Hansen, who skated for Grand Forks Red River during his high school career, later became an assistant coach at Red River. Then, in 1984, he moved to Watford City where there was absolutely no hockey.

Local resident Arden Berg was aware of Hansen's Red River resume' and asked if he would be interested in teaching kids how to play hockey if a rink could be established. Hansen quickly agreed, an 80-foot by 184-foot rink was built. He has been involved ever since.

Likewise, Berg has been there every step of the way, according to a humble Hansen.

"He's been instrumental the whole time," Hansen said. "He just loves doing stuff for the kids."

Today, Hansen is the head coach of the Watford City Junior Gold team (high school ages) and is a coordinator for the McKenzie County Hockey Club. The team that started as a local park district program in 1985 with 14 kids, now boasts about 120 participants with another 50 to 60 enrolled in the McKenzie County Figure Skaters Club.

"There was one team that first year and we played three games, all against Sidney (Mont.)," Hansen said. "They were starting out. They were totally inexperienced and I taught the kids to skate. But they had ambition."

Hansen, who proudly displays a photograph of that inaugural Watford City Oilers team in his office, as well as every team since, said those kids also skated with the handicap of playing games and practicing outdoors.

"If the first group would have had a facility, they would have been as good as any other team," he said. "They played their entire careers outdoors."

In fact, it wasn't until the winter of '95-'96 that Watford City got an indoor arena. That five-year plan was accelerated to two years, thanks to members of the community who had the same goals in mind as Hansen.

"The indoor ice guaranteed us practice time and that was huge," Hansen said. "Before that, we were relying on Mother Nature and maybe we could have practice once a week. With indoor ice, we get three practices a week and there is a lot of public skating. It really made our program numbers grow."

The McKenzie County Hockey Club now has termite, mite, squirt, pee wee, bantam, girls and junior gold teams.

"Keene, Grassy Butte, Arnegard and Watford City  a couple of Mandaree kids have played," Hansen said. "It's open to anyone in the area."

But Hansen's experience helped build solid teams even before the indoor arena was built. In 1989, the program joined the amateur association and became eligible for tournaments in 1990. By the spring of 1993, the Watford City pee wee team was the first in town to take a state title.

"This town is loaded with athletes and if you give them the opportunity, they'll rise to the top," Hansen said. "They set goals and achieve."

Hansen's personal satisfaction comes from not only watching the competition, but instilling a work ethic and teaching honesty.

"I like to see the kids compete and develop and mature into young adults and go on to the next level. That's why I coach junior gold," he said. "A lot of talented boys will push it to the next level. But it's not all about playing hockey."

As a matter of fact, this past season, two of his players, Jamal Wold and Scott Samuelson, made the prestigious Chicago Showcase roster, which is a group of high school all-stars from North Dakota who play in an annual national tournament in Chicago.

"But you know who my favorite kid is?" Hansen asked. "It's my son, Ryan. He was the best defenseman I had. He really came out of his shell as senior."

Ryan Hansen was named all-state defenseman for the 2004-2005 season and became an alternate to the Chicago Showcase.

In addition, Micah Nordby, who played on the girls team, is the first player in the Watford City program to skate for a major U.S. college team. She will be a senior this year at the University of Wisconsin.

"That's what we want to see as coaches," Hansen said. "We want to see them rewarded for their dedication and hard work."

On the other hand, getting coaches to commit is not always as "natural" as it is for the players. Hansen admits it takes a lot of time through the season and based on Watford City's proximity to other teams, there's a lot of weekend travel. For instance, Mayville, Fargo, Grand Forks and Langdon are all teams that Watford City plays on a regular basis.

"There's times it's tough to get a coaching staff," Hansen said. "We're doing it for the love of the game. It's a volunteer thing."

As an example, Hansen is involved in hockey six days a week during the season, perhaps seven. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, he spends 90 minutes each day conducting practice. The team plays its games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The season starts in November and ends in March.

"On Wednesdays  that's my night off from coaching, but I might be down sharpening skates," Hansen said. "But I can't imagine a winter without it. That would be a long winter. I cannot even fathom that."

Hansen also maintains his full-time job managing the local Cenex service station in Watford City.

"I think all coaches look forward to the end of the season even with really good teams, we look forward to it," Hansen said. "But by two weeks after the season, you look forward to the next season."

There's also the fans  the parents, who Hansen thanks many times over for their relentless support of their kids' desires to play hockey.

"The parents in Watford City are very dedicated," Hansen said. "Last year there was $2.50-a-gallon gas and they're right along with the kids. It's not a cheap sport. They love it and the kids love it. I always say hockey's addictive."

Part of that lasting interest for parents is in the annual alumni game that is held during the Christmas season. All the parents of former players come back and the game is used as a fundraiser, which Hansen said fetches $1,500 to $1,800 a year to be put back into the franchise coffers.

"Pretty much every parent steps in, so if there's 120 kids, there's twice that many volunteers to keep the costs down," Hansen said. "Every parent has contributed."

As an example, four parents are Zamboni drivers, others sell concessions, still others take tickets, and of course, some are coaches.

To demonstrate how important hockey has become to the Watford City community, Hansen said his golf partner, Roland Heiser, used to tell him that he wouldn't let his kid play hockey. But Heiser's son has been playing three years now and Heiser has become one of the Zamboni drivers and helps sharpen skates.

Gary Thorsen is another local resident who Hansen said has been an important part in the building of the program. He said Thorsen, a former city council member, was very helpful leading up to the building of the indoor arena. Hansen said Thorsen was very organized and was actually the secretary of the hockey board at the time.

"We had a five-year plan on the building and I believe Gary pushed it through in two years," Hansen said. "He was very big in that. He still comes to games sometimes. He was tournament manager two years ago when we had a state tournament. When we get in a bind, he's been there for us."

Hansen, who received junior gold Coach of the Year honors for the 2001-2002 season, attributes the success of the program to the entire community. Yes, he admits he is a sparkplug for Watford City hockey, but without the others, the players, the coaches, the parents, the benefactors, there wouldn't be a program.

"I was there at the start, but there have been a lot of people instrumental in the success of the program," Hansen said.

Hansen admits people have asked him if he plans to retire from coaching hockey in the near future. He doesn't give a direct answer, but indicates he's too involved, and the talent is getting too good to walk away from it.

According to Hansen, four years ago there were two or three solid teams and the rest were often beaten by up to a dozen goals in a game. Since that time, the wins and losses are much tighter, mostly by one, two or three goals. And it's not goon hockey. He said there aren't near the penalties he once observed and attributed the better brand to skill, indicating you can't score goals if you are in the penalty box.

"As far as junior gold hockey, we've got as much talent as anyone," Hansen said. "We've been third place four years in a row and I thought we should have been champs two years in a row. In the past couple of years, the parity in this league is the best it's ever been. You better be ready to play. That's what's really made it fun."