We'll start with a rare photo of the Newark Sabres, contributed by Chuck Prestinarri, that we're going to date as 1975-76 based on the roster. Question: Did Tim Mullin play on every men's team in New Jersey from 1970 to 1980 something? He's in every photo! I worked a bunch of games as the trainer for the Sabres when the Brewers moved to Bergen Mail in 1973-74. I was an assistant trainer with the Brewers, but as I was working at Ironbound I was available for some games. I recall one road trip to Sky Rink, and another harrowing trip, I think to Rochester NY, where the alternator in the bus went bad on the way there. The driver was able to hobble the bus to the arena and spent the next eight hours working on a solution to get us home. A few hours after the game we were still stuck there with a light snow coming down. The battery didn't have enough juice to start the engine, so we all had to push to jump start it. On the ride back Charlie and Jack provided sub sandwiches and cans of beer. The bus had no heat and the headlights were so dim you could barely see them. I tried to sip a beer, but the can stuck to my lips. It was freezing. We got back to Ironbound at the crack of dawn. It was another semi-pro hockey adventure.
Next, a 1975-76 photo of the Bergen Mall Vikings from contributor Jim Bracco. Not sure of the age level (likely Bantam) or whether this was a house league or travel team. I don't remember the Viking name from the NJYHL. Maybe someone can help with identifying. Finishing up team photos, from Tom Levis the 1980-81 Morristown Beard Middle School hockey team. You'll see some familiar faces in this image, including the one and only Arin Krich. If someone knows the left and rights for any of these photos, head on over to the Gallery and help us Fill In The Blanks. You'll be helping others. It's the right thing to do. You can find these photos and 200 others in the Team Photos Collection
These next five entries have been added to our Odds & Ends collection. First, the Rocky Rockets page from the 1980 Garden State Rockets Mid-America Regional Program at Ice World. Our GS Rockets PeeWee AA team had a weekend road trip to Valley Forge, PA and we decided to take a bus. The driver was a friend who transported all the Golden Blades and Garden State teams for the previous five years. I asked if we could stop at the museum so the boys could run up the steps. Rocky II was in theaters and all the kids got pumped up every time the music came on. As with all best laid plans, this one had some drawbacks. The bus driver had to talk his way out of a ticket when a Philadelphia police officer stopped to advise we needed a permit to park the bus and get off, even for a few minutes. John Diglio brought a video camera he borrowed from Montclair State to film the event. But the case for the huge shoulder camera was under the bus and the camera got so cold he couldn't get it to work. Leon Krich snapped these iconic photos. Adam Diglio twisted his ankle running up, or down the steps. Fortunately, we made one other stop before the museum stop at Mitchell & Ness in downtown Philadelphia. They were a core supplier for Cramer Trainer Products. I needed some supplies and Ben Leuzzi needed ten cases of Cold Packs that he had ordered for Verona Sports Center. Picking them up was a lot cheaper than UPS. There we were running back and forth across Arch Street carrying boxes of cold packs and other supplies. I was able to ice up Adam's ankle on the bus. Hockey adventures - we all have a few.
Next, the 1980 Golden Puck Award presented to Jimmy Elia, and the 1984 Golden Puck presented to Mike Buteau. My father, who was a tool & die maker, made me solid-steel two-pound pucks with the exact dimensions of a regulation puck including the edge serrations. No, I didn't ask him to engrave, "MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA" on the side, though that would have been cool. The metal pucks were dipped in zinc to prevent rust and then 14k gold plating by a company in Belleville, who also made a gold-plated skate blade (from Joe Tracy's skate) that we presented to Ben Leuzzi after the first Golden Blades season in 1976. I encased the awards in velvet lined, hand crafted crates made from skid wood I collected at work. The front and top lifted off to display the award. Only four Golden Pucks were presented - the first going to Jerry DeLeo in 1978-79 for his outstanding performance with the Garden State Rockets Bantam AA team - credited with more than half the teams winning goals that season. I wanted to make something unique and memorable to acknowledge his accomplishments. The other Golden Puck went to Arin Krich in the 1979-80 3rd In Nation season. The inscription on each award was simple, "IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, YOU CAN." All those who received one believed in those words.
We have a still shot, pulled from a video of a 1985 East Side vs. Milburn High School game at the Ironbound Recreation Center. Usually the color commentator, it was the first game Peter Caggiano ever did the play-by-play. Peter admitted afterward he was nervous calling the game. He brought Phil Szymanski, my cousin, in to fill his shoes that night. Phil was involved with the Ironbound Instructional Ice Hockey League from the very beginning. He introduced me to Bill Kimmelman in September 1971, starting my eighteen year journey in New Jersey amateur hockey. Phil was a referee and a goaltender for a Junior team called the Rutherford Oysters, who played at Ironbound on Saturday nights when the Brewers weren't playing. I recall he was also involved with HAA, the Hockey Association of America started by, I believe Joe Mello, a guy from the Cranford area.
Finally, a split image of the 1984 Shootout at the Capital Centre in Landover, MD. The 1983-84 Essex County Chiefs PeeWee AA's were in Washington for the weekend and we were invited to participate in a between-period shootout with a couple Washington Jr. Capitals players during an NHL Edmonton Oilers vs. Washington Capitals afternoon game. We chose Brad Pearson - our #1 goalie and Mike Buteau, our leading scorer to participate. I prepped the boys for their five minutes of fame in the locker room during the second period, checking blade edges, tightening skates and taping sticks. All four boys were led out a few minutes before the period ended. There was a single rubber runner, two-feet wide, leading from the rink door down the tunnel to the visiting team locker room. With a minute to go, a Capital Centre attendant told the boys they had to step off the runner onto the concrete to make room for the players exiting the ice. I said, "NO WAY". I ran back to the locker room and pulled a few towels out of my trainer bag. I laid them on the concrete and lifted each boy, setting them down a few feet away. The horn sounded ending the period, the door opened and the Edmonton Oilers filed off the ice past these wide-eyed kids. Gretzky, Messier, Coffey, Fuhr. It was amazing. I followed the boys on the ice and photographed the event with my Canon XLR, shooting 36 frames with my auto-advance set at three frames per second. These are Mike's two goals - glove side on both. We won the shootout 2-0, to the crowds dismay. An amazing experience for all of them.
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