Latest news with #Halverson
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New Levitt season includes 2 nights of Brulé
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The 2025 season lineup is out for Levitt at the Falls. This year offers two opportunities to see a fan favorite. Vote for South Dakota's best beef burger Native American music group Brulé holds the record for the highest-attended concert at Levitt at the Falls. 'A few years ago we had them on the lawn and it was too packed. We almost had 10,000 people here and we just felt like that wasn't a great experience to really be able to enjoy the band as people should,' Levitt at the Falls President and CEO Nancy Halverson said. This year the group will perform two nights in July. 'So I think it will give people a chance to come really see Brulé and enjoy the beautiful costumes, the beautiful music,' Halverson said. The nonprofit encourages people to choose only one Brulé show to attend. Levitt listeners may also enjoy some familiar tunes this season. The Levitt is adding a Throwback genre, which includes covers with an original twist. 'So for example, we have a band coming called the Talking Dreads, and this is an artist who worked with the Talking Heads, but he's a reggae artist, so he's taken their music and made it their own,' Halverson said. As the Levitt gears up to host 50 free concerts this year, it's putting out a call for more volunteers. 'Every time we do a concert, all of those 50 concerts, we have about 20 volunteers who are a part of our team on the lawn, who greet patrons, help us sell concessions, who really just help us make the concerts happen. And with all the growth in our neighborhood we have some new entrances this year with the Sioux Steel District next door,' Levitt at the Falls VP of Programming Rose Ann Hofland said. The season kicks off May 23rd with Grammy-nominated Divinity Roxx, who has played bass for Beyonce. 'Every year it just gets bigger and better and more exciting and the support of our community has been incredible,' Halverson said. Click here for the full season lineup. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
From UberEats driver to NHL goalie: Inside the unlikeliest start in hockey history
Three years ago, Brandon Halverson had all but given up on his hockey dream. He was delivering UberEats and groceries and working on a farm. He sold his truck. He borrowed money from his parents. Whatever it took to scrape out enough money for rent. Two weeks ago, he stepped into the net with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time as an NHL starter — nearly 11 years after being drafted as a highly touted prospect, and more than seven years after his only other appearance in the league. Advertisement From toiling away with a last-place team in Germany's second division, a tiny club on the verge of relegation that played on an outdoor rink in below-freezing temperatures, to begging a coach in North America's third-rung ECHL for a training camp tryout, a final Hail-Mary shot at his dream. Through numerous injuries, several of which required surgery, and wondering multiple times whether he had reached the end of his career. Through tough talks, and tears, and mental health struggles. His path to that start for the Lightning might be one of the most improbable in hockey history. 'It's been a very long road,' said Halverson, who turned 29 last weekend. 'I'm just happy that after all of everything that I've gone through that I was able to start a game (in the NHL). That was the goal in my mind this entire time, was to get that actual start.' Halverson was 9 when he knew he wanted to be a goalie. He grew up in a working-class family in Traverse City, Mich., where his father, Paul, — a former boxer — put in hard early morning hours as a construction worker. When the city landed an NAHL junior team in 2005, the Halversons decided to billet players. The first to stay with them was Jeremy Kaleniecki, a 19-year-old goalie who quickly became Halverson's idol and surrogate big brother. They played countless games of mini sticks with balls of tape in the living room when they weren't on the ice. Kaleniecki nicknamed Halverson 'Fuzz Ball' after his mess of blonde hair. While Kaleniecki's playing career ended after that season, leading him to become a local goalie coach, Halverson's took off. He rapidly grew into a gangly 6-foot-4 teenager and used the athletic aggressive moves he had picked up from his much smaller billet brother to attract the attention of professional scouts. In June 2014 Halverson was drafted by the New York Rangers with the penultimate pick of the second round — higher than current starting NHL goalies Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin and Elvis Merzlikins — despite having only 19 games of experience