Hockey Programs

1980-81 Regular Season Flags vs. Flint Generals      The Port Huron Flags were in their 19th season of operation in the International Hockey League, the third-oldest franchise in the league (behind Fort Wayne and Muskegon). Despite low attendance and rising financial losses, the Flags were one of the more competitive franchises in the IHL, making the postseason four of the past five years, including a Turner Cup Finals berth in 1978 and a North Division championship in 1979. Home games were played at McMorran Arena. Former Michigan Wolverines assistant Doug Hinton returned for his second season as Flags coach, while Morris Snider was general manager. The Flags were a farm club of the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals.      Port Huron went through 35 players in 1980-81, as the team constantly battled injuries and limped to a 31-35-16 record. Their 78 points were good enough for second place in the North Division, six points ahead of thi...

  1976-77 Regular Season: Flags vs. Saginaw Gears      The Port Huron Flags were in their fifteenth season of operation in the International Hockey League in 1976-77. The team was coming off a surprise run to the 1976 Turner Cup Finals, where they lost to the Dayton Gems in four straight. Former Flag Bob McCammon returned as head coach, while Morris Snider was back as general manager. The Flags were a secondary affiliate of the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.       1976-77 was a big step backward for the team, both on and off the ice. The Flags slumped to a 27-43-8 record, dead last in the league. Their 62 points were nine points back of the next-worst team, the Columbus Owls. Off the ice, the Flags lost $150,000 on the season, putting the franchise's future in jeopardy.       Port Huron scored the fewest goals in the IHL in 1977, with just 268. The team's leading scorer was Larry Gould, with 35 goals and 106 points. The Flags...

2000-01 Regular Season: Border Cats vs. Muskegon Fury      The Port Huron Border Cats were in their fifth season of play in the United Hockey League since relocating from Fraser in 1996.  The team was successful on the ice and in the box office. The Cats were one of the better teams in the UHL during their run, and had were drawing over 2500 per game in each of the previous four seasons of play, some of the highest averages in Port Huron hockey history.      However, trouble was brewing behind the scenes. Owner Mostafa Afr had attempted to renegotiate his lease at, then later try to buy McMorran Arena, to no avail. After this failed, Afr announced plans to build a new 5,000-seat stadium, Kimball Entertainment and Sports Arena, near an outlet mall in the Port Huron suburb. Unfortunately, construction was halted in 2000 when finances dried up. The Border Cats were planning on moving into the new arena during the 2000-01 season, but the halt left the team...

      Now, here are the mascots from Port Huron. Didn't take too long at all, actually. As far as I know, the original Port Huron Flags and the Port Huron Clippers did not have mascots (the Clippers barely had any paying customers, for that matter). We'll start with Bridges and work our way to Mitts, the Prowlers mascot. All of these pictures are either from my program collection or pictures I've taken at hockey games.  Once again, if you know what happened to the suits, let me know. Just curious where they wound up after the teams folded or moved away. 1. Bridges (Port Huron Border Cats, CoHL, 1996-2000) Bridges (as far as I know) was the first mascot for a Port Huron pro hockey team. He was actually the third mascot in the franchise's history, as the Detroit Falcons had Freddie and Frieda the Falcons during their stay in Fraser. The logo had the Blue Water Bridge in it, hence the name. Bridges would dance around the concourse at McMorran Arena and skate around prio...

1972-73 Regular Season: Wings vs. Des Moines Capitols      The Port Huron Wings were a farm club of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. The franchise was renamed "Port Huron Wings" prior to the 1971-72 season to reflect the working agreement with Detroit, which is just 64 miles away from McMorran Arena. Ted Garvin was behind the bench, and McMorran Arena GM Morris Snider doubled as Wings GM.       The Wings were in the middle of their strongest run in franchise history. The team had been in the last three Turner Cup Finals, winning it all in 1970-71 and 1971-72. The 1971-72 Wings finished second in the Northern Division with a 37-31-4 record, 28 points behind league best Muskegon. Despite this, the Wings defeated the Mohawks in six games to win their second straight championship.      1972-73 was an even better season, as the Wings improved to 41-31-1, just six points behind the first-place Flint Generals and 16 behind league-best Fort Wayne....

  1967-68 Regular Season: Flags vs. Des Moines Oak Leafs      The Port Huron Flags were coming off a disappointing 1966-67 season, which saw the team miss the postseason after capturing the 1966 Turner Cup, finishing with a 34-33-5 record, three points back of fourth-place Des Moines. Former NHL right wing Jerry Toppazzini was the new head coach, replacing Lloyd Maxfield. Flags owner John Wismer doubled as General Manager. The team played at 3,300-seat McMorran Arena.      1967-68 was another down season, which saw the Flags drop to sixth place in the seven-team IHL with a 25-36-11 record. Their 61 points were 12 back of fourth place Fort Wayne and 37 behind league-best Muskegon.      Port Huron scored 269 goals on the year, fifth in the IHL. Leading the way was right wing Randy Prior. The 22-year old North Bay native had a career year, scoring 56 goals and 90 points. Prior's 56 goals would be a record for Port Huron pro hockey until Gra...

