EHL Franchise History

1954 is the first year that the old Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL) formed in 1933 became known as simply the Eastern Hockey League (EHL), which is the major reason I use that as the starting year for TheEHL.com. (Whereas the EHL 1959-60 yearbook refers to that year as the 25th anniversary of the EHL.) The EAHL shut down for the 1953-54 season, and when it reformed as the EHL, such standard EAHL teams as the Boston Olympics and the Atlantic City Seagulls, and the MSG based New York Rovers were no longer in the league. 1954-55 was the first EHL season of the Clinton Comets and New Haven Blades. The following year, Worcester dropped out and the "modern day" EHL footprint really started with the re-admitance of the Johnstown Jets back from two years in the IHL, the addition of the Philadelphia Ramblers, and Baltimore moving to Charlotte after their arena burned down.

Within that 20 year period, the EHL was a relatively stable league as minor leagues go. Most of the franchise movement was in the first two years and the last two years. There were 17 total "new" franchises, of which two only lasted 1 year and both were experiments of sorts. The 1954-55 Worcester Warriors were allegedly the old Boston Olympics franchise. However, they were also an attempt to see how a team of local US amateurs would fare up against teams of mostly Canadians. Their main purpose was to fill a spot in the league, so that the other teams could fill out their schedules for that year. The 1964-65 NY Rovers were created as a test of having a development team at MSG for the Rangers. In the end, the development was deemed a success, but the cost of running the franchise was deemed not.

Below is a list of "new" franchises, and where they moved to. It's possible that all of these moves were not exact franchise shifts. In the case of the Jersey Larks moving to Knoxville, I've seen it written as the Jersey franchise being discontinued and at the same time Knoxville starting, and I've seen it written as a straight franchise shift. Since the GM, Ray Miron, and most of the players remained the same (even back from the Washington Presidents), I list that as all one franchise.

On the other hand, the Suncoast Suns appeared at the same time the Nashville Dixie Flyers disbanded. They were clearly a new franchise, though at least in their first exhibition game wore the old Nashville pants. They also received a lot of Nashville players, but this was after Greensboro had purchased all the Nashville players and then sold the players they didn't want from the combined Nashville/Greensboro rosters to Suncoast.

Simple name changes were the Charlotte Clippers becoming the Checkers, the Washington Lions becoming the Presidents, and the NY Rovers becoming the Long Island Ducks. If like me you saw the Charlotte Clippers being as silly as the Hartford Whalers - nautical names for land based cities - know that there was actually a minor league football Charlotte Clippers that played all through the 40s.

The Salem Rebels became Roanoke Valley when they started splitting their home games at the Roanoke Civic Center. Likewise, the Jacksonville Rockets became the Florida Rockets for several seasons, playing part of their home schedules in West Palm Beach and St. Petersburg. They later reverted back to just Jacksonville.

No team played a full schedule of games every season in the same city. Clinton played a partial season in 1954-55, while also playing in the Eastern Ontario League that year. Johnstown was in the IHL for the 1954-55 season. New Haven was forced out of town to Springfield, MA for the 1972-73 season, but the New England Blades folded by Thanksgiving. The Baltimore/Charlotte franchise played full schedules every year, but were not in the same location.

The most franchises in any year was 12, in both 1967-68 and 1972-73.

1954-55
Baltimore Clippers (1954-55) -> Charlotte Clippers (1956-60)-> Charlotte Checkers (1960-73)
Clinton Comets (1954-73)
New Haven Blades (1954-1972) -> New England Blades (1972)
Washington Lions -> Washington Presidents (1957-60)-> Jersey Larks (1960-61)-> Knoxville Knights (1961-68)
Worcester Warriors (1954-55)

1955-56
Johnstown Jets (1955-73)
Philadelphia Ramblers (1955-64) -> Jersey Devils (1964-73)

1959-60
Greensboro Generals (1959-73)
New York Rovers/Long Island Ducks (1959-61/1961-73)

1962-63
Nashville Dixie Flyers (1962-71)

1964-65
New York Rovers (1964-65)
Jacksonville Rockets/Florida Rockets (1964-71)

1967-68
Syracuse Blazers (1967-1973)
Salem Rebels/Roanoke Valley Rebels (1967-73)

1971-72
Suncoast Suns (1971-73)

1972-73
Rhode Island Eagles (1972-73)
Cape Cod Cubs (1972-73)

Wally Sprange - Nashville Dixie Flyers

I was looking for a shot of the Nashville Dixie Flyers "pegasus" uniforms and came across this blog from Lowetide (an Edmonton Oilers based blog) on Wally Sprange. Jackpot on the photo, eh? As I recall, the one time I saw Sprange and the Dixie Flyers in the 1969-71 timeframe, they had "NASHVILLE" written across the front of their purple jerseys. I still haven't found a photo confirming that jersey.

The most memorable part of that game was Nashville scoring a goal in the second period against Jersey goalie Gilles Banville. The goal was insignificant in the big scheme of things, until they announced the shots for the period: Jersey 10, Nashville 1. I hope to track down the boxscore on that next time I'm back in Jersey.

I did see Nashville's purple pants one more time, on October 7, 1972, when the Suncoast Suns played their first game ever, a 7-1 exhibition victory over the Jersey Devils at Cherry Hill Arena. The game was a fundraser for the South Jersey Minor Hockey Association, which I played in that year - possibly the worst player in the league. Apparently, the Suns pants hadn't arrived, yet. So, they used the old purple Nashville pants. Imagine the green Suncoast jerseys with orange and yellow trim with green, orange and yellow stockings (see http://SuncoastSuns.com) and purple pants. It was one of my favorite hockey uniforms of all time.

