Robert Allen Suter (May 16, 1957 – September 9, 2014) was an American ice hockey defenseman and member of the U.S. national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
He was the brother of former National Hockey League (NHL) player Gary Suter and father of current NHL unrestricted free agent Ryan Suter who last played for the St. Louis Blues. Another son, Garrett, played for the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. His nephew Jeremy Dehner is a defenseman with most of his career spent in European professional leagues.
Career Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Suter attended Madison East High School. He played college hockey at University of Wisconsin–Madison and was a member of the 1977 NCAA hockey champion Wisconsin Badgers. 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 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, winning the gold medal.
Suter was selected with the 120th pick in the 1977 NHL entry draft by the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL and also 58th overall in the 1977 World Hockey Association 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 Championships in Stockholm. Suter signed with the Minnesota North Stars as an unrestricted free agent in 1981, but spent the entire 1981–82 season in the Central Hockey League with the Nashville South Stars 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. 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. 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 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 Disney film Miracle, he is portrayed by Pete Duffy.
Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1972–73 Madison East High School HS-WI — — — — — — — — — — 1973–74 Madison East High School HS-WI — — — — — — — — — — 1974–75 Madison East High School HS-WI — — — — — — — — — — 1975–76 University of Wisconsin WCHA 37 3 13 16 60 — — — — — 1976–77 University of Wisconsin WCHA 38 3 15 18 107 — — — — — 1977–78 University of Wisconsin WCHA 42 5 20 25 105 — — — — — 1978–79 University of Wisconsin WCHA 40 16 28 44 105 — — — — — 1978–79 Tulsa Oilers CHL 7 0 3 3 8 — — — — — 1979–80 American National Team Intl 31 7 11 18 61 — — — — — 1981–82 Nashville South Stars CHL 79 12 21 33 160 3 0 2 2 11 WCHA totals 157 27 76 103 377 — — — — —
International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1980 United States OLY 7 0 0 0 6 Senior totals 7 0 0 0 6
Awards and achievements Award Year All-WCHA Second Team 1978–79
Gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics
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