Dayton Gems (IHL, 1974-75)

1974-75 Regular Season
Gems vs. Port Huron Flags

      The Dayton Gems were in their tenth season of operation in the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1974-75. The franchise had been a success on and off the ice, reaching the Turner Cup Finals four times and winning the Turner Cup twice (1969 and 1970). They had also missed the playoffs just once in their 10 years of play, and that was in their inaugural season. The team had solid support throughout the years, regularly packing the 5,500-seat Hara Arena in the suburb of Trotwood, Ohio. 

     Longtime minor league left winger Tom McVie was back as head coach, with Bucky Albers as General Manager. The Gems were an affiliate of both the Boston Bruins and expansion Washington Capitals. 

     The Gems improved on their 1973-74 season (38-35-3) by finishing first in the IHL's South Division with a 46-26-3 record. Their 95 points were 11 points ahead of second-place Columbus and just four back of Huber Trophy-winner Muskegon. 

    The Gems had the fourth-best offense in 1974-75, scoring 297 goals. They were led on offense by center Rick Bragnalo. The 22-year old native of Fort William, Ontario, scored 41 goals and 113 points in 75 games for Dayton. He would go on to play parts of four seasons with the Capitals, scoring 15 goals in that time. Right winger Steve Self led the team in goals with a career-high 56 goals in 74 games after coming to Dayton the previous year from Flint. Self would eventually play 3 games in Washington in 1976-77, his final year of hockey. Five more players had at least 20 goals for the Gems, including: Dave Birch and Tony White (23), Ken Tarnow (21), and Don Westbrooke and Yvon Bilodeau (20). Bilodeau was the top scoring defenseman on the 1975 Gems, with 20 goals and 57 points in 73 games. 

     The Gems were even stronger on defense, as they surrendered just 256 goals that year, third-fewest in the IHL (not counting Lansing, who folded at midseason). The team used three goaltenders this season. Leading the way in games was Pat Flaherty, with 54 games. At the time of this program, his record was 12-5-3 with a 3.43 GAA. Bruins prospect Jim Pettie saw action in 27 games, sporting a 3.34 GAA, and was 7-3-0 with a 3.29 GAA at the time of this publication. Garth Malarchuk played 17 games and sported a 3.43 GAA, after being acquired from Kalamazoo during the season. Malarchuk and Pettie saw action in the playoffs.

     The Gems qualified for the 1975 Turner Cup Playoffs for the ninth-straight season, and opened it up against the defending champion Des Moines Capitols. The Capitols were by far the most western-based IHL team, and the series went the distance before the Gems advanced with a 3-1 win in Game 7 at Hara Arena. The Gems then faced the expansion Toledo Goaldiggers, a rugged team who finished in third place in the South with a 34-38-3 record. Again, the series went to seven games before the Goaldiggers pulled off their second straight upset by knocking off the Gems, 6-2 at Hara. The Diggers would complete their "Miracle on Main Street" by upsetting the Saginaw Gears in 7 games in the Finals to win their first Turner Cup. 

 

   The Gems typically had good programs, and this one is no different. It's 38 pages, all in black-and-white, and loaded with the usual hockey program stuff. That night's opponent was the Port Huron Flags, which had reverted to their classic name after 4 years as the Port Huron Wings (a Detroit affiliate). At the time of this game, the Flags were 11-19-2 and in third place in the North, while the Gems were a sparkling 22-8-2  and firmly in first place in the South. On the left is the mileage chart for the IHL in 1974-75. Dayton benefited from being in the Great Lakes-based IHL, with three opponents being within 155 miles away. The longest ride was Des Moines, which was true for all IHL teams that year. Des Moines would drop out of the IHL after the 1974-75 season.

     

     Here is the roster for the Gems that night. Flaherty would be dealt to Kalamazoo during the season for Garth Malarchuk. Center Brian Kinsella would  follow Flaherty north to Kalamazoo, and would eventually play parts of two seasons with the Capitals before spending the remainder of his career in the IHL with Port Huron and Toledo. Kinsella would win two Turner Cups with the Goaldiggers in 1982 and 1983. Defenseman Gord Lane would be part of the 1976 Gems Turner Cup championship team, then spend 11 seasons in the NHL, first with Washington, then with the New York Islanders. Lane would play a key role in the Isles four straight Stanley Cups of the early 1980s. Head Coach Tom McVie would spend the next 23 years as an assistant or head coach in various leagues, including stints in the NHL (Washington, Winnipeg, New Jersey, Boston) and WHA (Winnipeg). McVie led the Jets to the final Avco Cup in 1979.

     This is the Flags roster for that night. Bill LeCaine was an original Port Huron Flag, and was in his final season of hockey in 1975 at age 36. Ray Germain led the Flags/Wings to back-to-back Turner Cups in 1971 and 1972 and was in his final season of hockey in 1975. Bill Watt came to the Flags from Michigan State University and would play 5 seasons in Port Huron, scoring a career-high 25 goals in 1975. Head Coach Bob McCammon was a former Flags player himself, a member of the original Flags (1962-63) who helped the team win all three of it's Turner Cups (1966, 1971, 1972) before taking over behind the bench. McCammon would eventually coach in the NHL with Philadelphia, Edmonton and Vancouver. General Manager Morris Snider was also the GM of McMorran Place (and would remain GM of the building through 1996), and was not paid extra to run the Flags. All of the people mentioned here have a banner on the east endzone of McMorran Arena.

     Local advertisements include Liberal Supermarkets, Priske and Sons, The Keyhole Lounge, The Trotwood Bank and the Dayton Inn.

Aftermath: The Gems would have one more season of glory in 1975-76, finishing first overall with a Gems-record 104 points (47-21-10) and cruising to their third Turner Cup championship. The team would stumble in 1976 to 35-38-5 and first round exit in 1976-77. Off the ice, attendance was already starting to wane, with a declining economy and energy crisis wiped out attendance. The team suspended operations after the 1976-77 season. They would return for the 1979-80 campaign, but poor attendance and significant losses made that version of the Gems a "one-and-done" operation. 

References:

International Hockey League Regular Season Statistics: 1974-75, from hockeydb.com