Saginaw Lumber Kings (UHL, 1997-98)

1997-98 Regular Season
Lumber Kings vs. Brantford Smoke
Lumber Kings vs. Port Huron Border Cats
Lumber Kings vs. BC Icemen

     The Saginaw Lumber Kings were coming off a miserable 1996-97 season on the ice and at the box office. The team finished next-to-last in the Colonial Hockey League with a 21-48-5 record and saw their attendance drop to 2,062 per game (fourth lowest in the league). The Lumber Kings were also the first team in the Saginaw-Flint hockey rivalry to be swept in a season series, dropping all 13 games to the Flint Generals. Despite this, John Blum returned as Head Coach/GM, and added ex-Gears forward Warren Holmes as an assistant. Home games were still played at 4,727-seat Wendler Arena (once again, no ice-level seats).

     The Lumber Kings weren't much better in 1997-98. After starting off 9-14-0, Blum was fired and replaced by Warren Holmes. Didn't really matter, as Saginaw finished dead last in the United Hockey League (UHL), with a 23-46-5 record. Their 51 points were 47 behind first-place Flint in the UHL's Eastern Division. Attendance dipped even lower to 2,037 per game, third lowest in the league. Halfway through the season, the team nearly went out of business due to rising debts. Owner Muhanad Jondy put the team up for sale, eventually selling it to Flint Generals owner Dr. Khaled Shukairy

     Saginaw had the second-worst offense in the UHL that year, scoring just 231 goals. Left-winger Mark Green got off to a hot start, scoring 32 goals and 63 points in 51 games, but finished the season with the Fayetteville Force of the CHL. He still had enough points to finish second on Saginaw! The leading scorer at the end of the year was center Kyle Millar, with 40 goals and 78 points in 64 games. The only other player to score 20 goals for the Lumber Kings this season was Joel Gardner, a midseason pickup from Port Huron, who had 20 goals and 56 points in 47 games.

The Lumber Kings' mascot:
Woody B. King

     The Lumber Kings were dead-last in defense, getting lit up for 342 goals. Returning goalie Dan Ryder got off to a decent start on a poor team, a 6-9-0 record and 3.54 GAA in 17 games before injuring his shoulder, missing the rest of his final season in pro hockey. Saginaw then signed free agent, and former Wheel, Kevin Butt. Butt got off to a good start, with a 4-0 record, and ended up playing 41 games, going 12-20-5 with a 4.46 GAA. The backup goaltender was rookie John Herrick, who was 5-17-0 with a 5.10 GAA in 29 games. The leading scorer on the blueline was Jamie Dabanovich, who scored 5 goals and 29 points in 52 games before being traded to the Madison Monsters. 

 
   The Lumber Kings were much more disciplined this season, spending 1,463 minutes in the penalty box, fourth-lowest in the UHL. Defenseman DJ Conte led the way to the sin bin, with 209 PIM in 62 games. Conte had by far the most penalty minutes on the Lumber Kings, as the next-highest was Kyle Millar, with 96 in 64 games. 

     No playoffs for the Lumber Kings, but they hung in there for the last playoff spot for most of the season, finishing eight points back of the BC Icemen. Probably wouldn't have lasted that long in the Colonial Cup Playoffs anyway, as the Icemen were knocked out in five games (best-of-seven) by Flint in Round 1.

     Another nice program for the Lumber Kings. This one is 80 pages long, all in black-and-white with a wineberry (maroon) header on each page. Lots of advertisements and game photos in it as well. The history of the franchise is discussed on pages 44-46. The schedule is on page 42, as well as ticket prices for games ($7.50 for Mezzanine, $9.50 for Loge). All the other UHL opponents have bios and directories throughout the first half of the program. A welcome letter from UHL commissioner Richard Brosal and an article about the changes to the league name are included on page 11. 