Sprange won the John Carlin Trophy as EHL leading scorer in 1970-71 with 45 goals and 89 assists for 134 points. Nashville folded at the end of that season, and the players were bought by Greensboro. The Generals kept the players they wanted, including Sprange, from their team and the ex-Dixie Flyers and sold the rest to the new Suncoast franchise. Sprange was a second team All-Star with Greensboro in the EHL's last season of 1972-73 season, with 40 goals and 92 assists for 132 points.

Wally Sprange Links:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=10326

Edgar "Chirp" Brenchley, coached Philadelphia Ramblers and New Haven Blades

Here's a link to something called buyroadwarrior, which cranks out seemingly totally random blogs for no particular stated reason: http://buyroadwarrior.com/?p=2176 . This blog is on Edgar "Chirp" Brenchley. Here's an excerpt:

Coaching career

In 1955, Brenchley became the head coach of the Philadelphia Ramblers in the EHL. He stayed with the Ramblers for three seasons — also having iced for them once in the 1955–56 season. He became the head coach for the Sudbury Wolves for the 1962–63 season. The following season, 1963–64, he joined the Port Huron Flags as head coach before joining the St. Catharines Black Hawks for the 1964–65 season. Brenchley retired from coaching after the 1965–66 season which he had spent with the Toledo Blades

Retirement and after

Between 1967 and 1974 Brenchley served as a professional scout for both the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Brenchley was posthumously inducted into Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 1990 and the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.

Awards and honours

• Olympic gold medalist in 1936.
• World Championship silver medalist in 1937.
• European Championship gold medalist in 1937.
• Inducted to the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 1990.
• Inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.

Not only was Brenchley a gold medalist with Great Britain in 1936, but he also scored the game winning gold medal goal. http://ezinearticles.com/?Olympic-Hockey---The-Early-Years-Trivia&id=2132928

Brenchley played for the Hershey B'ars, Atlantic City Seagulls, Washington Lions, New York Rovers, Baltimore Blades, Johnstown Jets and Philadelphia Falcons of the old EAHL (which preceded the EHL). According to hockeydb.com, he also suited up for one game while coaching the Philadelphia Ramblers in the EHL.

Brenchley probably received the most EHL publicity being fired as coach (reassigned to scouting) of the New Haven Blades early in his first year of coaching them in 1959. The Blades were 7-16-3 and in last place at the time.

From the December 18-27, 1959 Bridgeport Post, the Blades players went on strike for their coach over the manner of his firing. Brenchley learned of the firing from some players via radio report. Owner and new GM Nathan Podoloff, who did the firing, was in Washington hiring new coach Wally Kullman away from the Washington Presidents. (This appears to be a standard practice during the whole length of the EHL. You could sign a player away from another team, if you made him your coach.) Even the six shareholders of Elm City Hockey, the group that owned the Blades, did not know that Podoloff had fired Brenchley. After several meetings, the players ended up playing all of the scheduled games.

In 1966 Brenchley was signed as a scout for southern Canada by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and later became their head scout.

From the 03-14-75 Winnipeg Free Press:

Edgar (Chirp) Brenchley, a scout for Washington Capitals of the NHL, died Thursday morning at the age of 63 ... He had been with the Capitals for a little over one year.

Brenchley moved to Niagara Falls from England when he was 12, and as an adult actually ran a tourist boat at the falls. So, if you're old enough to have been at the Niagra Falls back in the 50s and had a guide with a British accent, maybe it was Chirp Brenchley.

Chirp Brenchly Links:
Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame: http://www.nflibrary.ca/swof/default.asp?pg=results&Query=brenchley&Submit=Search
Hockeydb.com: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=13389
British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame: http://www.ihjuk.co.uk/hall_of_fame/brenchley.htm

Barry Buchanan, Rangers #19 pick in 1968, Clinton Comets defenseman

From the Rangers Ramblings blog, a look back at #19 draft selections by the Blueshirts, including Barry Buchanan (listed as "Bruce") who played defense for the 1968-69 Clinton Comets.

http://www.rangerramblings.com/2009/06/23/rangers-2009-1st-round-draft-preview/

Before we look ahead at potential Rangers’ targets in the first round, let’s take a look at the team’s history with the 19th overall selection.

The Rangers have made the 19th overall selection three times in their history.

In 1968, the Blueshirts drafted defenseman Bruce Buchanan with the 19th overall pick – which was the final selection of the second round that year. Buchanan never played a game in the NHL and his post-Junior career highlight was being a part of the 1968-69 Clinton Comets who won the EHL’s regular season title. The 5-9/160 blueliner was the Rangers lone pick among 24 selections.

Back in 1968, the only players eligible for the Draft were those 17 and older who were not being sponsored by an NHL team. The next year, the NHL changed the eligibility requirements and opened the Draft up to any amateur player under the age of 20.

Other Barry Buchanan listings on the web:
http://hockeydraftcentral.com/1968/68019.html
http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=10822

Hockeydb lists Barry as having played 34 games with New Haven in the 1967-68 season, but newspaper accounts show him playing for Weyburn in the WHL throughout that season. So far, I haven't found newspaper accounts of a Buchanan playing for the Blades in 1967-68.

Newspaper accounts also show a defenseman Bob Buchanan who started the 67-68 season with the Jersey Devils and was picked up on waivers by the Syracuse Blazers on December 12, 1967. He is not listed in hockeydb.com for that season.

Barry was invited back to the Comets for the 1969-70 season, but signed with the Iowa Stars, who were the top farm club of the Minnesota North Stars.

Floyd "Butch" Martin of the Johnstown Jets

Butch Martin was a two-time 2nd team EHL All-Star winger(1963 & 64) with the Johnstown Jets. He was also first team All-Star coach in 1963.

Here's an article from the Globe and Mail on Butch, mostly about his Canadian Olympic Bronze and Silver medals:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/floyd-butch-martin/article1151394/

Same article, different site:
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=10965.html?cid=rssctv

..Martin later returned to play for the Dutchmen and, after his two Olympic appearances, played pro for the Johnstown Jets of the Eastern Hockey League and briefly for the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL.

...After a stint at player-coach with the Jets, Martin returned home to become the second head coach of the Kitchener Rangers. In his one season with the major-junior club, he helped develop future NHLers Walt Tkaczuk and Mike Robitaille.

Martin continued to play old-timers hockey into his early 70s and still plays golf a few times a week at the Westmount Golf and Country Club. (Martin was asked if his handicap was still under 10. "No. When your age increases, so does your handicap," he said.)

From: The Waterloo County Hall of Fame:

FLOYD "BUTCH" MARTIN
b. 1929
Floyd Martin was born in Floradale in 1929. He began his hockey career with the Waterloo Siskins Jr. B., Guelph Biltmore Jr. A and the K-W Dutchmen. Because of his Mennonite upbringing, he wouldn't play hockey on Sundays and in October 1950, he quit the Dutchmen. He also cancelled a contract which he had signed with the New York Rangers. He resumed his career with intermediate and senior teams in Elmira but returned to the Dutchmen in 1956. He went with them to the Olympics in Cortina, Italy (1956) and Squaw Valley, California (1960) where they won bronze and silver medals. In 1961 he travelled with the Chatham Maroons on a goodwill trip to Russia and Sweden. From 1961 to 1964 Martin played for the Johnstown Jets of the Eastern league, including two years as coach.

He joined the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL as coach for one season. He spent three years as playing coach of the Guelph Regals and coached Guelph Junior B's in 1968 and 1969. He has played Polar Kings old-timers hockey since 1975.

What is a Dixie Flyer?

I used to roll my eyes at the name Nashville Dixie Flyers. Like "Solar Bears", "Sound Tigers", "Ice Bats" (or Ice Anything), or River Blades (or Anything Blades), Dixie Flyers always sounded like a forced pairing of two words that don't go together. I had assumed it was just a southernization of the name "Flyers". The fact that the Dixie Flyers were named in 1962, five years before the Philadelphia Flyers came into existence never quite dawned on me.

Even the Hockey News was confused on this point. If one looks back they'll find in some papers "-10" after the Nashville in the EHL standings, meaning that the Hockey News thought they were affiliated with the Philadelphia Flyers. To my knowledge the two teams never had a working agreement.

 As it turns out, the Dixie Flyer was a passenger train that originally went from Nashville to Jacksonville (very EHL) in 1890. It's route was later extended from Chicago to Miami. Its last run was in September of 1965, in the middle of the Nashville Dixie Flyers' existence.

The only place I know of that Nashville used the Dixie Flyer train as part of the logo was on the original 1962-63 program covers.

Butch Songin, Boston Patriots Quarterback Played in the first AFL Game and for the Eastern Hockey League Worcester Warriors

While looking for pictures of EHL players, I found this shot of Ed "Butch" Songin (hand raised to coach Lou Saban of the Boston Patriots) of the 1954-55 Worcester Warriors. It's from this article in the Boston Globe about Saban's passing.

Songin appears to be the only player to have played in the AFL/NFL and also the EHL. He played in the CFL, also - waiting until his season ended with the Hamilton Tiger Cats before signing with the EHL Warriors in 1954.

Songin is mentioned in this article by Evan Weiner about players who played both hockey and football for nhl.com Hockey Wasn't Berry's Only Game .

The Warriors were a team made up of American amateurs as a bit of an experiment to see how they would fare against the other Canadian-filled teams. The Warriors also enabled the EAHL to reform after a year off into the EHL, merely by icing a team. The Hudson Valley Bears of the EPHL performed a similar function this year, with similar results - the results being few wins, few fans and often getting shellacked.

The original EHL schedule had Worcester playing every Tuesday at home, though many of these were later cancelled. Road games, except for nearby New Haven were usually played on weekends so the players could make the games. Bill Ballou gives a good account in his March 29, 2007 Worcester Telegram article: Short-lived Warriors Had Fun.

Like a few of the purely amateur Warriors, who needed day jobs, Butch Songin appears to have only played home games and one at New Haven. Aside from the CFL, he also missed a game for a snowstorm, a game that the league cancelled due to rescheduling, and another game where he played for the the "Boston Collegians" on January 2, 1955.

Here's a recap of Songin's lone EHL season as quoted from Worceter Telegram articles. The dates are the date of the newspaper, not the games.

Worcester Telegram, December 7, 1954

Ed (Butch) Songin, the ex-Boston College football and hockey star, has informed the Worcester Warriors that he will definitely be on hand. Songin signed last week has been resting up after a starring season with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League

The Warriors won their first game (1-6) beating league-leading Clinton 6-5, however Songin did not play and no reason was given in the paper.

Worcester Telegram, December 14, 1954

Ed (Butch) Songin, the ex-Boston College star, and more recently a performer in the Canadian grid league, will make his first appearance tonight and will team with (Rod) O'Connor on defense.

Worcester Telegram,December 15, 1954

Songin, making his debut with the Worcesters as a result of little skating or practice and help the starring (Dusty) Burke (from Athol, MA) and the improved O'Connor in the games to come.

Songin had two assists in his first game, a 6-5 home win over the New Haven Blades:

O'Grady (Duffy, Songin) 17:09 1st - Frank O'Grady's long shot from the left, after a pretty combination play in which Ed (Butch) Songin, the ex-B.C. star, and Duffy helped, made it 3-2 (New Haven) just before the period closed.