at the major-junior level. Advertisement Halverson's stock continued to rise over the next two seasons; in 2014-15, he won 40 games to help the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds to the OHL's best regular-season record before they lost in the playoffs to Connor McDavid's powerhouse Erie Otters. He also made the United States' world junior team in consecutive years, winning a bronze medal in early 2016 alongside the next generation of American stars in Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Zach Werenski. Later that year, at age 19, Halverson signed an NHL entry-level contract to join the Rangers, an Original Six franchise, with a $92,500 signing bonus. He had made it. But he wasn't prepared for what came next. 'It was so much so soon for him,' Kaleniecki says now. The transition to minor-league hockey is often brutal, between the punishing bus rides, packed game schedule and low pay. It's a meat grinder of a system that leaves many young players behind, whether through cuts or demotions to even lower levels. When Halverson turned pro in 2016, the Rangers were a perennial contender team with future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist leading the way. They didn't hesitate to bring in hardened veteran goalies to challenge their kids for minutes, making for a very competitive environment in the minors. As one of the youngest goalies in his first pro season, Halverson had some tough games early with the Hartford Wolf Pack, to the point he ended up getting sent down to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL for most of the next two seasons. He struggled with the adversity and conditions, to the point that his mental health took a turn for the worse. At one point, Kaleniecki was concerned enough to hop on a plane to South Carolina to help. 'You take somebody who's a high prospect who needs just some fostering and development,' Kalenicki said, explaining that in the ECHL goalies often don't have a dedicated coach to work with them. 'Then you compound that with adding in multiple competitors all vying for the same thing. And it kind of becomes a toxic environment. You know, toxic mentally.' In his third season, Halverson ended up hurting his knee. He tried to play through it, rather than miss time, but he lost his spot to older, more experienced goalies. He now realizes how much he was struggling, but he explains that he didn't reach out to the team or league for help, believing he could tough out the challenges as he had in junior. Advertisement 'I knew there was some sort of thing you can call and reach out for (help),' Halverson said, referring to a players-only phone line operated by the Professional Hockey Players' Association, the union that represents minor-league players. 'But I was just like, 'I know what I have to do.' Even though I'm incredibly depressed.' By the end of his three-year, entry-level contract, Halverson had played 50 games in the AHL, 63 in the ECHL, and only 13 minutes with the Rangers as a mid-game fill-in for Lundqvist in February 2017 after another goalie forgot his passport and missed the initial call-up. At age 23, New York cut him loose. Halverson's next few years are a blur for him now. There were more injuries, including a badly broken wrist that cost him a full season. More thrilling call-ups and heartbreaking cuts. More packing up his life and moving to a new city only to once again return home to an existence of odd jobs and unpaid bills. In 2019-20, with his ECHL club toiling in last place and the AHL seeming further away than ever, Halverson decided to leave midseason for mental health reasons. At that point, his father met with him for a heart-to-heart to discuss whether the toll was worth it. 'Are you sure you want to keep doing this?' his father asked. 'He was only saying that because he's being a good dad,' Halverson recalled later. 'Just advising me what he thinks is best. I was like, 'Dad, it just eats away at me. It's on my mind all the time, every single day. I've gotten in my car at work, all I could think about was playing in an NHL game. I don't think my body and my mind can rest until this happens. I'm gonna keep going forward.'' That led to nearly two years away to heal his body and mind. After separate surgeries on both his knee and wrist, Halverson tried to make money however he could, delivering UberEats meals and groceries. He also took shifts at a friend's farm where, with one arm in a cast, he helped build a barn and tended the greenhouse. Advertisement Meanwhile, to get ice time, he started training beer-league goalies at 11 p.m. on Wednesdays — including some who were still learning to skate. Prior to the 2022-23 season, Halverson received a tryout offer from a team in Germany's top division. He flew overseas and the team ran some tests on his battered body. They indicated they intended to give him a contract, Halverson recalled, to the point that he turned down a competing offer from a British Elite Ice Hockey League squad. When the German team then cut him before he had played a game, he suddenly had nowhere to go. Five thousand miles from home, Halverson broke down sobbing. 