2007 Fall Meeting Summary

Oh, the places you’ll go! There’s fun to be done! So wrote Springfield’s native son, Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel, in obvious anticipation of SIHR’s 16th Fall Meeting, which took place in the Massachusetts city on Oct. 26–27, 2007. But instead of green eggs and ham, members were served heaping portions of hockey history in one of the sport’s hotbeds. At Friday’s meet-and-greet session, held on the 12th floor of the Holiday Inn, the spotlight belonged to special guest speaker Gord Anziano, longtime vice-president of the American Hockey League. Anziano fielded questions and recounted tales about his days in the league office. There was no shortage of laughter — and a few sympathetic shudders — when he recalled some of the less-than- palatial quarters that housed the league over the years. There were also touching moments as he spoke emotionally about the legendary AHL president Jack Butterfield.	SIHR Chief Statitician Ernie Fitzsimmons chats with Ralph Slate, creator and operator of the famous hockeydb.com
Another notable visitor to the meet-and-greet was new member Ralph Slate, proprietor of HockeyDB.com. And local sports card dealer Charlie Sacheli offered a display of memorabilia for members to peruse and purchase.

SIHR President Len Kotylo, guest speaker Ted Shore, son of the late Eddie Shore, and SIHR Executive V.P. Ed Grenda	Although no member papers were presented, Saturday’s agenda was chock full of hockey history. Jason Chaimovitch, the AHL’s communications veep, gave a detailed account of the league’s history since the early 1990s, a period marked by growth in the number of teams and working agreements with NHL teams, not to mention a radical change in the shape of the league’s footprint. Ted Shore presented the film Eddie Shore and His Springfield Indians, then elaborated on his father’s legacy as player, coach, executive … and chiropractor. Indeed, on the latter front, Shore boasted that he had learned many of Eddie’s techniques, though no one took him up on the offer!
Buster Clegg, president of the Rhode Island Reds Heritage Society, gave a talk and multimedia presentation about his organization, which celebrates the AHL franchise that played from 1926 through 1977. In less than a decade, the society has grown to more than 600 members, including dozens of former Reds players. His presentation included footage from Reds games at the old Rhode Island Auditorium.
Jimmy Anderson, who played primarily for the Springfield Indians and Kings between 1954 and 1970, scoring 426 goals in 943 AHL games, talked about his playing days and showed off a stick that had been autographed and presented to him by Bobby Orr. Jean-Patrice Martel gave members a preview of the 2008 AGM in Quebec City (May 16–17). Quebec marks its 400th anniversary next year; 2008 is also the centennial of the International Ice Hockey Federation, which will celebrate by staging the World Championships in Quebec and Halifax. J-P played the role of quizmaster, asking members to guess the identities of the guest speakers — Murray Costello of the IIHF and former Nordique Marian Stastny.
During the business portion of the meeting, President Len Kotylo thanked Vice-President Ed Grenda for obtaining, for a third consecutive year, a grant of $976 from the Ontario Ministry of Culture. He also acknowledged donations from Cathy Kinast and Wayne Geen. The president’s report also took note of forthcoming books from Jim Mancuso and Scott Petterson (a history of hockey in Portland, Ore.) and Mike Starchok (Johnstown, Pa.), as well as the contribution of members to The Hockey News’s 60th-anniversary publication. Members Todd Jones and Ed Heather of Cambridge, Ont., were recognized for the Galt Black Hawks reunion staged in October. At that event, Len asked John Muckler why he spent 148 minutes in the penalty box in 1952–53. Muckler blamed a coach who wanted him to play rough. Paul Patskou supplied a DVD of the only known film footage involving the Black Hawks, and SIHR presented the only statistical record of the Galt team, compiled by hand by the late John Paton.	Host James Mancuso sporting one of the Rhode Island Reds jerseys brought to the meeting by new member Buster Clegg

Secretary Lloyd Davis reported that 297 members were in good standing, an increase of 8 percent over 2006. A new member roster had been produced and was distributed to members who attended the meeting. Arrangements will be made to upload a PDF version to the SIHR website. He noted that SIHR had members in all ten Canadian provinces (though his face turned red when he realized he had written “all nine” in his report!) as well as 24 states (“fully half of the
48 states in the union,” he ad-libbed) and nine other nations.
Treasurer Paul Bruno noted that SIHR had a healthy balance of $5,496.85.

Ernie Fitzsimmons announced that the player database contained more than 82,000 entries and 18,000 photos. He acknowledged the tireless data entry efforts of Wilbrod Despres, R.J. Pratt, Mike Starchok, Gene Dupras and others. Wayne Geen has added coaching information.
James Mancuso has contributed CD-ROMs and prints of players from the United Hockey League.

A number of motions were discussed and passed.

1. President Len Kotylo and Vice-President Ed Grenda were authorized to negotiate with the Queen’s University Archives for the QUA to act as a repository for SIHR’s documents. The agreement they negotiate will be subject to ratification at a future SIHR meeting. Ed said that the invitation indicates that Queen’s views SIHR very favourably, and adds value and prestige to the Society’s efforts.

2. The “shield” logos were approved for use by the Society. They will not replace SIHR’s “quill” logo, which, as Ed Grenda pointed out, was approved at a meeting in the mid-1990s and emphasizes SIHR’s commitment to writing and recording hockey history. A policy will be developed to govern the use of the various marks.

3. At President Len Kotylo’s request, a Volunteer Committee was established. The purpose of the committee would be to provide a pool of people who could assist with initiatives such as: performing library research to add to the player database, getting the Hockey Research Journal placed in libraries, or organizing and compiling material for the SIHR archives.

4. The SIHR website will feature a link to the Charles E. Holt Archives of American Hockey, located at the University of New Hampshire. The Holt’s website will also link back to SIHR.

5. Ed Grenda was appointed to take the lead in an effort to erect a commemorative marker at the gravesite in Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery of hockey pioneer J.G.A. Creighton, which is currently unmarked.
Founding president J.W. (Bill) Fitsell put forward a donation of $50 to get the ball rolling.

6. James Mancuso proposed that SIHR investigate the creation of crested products such as t-shirts and sweatshirts as a fundraising initiative. He was authorized to make inquiries with suppliers.

7. The final hurdles have been cleared in Roger Godin’s effort to have a commemorative plaque erected on the site of the former Minneapolis Arena. The marker will be unveiled on February 7, 2008, and the ceremony will be filmed for the Minnesota Hockey Day celebrations two days later. Roger will report on the event at the
2008 AGM.

8. Lloyd Davis recognized SIHR member Kevin Shea, who was honoured by the Society of North American Hockey Historians and Researchers
(SONAHHR) for Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup, which he co- authored with John Jason Wilson.

9. At the invitation of Buster Clegg, SIHR agreed to hold its Fall
2008 meeting in Providence, R.I.

10. Dues for members paying in U.S. funds were raised to USD$30, effective January 1, 2008, to address the exchange rate between the Canadian and U.S. currencies.

When the Springfield session was planned, the AHL Falcons were slated to play the Wolf Pack in nearby Hartford on Saturday night, but subsequent changes in the league’s schedule moved the match to Friday. Undaunted, the members retired to the Holiday Inn to talk hockey and — appropriately, given the New England locale — monitor Game 3 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies.

On an ad hoc basis, members also took in such sights as the Basketball Hall of Fame, the “Big E” Coliseum (former home of the Indians), and the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden.