CBC coach Jost among inductees for 2017 into St. Louis Amateur Hockey Hall of Fame
CBC coach John Jost became the latest member of his family to be inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Hockey Hall of Fame.
Jost, a CBC graduate, went into the hall as a coach in the recent 2017 induction ceremony.
The 10th annual St. Louis Amateur Hockey Hall of Fame dinner was held at the St. Louis City Center Hotel.
Other members of the 2017 inductee class Jeff Brown, coach; Greg Gawrys, builder; Cam Janssen, player; Chris Rogles, player, Diana Schaefering, builder; and Larry Thatcher, builder.
“It was a pretty special night,” Jost said. “It was a quite a group that went in and I was honored to be a part of it.”
Jost is the third member of his family to be inducted. His father Jim Jost Sr., and his brother, Jim Jost Jr., have both been honored. His father was honored in the builder category, while his brother was honored as a contributor.
“My dad is in it so this is something that’s pretty special to me,” Jost said. “My brother (Jim Jost Jr.) is in too as an adminstrator. I’m the third one to get in. My dad was in the first class 10 years ago. That was a very special event to me.
“It was a pretty emotional night for me. My entire family was there. There were a lot of good friends that I have made in hockey there, too. It was just a great night.”
Jost will be entering his 20th season coaching CBC this winter. He has led the Cadets to 12 Challenge Cup championships, including one in each of the last four years. Last year’s squad finished 23-5. The Cadets won 96 of 100 games over the previous three seasons.
The St. Louis Amateur Hockey Hall of Fame was created with the mission of honoring and celebrating those who support, promote and expand amateur hockey throughout the St. Louis region while demonstrating and living the values of leadership, sportsmanship, fairness and integrity.
“I’m very honored to be inducted,” Jost said. “I’m very humbled. It was quite a group to be going in and I’m very proud to be one of them. The Hall has around for 10 years now. There are a lot of good hockey people in it.
He found out last fall he was to be inducted.
“My mother was pretty sick at the time. My brother told me at her house,” Jost recalled. “I read a note from the Hall of Fame committee out loud on Thanksgiving. I got very emotional. It meant a lot. My mom passed away in December so she knew about it. It was very tough not having her for it.”
The ceremony was a good one, Jost said.
“It’s first class all the way. Scott Ruff spearheads the whole thing. They all do a first-class job,” Jost said. “It was a very enjoyable evening. I loved going in the years before. It’s such a neat experience.”
Jost said he kept his acceptance speech “pretty short.” He spoke about the reactions and the special moments he had growing up and playing in the Affton hockey leagues and for CBC.
“I’ve been fortunate have a lot of great memories after I was able to stumble on in the game of hockey,” Jost said. “All my friends come from hockey. My parents put me in it and I’m grateful to them for that.”
Jost played hockey at CBC and graduated in 1984. He played in college at Wisconsin-River Falls. He played two seasons there.
“When I played at River Falls we played against a team coached by Herb Brooks when he was at St. Cloud State at the time,” Jost said. “It wasn’t the greatest playing career for me but I had fun.”
Several of Jost’s current and former players were at the ceremony.
“A lot of my teammates from the Affton organization and guys I played at CBC with were there,” Jost said. “I still play hockey with guys in the morning and we go to Vegas every year. We’re a tight-knit group. It was very touching to me.”
Coaching is important to Jost.
“For me, coaching at CBC is my favorite part of anything related to hockey,” Jost said. “It’s probably the most exciting thing I do is represent CBC. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. That’s No. 1 on my list. Coaching my son (John Jr.) at CBC was extra special. I went into the Hall as a coach and I’m proud of that.”
He believes the Cadets this winter will be competitive again.
“We’ve lost a lot of scoring,” Jost said. “We had good senior forwards that produced a lot of scoring last year and two darn good defensemen also graduated. Now we’re going to move up some JV kids and give others who didn’t get a chance last year to play will do so this year.”
