Prayers are answered
Kirby Cook to be inducted into Alpena Sports Hall of Fame
Before every game, during the national anthem, Jon Kirby Cook would say a prayer before skating towards the net and taking his position in the crease. Cook said a small prayer, hoped for a safe game and went in with the mindset that he was going to shut out the opposing team each time he was between the pipes.
The mindset worked and his prayers were answered more times than not as Cook became one of the best goaltenders Alpena has ever seen and will now take his place in the Alpena Sports Hall of Fame.
“I said a little prayer during the national anthem and just hoped for a safe game. My mindset was that I was going to get a shut out. I just prayed and stayed relaxed and it usually worked,” Cook said. “It’s a great honor to be inducted into the Alpena Sports Hall of Fame. There are a lot of good sports people in that Hall of Fame and it’s just great to be apart of something so special and meaningful.”
Before coming to Alpena, Cook starred as a young goaltender in Sault Ste. Marie. During the 1957-1958 season, Cook was the starting goalie for a Sault team that finished as a Junior Hockey National Finalist.
“It was quite exciting playing up there in Sault Ste. Marie. There was a lot of good competition in the UP. You had teams like Houghton, Hancock and Calumet among others. There was always a lot of good hockey,” Cook said. “Everyone was so tough up there, I remember being in a rollover car crash with some of my teammates the morning before a game and we got up and played that same day.”
Cook moved from Sault Ste. Marie to Alpena in 1960 to work at Abitibi (now DPI). He moved from one hockey capital to another as Alpena was loaded with talented hockey players during the 1960s.
“I played a lot of hockey growing up and I got to Alpena in 1960 and the Abitibi manager was looking for a goalie and asked me if I played and would be interested. I decided to play and that’s how I got involved in Alpena,” Cook said.
It was an interesting transition for Cook as he was used to playing at Polar Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, which was a top notch facility at the time. Cook arrived in Alpena and got his first glimpse of Alpena’s rink at Mich-e-ke-wis. Along with witnessing the ice rink located in a barn, Cook also had to adjust to wearing a goalie mask for the first time in his career as he’d gone without a mask during his time in Sault Ste. Marie.
“During juniors I never wore a mask and was fortunate to never have gotten cut or hit. I had a couple close calls, but never took a puck to the face thankfully,” Cook said. “I was handed an old catchers mask and wore that when I played. I remember seeing Mich-e-ke-wis for the first time and joking with everyone, asking them if they really expected me to play here.”
Cook was a star in the old barn and put together quite a career in Alpena. In March 1969 as a member of the Alpena Flyers, Cook led his team to a fifth place finish in the state tournament. If not for the play of Cook, it could have been rough for the Flyers. In a game against Portage Lake, Kirby Cook made 70 saves.
In February 1971, Kirby Cook was a huge part of the Flyers nine-game win streak. Alpena held a 5-4 lead late in the third period against Northland VFW of Detroit in a tournament game. With just three minutes remaining, Northland was awarded a penalty shot and a chance to tie the game.
Northland had its star skating in for the penalty shot as Cook waited in net as a 10-foot slap shot was whistled in. Cook was up to the task and made the game-winning save.
In the semifinals, Cook turned away 33 shots and came up with 23 more saves in the finals.
The next month Cook did all he could to give Alpena a chance to win as he stopped 50 shots in a state tournament game, 42 in a quarterfinal game, 65 in the semifinals and stopped 55 shots in a state championship game as Alpena came up just short in the finals.
In 1974, Cook was a standout in the Merchants Cup Tournament held in Alpena. He was selected to the all-tournament team and also earned Defensive Player of the Tournament honors.
“We had some very good teams. Everyone was active in the Flyers program. We had top lines from the high school team come and play and there was a lot of competition,” Cook said. “Everyone played hard and playing at Mich-e-ke-wis, those were some fun times.”
After his playing days were over, Cook shared the knowledge he had and gave back by coaching youth hockey in Alpena.
“I started coaching and went through the ranks as a coach. I was blessed to have a lot of good kids and there was always a lot of competition,” Cook said. “There were some great players and we did a lot of traveling and I was fortunate to have coached with Tony Byers. Those are memories I will cherish forever.”
It took 17 years and many victories for Cook to register his first shutout in an Alpena uniform when he stopped all 23 shots in a game on March 5, 1971. Now, 47 years after his first shutout, Cook will be inducted into the Alpena Sports Hall of Fame on May 5.
“My playing days were good. I was apart of a lot of great teams, played with a lot of great players and played some outstanding hockey,” Cook said. “I have a lot of good highlights and a lot of stories to share. It was fun.”