In the Dec. 19 edition of the Minot Daily News, it was reported that for the better part of a decade, Byron Mounce has searched far and wide for Minot Americans hockey memorabilia. This past Christmas season, that long hunt finally yielded its intended result.

Mounce, an RV technician who now lives in Denver, Colorado, was able to acquire not one, but two Minot American hockey jerseys. Growing up just outside of Minot, Mounce has fond childhood memories of attending American hockey games, a now defunct junior hockey team that played from 1987 until 1994. Now a hockey official himself, Mounce admits he never thought it would be possible to acquire one jersey, let alone two jerseys from his favorite childhood team.

“There were a few times where I ran into some memorabilia of the Minot Top Guns, but that hockey team was formed right after the Americans were finished,” Mounce says. “That was about as close as I’ve gotten to finding what I was looking for until now.”

The Minot hockey fanatic reveals one of the jerseys he received was worn and autographed by former Americans enforcer Allan Ohrt, who donned the No. 5 Meanwhile, the other jersey, No. 1, was of an unknown player.

Rather than keeping these unique pieces of local sports history for himself, Mounce decided to send the uniforms to his parents, George and Penny, who now reside in Tacoma, Washington. Being that it was Mounce’s mother and father who initiated his passion for hockey, he feels it was fitting to send the classic jerseys as holiday presents.

“My mom and dad have been involved right from the very beginning. From taking me to practice as a kid, and watching all those Americans home games, and even watching me officiate games as an adult, they have been there through it all,” Mounce tells The Minot Daily News. “So I figured what better way to repay them, it was my way of saying thanks.”