Flint Hockey: Flint Bulldogs (1991-93)

After the Spirits left town, Flint went without hockey for the 1990-91 season. After years in the Triple-A level IHL, Flint simply couldn't afford a franchise in league with so many expenses. Despite rumors of an expansion franchise in the ECHL, Flint became part of the new Colonial Hockey League, a Double-A league at it's best, a glorified beer league at it's worst. Flint's team was owned by Leslie J. "Skip" Probst, who was also Coach/GM. The other four charter members of the Colonial League were in Ontario and Michigan.
The Bulldogs lasted only two years, and I haven't really seen any programs from them for sale. Here's the one I have.


1992-93 Colonial Cup Playoffs--Bulldogs vs. Brantford

     The Bulldogs kicked off the inaugural season of the Colonial League by finishing dead last in the five-team league, going 20-37-3. The Bulldogs' second season was slightly better, as they stumbled to a 27-29-4 record, sixth place in the league and 23 points behind first place Brantford. The Bulldogs did feature a few ex-Spirits, including defensemen Brett MacDonald, Stephane Brochu and Ken Spangler. Mike Jorgensen led the offense with 63 points on 27 goals. In net, Pat Szturm and Mark Gowans nearly split the games between each other. The Dogs also had tough guy Darren Miciak, who racked up 396 PIM in 53 games.
     While the Bulldogs limped into the playoffs, their stay was short-lived. Their opponent was the first-place Brantford Smoke, led by former MSU forward Paul Polillo and ex-Islanders goalie Rollie Melanson. The Smoke knocked off the Bulldogs in six games, on their way to winning the Colonial Cup.
     While the Bulldogs drew the second-largest crowds in the league, 2,238 per game was not enough to keep the franchise afloat. The fanbase simply did not care for the Bulldogs mediocre play on ice or owner Skip Probst. After the season, Probst moved his franchise to Utica, New York, declaring that Flint could no longer support pro hockey.
     Great-looking program, isn't it? Someone put some time into the design of this. The team was no good, but at least the program design was sharp.

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Port Huron Hockey: Flags/Wings (1962-81)

Now, on to Port Huron. Port Huron has had a long, yet checkered, history of pro hockey. The most successful franchise, by far, was the Port Huron Flags (also called Wings for a few years) of the IHL. The Flags were, for the most part, a competitve team on the ice, making the Turner Cup Finals seven times and winning the Cup on three occasions. For three years, (1971-74), the franchise was a farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and sent numerous players on to the NHL in it's existence. However, the team had problems drawing big enough crowds. While the Flags lasted for nearly 20 years, former GM Morris Snider later admitted that the franchise could have folded three years before it actually did, due to declining attendance. I've found some Flags/Wings programs online over the years, and here's what I have. 1963-64 Regular Season--Flags vs. Windsor 1963-64 was the second year of existence for the Flags. After missing the...

Flint Generals yearbook (IHL, 1973-74)

I recently bought two yearbooks from the Flint Generals of the IHL. This one is from the 1973-74 season. It's a 40-page book, all in black-and-white, and on glossy paper. Each player for that season has a full page photo and a short bio. The statistics and a team photo for each Generals season are included. Stats for every player that wore the "blue and gold" are listed in the back of the yearbook. Flint Journal sportswriter Len Hoyes added an article previewing the remainder of the 1973-74 campaign. One thing that Hoyes noted in his article was about attendance: "With all of their problems, the Generals were still attracting fans at a rate of 3,950 per game. Attendance was down slightly, but Flint's percentage rate of almost 100 percent remained the envy of minor league hockey." (Hoyes, 1974) The original Generals were a popular team for most of their existence, and attendance only bottomed out when the region...

Muskegon Mohawks (IHL, 1965-84)

I know, I said earlier I was going to look at Detroit's minor league teams. That would mean the Vipers would be next, but I decided to cover them later when I had time (I have a TON of programs from that team). Instead, I'm going to look briefly at Muskegon. Muskegon has had a long, colorful past in professional hockey. It all started in 1960 with the expansion Muskegon Zephyrs of the IHL. Five seasons later, 1965-66, the Zephyrs became the Mohawks, and remain so until 1984-85, when they became the Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks would remain in town through the 1992-93 season. After that season, the franchise would relocate to Cleveland, Ohio. Here are the Mohawks programs I have, along with a couple bonus scans. The Mohawks existed from 1965-84, about 20 seasons, and had two vastly different eras of success. From 1965-76, the Mohawks finished above .500 10 times, winning the Huber Trophy (Regular Season Championship) six times and the ...

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