Clayton Mannausau is your average Virgo rising, 85-year-old retired gentleman. He loves spending time with his three grandkids, golfing, and lately he’s picked up the latest millennial craze, pickleball. Only, his claim to fame? This man puts the triple M in “Most Minnesotan Man” ever, since he still plays hockey four to five times a week.
He will be in Babbitt this weekend for the End of the Road 50 Plus Hockey Tournament.
Mannausau grew up in Indus, MN, a small, unincorporated town on the Canadian border.
“There’s nothing there anymore. There used to be a post office and a store and high school, and they’re all gone,” said Mannausau.
He started skating when he was about eight years old on a little pond behind his childhood home. At school, he and his classmates would skate on a small rink during recess. Only when he got to high school did he first experience playing organized team hockey. Throughout high school he was a right-winger, but has since transitioned to defense.
“Very small school, we didn’t win any games, if any. But we had fun,” said Mannausau.
After graduating high school in 1958, Mannausau and his peers started an amateur team, playing together for six more years. Wishing to continue his education, Mannausau went to school for a year in Duluth, graduating with a degree in computer programming.
Other than hockey, this is what Mannausau specialized in; installing computers in hospitals across the state and even across the nation.
“I installed computers in the five major cities in North Dakota and then I had a contract to install them in 14 states, travelled quite a bit.”
Settling in Moorhead MN, Mannausau felt it was time to get back to his first love: hockey.
“I approached the local rink manager to see if we could get an adult team to play, he readily agreed, and we started to play.”
It sounds like adult hockey was somewhat of a novelty wherever Mannausau went, but its popularity was, and still is, undeniable. The team he started, the Metro Merchants, is still going strong, and has travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and many other major Canadian cities.
Once the team started increasing the frequency of their tournaments, our Northern Neighbor wasn’t enough to scratch the itch. So Mannausau travelled abroad to play hockey.
“In 1990 I started travelling overseas. I first played in Holland and then Germany, Russia was next in 1993, spent a couple weeks there. Over time I’ve played in New Zealand, Spain, Austria.”
Mannausau said the Berlin Wall had been dismantled only a few years before; he saw a peek behind the curtain at a tumultuous time.
Said Mannausau about his experience, “Russia, and this was in 1993, and I was intrigued by the conditions that they had, which were like when I was 10 years old. The lifestyle was very much so dated. Like the housing, they claim, and I believe it, that they build a house to last like 300 years and we build ‘em to last about 30 years.”
Despitetheglamorousworld-travelling, hockey and staying active remain the true passions of his life. He still skates most days of the week in the winter, and only slows down to two to three times a week in the summer. He’s also recently started playing pickleball, since he doesn’t play tennis anymore. When he’s not on the ice, he’s playing golf every day in the summer, just not competitively.
“Eh no, no, no. If I’m with someone that’s serious with golf, I eliminate myself. It’s to me, something you have fun doing, and if someone’s so serious about it that they get mad when they have a bad shot or something, I’m out of it.”
This is his mindset with hockey, as well. He does it for the love of the game.
“An hour after the game’s over, I probably don’t know what the score was. If I played well, we won the game, no matter what the score was.”
Mannausau is a member of the U.S. National Over 80 hockey team, and still skates like he’s just getting started.
Ever the promoter of hockey, Mannausau even pushed for this reporter to give it a try.
“It sounds like you would enjoy it, you’d do well. You stay active in life and that will help you. You start playing hockey and that will help you make it to 80!”
Mannausau is truly an inspiration to those who hope to continue doing the things they love well into their 80s. You can watch this outstanding octogenarian compete in the upcoming tournament this weekend, to be held in the Ron Castellano Arena in Babbitt. He has two games scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and one at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
End of the Road Tourney The 10th annual End of the Road 50 Plus Hockey Tournament has games starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. There will be concessions available and no fee to get in to watch hockey.
A banquet and raffle will follow with tickets available for purchase at the arena and at 5 p.m. at Fish Tales.
“We should be hovering around 80 people with six teams,” said event organizer Duane Lossing. “We want to thank all of our local sponsors for supporting this event.”
LossingsaidhavingMannausau in the tournament is a pleasure.
“He has played many times in this tournament and was here in December and played in the over 60. Usually put him on my team as my defensive partner. I don’t stack the teams but I do put him on my team. I want someone to have the pleasure of playing with Clayton and having your butt covered. He will catch the younger guys on the breaks. He knows the game,” said Lossing.
