Roger Christian

Roger Allen Christian (December 1, 1935 – November 9, 2011) was an American professional ice hockey player. Christian played for the American 1960 Winter Olympics and 1964 Winter Olympics ice hockey teams, winning a gold medal in 1960. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989. He was also a co-founder of Christian Brother's Hockey Sticks, along with his brother Bill Christian and brother-in-law Hal Bakke. Early life Born in Warroad, Minnesota, Christian began playing hockey at a young age. He would play on the roads, lakes, and outdoor rinks with his friends for up to five hours each day. Growing up he and brother, Billy, would use magazines as padding. They only had one pair of skates between the two of them and would share that pair each time they would go skating. Christian also played organized hockey at Warroad High School. He began playing at Warroad in 1950 and was the leading scorer within two years. During the 1953 season, Christian led Warroad to the State Tournament. He was later selected to the All-State Team, and was named All Region twice. Career Christian international hockey for the U.S. In 1958 he led the U.S. National team in scoring, under Coach Cal Marvin and Manager Don Clark. Roger played together with Billy and a third brother, Gordon, on the 1958 United States national team. Roger played on the renowned Gold Medal winning Olympic Team, alongside his brother. He would go on to play on five U.S. National teams altogether. After that Roger went on to play for nearly 20 years with his hometown Warroad Lakers, an amateur dynasty, where his number 7 Jersey was later retired from the Lakers roster in 1974.