On
January 23, 1956, the home arena of the Baltimore Clippers burned
down, and the team was forced to play remainder of the Eastern Hockey
League season on the road. Four of those games were played in
Charlotte. One of those games was played in front of over ten
thousand people, with another three thousand turned away at the
gates.
Such
was the beginning of professional hockey in Charlotte.
Considered
the birthplace of pro hockey in the South, Charlotte has won the most
playoff titles in pro hockey: 3 Eastern Hockey League titles, 2
Southern League titles, and one East Coast Hockey League title as the
Checkers.
A
number of players passed through Charlotte on the way to the NHL,
among them Walter “Turk” Broda, John Brophy, Bill “Cowboy”
Flett, Pat Kelly and John Muckler.
The
Charlotte Checkers (ECHL) won the 1995-96 ECHL championship title,
the Riley Cup.
Former
Charlotte hockey player Pat Kelly is commissioner emeritus of the
East Coast Hockey League, and has been involved with pro hockey for
an astonishing 50 years.
When
you sit down to go through this book, keep in mind that it does NOT
cover the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. Their own winning
tradition, including a Stanley Cup in 2006, takes place in Raleigh,
North Carolina.
This
was a real eye opener, since I tend to forget sometimes that hockey
in the South has thrived for a long time. This book will help remind
the reader that hockey in Charlotte is alive and well.
Special
thanks to Arcadia Publishing for making this book available for
reviewing purposes.
Link
to Arcadia Publishing:
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9780738542300/Hockey-in-Charlotte
Link
to Powell's City of Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780738542300-0
Link
to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Hockey-in-Charlotte-ebook/dp/B009A4XIPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369968812&sr=8-1&keywords=hockey+in+charlotte
Link
to Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hockey-in-charlotte-jim-mancuso/1100571608?ean=9780738542300
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