'I've never done that before,' he said. 'It's just always been one thing after another in my career. I never could stick it with New York. I never could stick it anywhere else. And there was always something happening, something happening. And when they told me that, my whole body just fell apart and I just wasn't doing good.' That was how he ended up in Bayreuth, a German city of 74,000 an hour north of Nuremberg. The pay was paltry, he couldn't even play some games due to league rules limiting the number of import players, and the second-division team was relegated due to financial issues at the end of the 2022-23 season. Really, it was the end of the line in pro hockey. But hockey was all he had. 'That was quite a different world for me,' Halverson said. 'In my head, I'm just like, 'This is gonna make for a great story.' So I just kept working hard and put my head down.' When Halverson returned home to Traverse City in summer 2023, he was desperate to find ice wherever he could. Kaleniecki helped, bringing him out to skates in Michigan. So did Jon Elkin, a well-known NHL goalie coach who had worked with Halverson in junior. Halverson also called the Orlando Solar Bears' Matt Carkner, one of many minor-league coaches who had cut him in the past, and said he wanted a chance to attend camp and beat out their two incumbent goalies. Advertisement He told the Solar Bears staff this would be his last attempt to play pro. It was this or retirement. 'He was the hardest worker every single day. And with his ability, his size, his work ethic in preparation, he clearly earned his opportunity to sign with us,' Orlando goalie coach Nathan Craze said, recalling how intensely Halverson dug into video sessions of Solars Bears practices and their upcoming opponents. 'But the biggest thing for me was he really found the love of playing again.' And he started to win. After a successful first few months, Halverson was called up on a tryout deal to the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning's AHL affiliate. A late-November shutout — his first ever at that level — got the team's attention, earning him an AHL contract. By the end of the 2023-24 season, Halverson had posted a 7-3-3 record with a .913 save percentage for Syracuse and, more incredibly, started for the team during the AHL playoffs. This season, he has continued to justify the Crunch's faith in giving him their No. 1 job, going 17-10-8 with a .913 save percentage in 36 appearances. In January, he was named an AHL All-Star. A month later, the Lightning signed him to a two-year, two-way NHL contract that guarantees him $300,000 next season. It's a long way from where he was even two years ago, when he couldn't secure a league minimum $575-a-week offer in the ECHL. Halverson credits his parents, Paul and Jennifer, and a newfound close relationship with God for helping get him here. He also knows he couldn't have done it without his big billet brother, who watched him get his first NHL start against Utah HC last week with a lump in his throat. Little Fuzz Ball had done it. 'To be honest, I think that's probably the most nervous and excited I've been for anything in hockey in my life,' Kaleniecki said. 'It's somebody that is truly family. And you've seen the struggles. You've been a part of it with them … you know what they've gone through. It was hard to hold (the emotions) in. It's just one of the coolest moments in my life in hockey.' After being named a 2025 AHL All-Star, Brandon Halverson was signed to an NHL contract by the Tampa Bay Lightning. On March 22, he made his first NHL start against the Utah Hockey Club. — Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) March 29, 2025 The game didn't go the way Halverson wanted, as he allowed five goals in a 6-4 loss in Salt Lake City. Despite the outcome, though, Halverson's phone blew up with congratulatory messages throughout the night. One of the texts was from Craze, who told Halverson to be proud of where he had come from, and how far he had come. 'That's something no one can ever take away from you,' he wrote. 'And this is only the start.' Advertisement Halverson knows nothing is guaranteed for him with the Lightning. His start last week was to cover for backup Jonas Johansson, who was away from the team for family reasons, so he knew his NHL stay wouldn't be a long one. But after everything he's been through, he feels ready for what's next. 'I try not to think about what's gonna happen,' Halverson said over the phone last week. 'I'm here another day. Great. If I'm leaving tomorrow, great. I get to go down and get back to work and play whatever game I'm gonna be in next. So I'm just happy and thankful.' The very next day, Halverson was reassigned to Syracuse. His first start back? A 1-0 shutout, his fifth of the season. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic. Photos: Dave Reginek / NHLI via Getty Images, Peter Creveling / Imagn Images)
