He still had a love for hockey and a zest to compete.Īnd then, at age 31, a second opportunity came calling. He played various levels of men’s hockey as the years passed and he entered adulthood and the business world. While he was able to experience a state tournament, there was still plenty of unfinished business on the ice. “Our first line could’ve beaten over half of the teams at the varsity level in the entire state,” Gibbs joked. Like many kids who don’t make the high school varsity, Gibbs opted for the Junior Gold team that eventually went on to state and beat Edina in overtime to win the state tournament. It was 1990, and the Pioneers were loaded with talented players like Craig Johnson and Tony Gruba.
“Growing up in Minnesota and playing hockey, you dream big,” said Gibbs.īut after toiling on junior varsity for two years, Gibbs found out he didn’t make the cut his senior year. Paul Civic Center where he grew up watching and idolizing the players who came before him.
It seemed like the logical choice for Gibbs, a talented skater looking to someday lace them up at the historic St. Gibbs attended Hill-Murray High School where he hoped to make a team that every year is destined to reach the state tournament. But it didn’t stop Gibbs of pursuing his dreams on the ice. None of those specific dreams came to fruition. He wanted to one day play in the state tournament, then for the Minnesota Gophers and then in the NHL. Ross Gibbs was no different than any other hockey-playing kid growing up in Minnesota in the 1970s and 80s.