Duffy (Cahoon, Songin) 16:45 2d - Duffy locked it up again at 4-4 on a pass from Songin.

Worcester Telegram, December 21, 1954

Songin, the burly ex-B.C. footballer, who made his debut with the Warriors last Tuesday, will be back to the team with Burke at the points. Songin, busy playing football with Hamilton in the Canadian Football League, wasn't in his best shape last week. But he has been skating daily since and expects to be in full stride from here in.

There was a huge east coast snowstorm and the Washington Lions, along with the individual Warriors players barely made it to the arena by game time. Songin didn't make it to the game. The Warriors (3-6) won their third game 5-3 in front of 304 fans.

December 29, 1954
Songin played in a 7-5 home loss to the arch-rival New Haven Blades before a sellout crowd of 1014 at Worcester Arena. Songin didn't make the box score or any mention in the article.

The following night at New Haven, possibly Songin's only road game, was a 10-2 loss to the Blades. Songin picked up an assist for 3 points in 3 games.
Jordan (Sennott, Songin) 9:12 3rd

January 2 & 3, 1955
The Warriors lost 7-1 vs. the Washington Lions at Uline Arena, and 10-4 vs. the Baltimore Clippers at Carlins Iceland. Songin did not make the trip. In fact, there is an article next to the Baltimore game article which shows Butch Songin and Jimmy Duffy stayed home and each scored for something called the Boston Collegians - not to be confused with Boston College which both had played for in the late 40s - beating St. Francis Xavier from Nova Scotia at Boston Arena in front of 2648.

Worcester Telegram, January 5, 1955
Songin had two goals, but the New Haven Blades beat the Warriors 5-3 on 2 late 3rd period goals.

Songin (Ceglarski, Burke) 18:58 2d- The Warriors however after the game stopped for a few minutes because of a pair of fights between Dick Hamm and Don Perry and Rod O'Connor and Al Fontana, broke the ice as Songin drove the puck past goalie Jack Geutens (Also spelled Geuten and Geutin in the box score) at 18:50. Both clubs were playing with three men on the ice at the time.

Len Ceglarski, who assisted is better known today as the highly successful hockey coach at Clarkson and Boston College. This may have been his only point as a pro (well, amateur) , but that's another post.

Songin (Sennott) 12:32 3rd - Worcester, however, trailing 3-1 seconds after the third period opened, dispalyed its best hockey of the game and tied the game at 12:32 on Butch Songin's second goal.

January 16, 1955
Songin (nor partner Burke) did not play in New Haven, an 8-1 Blades rout.

January 19, 1955
Songin (nor partner Burke) did not play in exhibition game against the US National team, which included Worcester Warriors Johnny Titus, Walter Greeley and Frank O'Grady.

A road trip followed, which I can only assume Songin did not make.

February 7, 1955
Two Songins in the lineup, H & W, neither one Butch. From hockeydb.com we can derive that these were probably Walter (confirmed in a later article) and Harold, who I read somewhere were Butch's brothers. Harold got an assist and Walter got a high sticking minor.

February 13, 1955
A Songin, presumably Walter, was listed as a forward for the Warriors in a 14-2 loss at Clinton according to the Utica Observer.

February 23, 1955
Walter was a no show in spite being tabbed as on the top line in the previous day's paper. No Songins played as the New Haven Blades routed the Warriors 20-3 in the Warriors final game of the year and ever in the EHL. The Washingtoin Lions protested this game. An article in the February 26, 1955 Washington Post reads...

Thanks to a decision by league president Tom Lockhart, acting on a protest by Washington general manager Jack Riley, the Lions received a boost in their bid for second (place). Lockhart ruled that New Haven's 20-3 victory over Worcester Monday was an unofficial game as that game along with Worcester's final matches with Washington and Baltimore had previously been cancelled.

So the final EHL tally for Butch Songin appears to be:
4 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points, no PIMs. 1 win 3 losses.

Still that's enough to be the only known player to have played in the EHL and the AFL/NFL, though not the only EHLer to have played professional football...

A Few 2008 EHL News Links...Clinton Comets, Syracuse Blazers, Greensboro Generals

Here's a few 2008 EHL news links that I'm removing from http://TheEHL.com front page, but wanted to save.

Thursday, October 2, 2008
Skaters Flock to Clinton By Marques Phillips Utica Observer-Dispatch
CLINTON - For more than a half a century, the ice at Clinton Arena has been a blank canvas for figure skating artists to use their pallet of spins, jumps and dance moves to sculpt a skating identity...more

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Greensboro Booster Club is having a meeting Wednesday night, Sept.17th at Shoney's on Regional Road, Eat: 6:00, Meet: 7:00PM. Head Coach Mark Richards and Assistant Coach Sean Cowan for the Cyclones will be there. Everyone is invited to attend.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Syracuse.com
War Memorial Gets an Update Onondaga County is on the hook for repairs it promised the Crunch
By John Mariani, Staff writer.

July 22, 2008
Clinton Comets to appear at fundraiser Utica Observer-Dispatch
CLINTON — The Clinton Comets will be together again. Or at least a few of them will be next Wednesday at one of two gatherings to raise funds for the Reschetnikow Benefit Fund. “An Evening with the Clinton Comets” will be held from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. July 30 at VFW Post 9591 on Franklin Avenue, with coach Pat Kelly, captain Jack Kane and several other members of the very successful and wildly popular Eastern Hockey League team of the 1950s and 1960s scheduled to attend... more

36 Years Ago Today - The EHL Dissolves into the NAHL and SHL

On April 12, 1973 the Syracuse Blazers won the EHL championship. As Ray Adduono skated around the rink with the Walker Trophy, it broke into three pieces. This was symbolic of what was about to happen to the EHL, splitting into three pieces (the NAHL, the SHL and the others) on May 1, 1973 at the last ever league meeting. Here's the AP Wire version of the story...

NEW YORK (AP) - The Eastern Hockey League, at its annual meeting in New York Tuesday, announced the formal dissolution of the EHL and the creation of two seperate leagues, one based in the north and the other operating out of the south, to fill the void.
The northern league, titled the North American Hockey League, plans to begin play this fall with a minimum of six teams. Charter members include the Cape Cod Cubs, Mohawk Valley Comets, Johnstown, Pa. Jets and the Binghamton, N.Y. Dusters. At least two additional NAHL entries are expected to be named shortly, with franchises from Rhode Island and Lewiston, Me. having the inside track. A Long Island entry is also a possibility. Cape Cod, Mohawk Valley and Johnstown were members of the now disbanded EHL. The NAHL, which is scheduled to begin a 74-game regular season Oct. 12, chose Jack Newkirk of Cape Cod as temporary chairman and Ed Stanley of Mohawk Valley as treasurer.
Earlier Tuesday, the Southern Hockey League was formed, with franchises granted to Charlotte, N.C., Greensboro, N.C., Winston-Salem, N.C., Roanoke Valley, Va. and St. Petersburg, Fla.

Binghamton and Lewiston had previously applied for EHL membership, and both were expected to be in the league for 1973-74.

It's interesting that Ed Stanley, who was the Clinton Arena manager who got Clinton into the league in 1954 became treasurer of the new NAHL. In 1973, Clinton had just been sold to a group of locals in a "Save the Comets" kind of deal. The new ownership, splitting the team between Clinton and Utica, renamed the team the Mohawk Valley Comets. Stanley was not one of the owners.

Of the teams not mentioned...
Syracuse Blazers owner Bill Charles had been angling all season to get into the AHL. They ended up back in the NAHL.
The Jersey Devils are a blog in themselves of things going wrong for them at that time. They were hoping for a northern division in the SHL or a southern division in the NAHL, neither of which happened. They were given two weeks to make a decision which league to join. In spite of the Philadelphia Blazers moving to Vancouver within that timeframe, the Devils never made it to the next season.
The Long Island Ducks, also affected by a local WHA franchise, had tried to fold at the end of the 1973 regular season - and even told the Devils to take their spot in the playoffs, before the league intervened and made the Ducks play. On May 24, 1973, the Long Island Cougars, under different ownership and as a farm team of the WHA Chicago Cougars, were accepted into the NAHL.
Rhode Island never made it to the gate.

In the south, Baltimore, Alabama were listed as possibilities for other first year franchises, but neither developed. The Macon Whoopees were added as the sixth SHL franchise that summer.

Kent Douglas 73, Former Leafs and LI Ducks Defenseman

One of the unfortunate realities of a blog about a league that has been out of existence for 36 years, is that a lot of your current news is going to come from obituaries. Today we salute Kent Douglas who, according to hockeydb.com played one game for the Long Island Ducks in the EHL's final season 1972-73.

Born Feb.6, 1936, in Cobalt, Ont., Douglas won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year with the Leafs in 1962-63. He won the Stanley Cup with the Leafs that year and assisted on the Cup-winning goal.

Clinton Comets Revisited

Here's a remembrance of the Clinton Comets by Richard L. Williams, Town and Village Historian, for the Clinton Historical Society.

According to Wikipedia, the original Clinton Arena burned down September 11, 1953. The Comets played in both the Western Ontario League and a partial schedule in the EHL for the 1954-55 season. The Comets played a combined 74 games (35-35-4), which at that time was considered a very long season.
This makes me wonder if Clinton had been a new franchise for the 1953-54 EAHL season, and if their arena burning down had an affect on the EAHL not playing that year. After that year off, the EAHL reformed into the "modern" EHL for the 1954-55 season. Ed Later Note: No, Clinton was not in the EHL's plans until September 1954, when a meeting for a New York State league was held at the same time as a meeting for restarting the EHL.

Jersey Larks' Gerry Devaney and Bob Bingley in Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame

Here' a nice little excuse to post about the Jersey Larks. Gerry Devaney bio page from the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame...

In 1960 with senior hockey on the skids in Canada Gerry was signed by the Jersey Larks of the Eastern U.S. Hockey League and backstopped the Larks through the 1960 and 1961 season.

Also in the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame, a 1971 inductee, is Devaney's teammate on the Larks, Bob Bingley (pictured left)
bio page from the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame...

He then joined the Washington Presidents in 1959-1960 in the Eastern Hockey League, and the Jersey Larks in 1960-61.

The Larks were only around for the 1960-61 season, playing in The Ice House in what was either Haddonfield or Delaware Township, NJ. The Ice House had attempted to host an EHL team as far back as 1956, but the league denied the application on grounds of being within the territorial rights of the Philadelphia Ramblers. For the 1960-61 season the Washington Presidents were moved to The Ice House and renamed the Jersey Larks. The Larks had an instant rivalry with the Philadelphia Ramblers. They even battled for the "Weber Trophy", which was donated by Delaware Township Mayor Christian Weber. I'm pretty sure that the Ramblers won that. They were up 3-1-1 after 5 games in the 8-game season series. The Larks lasted one season, but in spite of increasing attendance, ownership lost money. The franchise was forfeited when ownership failed to send its required 5% of the gate to the league. A group raised $50,000 to buy the Larks franchise and keep them in Jersey, but backed out when they found out that $25,000 of that would have to go towards paying down debt on the team. The franchise became the essence of the Knoxville Knights for the 1961-62 season. By 1964, Delaware Township had become Cherry Hill and the Ice House had become the Cherry Hill Arena. The Philadelphia Ramblers, after their best financial year in 1962-63, went bankrupt after the 1963-64 season. The team was moved to Cherry Hill Arena and became the Jersey Devils. A couple of years later, Philadelphia was awarded an NHL franchise, the Flyers, and any possibility of reviving the Weber Cup was gone. (Pictured Right: Alex Kuzma in his Jersey Larks jersey)

