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Toledo Goaldiggers (IHL, 1981-82)

1981-82 Regular Season: Goaldiggers vs. Kalamazoo Wings
     The 1980-81 season was a disaster for the Toledo Goaldiggers. A contender for most of their existence, the Diggers collapsed to last place in the IHL, with a 26-47-11 record. Attendance was down to about 2,000 per game, forcing the team to suspend operations after losing $300,000 that year.
     Former IHL commissioner Bill Beagan rescued the franchise from oblivion, signing a 2-year lease for the Toledo Sports Arena. Beagan kept head coach/GM Bill Inglis, who replaced former coach Jim Sanko during the previous campaign.
     The 1981-82 season was a complete turnaround for the franchise on the ice. Toledo rocketed up the standings, finishing with a team record 53 wins (53-25-4). The Goaldiggers' 111 points easily clinched the Huber Trophy, 20 points ahead of second-place Milwaukee.
     The Goaldiggers were loaded on offense in 1981-82, as their 407 goals lead the IHL. The team's top scorer was rookie Scott Howson, who pumped in 55 goals and 120 points. Dirk Graham (49) and Bill Joyce (40) were the other two players with 40+ goals that season. Longtime Goaldigger tough guy (and fan favorite) Paul Tantardini had a fine season, with 18 goals, 42 points and 252 PIM.
     Toledo was first overall on defense too, allowing just 320 goals. Inglis used five goaltenders that season. His main netminder was veteran Lorne Molleken. Molleken was in net for 50 games, with a 3.17 GAA. His backups included Dave Tardich, former Port Huron Flag Bart Hunter, future Red Wing Sam St. Laurent, and Islanders prospect Rob Holland.
     After a dominating regular season, the Goaldiggers opened the Turner Cup Playoffs as a heavy favorite. They faced the Flint Generals in the first round, who were coached by ex-Diggers coach Ted Garvin. Despite two games going to overtime, Toledo swept aside the Generals to advance to the second round.
     The second round that year was a strange one: a round robin tournament between the Goaldiggers, Saginaw Gears and Fort Wayne Komets. Each team played the other two twice, and after the dust was settled, the Goaldiggers and Gears advanced to the Turner Cup Finals, as they had the best records in the round-robin.
     The 1981-82 Turner Cup Finals was the third meeting between the Gears and Goaldiggers. Toledo won their first Cup over Saginaw in 1975, while the Gears exacted revenge in 1977. Both of those series were classics, going to seven games each time and setting city attendance records in both towns. In the "rubber match", the Gears were the defending champions, but had a so-so season, finishing in fifth with a 36-38-8 record. Saginaw had a powerful offense (401 goals) but the league's second-worst defense (allowing 402). Toledo quickly dethroned the Gears in 5 games, bombing Saginaw in a 6-1 blowout in Game 5.
     The program for this season is just 34 pages, but it has plenty of advertisements, often multiple ads on one page. There is one article in the middle of the program about Bill Inglis. This program is from the October 16, 1981 game between the Goaldiggers and Kalamazoo Wings. The Wings were coming off a run of two Turner Cups (1979 and 1980) and a finals berth (1981). Sounds like a pretty good night at the Sports Arena!
     The usual "Rules of the Game" and team schedule are located in the program. Local advertisements include The Last Bank & Crust Co. of Toledo, the Toledo Mud Hens, Gladieux Corporation, and K100 Country Stereo FM.

Aftermath: The Diggers would repeat as Turner Cup Champs in 1982-83, then make a third straight Finals run in 1983-84 (losing to Flint), capping off one of the best three-year runs in IHL history, with a 145-78-29 record. Unfortunately, attendance remained low, due to a recession that hit the Midwest US especially hard. Beagan suspended operations after the 1983-84 season, but the team came back for two more seasons. Following a 58-point finish in 1985-86, the Goaldiggers were finally laid to rest. The franchise rights were eventually sold in 1990 and relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where they would become the Kansas City Blades.
References:
Toledo Blade, Hockey Night in Toledo, Toledo: The Blade, 2009:
International Hockey League Season Statistics, 1981-82, from hockeydb.com
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