Toledo Goaldiggers (IHL, 1983-84)

1983-84 Regular Season
Goaldiggers vs. Muskegon Mohawks

     The Toledo Goaldiggers were coming off one of the greatest stretches in IHL history, winning back-to-back Turner Cups and dominating the regular season in 1981-82 and 1982-83. The Goaldiggers went 104-44-14-2 in those seasons, easily winning the Huber Trophy as regular season champions. Off the ice, it was a different story. While the Goaldiggers were a hot ticket in the 1970s, the economic downturn of the 1980s saw attendance collapse at the Toledo Sports Arena. Even a powerhouse squad could not pack in the fans at the old barn, as the team was losing buckets of money. 

     General Manager (and former IHL commissioner) Bill Beagan and Head Coach Bill Inglis were back with the Goaldiggers to try and win their third Turner Cup in a row. Home games were played at 5,230-seat Toledo Sports Arena. 

     The Goaldiggers slipped to fourth place on the season, finishing with a solid 41-32-5-4 record. Their 91 points were eight points ahead of fifth place Kalamazoo,  but 21 points behind first place Fort Wayne.

     Inglis had the third-lowest scoring team in the IHL in 1983-84, scoring 326 goals. Former Michigan Tech center Jim Bissett, in his only season in the IHL, led the team in scoring, with 37 goals and 86 points in 79 games. Defenseman Kevin Beaton was next, with 29 goals and 84 points in 75 games. Dave Falkenberg, part of the back-to-back champions, led the team in goals with 39 goals in 82 games. Kevin Cameron and Rob Flockhart each had 33 goals and were the other 30-goal scorers in Toledo.

     Toledo was much stronger on defense, allowing 318 goals, third-fewest in the IHL. Veteran goaltender Lorne Molleken played in 56 games for the Goaldiggers and got the nod for the playoffs. Paul Billing (15 games) Todd Lumbard (11) and Chris Trinceri (2) backed up Molleken during the season. Leading scorer on the blueline was Kevin Beaton. Rob Hendricks was next, with 13 goals and 55 points in 80 games. Former Flags defenseman Brian Kinsella, who won three Turner Cups with Dayton and Toledo, had 18 goals and 37 points in 41 games. 

     The push for "3 in a row" began with best-of-three series against the Kalamazoo Wings, which Toledo won in 3 games, outscoring the Wings 14-7. Toledo then faced the regular season champion Fort Wayne Komets. Toledo pulled off the major upset, downing Fort Wayne in six games, clinching the series with a 1-0 win in Game 6 at the Sports Arena. The Goaldiggers then ran into the red-hot Flint Generals, who quickly dethroned Toledo in four straight to win their only Turner Cup. The Generals, who went 8-0 in the playoffs, outscored the Goaldiggers 22-13 in the process. 

     This program is pretty much identical to the 1981-82 program that I posted earlier. It's 37 pages, mostly in black and white. The Turner Cup and the 1982-83 team photo are featured prominently on the cover. The team's primary logo is one of the most abstract hockey logos I've ever seen. The jerseys are sharp, but I've heard that, because of money being so tight, the team used them for three years in a row until they were practically falling apart. The logo on the front of the jersey is gigantic, to say the least.

     Page 27 features the IHL mileage chart. The map looks like it had Saginaw erased (the Gears folded after the 1982-83 season), but it still has Grand Rapids listed, even though the Owls folded after 1979-80. The IHL directory is on page 30. This is still the era of the IHL being a bus league, but that would end soon when the Salt Lake Golden Eagles joined in 1984-85. 

     That night's opponent was the Muskegon Mohawks. The Mohawks were a complete dumpster fire in 1983-84. Already 7-24-3-3 on the season, the Mohawks would wind up buried in the IHL basement with a 19-55-5-3 record, 45 points behind the Goaldiggers. Muskegon did have some talent on their roster however. Leading the way was left wing Scott Gruhl, who scored 40 goals and 96 points in 56 games. Gruhl, who won the 1980-81 Turner Cup with the Saginaw Gears, would go on to become minor league hockey's all-time leading scorer and win three more Turner Cups before his career was over. He also played 20 games in the NHL with Los Angeles and Pittsburgh in the 1980s. Neil Hawryliw made it to 1 game with the 1981-82 New York Islanders before finishing his career in the IHL with Muskegon and Kalamazoo.

     As for the Goaldiggers, another notable player on the roster is defenseman Mike Greeder. Greeder won two Turner Cups with the Goaldiggers and was elected to the Toledo Hockey Hall of Fame in 2026. In the 1983-84 season, Greeder had 10 goals, 32 points and a team-high 250 penalty minutes in 75 points. In the playoffs, he added 4 goals and 7 points to go with 85 PIM. On left wing was Dave Hanson. Yes...he was one of the Hanson brothers in the legendary movie Slap Shot, playing the role of Jack Hanson. In Dave's final season of hockey, he scored 11 goals and 37 points in 68 games, to go along with 120 penalty minutes. In the postseason, he had 1 goal and 4 points in 9 games, along with 33 points. According to his autobiography Slap Shot Original, Hanson threw his skates off the High Level Bridge into the Maumee River, signifying the end of his playing career.

     Local advertisements include Bob Schmidt Chevrolet, Food Town Supermarkets, First Federal Savings of Toledo, Jim Dandy's Saloon and WOHO 1470 AM ("Your Toledo Goaldigger Station").

     Lastly, here are the team photos of the 1981-82 and 1982-83 Toledo Goaldiggers, which are located on the last two pages of the program. The 1982-83 picture is in color.

Aftermath: Due to declining attendance, the Toledo Goaldiggers suspended operations after the 1983-84 season. They were revived under new ownership for 1984-85, then went out of business altogether after the 1985-86 season. The franchise rights would eventually be sold and relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, as the Kansas City Blades. Toledo is currently home to the ECHL's Toledo Walleye, who play in the 7,389-seat Huntington Center in downtown Toledo.

Reference:

International Hockey League Regular Season Statistics: 1983-84, from hockeydb.com