Maurice "Moe" Savard Inducted into Charlotte Checkers Hall of Fame

From GoCheckers.com : CHECKERS SET TO INDUCT NEW CLASS OF CHARLOTTE HOCKEY GREATS TO HALL OF FAME

3-25-09 CHARLOTTE, N.C. –There is a rich tradition of hockey in Charlotte and the Checkers are set to make the past present by inducting some of the legends of Charlotte hockey into the Charlotte Hockey Hall of Fame presented by American Airlines on Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena when the team battles the Mississippi Sea Wolves.

Maurice “Moe” Savard: If you’re looking for a player that was a staple of Checkers hockey in the early days of the Eastern Hockey League, then you will come across the name of Maurice Savard. The man they simply called “Moe” spent all but one game of his professional career in a Charlotte sweater. Amassing an amazing 755 points over nine seasons (303 goals, 452 assists), Moe was a real fan favorite in the early days of Checkers hockey. In his 55 games during the 1964-65 season, he did not record a single penalty minute. Ex-Checkers coach Fred Creighton once said “If I had 15 hockey players like Moe…I’d be taking money under false pretenses – I wouldn’t have to coach.” Coach Creighton’s words are a testament to the greatness of Moe on and off the ice.

Jack McIlhargey and the 1972-73 EHL Jersey Devils at Cherry Hill Arena from NHL.com

NHL.com article:
McIlhargey Went From the Low Minors to the NHL
Who knew that Jack McIlhargey, John Brophy and Curt Brackenbury shared an apartment?

For me the essence is this:

McIlhargey made the jump to the NHL, but he thinks people are too judgmental looking at the old EHL as a place filled with legendary tough guys like Brophy, Don Perry, Kevin Morrison, Blake Ball and others who became movie characters in Slap Shot.

"I went to the Richmond Robins, which was the American Hockey League and was the Flyers' (farm team)," he said. "It was a good league. It was a very good league, but the Eastern League was a good league, too. There were a lot of good players back then. The Eastern Hockey League fans were good. They expected a tough brand of hockey and you gave it to them."

which reminds me of this bit from the National Post article on John Brophy's ECHL HOF induction :

The EHL was a blood-and-guts loop with teams scattered across the U.S. eastern seaboard. Games featured stick fights and brawls and a brand of nightly mayhem that inspired the cult movie Slap Shot, starring Paul Newman.

Newman's character, Reggie Dunlop, the player-coach with the bare-knuckle roster, was said to have been inspired by Brophy. But Brophy never liked the movie. He can't even watch it. He says it depicts a goon league and forgets some of the players could actually play.

It seems that a lot of people remember or the younger ones only know of the EHL as a "the Slapshot league". While those elements were present, the fact that there was some very good brand of hockey often missed. Remember the late sixties and early seventies was also the era of the Big Bad Bruins and the Broad Street Bullies, and some nasty stick fights at the NHL level. So it's not as if the EHL was special in this regard. The entire hockey scene was doing the fighting part of Slapshot. The EHL merely had the busrides and the struggle to stay afloat. It had more talent than Slapshot depicts - players who would make the NHL and WHA on skill.

WHen I remember the EHL, I remember how fast and exciting it was. When I saw my first NHL game live, I couldn't believe how slow and plodding it was in comparison to the EHL. And that was a 12-2 NHL game. Certainly part of that is that some of the EHL ice surfaces were smaller, and that even the worst seat at Cherry Hill Arena was much closer to the action than most of the seats I've had NHL games. But most of it was how hard these guys played. This with a roster maxing out at 15, often less, and traveling by bus with one mattress to sleep on where some seats had been torn out to the next game.

Yes, the EHL had talent. Remember, before NHL expansion in 1967, there were fewer combined teams in the NHL, AHL, CHL and WHL, than there are teams in the NHL now. Which means that the players at the EHL and IHL level then were at the same level as today's AHL. Hundreds of EHLers made the NHL. (At some point I will have them all recognized at http://TheEHL.com ). Even a team as obscure as the 60-61 Jersey Larks sent Ross Brooks and Noel Picard to the NHL.

Philadelphia Ramblers Owner George L Davis Jr Obit

From this morning's Philadelphia Inquirer:

George Davis, society sportsman

George L. Davis, 86, of Pompano Beach, Fla., a sportsman and businessman who served on two Olympic committees and was a guest at Grace Kelly's wedding, died March 5 at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"He was a gentleman of charm, wit, insight, and integrity," his daughter Margaret Packer said.

Mr. Davis grew up in Mount Airy and graduated from William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was president of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity; was a member of the Kite and Key, an honor society; and played on the baseball, basketball, and soccer teams. During World War II, he served in the Navy in the States.

Mr. Davis married Kelly's sister Margaret in 1944. The couple had met in Ocean City, N.J., where their families had homes. Mr. Davis was president of Davis Building Supply Co. and later did business with his father-in-law, John B. Kelly Sr., a brick-company owner and three-time Olympic gold medalist in rowing....

In the 1950s, Mr. Davis co-owned the Arena, a skating facility in West Philadelphia, and for several years, until 1960, he owned the Ramblers, a team in the former Eastern Hockey League. He served on committees for the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team and for U.S. Olympic Figure Skating in 1960.

He loved golf, travel, and boating, his daughter said, and served on the board of Chris-Craft, a boat manufacturer....

