Hockey Programs

1988-89 Regular Season Opponent Unknown       After a 1-year absence, professional hockey returned to Indianapolis with the arrival of the IHL's Indianapolis Ice. The Ice were an independent franchise that received players from multiple teams (Hartford, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Calgary, Islanders) and played their home games at the 8,332-seat Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, former home of the CHL/IHL Checkers from 1979-85. The Ice were owned by businessman Horn Chen. The team's colors were silver, black, and white, and had uniforms similar to the Los Angeles Kings.      The Ice were put together late in the offseason, as Chen purchased the rights to the mothballed Indianapolis Checkers franchise in late June of 1988. Chen hired former Indiana Pacers VP of Marketing Ray Compton as GM. Compton hired former NHL defenseman/enforcer Archie Henderson as the team's first Head Coach. Henderson was no stranger to the IHL, having played the previous season with the Saginaw Hawks

1949-50 Regular Season: Hornets vs. Indianapolis Capitols       Before the Penguins joined the NHL in 1967, Pittsburgh was home to numerous minor professional hockey teams, dating back to 1922. The Steel City even had an NHL franchise from 1925-30, the Pirates, who relocated to Philadelphia in the depths of the Great Depression before folding in 1931.       The Pittsburgh Hornets were a long-time member of the American Hockey League, playing in that league from 1936-56 at Duquesne Gardens, then resuming play from 1961-67 when the Pittsburgh Civic Arena was completed. During the first run, the Hornets were the top farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs.       The 1949-50 Pittsburgh Hornets finished in fourth place in the Western Division with a 29-26-15 record. Their 73 points were just three back of the St. Louis Flyers for the last playoff spot. Head Coach Bob Davidson was fired after a 13-14-8 start to the season, replaced by Bad Bastien, the former Leafs goaltending prospect who was f

1974-75 Regular Season: Komets vs. Flint Generals      The Fort Wayne Komets were looking to rebound from a disappointing 1973-74 season, which saw the defending Turner Cup Champions drop to last place in the Southern Division with a 31-45-0 record, next-to-worst in the entire league. ex-Komet player Ted Wright, who replaced Marc Boileau when he was hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, was back behind the Komets bench.       1974-75 was another letdown season, as the Komets were even worse than last year. Fort Wayne was dead last in the Southern Division, with a 26-44-6 record, 11 points back of the Des Moines Capitols and 37 behind first place Dayton. Wright was let go after winning just twice in the first 10 games of the season, and was replaced by Ralph Keller for the rest of the year.       Fort Wayne had the third-worst offense in the IHL in 1974-75 (counting Lansing, which folded midway through the season), scoring only 247 goals. Center Brian Walker had his best season in the pros,

1983-84 Regular Season: Red Wings vs. Edmonton Oilers      The Detroit Red Wings were coming off a forgettable 1982-83 season, finishing with the fourth-worst record in the NHL at 21-44-15. The Wings were still in the "Dead Things" era which saw the franchise miss the playoffs 16 times from 1967-1986. GM Jim Devellano had his work cut out for him, as the franchise had a major league roster of overpriced veterans past their primes, a few youngsters, and precious little in terms of prospects in the farm system. A wise decision was made to stop trading draft picks and rebuild the team through the draft.       The 57-point season in 1983 gave the Red Wings the fourth overall pick in the draft, which they used to select Peterborough Petes center Steve Yzerman, who immediately made the NHL team in his first year. The rest of the draft was very successful for the Wings, as players such as Bob Probert, Joe Kocur, and Petr Klima would make an impact on the rise of the franchise a few

1991-92 Regular Season: Rebels vs. Greensboro Monarchs      1991-92 was the second season of the ECHL's Roanoke Valley Rebels. The franchise orginally started in 1988 as the Virginia Lancers, one of the charter members of the East Coast Hockey League. The Rebels home was not in Roanoke, Virginia, but Vinton, Virginia, a suburb of Roanoke with a population of 8,059. The Rebels played their home games at the LancerLot Sports Complex, a 3,259-seat arena.      The team got it's name and uniforms from an EHL/SHL franchise that existed from 1970-76, and featured a "no way would this happen in 2023" leaf logo with a Confederate Battle Flag.       Roy Sommer was the new head coach of the Rebels, replacing Claude Noel, who was hired by the Dayton Bombers. The 1990-91 Rebels had the second-worst record in the ECHL, going 26-31-7. The 1991-92 season was even worse, as Roanoke Valley finished 21-36-4-3. Their 49 points, however, earned them the final playoff spot in the East Divi

      I found this media guide at Goodwill in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, this past summer. I think I paid about $2 for it. This is 668 pages long, and has every stat you can think of through the 1975-76 season. It also includes information about the American Hockey League and Central Hockey League, but not for the International Hockey League. There is a blue sticker on the inside of this guide that says "Hockey Hall of Fame" with a gold torch in front of a maple leaf.   The players on the front of this guide are Garry Unger of the St. Louis Blues and Curt Bennett of the Atlanta Flames. 

1976-77 Sabres Yearbook       This isn't a program, it's a yearbook from the 1976-77 Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were in their seventh season of operation in NHL, playing at the 16,325-seat Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Floyd Smith was head coach while ex-Leafs coach Punch Imlach was General Manager.      The 1976-77 Sabres finished with a 48-24-8 record, good enough for second place in the Adams Division, just two points back of Boston and 23 ahead of third place Toronto. Future Hall-of-Famer Gilbert Perreault led the team on offense with 39 goals and 95 points. René Robert (33) and Rick Martin (36), Perreault's French Connection line mates, were the other 30-goal scorers on the Sabres. As a team, the Sabres scored 301 goals, fourth most in the NHL. Attendance for Sabres games was 16,433 per game (101% capacity).      The Sabres were also fourth-best on defense, surrendering just 220 goals. Of all the players the Sabres used that season, just five had a negative +/- rating.

2022-23 Regular Season: Firebirds vs. Owen Sound Attack       Despite bumps in the road in their first few seasons, the Flint Firebirds have become a competitive franchise in the OHL. After having the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, Flint returned in 2021-22 with an excellent 42-21-1-4 record (2nd place in the West Division) and a run to the Western Conference Finals before falling to Windsor in 7 games.       Head Coach Ted Dent returned behind the bench in 2022-23 for his second season as Firebirds coach. As of today, the Firebirds sport a 25-25-4-1 record, putting them in fourth place, 23 points behind first-place Windsor. 50-goal scorer and Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann was dealt earlier in the year to Peterborough.       As the season is still going on, I won't go through the stats. I plan on going to at least one more Firebirds game before the season's over, maybe even a playoff game as well.      This program is from Flint Generals Nigh

1981-82 Regular Season: Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks      The New York Islanders were the class of the NHL in 1981-82, having won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1980 and 1981. The team was loaded with talent on and off the ice, with five players, Coach Al Arbour, GM Bill Torrey and Assistant GM Jim Devellano all destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame.       This season may have been the Islanders greatest, and one of the greatest in NHL history. Thanks to a then-NHL record 15-game unbeaten streak, New York rolled to a 54-16-10 record, tops in the NHL. The Isles were 26 points ahead of the second-place Rangers in the Patrick Division and seven points in front of the second-best team in the league, the Edmonton Oilers. 15,049 per game packed Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum each night.      Al Arbour had a team that was equally strong on both sides of the puck. The Isles were led by Mike Bossy's 64 goals and 147 points in 80 games. His center Bryan Trotter was next with 50 goals

1981-82 Regular Season: Rockies vs. Vancouver Canucks       1981-82 was the sixth season of Colorado Rockies hockey, and eighth overall for the franchise (they played their first two seasons as the Kansas City Scouts). During it's six-year stay in Denver, the Rockies made the postseason just one time, and never came close to a .500 record. The franchise changed coaches yearly, sometimes during the season as well. The poor performance on the ice and instability in the franchise, along with frequent rumors of the team moving out, caused the attendance average to never climb above 10,000 a game at 16,000-seat McNichols Sports Arena.      1981-82 was more of the same. Following a 3-17-4 start, head coach Bert Marshall was canned in favor of assistant coach Marshall Johnston, formerly the head coach at the University of Denver. Johnston got the team to play slightly better (15-32-9), but the Rockies ended up buried in the NHL cellar, with a 18-49-13 record. Their meagre 49 points were 1

2000-01 Regular Season: Generals vs. Rockford Ice Hogs The Flint Generals were in their eighth season of existence in the United Hockey League. The team was was coming off its second Colonial Cup championship in 2000, having swept aside arch-rival Quad City in four straight games, the first sweep in Colonial Cup Finals history. Following the season, Head Coach/GM Doug Shedden left to take the coaching job with the ECHL's Memphis Riverkings. He was replaced in Flint by his assistant coach Billy Thurlow.      Thurlow had some talent to work with. Returning to the Generals from the 2000 championship were long-time General Chad Grills, ex-Red Wing Mark Major, Dale Greenwood, Khalil Thomas and defensemen Gary Roach and Lorne Knauft. Returning to the Generals from the Madison Kodak was popular winger Jim Duhart, who turned into a prolific scorer since leaving Flint in 1997. Starting goaltender Mark Richards joined Shedden in Memphis, and was replaced by ex-Saginaw Wheels goaltender Steve