1965-66 Regular Season: Flags vs. Toledo Blades       The Port Huron Flags were in their fourth season of operation in the International Hockey League, playing their home games at 3,300-seat McMorran Arena. Lloyd Maxfield was head coach and Frank Gallagher was General Manager. The Flags were coming off a successful regular season in 1964-65, finishing in first place in the IHL with a 43-22-5 record, six points ahead of Fort Wayne. Port Huron was then upset in Round One by Des Moines in seven games.       The Flags dropped to third place in 1965-66, finishing with a 34-32-4 record. Their 72 points were four points ahead of fourth-place Dayton, but 25 behind league-best Muskegon. On offense, the team was led by three 40-goal scorers. Leading the way was veteran left winger Bill LeCaine, who tallied 41 goals and 116 points. Future NHLer Frank St. Marseille was next with 45 goals and 90 points. Right winger Frank Golembrosky had the most goals, with 4...

2017-18 Regular Season Prowlers vs. Cornwall Nationals Prowlers vs. North Shore Knights      The Port Huron Prowlers are currently in Year 3 of existence in the independent "Class-A" Federal Hockey League (FHL). They are owned by Barry Soskin, who also owns the FHL's Danville Dashers and Carolina Thunderbirds. Joe Pace, Sr. is behind the bench after taking over at mid-season last year for Trevor Karasiewicz. The team plays it's home games at 3,400-seat  McMorran Arena.      After missing the playoffs in 2016-17, the Prowlers shipped leading scorer Ahmed Mahfouz to the Cornwall Nationals (close to his hometown of Ottawa). The team got off to a slow start in 2017-18, with a 5-5-1 record through the first 11 games.... ...and then they got on the mother of all hot streaks.      After that slow start, the Prowlers ripped through a 12-game unbeaten streak. Following an overtime loss in Carolina, the Prowlers are currently on a 23-game...

1967-68 Regular Season Flags vs. Dayton Gems      The 1967-68 season was the sixth season in the International Hockey League (IHL) for the Port Huron Flags. The Flags were owned by John Wismer, who also owned radio stations WHLS and WSAQ. Jerry Toppazzini, who spent twelve years in the NHL, mostly with the Boston Bruins, was player/coach that year, taking over for Lloyd Maxfield, who was now Administrative Assistant to the President. The Flags played their home games at the 3,400-seat McMorran Arena.      Maxfield's Flags just missed the playoffs in 1967, finishing three points behind fourth-place Des Moines. Toppazzini's Flags fared much worse in 1968, finishing in sixth place (out of seven) with a 25-36-11 record. Their 61 points were twelve points behind the fourth-place Fort Wayne Komets and 37 behind the league-leading Muskegon Mohawks.      The Flags owned the third worst offense (269 goals scored) and the worst defense (343 allow...

2016-17 Regular Season Prowlers vs. Cornwall Nationals      The Prowlers entered their second season of play as the defending Commissioner's Cup Champions, the first pro hockey title in Port Huron since 1972. Head Coach Trevor Karasiewicz returned behind the bench for 2016-17, along with a few returning players from last year's championship team. Off the ice, attendance has gone up slightly, as the team averages about 982 per game, tops in the FHL (which doesn't say much).      Per usual with the Federal Hockey League, there was offseason instability. The league lost the Dayton Demolition and Brewster Bulldogs, but saw the return of the Watertown Wolves after a one-season absence. The FHL also welcomed the St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints, Cornwall Nationals and Carolina Thunderbirds (who will start next season).      This program is from the Friday, January 6th game between the Prowlers and Cornwall Nationals. In front of 1,036 fans, t...

2015-16 Regular Season: Prowlers vs. Danville Dashers      It's amazing how many chances Port Huron gets to support a hockey team! This is franchise #6 since 2002!          The Port Huron Prowlers are a Single-A level pro hockey club in the Federal Hockey League (FHL). They are in their first season of operation, and the first pro hockey team in Port Huron since the 2010 Icehawks. The Prowlers are owned by Barry Soskin, who also owns the Danville Dashers, and play their home games at McMorran Arena. They are coached by former Beacon Trevor Karasiewicz.      With the departure of the NAHL's Fighting Falcons, Port Huron went without hockey in 2014-15, the first time that happened in 19 years. The FHL, on the lookout for expansion sites, scheduled a neutral site game at McMorran between Danbury and Danville. When a crowd of over 1700 showed up, the league granted an expansion franchise to Soskin. Most of the front offi...

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....