Society for International Hockey Research
SIHR 2005 Annual General Meeting in Montreal
Summary by Bill Fitsell

TO ALL SIHR MEMBERS (the Fortunate Fifteen who made the Annual General Meeting at McGill University in Montreal, May 20-21, 2005 and those who couldn't attend:

1. Delegates came home with a renewed appreciation of the Mecca of Hockey, the zest of host Earl Zukerman, McGill's unflappable Communications and Publications officer and the leadership skills of President Len Kotylo:
"Our organization is no longer a mystery," the prez reported. "It is becoming acknowledged as a significant entity in hockey research...Our name presently has recognition and substance." A number of SIHR members, notably Past President Paul Kitchen have made valuable contributions to CBC's "Hockey, A People's History," due to be televised in February, 2006.

SIHR Past President Bill Fitsell (left) presenting Eric Zweig with the 2005 Brian MacFarlane award
2. Among the most important decisions made were:
a. The 2005 Fall Meeting will be held at the OHA offices in Cambridge, Ont. (one hour west of Toronto) in October, 2005:
b. The 2006 AGM will be held in Moncton, New Brunswick, during the Memorial Cup finals, May 20-28, thanks to the warm invitation extended by Ron Leger, VP, Atlantic. This quiet, unassuming collector has signed up 12 new members in the Maritimes and has promised a visit to his hockey room!
c. The executive was returned with one exception: Lloyd Davis, the Toronto hockey book editor supreme, accepted the position of secretary, vacated by Past President Ernie Fitzsimmons of Fredericton, N.B. The president and Executive Vice-President Ed Grenda (who missed his first AGM in 14 years) are in the midst of a two-year term.
d. Webmaster James Milks of Gatineau, Quebec, volunteered to succeed Denis Gibbons as SIHR-Plus Newsletter editor at the end of the year.
Denis, who has done an excellent job for the past five years, is retiring to devote more time to his job as a freelance writer and global hockey guru (The Hockey News, Kings of the Ice). He was given a hearty round of applause and deserves everyone's thanks for filling this important role with energy, ideas and distinction.

SIHR Members entering the Bell Centre for a private tour
3. Saturday's program was spliced with entertaining tours of two ice
palaces: The Bell (ex-Molson) Centre, conducted by amiable Carl Levigne, Montreal Canadiens' Publications head, and McGill's refurbished 1952 McConnell Arena, where the historic input and enthusiasm of host "Earl the Pearl" was evident. Carl took us through the bowels of the 21,000 seat arena, posed us in $150 seats for a group photo and explained why violinist Andre Rieu is making sweet music and not Saka Koivu.

4. Eric Zweig, the Editor of The Hockey Research Journal was announced and congratulated as the 2005 recipient of The Brian McFarlane Award for outstanding research and writing. Dan Diamond Associates' key editor on NHL publications has contributed at least six papers over the past five years while compiling and editing the Journal. The trophy will be presented at a later date.
5.The raison d'etre of our Society--research and publication--was served by three presentations:
i. Eric Zweig featured with a timely report on "The End of the Challenge Era of the Stanley Cup (1914). His handout included a summary that shows the coveted cup, valued historically at 10 guineas--$51.10 , is actually worth between $5,570.07 and $8,908.20 (and priced at $60,000 to $70,000 in press reports).
ii. Roger Godin of St. Paul, Minnesota, gave a paper on "The Evolving 'State of Hockey' - The 1934-35 St. Paul Saints," who attracted crowds of 7,000 (at 35, 50 and 85 cents a ticket) in the midst of the Depression Years.
iii. Yours truly outlined the career of U.S. sports historian Frank G. Menke and "the birthplace battle" (Kingston-Montreal-Halifax) during the Second World War. The Cleveland-born, New York-based writer aimed to trace hockey to its original starting point and with the aid of three McGill officials (all with USA connections) came close to the definition of the SIHR origins' committee.

When our rink tour went overtime, James Milks had to depart before giving his report of Hugh McCormick, a McGill alumni, who was back-up goaltender for Canadiens and Maroons. Past President Paul Kitchen, (who has been involved in clarifying the Free Stanley initiative, quietly held over his informative paper on "Payola." Look for them in the next Journal.

6. Host Earl reported the Montreal Hockey Heritage is awaiting a city report before accepting the IIHF's announced proposal to erect a plaque marking the Montreal as the site of the first organized indoor game. (1875)

7. Our organization is solvent. Treasurer Paul Bruno, through President Len, reported a bank balance of $1,216 on revenue of $7,620.

8. Newsletter Editor Denis, submitted a written report that shows membership is now at a record 294 after deleting the names of delinquents members. (164 are paid-up in 2005, so beware!). There are
174 members in Canada (58 per cent), 108 in the USA and 12 in other countries. He credits part of the increase to the expanding website.

The McConnell Arena before the SIHR invasion


9. Ernie and James gave encouraging reports on the SIHR website--more than 1,400 hits. There are now 10,960 photos on site, thanks to the concentrated work of Wilbrod Despres of Riviere au Renard, Quebec and tons of Olympics research input by Patrick Houda of Stockholm, Sweden. A media conference announcing the site launch will be held on two continents in the near future.
An appeal was made for more input of book reviews and historical'
information to combat the Windsor, Nova Scotia's origin versions and balance the extensive statistical material. Members were urged to
respond off-list to personal e-mail requests.

The SIHR gang on the ice (ok, concrete) at McGill

10. One hundred and fifty members missed these generous handouts:
-- "Maurice Richard, The Reluctant Hero," a glossy, 160-page coffee table book, compliments of Carl Levigne and the Canadiens' souvenir shop;
--The current Canadian Hockey League Yearbook, 228 pages, cover shot of phenom Sidney Crosby, plus a CHL Prospects magazine, both donated by Ron Leger;
--2005-05 McGill Redmen Hockey Program: "A hard-skating tradition since 1877," thanks to Earl Zukerman.
--A collection of Scotiabank Hockey College News from 1982, donated by Ernie Fitzsimmons.
10. The social side of the Friday night/all-day Saturday sessions were very enjoyable and productive. Dinners were enjoyed at Quality Hotel's Bistro di Roma, and a Crescent Street cafe. Room 620 got the Hot Stove League off in high spirits (and some members paid the price of the Ontario-N.B. chug-a-lug challenge!). Host Earl laid on a sumptuous lunch in the comfortable third-floor Hurlburt Lounge at the Hartland Molson Centre. Cheers!

Greetings to first time attendees Steve LeBlanc of New Brunswick and J.P. Martel of Chambly, Quebec. Special kudos to Anne Kitchen, who alone represented the smarter sex due to the unavoidable absence of stalwart Marlene Fitzsimmons; Baseball coach Michel Vigneault who attended Friday night and Billie (Jazzman) Georgette of the Montreal Hockey Heritage Committee, who took in two sessions. And we must record another SIHR first, the attendance of our watchdog. "Coco/Koko" attended the Friday night social, thanks to mistress Meezan Kotylo.