The September 24, 1959 Bridgeport Telegraph states that

George Davis Jr., head of the Philadelphia Ramblers, was elected vice president of the expanded league. (The New York Rovers and Greensboro Generals were added as new teams in the EHL.)

The EHL had the George L. Davis Jr. Trophy for goaltender with best Goals Against Average, but that appears to go back to at least 1935 in the EAHL, when this George L. Davis Jr. was only 19. I'm researching to see what I can find on the matter.

Martin Brodeur's Father Played Goal for the EHL Charlotte Clippers

From A Look at Martin Brodeur's Beginnings at NHL.com, Martin Brodeur's father, Denis Sr., played goal for the Charlotte Clippers in the 1958-59 season.

Denis has a pair of identical images of himself as a goalie in 1958-59 for the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League and Martin in a Devils white uniform during the late 1990s. Denis is not wearing a mask in his photo -- and amazingly, Martin isn't either. "His mask had just fallen off and they got that shot," Denis said.

The November 4, 1958 Florence (SC) Morning News lets us know that Denis (the Menace) Brodeur beat out Les Binkley for the lone goaltender position.

Clippers Make Limit For Hockey Squad
CHARLOTTE — Three veteran players and a rookie were sliced by Charlotte Clipper coach Andy Brown as dixie's only ice hockey team got down to the Eastern Hockey League limit of 14.
Cut from the squad were defenseman Bobby Maxwell, goalkeep Les Binkley, winger Yvan
Houle and Rookie defenseman Pete Tuggard.
Binkley had been with the club two and one-half seasons, while Maxwell and Houle have spent two campaigns with the Clippers. The pink slip barrage left the Clipper squad list as follows:
Goalie — Denis (The Menace) Brodeur.
Defense -- Gordie Tottle, Red Barrett, John Muckler and John Brophy.
Centers — Jim McNulty, Chucky Stuart and Herve Lalonde.
Right Wingers — Bibber O'Hearn, Bill Sinnett and Red Murphy.
Left Wingers — Gerry Sullivan, Bobby Ewer and Mike Mahoney.
Both Ewer and Mahoney are 20-year-old junior players. Their presence
on the Clipper roster fulfills the Eastern League requirement that each club use two juniors this season.
Tottle, a massive 214-pound veteran of 10 American League seaions, and Barrett are also newcomers to the squad, as Brodeur, the goalie.

From an October 30th Article in the same paper:

The Clippers, have added five now faces to the squad of 14 including a new goalie. Replacing Les Binkley, a three-season veteran, in the Charlotte nets will be Denny Brodeur, a pint-sized Frenchman.

The Clippers went from first to worst in 1958-59, while the Clinton Comets went from worst to first.

In case, like me, you were wondering, Martin Brodeur was born May 6, 1972, when his father was 42 and been out of hockey since that one season with Charlotte.

40 Years Ago This Week - Clinton Comets Clinch Second Consecutive EHL Title / Dick Roberge Closes In On 1500 Career Points

From AP Wire Report March 6, 1969:

Comets Win Hockey Title
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) - The Clinton Comets clinched their second consecutive Eastern Hockey League championship Wednesday night with a win here over the Johnstown Jets 2-0.
The victory was goalie Lyle Carter's 13th shutout of the season and snapped a 10-game Jets winning streak.
Joe Robertson got the first score in the second period. Dave Armstrong shot in the second goal with 22 seconds left in the game, when Johnstown pulled their goalie. Carter had 45 saves for Clinton, now 42-17-10. For Johnstown, now 39-23-7, Lynn Zimmerman made 39 saves.

In other EHL news of this week in 1969:
Johnstown player coach Dick Roberge is within 3 points of becoming the first player in the history of U.S. hockey to score 1500 points. He already holds the record for the Eastern Hockey League and Amateur Hockey Association of the U.S.

50 Years ago this week - Clinton Comets Finish First in EHL

From today's Utica Observer-Dispatch, This Week In History ....
The Clinton Comets win the Eastern Hockey League pennant. Last year, the team finished in last place. Players include Fern Bernaquez (5), Norm Defelice (1) (league’s leading goalie), Tim Hook (6), Dick Wray (league’s top scorer)(9), Leon Bouchard (3), Angie Defelice (8), Gordon “Spider” Brown (12), Jerry Stringle (14), Mike Kardask 2), Ed Calhoun(5), Rudy Balone (4), Doug MacPhee (11) and Willie Pawchuk (10). They’re coached by Bill Watson (7).

The Comets went on to win the 1959 EHL Championship, beating the Johnstown Jets in the finals.

An article in the April 8, 1959 Oneonta Star states:

Except for the use of 'Al "Nipper" O'Hearn and John Lehner as temporary subslitutes for ailing regulars, the Cornets closed the season with the same 14 players they started with last October.

The March 1, 1959 Utica Observer states that it was actually Ed Giacomin, Washington's 19-year-old backup goalie, who played for the Comets in a 2-1 loss against the Lions, who had O'Hearn in net.

Also, the 1959 EHL All-Star Teams were announced on Mar 9 :

First Team:
Dick Wray - LW - Clinton
Billy Watson - C - Clinton
Dick Roberge - RW - Johnstown
Gordon Tottle - D - Charlotte Clippers
Moose Lallo - D - Washington Presidents (tie)
Steve Brklacich - D - Johnstown (tie)
Leon Bouchard - D - Clinton (tie)
Norm DeFelice - G - Clinton

Second Team:
Don Hall - LW - Johnstown
Don Davidson - C - New Haven
Doug Adam - RW - Philadelphia
(Since there were 4 1st team Defensemen, the 2nd team was considered filled.)
Jim Shirley - G - Johnstown

John Brophy at Voyageur's Night in Nova Scotia

An article on Nova Scotia Voyageur's night at the Halifax Moosehead's game last night. John Brophy coached the Voyageurs for three years, and was part of the ceremony.

