Robert Allen Suter (May 16, 1957 – September 9, 2014) was an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

and member of the

Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's ice hockey t ...

1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team who won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. He was the brother of former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) player

Gary Suter Gary Lee Suter (born June 24, 1964) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1985 and 2002. He was a ninth round selection of the Calgary Flames, 180th ove ...

and father of current NHL player

Ryan Suter Ryan Suter (born January 21, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is also the owner of the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He has previ ...

currently playing for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. Another son, Garrett, played for the

University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (UW–Stevens Point or UWSP) is a public university in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1894, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System. UW-Stevens Point grants associ ...

in the

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-o ...

. His nephew Jeremy Dehner is a defenseman with most of his career spent in European professional leagues.

Amateur career

Born in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, Suter attended

Madison East High School Madison East High School is one of four comprehensive four-year high schools in Madison, Wisconsin. It was established in 1922, making it the oldest public high school still operating in Madison. The school mascot is "Peppy Purgolder", an animal ...

. He played college hockey at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

and was a member of the 1977

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

hockey champion

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

. He was mostly noted for his rough play, setting several Badger records for penalty minutes before leaving in 1979. He initially joined the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tulsa ...

under a tryout contract for a few games in late 1979, but soon joined the 1980 US Olympic hockey team on a full-time basis, where he won the gold medal.

Professional career

Suter was selected with the 120th pick in the

1977 NHL Entry Draft The 1977 NHL amateur draft was the 15th NHL entry draft. It was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. It was notable for the inclusion of players being drafted at 20 years of age. This was the only draft in which the Cleveland Bar ...

by the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and also 58th overall in the 1977

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

draft by the Birmingham Bulls. He rejected Los Angeles' contract offer following the 1980 Olympics, and instead sat out 1980–81 season to become an unrestricted free agent. He came out of retirement in the spring of 1981 to play for the United States team at the 1981

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

tournament in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Suter signed with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

as an unrestricted free agent in 1981, but spent the entire 1981–82 season in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

with the

Nashville South Stars The Nashville South Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League (CHL) for the 1981–82 season. They then played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL) for the 1982–83 season and part of the 1983–84 ...

farm team. He retired in 1982 without playing a single game in the NHL.

Post playing career

Suter returned to Madison after his retirement and opened a sporting goods store called Gold Medal Sports. He also coached youth hockey in Madison after his retirement and became a part-owner and director of Capitol Ice Arena in

Middleton, Wisconsin Middleton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 21,827 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb northwest of Madison, Wisconsin, Madison, it is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Middleton's mo ...

. Ten months after Suter's death the Capitol Ice Arena was renamed in his honor and is now known as "Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena."

Death

Suter died on September 9, 2014, of a heart attack suffered at Capitol Ice Arena. He was the first player from the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to die. In July 2015, Capitol Ice Arena was renamed as ''Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena'' in his memory.

In popular culture

Suter was not featured in a

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

TV movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team called ''Miracle on Ice'', except in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony. In the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

'', he is portrayed by Pete Duffy.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and achievements

* 1980 Olympics Gold Medal

References

External links

*
Bob Suter's hockeydraftcentral.com bio

Bob Suter: #20, a brief history of Bob, Gary and Ryan Suter

Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suter, Bob 1957 births 2014 deaths 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team American men's ice hockey defensemen Birmingham Bulls draft picks Ice hockey people from Madison, Wisconsin Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Los Angeles Kings draft picks Madison East High School alumni Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Minnesota Wild scouts Nashville South Stars players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Sportspeople from Middleton, Wisconsin Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players