Flint Bulldogs (CoHL, 1991-92)

1991-92 Regular Season
Opponent Unknown

      In the summer of 1990, the Franke family purchased the Flint Spirits, relocating the franchise to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to replace the recently departed Komets. The new team assumed the Komets name and history. While this move kept IHL hockey in Fort Wayne, it ended Flint's 21-year history in the league. An attempt to join the ECHL for 1990-91 fell flat, and Flint went without professional hockey for the first time since 1968-69. 

     It was inevitable that the IHL would pull out of Flint. The league had gradually expanded outside it's tradition Midwest footprint, adding such cities as Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver and Albany. Traditional smaller market cities such as Toledo, Port Huron, Saginaw and Dayton had drifted out of the IHL. Flint had been dealing with subpar attendance for about 15 years. While the Spirits (top affiliate of the New York Rangers) did average over 2500 per game in 1989-90, the team was still in the red financially. Flint had struggled through the 1980s with numerous General Motors plants being shut down and an unemployment rate around 15% by 1990.

     A new minor-pro circuit stepped into the void in the summer of 1991. Former Peoria Rivermen GM Leslie J. "Skip" Probst founded the Colonial Hockey League, a Double-A hockey league based around the Great Lakes region. Former NHL referee Bob Meyers was tabbed as commissioner. The CoHL filled the void of former IHL and Canadian Senior cities that had recently lost hockey. Flint was the charter member of the league, which also included the following cities in Year 1: 

Fraser, Michigan (Michigan Falcons)

Thunder Bay, Ontario (Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks)

St. Thomas, Ontario (St. Thomas Wildcats)

Brantford, Ontario (Brantford Smoke)

     Probst not only owned the Bulldogs, but was also Head Coach and General Manager of the Bulldogs in their maiden season. Home games were played at the 4,021-seat IMA Sports Arena. The team was affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens, Fort Wayne Komets and San Diego Gulls. Matt Gallagher, grandson of former Flint Generals owner Frank Gallagher, was named director of scouting. Sylvie Neveu was named assistant general manager and alternate governor.

     Despite being the first franchise, the Bulldogs brought up the rear in the five-team Colonial Hockey League. Flint finished with a disappointing 20-37-3 record, 12 points back of fourth place St. Thomas, and were the lone team to miss the playoffs. The Bulldogs were next-to-last in offense, scoring just 272 goals on the year. Despite that, they did have the inaugural scoring champion on the roster. Center Tom Sasso, a former Quebec Nordiques prospect (Round 10, 204th overall, 1985), arrived in Flint after spending the previous three seasons in the ECHL with Johnstown and Knoxville. Sasso had a career year, scoring 48 goals and 115 points, winning not only the scoring title, but the Most Sportsmanlike Player award. 

     It was a bit of a dropoff after Sasso's big year. Tom Mutch, in his only season in the league, had 30 goals and 70 points. They were the lone players with at least 20 goals in Flint. Steve Sullivan (18) and Jason Simon (17) were the closest to the 20-goal mark. 

     The Bulldogs were rotten on defense, allowing 368 goals, 79 more than the next-worst team, Thunder Bay. Flint went through five goaltenders that year. Former Saginaw Hawk John Reid, in his final season of pro hockey, played 24 games, with an 8-11-3 record and 5.55 GAA. Ron Kinghorn played in 22 games, sporting a 5-11-0 record and 6.63 GAA. Other netminders included Marysville native (and former Port Huron Jr. Flag) Roger Beedon, Ron High, and Frankie Ouellette. Of all the goaltenders, only Ouellette went on to a long career in the minors after this season (though Beedon did play a few games with the Port Huron Border Cats in the late 1990s). 

     The Bulldogs had some familiar faces on the blueline, as several defensemen had played for the Flint Spirits: Brett MacDonald, Ken Spangler and Stephane Brochu. All three players would go on to play for the Flint Generals after the Bulldogs departed. In addition, former Saginaw Hawk Brad Beck played 23 games this season. Leading the scoring on defense was Spangler, who had 13 goals and 47 points in 53 games. 

     The one thing the 1991-92 Flint Bulldogs did better than anyone in the Colonial League was pile up penalty minutes. Flint racked up 1,870 this season, nearly 200 PIM more than second-place Thunder Bay. Jason Simon led the Bulldogs with 261 penalty minutes in 48 games. Simon wasn't a liability on the ice, as he also scored 17 goals and 40 points, and would go on to be one of the first Colonial Leaguers to reach the NHL, playing five games over two years (4 with the Islanders, 1 with Phoenix). Ken Spangler had 233 penalty minutes in 53 games. 

     Flint had two of the more notorious tough guys in Colonial League history that season. Right Wing Jacques Mailhot, acquired from the Michigan Falcons midseason, racked up an incredible 237 PIM in just 29 games (also scoring 15 goals and 27 points). And then there was defenseman Darren Miciak. Darren wasn't known for offense, scoring just 17 goals in his pro career (2 of which with the Bulldogs). But he racked up 193 penalty minutes in 45 games this season. He would outdo himself in 1992-93, with a staggering 396. 

     Thunder Bay would win the inaugural Colonial Cup, defeating St. Thomas in seven games.

     This program is a pretty similar format to the 1989-90 Flint Spirits and 1992-93 Flint Bulldogs programs. Same font, same format on the pages. It's as if they simply said "Just recycle that Spirits program, edit a few things, and call it good". It's 56 pages, all in black and white. The usual advertisements, team directories and letter from the mayor are all included.

     This page is the league map, featuring all five of the original Colonial Hockey League franchises. Flint was the only city to play in all 19 seasons of the league, though with two franchises (Bulldogs for 2 years, Generals for 17). The Michigan (Detroit) Falcons would play in Fraser from 1991-96, when they would relocate to Port Huron, playing as the Border Cats from 1996-2002. The St. Thomas Wildcats moved to London, Ontario, for the 1994-95 season, move to Dayton, Ohio, for 1996-97, then land in Utica, New York in 1998. The Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks were the last original Colonial League franchise to leave town, moving to Rockford, Illinois, for the 1999-2000 season. The league would add Muskegon, Michigan, and Chatham, Ontario, for the 1992-93 season. 

     This page talks about the rise of Colonial Hockey League. Watertown, Syracuse and Newmarket would never play in the Colonial League. Watertown is currently home to the Watertown Wolves of the FPHL and Syracuse is home to the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. Newmarket was formerly home to the AHL's Newmarket Saints and the OHL's Newmarket Royals (now the Sarnia Sting). They are now home to the OJHL's Newmarket Hurricanes. Saginaw would eventually join the Colonial League in 1994 when the Chatham Wheels relocated.

     Not noted in this timeline is that Port Huron was also courted briefly for a franchise. The McMorran Authority had no interest in purchasing a franchise, and league officials posted an ad looking for prospective owners. Nothing happened--Port Huron would have to wait until 1996 to join the league.

     Local advertisements include NBD Bank (their usual "To another season of great checking" ad), James Lumber, Little Caesar's Pizza, the Flint Journal, WNEM TV5, YaYa's Flamebroiled Chicken, and Flint 4Seasons. 

RIP to Jacques Mailhot and Darren Miciak. Miciak passed away in 2013 at only 47 years old. Mailhot passed away in 2025, age 63. Skip Probst passed away in 2012, age 63.

Reference:

Colonial Hockey League Statistics: 1991-92, from hockeydb.com