Port Huron Flags (IHL, 1969-70)

1969-70 Regular Season
Flags vs. Muskegon Mohawks

     1969-70 was the eighth season of operation for the Port Huron Flags in the International Hockey League.  The team had been relatively successful in those eight years of play, winning the 1964-65 Huber Trophy (regular season champions) and 1965-66 Turner Cup. Former Flags forward Frank St. Marseille graduated from the Flags to the NHL with the St. Louis Blues. 

     Off the ice, it was a little more challenging. The Flags played in the smallest city and rink in the league and often brought up the rear in attendance average. Because of this, the franchise was perennially in the red financially, which would only worsen as the years go on. Attendance for the 1969-70 season was about 1,100 per game, easily the lowest in the IHL.

     The Flags were owned by John Wismer, owner of WHLS 1450 AM. Ted Garvin was Head Coach/General Manager. The Flags played their home games at 3,582-seat McMorran Arena in downtown Port Huron. The team had a strong season in 1969-70, as they finished second place in the Northern Division with a 37-28-7 record. Their 81 points were 19 back of Huber Trophy-winner Muskegon, and 21 ahead of third place Fort Wayne. 

     The Flags scored the fourth-most goals in the IHL that season, with 272 on the year. Left wing Dave Gorman had 35 goals and 80 points in 72 games. Marty Reynolds was next on the list with 33 goals and 71 points in 68 games. Geoff Powis, in his final season with the Flags, was the other 30-goal scorer, netting 31 to go with 71 points in 67 games. 

     While allowing just two less goals than they scored, the Flags were tough on defense, allowing just 270 goals, tied for fourth-fewest in the IHL (with Flint). Phil Headley was the top netminder in 1969-70, appearing in 45 games, while Ron Marlow appeared in 31. Longtime IHL netminder Glenn Ramsay was acquired from the Toledo Blades. Headley and Ramsay saw action in the postseason. Bob Howard was the top scorer on the blueline, with 5 goals and 30 points in 71 games.

     Teams coached by Ted Garvin often piled up penalty minutes, and the Flags were no different, racking up 1,253 that year. Defenseman Dave Simpson led the team in PIM, with 164, while Ron Hopkinson was right behind with 161. Marty Reynolds (123), Ken Gratton (115), Gord Redden (108) and Bill LeCaine (100) were the other Flags with at least 100 PIM.

     The Flags opened the Turner Cup Playoffs against Fort Wayne, and swept aside the Komets in three straight, outscoring them 14-8. In the semifinals, Port Huron defeated Des Moines in five games (best of 5), as each team won all their home games. In the finals, the Flags faced the Dayton Gems. The series went to a deciding seventh game, with the Gems winning, 5-2 in Game 7 to win the Turner Cup. 

     This is one of the smaller Flags programs I have, just 19 pages long. It's also printed horizontally, which is unique for one of their programs. Plenty of advertisements, but not too many articles. "The Word Is-Watch the Puck" is found on Page 4, while "Young Energetic Players Key to Turner Cup" by Ted Garvin is on Page 6. That's about it for articles. 

   What this program does have are game photos.  The photo on the left is from a game against the Flint Generals, an expansion franchise in 1969-70. Bob Perani is in net for the Generals, who would go on to be one of the Generals' first star players and a successful businessman in Flint. 

     The picture on the right is from a game against the Des Moines Oak Leafs. Marty Reynolds (17), Bill LeCaine (20) and Dennis Wing (18) are the Flags in that picture.

     On page 9, the above photos are from a game against the Flint Generals. Tom Deacon (9) is the Flags player in the left picture, while Marty Reynolds (17) is the player wrapped around the post in the right picture, next to Flint's Bob Perani. The bottom picture is from a game against the Muskegon Mohawks. The maskless goaltender for Muskegon is Bruce Mullett, while the Flags player is Ken Gratton.

     A few things about these pictures. For starters, note that all the players are wearing helmets. Leagues were starting to require helmets after the death of Minnesota North Stars player Bill Masterton during a game in 1967-68. Secondly, look at the Flags jerseys. I believe this is the only season the team wore this style of home jersey.  Basically, it's the white version of their road jerseys, and similar to the home jersey the Red Wings wore through 1956. One thing that is unusual for hockey jerseys at that time was having names on the back. The California Golden Seals were the first NHL team do have nameplates on the back, but this predates the Seals by a year. The Flags went back to their Red Wings-style jerseys (red sleeves) in 1970-71, and never had names on their jerseys again. 

     Here's the roster for the Flags. Goaltender Phil Headley would make it as far as the Western Hockey League before his career was done. Along with Port Huron, he also played for Des Moines and Columbus while in the IHL. Bob McCammon would not only play for the Flags, he would eventually coach them as well. McCammon took over for Garvin after the 1972-73 season, and led the Flags to a surprise berth in the Turner Cup Finals in 1975-76. He eventually would be head coach in Philadelphia and Vancouver in the NHL. Len Fontaine was one of the top goal scorers in IHL history and play 46 games with the Detroit Red Wings in parts of two seasons, and also played 21 games for the ill-fated Michigan Stags of the WHA. Fontaine would win three Turner Cups in his career, two in Port Huron and one in Fort Wayne, before retiring after spending the 1982-83 season in Flint. Bill LeCaine was an original Port Huron Flag, and was part of all three Turner Cup wins by the franchise. He also reached the NHL, playing 9 games with the 1968-69 Pittsburgh Penguins. A consistent 25+-goal scorer in Port Huron, LeCaine had his number 20 raised to the rafters of McMorran Arena in 1996. 

     And here's the Muskegon Mohawks roster. Moose Lallo played 20 years in the minor leagues, then coached Muskegon for 17 seasons, leading them to the Turner Cup in 1962 and 1968. He was a head coach through the 1984-85 season in the Continental Hockey League, adding another championship with the Troy Sabres in 1982-83. Jim Bannatyne would eventually join the Flags in the late 1970s and serve as captain for 3 1/2 seasons, getting his number raised to the rafters. Gary Ford was a former 50-goal scorer for the Mohawks (1967-68) and eventually reached the 60-goal level in 1972-73. He was part of Muskegon's 1968 Turner Cup win, then helped the USHL's Grand Rapids Blades win the 1976-77 championship (in their only season. Bryan McLay spent 12 seasons in Muskegon, winning two Turner Cups, then served as head coach of the Mohawks for parts of three seasons.

     Local advertisements include Sperry's Department Store, Grant Moore Agency, Brass Rail Bar, Dawn Donuts, Hotel Harrington, Fogcutter Restaurant, WHLS 1450 AM and People's Bank of Port Huron.

Aftermath: John Wismer would donate the Flags to the City of Port Huron after the 1969-70 season. The McMorran Authority (which operated the arena for the city) appointed Arena GM Morris Snider as General Manager of the Flags (at no extra pay), a position he would hold for the remainder of the franchise's existence. 

References:

International Hockey League Regular Season Statistics: 1969-70,  from hockeydb.com