It was the late 1960s and the NHL was expanding. Minneapolis, by way of Bloomington, was about to become a bona fide big-league hockey town. No one was more excited than 16-year-old Mark Loahr.

As the oldest of eight children in a family that hadn’t shown much previous interest in hockey, Mark’s infatuation with the Minnesota North Stars came as quite a surprise. Loahr’s hometown of St. Anthony -- located four miles northeast of downtown Minneapolis -- didn’t have organized hockey at the time. Neither did Grace High, the Catholic school in nearby Fridley that Mark attended.

Mark didn’t play hockey, but he sure wanted to watch it at its highest level. He told his parents he was going to buy a North Stars season ticket with the money he had earned that summer working in a warehouse and driving a delivery truck. Mark was serious about this. He bought that season ticket, and his dad bought one, too, for the rest of the family. Just like that, the Loahrs were hooked on hockey.

“My dad was always a hockey fan, but it was never super big in our family until then,” said Doug Loahr, the youngest of Mark’s three brothers, all of whom became accomplished players. “He would take me all the time to North Stars games. I remember how it was a big deal for us to try to get home in time to see the highlights on TV.

“Mark has always loved hockey.”

Mark was still a teenager when he started coaching Doug’s Squirt and Pee Wee hockey teams in St. Anthony’s fledgling youth hockey program. 

By 1976 he was a 25-year-old coaching the junior varsity at Grace, which also had just added hockey. Loahr was promoted to head coach of the varsity program at what is now Totino-Grace in 1982. He’s held that position ever since. 

Now in his 33rd season, Loahr, 61, became what is believed to be just the 12th head hockey coach in state history to reach 500 victories on Jan. 21 in a 3-1 triumph over Breck.

“Honestly, I don’t think of it is as big a deal as maybe I will see it later,” Loahr said about joining such state coaching icons Edina’s Willard Ikola and International Falls’ Larry Ross in reaching the milestone. “Right now it is in the middle of the season, and in many ways, it is just another game. 

“It was nice to beat a really god team in Breck to do that. In that respect I think it will mean more later.”

That’s typical Loahr. Wins, losses, career milestones – he sees them merely as side dishes to the main course. Most important to him is the relationships he forges with his players. Asking Loahr about his most memorable coaching moment would seem to be more lob pass than question. In its four state tournament appearances under Loahr, Totino-Grace won its lone state Class 1A championship in 2002. What could top that?

“The greatest moment is our alumni games when alumns come to talk about how they are doing in their life,” said Loahr, a social studies teach at Totino-Grace. “That really is the best part. Games are great and state tournaments are great. Seeing how successful some of the players have become, I think that is the best thing.”

Loahr served under former Eagles coach Mike McGraw early in his career, and he counts McGraw, a Boston Bruins scout who has served as a TV analyst for state tournament games, as one of his biggest coaching influences. 

“I just learned a lot about what it takes maybe to be a head coach from watching him,” said Loahr, who also worked as an instructor at hockey schools in the summer for McGraw. “I saw his passion for it, I saw how much work he had to put into it. He was more of a teacher than just a coach, I think. He cared about kids learning the game and learning about themselves.”

Loahr’s coaching influences also include the legendary Herb Brooks. Loahr took a Brooks-taught coaching class while attending the University of Minnesota. Loahr said that Brooks’ passion for hockey and teaching was infectious. An admitted pack rat, Loahr says he still has his notebook from that coaching class.

“I dug it out when we moved 10 years ago,” Loahr said. “It was kind of interesting to look at some of that.”

Loahr also looks at his old practice plans from time to time, marveling at how much has changed in the past 30 years. If Brooks taught him anything, it was the importance of being innovative.

Doug Loahr was sitting in the stands with Mark at the state tournament a few years back. The conversation turned to a veteran NHL coach, and Doug remembers Mark 
commenting on the importance of keeping a fresh approach.

“He said, ‘I’ve had to change, you can’t be stale,’ ” Doug, a star player for St. Mary’s University in the mid-1980s, said about his brother. “He said that if you want to stay around you have to change.”

Since reaching the state Tier II quarterfinals in 1993, Totino-Grace has made it at least as far as a section semifinal game in all but two of the last 20 seasons. Included in that run are those three other trips to the state tournament. The Eagles finished second in 1995 and 2005. The state title run in 2002 capped a 27-2-1 season.

Totino-Grace has been in a section championship game in five of the last eight seasons. The Eagles lost to eventual state Class 1A champion St. Thomas Academy in the Section 4A title game each of the last three seasons. The Cadets moved up to Class 2A to start this season, which makes Totino-Grace among the favorites, along with Mahtomedi and St. Paul Academy, to reach this year’s state tournament.

“He was a great hire,” McGraw said about adding Loahr to his staff. “He was as good then as he is now. He is the last of what I call the gentleman coaches. 

“You first meet Mark and you think he is meek and mild and reserved. Underneath that facade he is a very competitive person. He hates to lose.”

Loahr’s milestone victory came on the road over a Breck team that, at the time, was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 1A. The achievement was announced over the public address system, and Loahr received a hearty congratulations from Mustangs coach Les Larson.

“That’s hard to believe that someone could coach that long,” said Larson, who had 130 wins and two state titles entering this, his sixth season, guiding the Mustangs. “Because look at the changes that have happened. It’s a tough job. The different kids, the different administrations, the different parents, the way high school hockey has changed.”

Loahr marvels at the disparity in talent from 30 years ago to today. “Fourth-line kids today would have been superstars in some ways 30 years ago,” he says.

McGraw, who still tries to see at least a few Totino-Grace games each season, says while the practice plans and Xs and Os parts of Loahr’s coaching has evolved over the years, the way Loahr handles his players hasn’t.

“I think he refined his skills in the coaching aspect,” McGraw said. “I think the way he’s handled the kids and worked with the kids, he did that from Day 1. Mark has been true to what he believes in, and the consistency is in how he handles the kids and how he treats the kids.”

*ACTIVE
Records are through the 2012-13 season.
Loahr earned his 500th win on Tuesday, Jan. 21 against Breck.