Reuters
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Logan Cooley, Alex Kerfoot lead Utah HC over Lightning
March 23 - Logan Cooley had two goals and an assist and Alex Kerfoot also scored twice to lead the Utah Hockey Club to a 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City. Nick Schmaltz added a goal and two assists, John Marino had two assists and Josh Doan scored for Utah (32-27-11, 75 points), which won for the seventh time in its last nine home games. Karel Vejmelka -- making his 13th consecutive start in goal -- finished with 22 saves for Utah HC, who remain four points behind St. Louis for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Brayden Point scored two goals, Jake Guentzel had a goal and two assists and Anthony Cirelli also scored for Tampa Bay (40-24-5, 85 points) which had its three-game winning streak snapped. In his first NHL start and second career appearance, Brandon Halverson stopped 19 of 24 shots for the Lightning. Utah jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Doan, who rammed in a Jack McBain pass from behind the net, and Cooley, who tapped in a rebound after Halverson made a pad save on a Michael Kesselring breakaway. Tampa Bay cut the deficit to 2-1 near the end of the period when Point, left alone in front of the net, slammed in a Guentzel pass for his 14th power-play goal of the season. The Lightning tied it, 2-2, at the 5:22 mark of the second period on a one-timer from the slot by Cirelli, but Utah regained the lead just 36 seconds later when Kerfoot, alone by the right post, tapped in a Kevin Stenlund crossing pass. Tampa Bay tied it up, 3-3, late in the second period when Guentzel deflected Nick Perbix's shot from the right circle. But Utah once again answered quickly, this time just 30 seconds later, when Cooley redirected a Marino shot to give the home team a 4-3 lead. Schmaltz extended the Utah lead to 5-3 early in the third period with a rebound goal, but Point answered with his second goal of the game, redirecting Ryan McDonagh's shot from the left point. Utah picked up a penalty for too many men with 2:09 to go and Halverson was pulled for another extra attacker to give the Lightning a 6-on-4 power play, but Kerfoot sealed the win with a short-handed empty-netter with 56 seconds to go.
CBS News
25-02-2025
- General
- CBS News
Minnesota World War II veteran turns 102, honored by fellow soldiers
Many of the soldiers on the front lines in World War II are no longer with us. But one of those veterans, born and raised in south Minneapolis, turned 102 on Feb. 24. Technical Sergeant Don Halverson celebrated the rare birthday with his fellow soldiers on Monday at the Red Bull 34th Infantry Division in Arden Hills. Halverson still remembers his time fighting in the war with the Red Bulls in Italy in the early 1940s. His team spent the most consecutive days in combat than any other unit in the army — a record that still holds today. While many of Halverson's friends died in the war, he says he feels lucky he returned home to Minnesota. "Someone upstairs was looking after me. [I ended up] with a bullet hole through my canteen, cut up my bed full of shrapnel, cut my shoes, but never touched my body," said Halverson. Since being back home, Halverson often spends time with his fellow Red Bull soldiers and supports them in their efforts. So they felt it fitting to surprise him with a huge honor on his 102nd birthday by knighting him with the Order of St. George Bronze Medallion. "I didn't expect it, but nice to get it," said Halverson. At 102, Halverson still has his sense of humor. He used the sword he was knighted with to cut his cake and share it amongst his comrads. For the soldiers in this room for his birthday celebration, Halverson is not only a war survivor, but also someone they look up to. "To see him helps us remember where we came from and the high level of expectations that are required from us that we have to achieve, because we don't want to let Don or his generation down," said Lieutenant Colonel Peter Rampaart, 1st Squadron, 94th Cavalry Commander with the Minnesota National Guard. "[I'm] darn lucky. You got to enjoy each day because there's no guarantee on tomorrow," said Halverson. Halverson and his late wife, Bernice, were married for 62 years before she passed. They had three kids together.
