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Schadenfreude wrote:

JohnnySwoop '85 wrote:And before I forget....Go Amerks! That's old time hockey...the kind Eddie Shore, andd Don Cherry and John Bednarski used to play.

The Amerks were cool and the War Memorial was a great place to watch them play. At some point, my discretionary income will reach the point where I'll get a white Amerks sweater. Those things were great -- some of the best sweaters in hockey.

http://www.dropthepucks.com/sotg/images ... hm_frt.jpg

Speaking of old time hockey: Some of the key scenes from Slapshot! -- including the fight that ensued after the national anthem -- were shot at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Utica no longer has a pro team, but back in the Original Six era, the Clinton Comets were a big deal in the ECHL -- the basis for the movie.

Two of my favorite hockey memories of Utica:

1. I watched the Mohawk Valley Prowlers (UHL) play the Winston-Salem team that had abandoned Utica a year or two earlier. It was Clinton Comets night at the Utica Aud. Old time hockey. And local fans hated the Winston-Salem owner.

So many fights ensued that the refs tossed three goalies from the two teams. For the last two minutes, the Prowlers had to put a skater in goal.

2. A sportswriter tells me that when the Clinton Comets played at Clinton Arena, the seats weren't bolted down. They were folding chairs, basically.

After a particularly vicious round of fighting, he recalls those chairs came raining down on the ice. Fans were just throwing them willy-nilly.

Old time hockey.