Former UMD hockey player, broadcaster dies

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Former Minnesota Duluth game analyst Jim Nelson of Duluth, who worked with play-by-play man Bob Junkert on WDSM and WEBC Radio for more than a decade, passed away Thursday in Duluth. He was 75. Nelson, who worked UMD games from 1968-81, was also part of the UMD hockey program as a goalie in the 1950s.

Nelson worked with his father, Gordon, and brother, Dale, operating the Duluth Delivery Service for several years and Nelson later owned Lakehead Transportation until his retirement in 1996.

Junkert and Nelson broadcast UMD men’s games for 11 years, through 1979, on WDSM Radio, and when the station discontinued carrying college hockey, the tandem moved to WEBC Radio for the 1979-80 season. Junkert died in December of 1982 at age 55.

Nelson, a 1955 Duluth Central High School graduate, was also a player-coach with the Duluth Hornets hockey team and was an assistant hockey coach at Duluth Central from 1982-1985. He was also one of the founders of the Duluth Junior Football League and coached the Kenwood- Chester team for years.

He is survived by children, Jay Nelson of Duluth, Jodi Nelson of Duluth, and Jon Nelson of Watford City, N.D., and former wife, Joanne Docteur of Duluth.

A gathering to celebrate Nelson’s life is 4-7 p.m. Sunday at Dougherty Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

Tags: sports, hockey, umd, updates