Hockey Programs

2011-12 Regular Season: Icehawks vs. Wisconsin Rampage      Here's a random program. I went to this game while my brother was still living in Bay City.       The Tri City Icehawks are a junior hockey team based out of Bay City, Michigan. They play their home games at the Bay County Civic Arena. The team is owned by Arthur and Colleen Dore (Colleen is also General Manager).  Chris Lacy was the head coach, with Eric Albrecht and Arthur Dore serving as his assistants.      During the 2011-12 season, the Icehawks were part of the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League. That year, the Icehawks stumbled to a 10-32-0 record. The team scored 158 goals while allowing 288 on the year.      This program is from the game on February 12, 2012, when the Icehawks played the Wisconsin Rampage. The Icehawks won, 4-3, in a shootout. At the time, this was their ninth win of the year.      The Icehaw...

1982-83 Regular Season--Express vs. Moncton Alpines      The Fredericton Express were in their second year of existence in 1982-83. They were members of the American Hockey League and were primary affiliates of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks. They played their home games at 3,278-seat Aitken Centre.      Jacques Demers was back behind the bench for the sophomore season of Express hockey. Fredericton enjoyed a huge turnaround in 1982-83, as Demers guided the Express to a brilliant 45-27-8 record. Their 98 points (53 more than last season) were 11 better than second-place Nova Scotia and three behind league-leading Rochester. An average of 3,012 fans attended Express games that season.      The Express pumped in 348 goals that season, fourth-most in the AHL. Tony Currie led the attack, scoring 47 goals and 95 points. Tim Tookey was next with 24 goals and 67 points. Four other players had at least 20 goals that s...

1969-70 Regular Season--Bisons vs. Baltimore Clippers      Before the Sabres, Buffalo was home to the American Hockey League's Buffalo Bisons. The Bisons existed from 1940-70, and played their home games at Memorial Auditorium. The franchise was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola, and their logo was a Pepsi bottle cap with a stylized "Buffalo" script written across the center.      Fred Shero, future "Broad Street Bullies" Flyers coach, was back behind the bench for the final season of Bisons hockey. Buffalo repeated as Western Division champions that year, going 40-17-15. The Bisons ran away with the division that season, as they were the lone Western team to finish above .500. Second place Hershey trailed Buffalo by 23 points, and Buffalo was just five behind league-best Montreal. Buffalo fans responded to the the Bisons' great season, as a league-best 6,745-per game average walked through "The Aud's" turnstiles.      Buffalo scor...

1982-83 Regular Season: Saints vs. Maine Mariners      The St. Catherines Saints were an American Hockey League franchise in it's first season of play in 1982-83. They were the primary farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs and played their home games at the 3,145-seat Garden City Arena.      The Saints were originally the New Brunswick Hawks, from Moncton, New Brunswick. In 1982, Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard decided the Leafs needed a farm team closer to home. Despite the Hawks drawing large crowds, Ballard proposed relocating the Hawks to either St. Catherines or Niagara Falls, Ontario. This plan was originally blocked by the Buffalo Sabres and voted down by three AHL clubs.     Rudy Pilous, director of operations for the Saints, summed up the Leafs and Sabres battle over the Saints: "The Leafs didn't feel they needed permission from a club they had allowed into the NHL 10 years ago, and the Sabres were not anxious to have...

1977-78 Regular Season: Flags vs. Fort Wayne Komets       The Port Huron Flags were in their fifteenth season of IHL hockey during the 1977-78 season. They were a secondary farm club of the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals that season. The Flags played their home games at McMorran Arena, which had a capacity of 3,582.      The Flags were coming off a disastrous 1976-77 campaign, a mess both on and off the ice. The Flags slumped to a league-worst 27-43-8 record, nine points behind the next worst team, Columbus. Off the ice, attendance slumped to dangerously low levels. A last-minute cash donation of about $50,000 kept the team afloat for the following season.      Morris Snider returned as General Manager (he was also GM of McMorran Arena), and the team had a new face behind the bench: former Komets center Ron Ullyot. This was Ullyot's rookie year as a head coach, and he helped pull the Flags out of the cellar....