35th anniversary of the demise of the Suncoast Suns

Here's an entry from the Tampa Sports History blog from December 19, 2008 remembering the 35th anniversary of the demise of the Suncoast Suns, who were then in the Southern Hockey League... Suncoast Suns Burn Out 12/19/1973

Reg Kent jersey retired; Montreal Canadiens at Johnstown Jets, 1951

Your morning Johnstown Jets reading....

* Read about the Johnstown Jets' Reg Kent having his #7 jersey retired by the Johnstown Cheifs

Lucky Seven by Mike Mastovich, Feb 11, 2009 Johnstown Tribune-Democrat.

Picture from the Tribune-Democrat: Galen Head, Reg Kent & Gene Peacosh.

* From yesterday's Johnstown Tribune-Democrat an article on the Montreal Canadiens visit to Johnstown. Rocket Richard scored 6 in a 10-2 victory in 1951.

Rocket’s visit part of city’s hockey history By Mike Mastovich, Feb 18, 2009 The Tribune-Democrat

Suncoast Suns/ Jacksonvile Rockets articles online

I was just thinking last week that I needed a southern division newspaper source to help balance my perspective as I unearth the Eastern Hockey League. In my hobby as a hockey paleontologist I have a few sources for EHL articles to sift through...
* The NY Times, I can search online through my library. You can get the headlines and possibly first paragraph at...http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srchst=p
* The Worcester Public Library has the Worcester Telegram for the 1954-55 season on microfilm. I spent a day getting all of the Worcester Warriors articles for that year. As I was leaving I realized they also have the evening paper, so a return visit is in order.
* The Washington Times, I can see online at http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/advancedsearch.html the headlines and maybe a brief blurb of the article. Then I can go up to Dartmouth library and find the articles on microfilm. This is good source for the 1950s when the Lions and Presidents played there.
* For a very reasonable fee http://NewspaperArchive.com has lots of papers from around the country, including the Syracuse papers, which are my best source at home. The Oneonta Star, Chester Times and Bridgeport CT papers have somewhat regular articles on the Comets, Ramblers and Blades respectively. There's also AP and UPI stories and scores in other papers.
* On my visits to Jersey, I check out the Camden Courier Post and Woodbury Times on microfilm for Devils articles.

The problem with most of these sources, along with mostly being northern papers, is that there is no way for you to see the articles.

So it was with great joy this morning that I discovered that the St. Petersburg Times and Evening Independent from the EHL era are searchable and viewable free of charge on-line via:

http://news.google.com/archivesearch
(The advanced search, and using timeline will help.)

Those papers covered the Suncoast Suns and prior to that the Jacksonville Rockets / Florida Rockets who also played some games at the Bayfront Center in St. Pete. They actually had some pretty good coverage. They usually have a picture with most articles, though some are blurred beyond recognition.

...and the best part is that for once, everyone can see the articles. So, especially if you are a fan of the Charlotte Checkers, Greensboro Generals, Nashville Dixie Flyers, Salem Rebels / Roanoke Valley Rebels, Knoxville Knights or particularly the Jacksonville Rockets or Suncoast Suns, enjoy!

John Brophy inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame

John Brophy, perhaps the most famous EHLer ever, was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame a few weeks ago. Here are links to some video and stories...

Here's the John Brophy ECHL Hall of Fame Induction Video .

Very nice article on John Brophy, and his induction into the ECHL Hall of Fame from the National Post.

Photo of John Brophy from the National Post.

An NHL.com story on Brophy prior to the induction.

http://www.ECHLHallofFame.com/

Welcome to TheEHL.blogspot.com

Welcome to TheEHL.blogspot.com!

I'm Tom T. and I was fortunate enough to have been able to see the old Eastern Hockey League Jersey Devils from the 1969-70 season until the league ended in 1973. I loved the old league, and in July 2008, I got the inspired idea to create a website for the EHL. There was definitely a need. When I saw that the name http://TheEHL.com was actually available (how many stupid webnames are unavailable?), I recognized that I was destined to do this.

One might certainly ask why we need a blog for a league that has been defunct for 36 years, especially when we already have a website. Two good reasons:
1) As I research old newspapers, I extract a lot of data that in its raw form is probably not terribly readable. It's cool to have the game scores and box scores, but that data needs a voice to bring it to life. The blog should allow me to do that.
2) There's a lot more EHL current events than you might think. The blog format allows me to dash off a quick update, that you can see in your particular RSS feed (I use Google homepage myself - you can use the "Subscribe to... Posts" button on the right to add this), without me having to e-mail the TheEHL.com Mailing List to death. This became obvious when John Brophy was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame last month. By the time I had a chance to get an e-mail out with all of the info in it, it was only a couple of days ahead of time, which probably precluded anyone jumping in a car to go see John get inducted. With the blog, I could make a quick note when I see it and a bunch of updates as I get them - rather than 5 or 6 e-mails.

The blog is part of what I envision as a 3-pronged EHL website...Site, Blog, Message Boards. The latter is so that we can communicate with each other and build an EHL community sharing our memories. I actually had EHL boards for awhile, but I wasn't happy with the quality, and they were frankly taking up all of the time I wanted to use getting http://TheEHL.com up and running. When they crashed, I took them down. I'll be looking for better boards, but it may be a while as I have a few things I'd like to accomplish - like get some of the great stuff people have sent me up on the site first.

Well, that's quite enough for my first post.

Thanks to all of you for helping keep hockey history alive 36 years later.

Don't forget to add this to your Google homepage. (There's probably other ways to get notified of updates, but I'm new to this.)

- Tom T.