Sunday, August 28, 2011

EHL Vet Wayne Caufield to Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame

EHL veteran Wayne Caufield will be inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame on September 10, 2011.

Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame


Wayne played left wing for the Eastern Hockey League Philadelphia Ramblers, Jersey Devils, Long Island Ducks, Syracuse Blazers, Greensboro Generals and the Salem Rebels between 1963 and 1970. Caufield was player-coach of the Syracuse Blazers during their first season of 1967-68.

In November of 1972, Wayne, and wife Eileen, moved to Milwaukee, where Wayne became player-coach of the original Milwaukee Admirals. He played the Admirals first 5 seasons.

Continuing on from the Wisconsin Hall of Fame site...
During this period, Caufield became involved with Milwaukee SHAW, where his son began playing in 1973. For the next 16 years, Caufield coached both house and travel teams from mites through high school, and won the State Tournaments in 1984 for high school and 1986 for midgets. During this time, Caufield conducted annual hockey clinics for more than 25 years at State Fair Park and Wilson Park Arenas.

While continuing to play as an adult in the Men’s Metro Milwaukee Hockey Association, Caufield also coached the Milwaukee Flyers Hockey Club in 1988-89. In 1989, he became the association coach for Pius XI High school and continued through the 1992-93 season.

Caufield continues to follow and support youth hockey, and for the past 10 years, he has been an active member of the Greendale Lions Club as a board member and volunteer.

Caufield and his wife Eileen have two sons, Paul (Kelly) and Ryan (Rhiannon), and five grandchildren.

The induction ceremony will take place in Eagle River, WI on Saturday, September 10. The event includes a golf tournament, banquet and the ceremonies. It is open to the public.


Wayne and Eileen still live in Wisconsin. Here's an update from Eileen...

"Our family is still MUCH involved in ice hockey. Our son, Paul, still holds the all time high scoring records at UW-Stevens Point, is in their Hall of Fame, from back in early 90's. Our grandson, Cole Caufield, age 10, just broke the scoring record at The Brick Novice Hockey Tournament held in Edmonton, Alberta each July 4th (it's the only 10 year old tournament in the world and this past July it was in it's 22nd year). So, hockey is still a very big part of the Caufield family and going on 3 generations now..."

Wayne Caufield's stats at hockeydb.com: http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=11508

Friday, August 5, 2011

Ken Grabeldinger, 1950s Clinton Comets, Still a Rink Rat in Alabama

Here's an update on Ken Grabeldinger who played center with Clinton Comets, New Haven Blades and Johnstown Jets in the mid 1950s.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/08/zamboni_driver_ken_grabeldinge.html

Zamboni driver Ken Grabeldinger has cool job on hot days at Pelham ice rink
Published: Thursday, August 04, 2011, 9:30 AM


PELHAM, Alabama -- Whether it's winter or blazing hot outside, Ken Grabeldinger has one of the coolest jobs around.
The 78-year-old Shelby County man and former professional hockey player drives a Zamboni -- an ice rink resurface machine -- as part of his job as assistant supervisor of the Pelham Civic Complex's two skating rinks.
...
"What a great place to work," Grabeldinger said with a smile Wednesday.
On an average day Grabeldinger will resurface rink ice four or five times using a Zamboni. The complex has two Zambonis, one for each rink. On a busy day it may take a dozen times.
Grabeldinger has been driving ice resurfacing machines nearly 50 years and has been around ice rinks longer than that.
A native of Saskatoon, a city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Grabeldinger started playing hockey when he was 5 or 6 years old.
Grabeldinger said that in 1964 he took a job managing the Clinton Arena rink in Clinton, N.Y., where he had spent part of his time with one of the farm teams. He left that job in 1985.
...
A former hockey player, he says he worked on the 4th Zamboni in the USA which was built on a Jeep frame.
... Read Full Article: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/08/zamboni_driver_ken_grabeldinge.html
Photo Gallery: http://photos.al.com/4461/gallery/zamboni_driver_has_cool_job_on_hot_days/index.html
Stats at hockeydb.com: http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=12973 (though, I'd be a little skeptical about the 24 pts and 6 PIM in 5 games in 1957-58.)