J
i m my S n u g g e r u d n e v e r h a d a p r o b l e m w i t h
his skating. He wasn't one of those players in
Peewees, Bantams or on his high school team
pegged as someone who needed to work on that
area of his game.
His father Dave was of a different opinion.
That's why he convinced his son to work with
a skating coach. And just not any coach: Jack
Blatherwick, a fellow Minnesota native, who
helped train Herb Brooks' legendary 1980 U.S. Olympic team.
It just so happens Blatherwick also coached Dave in the 1980s
when he played for the University of Minnesota. Dave would
play on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team and spend six seasons in
the NHL.
Jimmy's grandfather, James Westby, started the family's sto-
ried hockey history as a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team.
Starting in the fall, the youngest Snuggerud will add to the
family tradition when he slips on a maroon and gold hockey
jersey for the Gophers.
"If you asked his grandfather, he wanted Jimmy to go to
Minnesota, yesterday," Dave said. "I just wanted him to look at
other schools besides Minnesota. He's only going to make the
name better.
"We always felt the branding of Snuggerud is something of
importance. It's more a sense of pride and character that way."
It was also a sense of family pride to hear the Snuggerud
name called out at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal when the
St. Louis Blues took the 6-foot-2, 188-pounder with the 23rd
pick of the first round.
Snuggerud was one of six players from USA Hockey's National
Team Development Program to be selected in the first round,
and one of 14 overall.
AUGUST 2022 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF Getty Images
GROWING UP
G O P H E R
