Hockey Programs

2016-17 Regular Season Spirit vs. Kitchener Rangers       Hard to believe, this is the fifteenth season of Saginaw Spirit hockey. The Spirit are the longest-lasting team to ever play in Saginaw, with the next-oldest team being the IHL's Gears (1972-83). The Spirit's principal owner is still Dick Garber, but he has been joined by investors Brandon Bordeaux, Detroit Red Wings and Tigers executive Jimmy Devellano and former Wings goalie Chris Osgood. The Spirt have yet another new coach behind the bench: former ECHL coach Spencer Carbery.      The Spirit got off to a horrendous start to the year, winning just 3 games out of 15, but have rebounded to get back into the playoff chase. This program was from the Saturday, November 26th game against the Kitchener Rangers. The Rangers won, 4-1, in front of 2,812 at Dow Event Center.      This is a compact program, similar in dimensions to the Prowlers program. However, it's 87 pages thick, all on...

2015-16 Regular Season--Spirit vs. Soo Greyhounds      The Saginaw Spirit just completed their 13th season in the Ontario Hockey League. The team is still owned by Dick Garber of Garber Buick and continues to play at Dow Event Center.      The Spirit iced one of the youngest teams in the OHL this past year. When I bought this program, only right winger Mitchell Stephens (Tampa Bay) was drafted, though the team did have two overage players.      Saginaw went into the season with higher expectations due to the experience the young roster gained last year. However, the team struggled from the start, costing coach Greg Gilbert his job. He was replaced midseason by scout Moe Mantha. Mantha coached the Michigan Warriors the past five seasons and was a former Spirit coach as well. Saginaw finished the season at a dismal 24-36-5-3 record. Their 56 points were good enough for fourth place in the West Division, 35 points behind first place Sarnia...

2014-15 OHL Playoffs: Spirit vs. Soo Greyhounds      2014-15 was the twelfth season of the Saginaw Spirit, making that franchise the longest-lasting in the history of Saginaw hockey. Since their arrival in the summer of 2002, the Spirit have been a huge success off the ice, drawing 1.77 million fans to the Dow Event Center in twelve years. On the ice, the team has had mixed results. While competitive for the most part, the Spirit have won just one division title, and have yet to advance past the second round. On the other hand, the Spirit have sent numerous players to the NHL, including current Chicago Blackhawk Brandon Saad.      The Spirit are owned by local car dealer Richard Garber, who has owned the team in it's entire existence. The head coach is Greg Gilbert, a former NHL forward who is the only player to win the Stanley Cup with both New York teams. Gilbert arrived in 2013 during the season, and led a struggling Spirit squad to the pl...

     After the UHL's Saginaw Gears left in December 1999, Saginaw again was without hockey. For awhile, it looked like it was gone for good, as the cash-strapped City of Saginaw was considering shutting down the Saginaw Civic Center. However, former IHL Gears owner Wren Blair, along with Civic Center manager Paul Wendler, helped make a convincing argument that renovating the building would be more beneficial than shutting it down. After a vote that transferred ownership to Saginaw County and approved renovations, Blair convinced auto dealer Dick Garber to purchase a franchise in the Ontario Hockey League. Garber purchased the North Bay Centennials and moved them to Saginaw in time for the 2002-03 season, renaming them the Saginaw Spirit. After 28 years as a minor-pro hockey town, Saginaw would make it's debut in major junior hockey, one of the highest levels in North America. 2002-03 Inaugural Game--Spirit vs. Sarnia      This program is ...