In 1963, he helped start the Central Hockey League, which turned into one of the more successful minor professional hockey leagues of that era. He was also instrumental in bringing National Hockey League hockey to his home state with the Minnesota North Stars as a minority owner. As the president of USA Hockey for nearly two decades, he was instrumental in the efforts that brought women’s hockey into the Olympic program in 1998. He assumed in June of 2003 the position of USA Hockey’s chairman of the board, a position he was still holding in May of 2009.