Back in January of 2004, the Rubes franchise was born. It's now 5 years later and tonight the Rubes will begin their 12th session of play up at the SuperRink in Blaine, MN. With an overall record of 76-59-13, the Rubes have a better than average team... but a championship has still not come their way. The Rubes will face defending league champion Mud Hens. The Rubes have struggled recently against the Mud Hens. In the last 5 games the Rubes a 1-3-1 against them, yet they still hold a slim 6-5-3 overall record against the Hens.

The history of Rubes and Mud Hens goes back to the fall of 2005 when the teams skated to a 6-6 tie. The Rubes were down 6-2 starting the third period, but roared back to scoring 3 times to get within one. Sagard then fed Jupiter for a wide open net goal with just over 1 minute remaining to complete the comeback. It was the first of many high scoring games between the two teams.

The Mud Hens are lead by SuperRink superstar #7 Bryan Maloney. He ran away with the league scoring title last session with 21 goals, 21 assists for 42 points. The Rubes have always struggled to stop this guy and I am guessing that it will be the same tonight. The Hens are definitely not a one man team. They also had the second and third leading scorers for the league on their team. #14 Jessica Christopherson is a sneaky player that can kill you around the net. She ended up with 5 goals, 16 assists for 21 points during the fall session. #8 Paul Peterson is also a huge threat that needs to be watched. He finished third in league scoring with 11g, 8a for 19 points.

As for the Rubes, they welcome back and original player from the 2004 team. Bert returns to the Rubes after a long time affiliation with the PrideOnIce team. Look for him to be a strong presence on the blueline and in the penalty box. Bert plans to split time with Rookie who has decided to cut back so the wife does not kick his ass for playing hockey two times a week... Also back in a more prominent role as a sub is Sagard, the all time leading Rubes scorer. He was only able to play one game this past fall session, but plans to be much more involved for the Rubes 5th anniversary team.

The Winter session starts tonight at 10:15pm at SuperRink #5 (Bethel)

The Rubes lost to the Iceholes in a shootout back on December 1st..... Considering that the MudHens killed the Iceholes in the Championship game 9-2 this past Monday night, it's probably a good thing that they lost. The Rubes will start the drive for 5 runner up banners starting in January.

The Rubes will face the Iceholes in semi-final action tonight at 8:50 pm on Rink 2 at Super Rink in Blaine. The Iceholes finished the season with a record of 7-3(1-1 versus Rubes) and in first place in the division. Tonights matchup will see the return of one of the Rubes original members and most beloved players, Soren. He had been trying to get a contract extension all summer, but to no avail. Despite being inactive for the season, he jumped at the chance to sub for Boob in tonights game. The one-game contract is apparently a league first, but Soren's presence should fire up the troops and hopefully propel them to the league championship next week.

Getting to know "The Rube"
When the boss told me that I would be interviewing Jup, I was assuming that we would have a nice sit down after a game with a cold Coors Light. However, when Jup called and told me to meet him at his house I was a bit taken aback. The Cotner Family Estate is not what one would call a convenient trip.

As I make a left out of Waconia heading south, my Tom-Tom starts blurting out, “Columbus was wrong! Columbus was wrong!” It is an eerie feeling when you don’t know where you are or where you are going and you only have enough food in the car for a week. As the road turns from pavement to gravel, the missile silos start dominating the landscape. In the event of a nuclear event, I somehow feel comforted to know that this desolate place will be the first to go.

Unlike his fellow Rubes’, Fear and Bacardio, sprawling estates, Jupiter’s 9000 acres may be vast, but it is also very unassuming. Pulling up the house, Jupiter and his wife, Z, come out to meet me on the unfinished porch.

I look over and see their two lovely daughters playing on their favorite yard apparatus, a propane tank alligator that is painted like a stick of Fruit Stripe gum.

“Glad you could make it. I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding the place”, Z says politely. I thought about describing my GPS unit’s reluctance to allow me to go down this path, but I knew the technology was lost on them. Sitting down on the patio with them makes you see why Jup has lived in this area for as long as he has. It is a quiet and serene place, some would say too quiet, but that is the charm.

Seeing how happy he and his family are, one would wonder why Jup makes the 105 mile round-trip trek once a week just to play hockey for an hour. He is almost always slower than the other team. Typically overmatched when goes into the corners. He has no discernible hockey skills that set him apart from his opponents, or teammates for that matter. Yet, he comes back every week, ready to play the best he can and enjoy the time with his friends.

He tells me that the time and money he spends playing hockey just makes him appreciate it that much more. He has learned to appreciate many things in life, considering the rocky start to him and Z’s life together. They started out with very little and have worked very hard to have the land and family they have.

Their relationship started slow, but soon progressed to the point where Jup planned a special evening out that ended in a very unique wedding proposal. The wedding was small, with just a few close friends and some family. The reception was a little more raucous and saw the bride not only lose her last name, but her dress was last seen on the side of a milk carton.

The first house they moved into was not much to look at, but it provided them the opportunity to move the house anywhere they wanted. “There were many months we had to change our driver’s license so much that they wrote our address in pencil”, revealed Z.

Looking at what they have now, you can see that it was worth it. The house that they are in now was built strictly by Jup’s own hands and was decorated by Z. It is rare when you find two people with such similar tastes.

Their two daughters, Alyssa and Sami are their lives. These have to be the two luckiest girls in the world to have been blessed with their mother’s looks, and not their father’s. To see these two parent is truly something special. Not only do they have a lot of fun with the girls, but they also have very constructive learning time. They also discipline in a very unique, if not illegal, way.

Jupi If it weren’t for the fact that the County does not budget much for travel expenses, Child Services would be paying a visit on a daily basis.

Sitting down to dinner with the Cotner’s, I felt like Andrew Zimmern. Jup assured me that everything on the table was “harvested” from their backyard. It was not what we were eating; squirrel brains, jackalope testicles and scorpion kabobs. It was more the fact that everything on the table was caught by the kids. At an early age, Jup and Z teach the girls that they need to be productive members of the family. A role they seem to have taken on wholeheartedly.

Relaxing by a campfire with some of Jup’s fine homemade hooch was just the way to cap off a fabulous day. It was truly a pleasure to be welcomed into Jup & Z’s home and be allowed a peek into a private life that few know. Even though I needed my passport and a couple changes of clothes to get there and back, I will remember this day forever.