on the ice."

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"He did everything for us," Bestul said."He broke all of our scoring records."