Toledo Hornets (1971-72, IHL)

1971-72 Regular Season--Opponent Unknown

      The Toledo Blades were renamed Hornets after the 1969-70 season. The Hornets were led by President/GM Paul Bright, and coached by Bill Needham. The Hornets four-year run is considered the low point of pro hockey in Toledo. While the Blades and Mercurys won 5 Turner Cups between them, the Hornets never made it past the first round. Finishing over .500 only once, the Hornets failed to capture the imagination of Toledo hockey fans, often playing in front of small crowds at the Sports Arena.
     The 1971-72 Hornets didn't improve much on the previous season, going a lackluster 26-46-0. That was good enough for dead last in the North Division, 15 points behind third place Flint and 48 behind division champ Muskegon.
     The Hornets had the third-worst offense in the league that year, scoring 270 goals. Needham's bunch were led by Jim Paterson, who had 46 goals and 86 points. Three other Hornets scored at least 20 goals.

1971-72 Regular Season--Hornets vs. Des Moines Oak Leafs

   Toledo had all sorts of problems keeping the puck out of the net as well. They allowed a league-worst 371 goals that season, more than even the Columbus Golden Seals, the worst team in the league. The Hornets went through four different goaltenders that year, with local legend Glenn Ramsay taking the brunt of the abuse in net.

     Finishing dead last in the Northern Division eliminated the Hornets from playoff contention. Only the woeful Columbus Golden Seals (15-55-2) were worse than Toledo that year. Needham would be let go after the season in favor of Fred Burchell.
     For such a bad team, they had decent programs that year. Both programs have 34 pages, but only the second one has rosters. The first one posted was the first Hornets program I bought. I bought it at Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens. I bought the second one on eBay. Didn't pay too much for either. Ads include Coleco Pro Stars Hockey, Jeep and "Countrypolitan" WTOD 1560 AM. There are also pictures of Toledo Amateur Hockey teams. Of the two, I like the first one more, but not by much. Both are fine programs.

Sources:

International Hockey League Statistics: 1971-72 (from hockeydb.com)

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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 playoffs in their inaugural cam

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's economy tanked

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 Turner Cup (Playoff C

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