Knuble helps U.S. beat Latvia

When the United States beat Latvia 3-1 in the World Hockey Championships in Austria earlier this month, it was a bittersweet moment for Brewer’s Vits Knuble.

His nephew, former Boston Bruin winger Mike Knuble, was playing for the United States against the country in which he and his late brother Aivars, Mike’s father, were born.

“It felt like I completed the whole circle. It was our old country. My brother would have never dreamed his son would be showing up in a USA jersey to play Latvia,” said Knuble.

Aivars, Vits and their mother, Julianna, emigrated to Bangor in 1951. They left war-ravaged Latvia in the fall of 1944 and lived in Germany before moving to Bangor.

“We were sponsored by the [Barry] Ivers family through the Brewer Methodist Church,” explained Vits. “The United States recruited my brother and me. At that time, the U.S. was looking for healthy European males to fill the immigrant quota. They didn’t want to fill them with men from Third World countries. We lived with the Ivers family in Brewer for a week before we found a small apartment in Bangor. Our mom went to work for the Viner Shoe factory. I was in second grade and my brother was in fourth.”

Their mother spoke English but the boys didn’t.

“But we picked it up quickly,” said Vits.

Both Knubles went on to become athletes at Bangor High School.

“My brother was the captain of the basketball team. He played for Red Barry. I swam for the original Bangor High School swim team. Barry Twitchell was the coach,” said Knuble.

His brother went on to graduate from Bangor’s Husson College, where he played basketball for Del Merrill, and then landed a job with Steelcase Inc., in Grand Rapids, Mich., a company that manufactures steel and wood office furniture. Vits went into the service, where he became a Green Beret and served in Vietnam. He retired after 30 years and is a well-known portrait artist in the Bangor area.

Mike Knuble was a fourth round draft choice of Detroit in 1991 and played four years at the University of Michigan, registering 103 goals and 72 assists in 157 games.

Knuble played in that memorable 4-3 triple-overtime loss to Maine in the Frozen Four semifinals at the Providence Civic Center in 1995.

“I didn’t know what to do. I was a Maine fan and a friend of Shawn’s [coach Shawn Walsh]. Mike clanged two off the goalposts in overtime. It just wasn’t meant to be for him,” said Knuble. “I felt bad for Maine the next day [a 6-2 loss to BU in the final]. They didn’t have any legs.”

Sadly, Vits pointed out that his brother never had a chance to see Mike play in college.

“He died during Mike’s senior year in high school of a heart attack,” said Vits.

His nephew, who is 32, has had a productive NHL career. He was on Detroit’s Stanley Cup championship team in 1997-98 and has 101 goals and 107 assists in 510 games. His best year came in 2002-2003 with Boston when he had 30 goals and 29 assists in 75 games.

“He has always had tremendous coordination. He’s a scratch golfer. When he was two years old, he could ride a bike, eat a popsicle and fly a kite at the same time,” said Vits, who made several trips to the FleetCenter during his nephew’s four and a half seasons with Boston.

Knuble, who is now the property of the Philadelphia Flyers, had 26 goals and 13 assists in 49 games for Linkopings HC in the Swedish Elite League this past season while the NHL had its work stoppage.

Knuble described his nephew as “very friendly and outgoing. He’s a good kid and he’s smart. He was a honor student at Michigan. Coaches like him and his teammates like him. Once he’s on the ice, he’s totally focused.”

Entering Thursday’s 10:15 a.m. quarterfinal against the Czech Republic, Knuble was tied for the team lead in points with six and in goals with four.

Vits Knuble said seeing his nephew in a Team USA uniform for the fourth time in his career (1995, 1999, 2001 and 2005) is what he is most proud of.

“Pro sports is pro sports. But I take very special pride in seeing a Knuble wearing a USA jersey. This is different. I wish his dad was here,” said Vits.