We have a nice collection of photos and other artifacts from 1972-75 recently added to the archive. We'll start with the 1972-73, 1973-74 & 1974-75 East Side High School team photos, courtesy of Jose Ramalhosa, who manages the East Side High School Ice Hockey Alumni Group. Lot of familiar faces, including fellow Skate Guards, Phil Sellinger and Richie Wojtasiak. It's kind of amazing that when Ironbound opened in September 1971, many of these kids had never been on skates or had worn hockey equipment. And one year later, the City of Newark (NJ) fielded four high school hockey teams. Today, most kids who play high school hockey started playing when they were six. Many of these kids started playing when they were fifteen! Reminds me of a goaltender from Staten Island who started playing hockey as a teenager and was invited to "three" NHL tryouts, attending two. Just sayin'.
We have a 1973 Ocean Hockey School Intermediates group photo, contributed by Jim Bracco. Lots of familiar faces. Kenny Gesner, Bryan Kull, Jeff Bastone, Tommy Kennelly, Mike Ashton. I worked as the OHC off-ice counselor for the last two sessions that summer, as Bob Sarnas - NY Raiders/NY Golden Blades Equipment Trainer had to leave his counseling gig early to get ready for training camp. I believe this was Session 4 - first two weeks of August. About half of these kids (the rest were day students) were with me for two weeks at a hotel in Lakewood, NJ, along with another fifteen or so Juniors & Seniors. I shuttled them back and forth from the hotel to Ocean Ice Palace twice a day in the rinks Ford station wagon. I was seventeen and had nearly thirty kids to look after 24/7. No one got hurt, lost, or arrested.
From contributor, Jason Gleicher - the first submission to our new website, there's a 1973-74 photo of the Bergen-Rockland Mites, who played that season at Fritz Dietl's in Westwood, NJ. That rink was just the right size for Mites. Jason tells me they moved up to Low Tor the following season. That was a little bigger - not much.
If you can identify most of the players in any of these team photos, you can help us and others by providing the left to rights using the "Fill in The Blanks Submission Form" on the Gallery page. It only takes a few minutes, though it will help others find their faces in the archive. That's a good thing.
There are a couple 1974 articles contributed by Bobbi Carlon, the first featuring an upcoming Bergen Brewers vs. Hawthorne College game. I remember that game well - reminiscent of Slap Shop. The NJ State Troopers on-site made sure everyone from Hawthorne College was on their bus and departed before they would let anyone out of our Brewers locker room. And a Brick High School Alumni game article that ended in a 5-5 tie. Perfect score for an alumni game. Finally, a 1974 Torspo hockey stick that I've previously neglected to add to the archive. Torspo was a new stick brand from Finland, attempting to compete with Koho - the top stick at the time. Tom Granelli, Brewers GM convinced Torspo to send him eight-dozen sticks to test. I picked them up at the Newark Airport North Terminal that spring before the Brewers moved from Newark to the Bergen Mall. The sticks were painted yellow, which rubbed off on the palm of player's gloves. Torspo's claim to fame was a seven layer laminated shaft, with short voids inside in the stick's shaft every couple inches. It was supposed to make the sticks lighter and more flexible. That was all good, but the blades sucked - like they were made of glass. This stick is fifty years old and has never touched the ice.
You can find these new artifacts and nearly 600 others in the NJHH Gallery. Enter your name into Search and take a step back to a simpler time. More to follow in the coming weeks.
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