     I went to three Lumber Kings games that year. All the programs are the same. The roster sheet I'm including is from the February 7, 1998 game between the Lumber Kings and Brantford Smoke. Goaltender Kevin Butt is featured on the roster sheet. Butt followed the Wheels from Chatham to Saginaw, and was a fan favorite in Saginaw in 1994-95. He was the odd-man-out in Port Huron in 1997-98 and was signed as a free agent by the Lumber Kings when Dan Ryder was lost for the season. I always liked him, one of the better net minders of the early days of the Colonial Hockey League. His record wasn't stellar this season, but no goaltender would have won with the weak lineup the Lumber Kings had that season. Also, if you look at the picture, you see that Saginaw changed their jerseys, going with a black jersey with wineberry and gold slashes across the front. I always liked this style, but that Lumber King logo is goofy. Hockey News once said it was "Jughead from Archie Comics on steroids." Hard not to agree. I wasn't a big fan of the nickname, but I eventually came around, plus I liked having another hockey team nearby. I did have a Lumber Kings T-shirt I wore in high school. 

     As I said, this program was from the Saginaw-Brantford game on February 7. In front of 3,038 fans, the Lumber Kings won in a shootout, 4-3, to improve to 19-32-3 on the year. Kevin Butt started in goal for Saginaw while Brantford countered with Rick Pracey, playing in his only season of pro hockey. Butt was the First Star of the game, stopping 32 of 35 shots. 

     Here's Brantford's roster for that night's game. The Smoke were just one of two original Colonial League franchises still in their original cities (Flint was on it's second team). The Smoke's best player was local star Paul Polillo. Paul played for Western Michigan during his collegiate career, then played all six seasons of the Smoke's time in Brantford. He usually was near the top of the league in scoring and 1997-98 was no different. Polillo had 48 goals and 165 points in 71 games. I have his road jersey from that season. John Vecchiarelli was a former Wheels forward and a league superpest. He was one of those players you couldn't stand, but wanted on your team. Bernie John was a talented defenseman, 15 goals and 57 points in 60 games, and only had 6 PIM. He was part of the Paul Polillo trade to Port Huron after this season. Head Coach/GM Larry Trader played 91 games in the NHL with Detroit, St. Louis and Montreal. He coached the Smoke for their final three years in Brantford, winning 120 games the process.

     And here's the home team's roster. Again, not too much talent, hence the record. But there are some good players. Dabanovich had some good numbers in Saginaw before being sent to Madison during the season. Jason Renard was a former Saginaw Wheels right winger, playing 62 games from 1994-96, scoring 13 goals and 31 assists. Jason spent part of the 1994-95 season with the IHL's Fort Wayne Komets, but was part of the Wheels' brief 1995-96 playoff run. Defenseman DJ Conte played for the 1998-99 Saginaw Gears for 39 games, his last in pro hockey. He never scored a goal in the pros (he also played with Fresno of the WCHL), but did rack up 312 PIM during his two-year stay in Saginaw. After a Gears game in 1999, I found a pennant signed by Conte that was lying in the parking garage. It hung in my classroom for several years. Joel Gardner was another good player I remember from those days. He was a former Chatham Wheel who also played for the Detroit Falcons and Port Huron Border Cats. Joel ended up having 25 goals and 71 points between Port Huron and Saginaw in 1997-98. He later played a few games for the Saginaw Gears before being traded to Muskegon. 

  

     Probably the biggest highlight of the Lumber Kings' two-year run in Saginaw was "Gears Reunion

Weekend", which was held during the 1997-98 season, shortly after Dr. Shukairy purchased the team. The Lumber Kings really went all out for this event, bringing back several former Gears, retiring about six numbers and raising two banners for the Gears' Turner Cup championships. For the Saturday night game against the BC Icemen, the Lumber Kings wore throwback Gears home jerseys, which were auctioned off after the game. I went to that game with my dad, a 4-1 win in front of a sellout crowd. During the second intermission, Dr. Shukairy and GM George Manias announced the Lumber Kings would be renamed "Saginaw Gears" for the following season, which drew an enthusiastic response (reality would set in next season). The IHL Gears were before my time, but I've always liked the Gears logo and their jerseys. Can't find a Gears jersey, but I've had tee-shirts over the years. I still have my white Gears hat I bought at that game too. 

     Local advertisements include UAW Local 699, Car Quest, Larry's Lounge (still "Just a Slapshot from the Civic Center"), NBD Bank, Z93 WKQZ, Blue Lakes Charters and Tours, IGA of Frankenmuth, Bridgeport and Vassar, and Gobblers Restaurant.

Reference:

United Hockey League Statistics: 1997-98, from hockeydb.com