The City of Port Huron has a long tradition of hockey, both pro and amateur. The Port Huron Flags played here in the International Hockey League, and at one time were a farm club for the Red Wings. The Flags won the IHL Turner Cup three times, even going back
to back in the early 70’s. The retired numbers of long forgotten Flag players still hang in the McMorran Memorial Auditorium, opposite the banners of the annual Silver Sticks amateur tournament. McMorran has long been the center of Port Huron hockey, and the building itself, designed by the official architect laureate of the State of Michigan, Alden Dow, (a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright) is simple but charming, and has stood the test of time. Holding 3400 old school wooden seats, the vast majority of which are on the sidelines of the rink, McMorran gives hockey fans excellent sightlines for a game. It’s a great rink, old school, right out of the movie Slapshot. It’s not hard imagining the Hanson Brothers skating around with foil on their knuckles or rocking the pop machine in the concourse
These days, McMorran is home to the Port Huron Prowlers of the Federal Hockey League. The FHL, founded in 2010, is a low level independent league comprised of six teams, stocked with former college and junior players all hoping for a call up to a higher level league. To date, according to its website, there have been 167 such call-ups, furthering the hopes and dreams of the players who would otherwise be looking at playing in rec and beer leagues, with no hope of advancement. The FHL has been plagued with instability, money issues, and some of its teams were evicted and relocated due to poor attendance. Tonight’s opponent is the North Shore Knights, a team based in Kingsville, Ontario, but started out their existence as a team in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
Tonight, I’m attending my first FHL game, and the first game I’ve seen at McMorran in 27 years. The Prowlers are the defending FHL champions, and are riding a seven game winning streak. The players take the ice for warmups, and the realities of lower level minor leagues become apparent. Some players have names above their numbers, some don’t. Equipment colors are often mismatched. The navy blue and red Prowler’s jersey worn by the goalie doesn’t go with his all green leg pads, blocker and catching glove. The visiting team doesn’t have a backup goaltender (he appeared right before the third period started). Despite being a pro league, the linesmen are out during warmups cruising the red line to make sure there are no incidents between the teams. I glance at the teams’ rosters and there are no familiar names. The only person I recognize is the referee, who worked a lot of Oakland University club hockey games when I was the scorekeeper there.
The Prowlers jump out to a quick 2-0 lead on two nicely executed goals. The Knights regroup somewhat and pressure the Port Huron goal with quality scoring chances, but the Prowlers goalie, former University of Vermont standout Michael Santaguida, made some alert and difficult stops to keep his team on top. He would be named the game’s first star, and deservedly so. The overall quality of play was good and entertaining, well worth the $13 admission price. The Prowlers eventually won the game 6-2 (their 8th straight win), and the crowd of about 1000 were vocal and supportive of their team.
 |
| Roger Jones |
Being in McMorran, I couldn’t help but think of the late Roger Jones, once an employee of my parents' business and very popular Port Huron youth hockey coach. Roger’s most famous quote was “Hockey is my life” and he was known for the positive effect he had on his players, win or lose. He was everything you could want in a youth coach. A good natured, humorous man, Roger’s life was tragically cut short by a drunk driver in 1990. At the time of his death, he had positively influenced hundreds of young hockey players and, had he lived, would have influenced hundreds, perhaps thousands, more in the same way. He was posthumously inducted into the Port Huron Sports Hall of Fame, where his plaque reads:
Roger was not just another coach – he was outstanding. He set standards for the boys – and lived himself by those standards – that have caused hundreds of hockey boys to idolize him and to follow his life style and character. Each boy on Roger Jones’ teams played equal time. Roger Jones knew very well each and every boy, not only when Roger was coaching that boy, but forever after.
Roger, even all of these years later, you are remembered and missed. This post is dedicated to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment