Skip to main content

Saginaw Hawks (IHL, 1987-88)

1987-88 Turner Cup Playoffs
Hawks vs. Flint Spirits
     1987-88 was a fresh start for the Saginaw Generals. After two seasons in Saginaw (using the nickname and colors of Flint's former team), the franchise was rechristened the Saginaw Hawks. The team became the primary farm team of the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and adopted uniforms virtually identical to the parent club. The lone difference was the shoulder patch, which had an S instead of a C with the interlocking tomahawks. Dr. Eugene Chardoul remained as President of the club, while Dennis Desrosiers returned for his fifth year behind the bench (two in Flint, three in Saginaw). Peter Horachek took off the skates and joined "Rosie" behind the bench as his assistant coach.
     The Hawks had an excellent season in 1987-88, finishing with a 45-30-7 record. Their 97 points would have won the Western Divison crown, but was only good enough for third in the very competitive Eastern Division. The Hawks were four points ahead of Flint, just three behind Fort Wayne, but 29 behind league-best Muskegon.
     The Hawks scored the fourth-fewest goals in "The I" that year, lighting the lamp a respectable 325 times. Leading the way was Generals holdover Jeff Pyle, with 30 goals and 77 points. Glenn Greenough, a Chicago prospect in his final IHL season, scored 35 goals to lead the team. Dave Mackey and Mark LaVarre were the other 20+ goal scorers.
     On defense, the Hawks were much stronger, allowing just 294 goals, topped by only Muskegon and Flint. Saginaw's starting netminder was a rookie signed as a free agent from North Dakota State University. He went 32-20-5 with a 3.19 GAA and 3 shutouts and would share Rookie of the Year honors with Flint's John Cullen. You might have heard of this netminder: Ed Belfour. Belfour would go on to a Hall of Fame career, mostly with Chicago. Other netminders for Saginaw included former Blackhawk Murray Bannerman, Chris Clifford and John Reid. Belfour earned the nod for the postseason.
     A notable player on the blueline was veteran defenseman/enforcer Archie Henderson. A towering defenseman at 6'6", Henderson had previously played in the IHL with the 1977-78 Port Huron Flags. In 1987-88, he was in the final season of his long career, which included stops in the NHL with Washington, Minnesota and Hartford. Archie would chip in 4 goals, 13 points and 231 penalty minutes in 55 games. Dad told me a story about Henderson that year. The Hawks were playing against Milwaukee, and Henderson lined up for the opening faceoff. As soon as the puck was dropped, Henderson dropped the gloves and bludgeoned the nearest Admiral. After the beating, Henderson was thrown out, prompting Dad to tell my uncle, "Well, I guess Archie didn't feel like playing tonight."
     The Hawks had qualified for the playoffs every season since 1970-71, when they were still the Flint Generals. This season was no different, as they opened the playoffs against the Fort Wayne Komets. It was an evenly matched series, and the Hawks advanced in six games. They would face their archrivals, the Flint Spirits, who upset the heavily-favored Lumberjacks in six. This would be the last time Saginaw and Flint faced each other in the Turner Cup Playoffs, and the Spirits would have the last laugh, sweeping the Hawks aside in four straight. Flint would then fall to Salt Lake in the Turner Cup Finals in six games.
     This program is similar to the other Hawks program I own. It's 64 pages thick, full of advertisements, articles and stats. The coaching staff and trainer each have their own bios. The history of the Black Hawks has a full page. This program is from Game 3 of the Eastern Division Finals. The Spirits won, 6-5, in overtime, to go up 3-zip in the series. Ed Belfour is the program's special insert poster player that night. Local advertisements include Pat Curtis Chevrolet of Caro, Bill Carr Signs, Texan Family Restaurant, WSMH FOX 66 and Wohlfeil's. SVSU also had their basketball schedule, but were still known as Saginaw Valley State College then.

Sources:
IHL Statistics: 1987-88 (from hockeydb.com)
   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Port Huron Hockey: Flags/Wings (1962-81)

Now, on to Port Huron.      Port Huron has had a long, yet checkered, history of pro hockey. The most successful franchise, by far, was the Port Huron Flags (also called Wings for a few years) of the IHL. The Flags were, for the most part, a competitve team on the ice, making the Turner Cup Finals seven times and winning the Cup on three occasions. For three years, (1971-74), the franchise was a farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and sent numerous players on to the NHL in it's existence. However, the team had problems drawing big enough crowds. While the Flags lasted for nearly 20 years, former GM Morris Snider later admitted that the franchise could have folded three years before it actually did, due to declining attendance. I've found some Flags/Wings programs online over the years, and here's what I have. 1963-64 Regular Season--Flags vs. Windsor       1963-64 was the second year of existence for the Flags. After missing the playoffs in their inaugural cam

Fort Wayne Komets (1967-68, IHL)

1967-68 Regular Season--Komets vs. Des Moines Oak Leafs      1967-68 was the sixteenth season of Fort Wayne Komets hockey, all in the IHL. The team was coached by Ken Ullyot, who had been with the franchise since 1958. The Komets played      Having lost to Toledo in the 1967 Turner Cup Finals, the Komets slipped to fourth place in '67-68. While Muskegon ran away with first place, the battle for the second-fifth slots was hotly contested. Fort Wayne finished 30-29-13, their 73 points one ahead of Toledo and just five behind second place Dayton.      The Komets were also in fourth place in offense, scoring 282 times that year. Fort Wayne legend Len Thornson led the team with 38 goals and 97 points. Three others, Bob Baird, Randy Gates and Merv Dubchak, joined Thornson in the 30+ goal club. Three others scored at least 20 goals.      The Komets had the second-best defense in the IHL that season, allowing just 272 goals. Fort Wayne used three different goaltenders that year. Rob

Flint Generals yearbook (IHL, 1973-74)

     I recently bought two yearbooks from the Flint Generals of the IHL. This one is from the 1973-74 season. It's a 40-page book, all in black-and-white, and on glossy paper. Each player for that season has a full page photo and a short bio. The statistics and a team photo for each Generals season are included. Stats for every player that wore the "blue and gold" are listed in the back of the yearbook. Flint Journal sportswriter Len Hoyes added an article previewing the remainder of the 1973-74 campaign.       One thing that Hoyes noted in his article was about attendance: "With all of their problems, the Generals were still attracting fans at a rate of 3,950 per game. Attendance was down slightly, but Flint's percentage rate of almost 100 percent remained the envy of minor league hockey." (Hoyes, 1974)      The original Generals were a popular team for most of their existence, and attendance only bottomed out when the region's economy tanked