OT: Remembering the Icecaps and other ECHL teams of the 90's

[BrindAmours Army]

Sometimes Dorton smelled like pig ****, which is why our current mascot is a giant pig.

And here I thought it was because all North Carolinians agree that there is nothing better than pork BBQ (though, they of course disagree on the method of preparing said BBQ).

 

[Unsustainable]

^ I just stumbled across a hidden YouTube gem: footage of a game in which these jerseys were actually worn.



I honestly can't tell whether the video is slowed down or not. If not, that's the slowest professional hockey I've ever seen.

I think the footage in Slapshot was twice as fast as that.

What a throwback though, good find.

 

[HisIceness]

I'm guessing the skates had cement in them?

Any guesses on what arena that might be? Kind of looks like a county expo center. I imagine a lot of wrestling matches and monster truck events took place there.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

^ I just stumbled across a hidden YouTube gem: footage of a game in which these jerseys were actually worn.



I honestly can't tell whether the video is slowed down or not. If not, that's the slowest professional hockey I've ever seen.

I think that's the actual game speed. The announcer's commentary sounds like a natural tempo and he's more or less keeping up with the play.

We have guys in lower C that skate faster than that. I'm not even exaggerating. Whether they belong in lower C is another matter, but we have them.

I'm guessing the skates had cement in them?

Any guesses on what arena that might be? Kind of looks like a county expo center. I imagine a lot of wrestling matches and monster truck events took place there.

OK, this was a deep dive that involved way more edits than I care to admit, but I have your answer.

From the scoreboard, we can tell this was a home game. The announcer mentions a player named August George, who played for this team for one season ('70-'71). This would confirm that the date on the video is accurate.

The confusing part is the team was founded in 1967 as the Salem Rebels and played in nearby Salem, but changed their name to the Roanoke Valley Rebels in 1970 before ending up in Roanoke. However, their arena in Roanoke opened in 1971; it was originally called the Roanoke Civic Center and is now known as the Berglund Center. After looking at some UVA archives of a local TV station, I'm pretty sure they played previous seasons in the same building as the one in this clip. This tells me the team played the '70-'71 season in Salem, but changed its name in anticipation of its pending move to Roanoke in 1971. That means this building is the Salem Civic Center, then known as the Salem-Roanoke Valley Civic Center.

As it happens, this is the building where Borat did this:

 

[HisIceness]

Changed thread title.



Anyone here remember this? Looks to me like this is the Greensboro Coliseum. Have been told about a game there in which opposing players fought Greensboro fans after a beer was thrown at them and I'm fairly confident this is it.

Anything like this ever happen at Icecaps games? Don't remember Checkers games getting this violent, but I'm sure I'm wrong.

Edit: Found an article on this incident HOCKEY FANS, MONARCH FOES MIX IT UP COLISEUM FIGHT

 

[Canes]

I wasn't around to witness it myself, but players fighting fans was apparently a common occurrence back in the 1970s and 1980s minor leagues. Slap Shot was loosely based on real life events after all...

My fondest minor league memory was watching two drunk fans fight each other while rolling down the upper deck on/near Thanksgiving at a Checkers game once. Probably 20 years ago now.

As for the thread, I always thought this was a great book on hockey in the South:

 

[geehaad]

I spent a good amount of time with that video trying to figure out what made that player (#7?) flip out at the beginning. I get that he might be flipping out about something that happens off-camera, but clearly he's taking it out on fans sitting next to him.

Then again, it was likely to be next to nothing that (re-)set him off. That guy is probably got some awesome drugs coursing through his veins right about then...

 

[bluedevil58]

Also: the best hockey heckler I ever saw was at Dorton. Little dude who looked like an accountant and had a booming voice. Sat near the visiting bench. Would just pick out a dude on the other team, figure out his emotional weakness, and then go after him as viciously as he possibly could.

Most memorable: in the playoffs, one of the guys on the other team was getting roughed up. He wasn't a big guy and seemed to be getting pushed off the puck a lot. Heckler Dude waited until Player-Dude was near him on the bench, and then said, in a voice that was both loud and matter of fact "hey $PLAYER-DUDE, this why $AHL-COACH keeps sending you down. You're too small. You. Will. Never. Make. It."

Player-Dude turned around and looked dead at Heckler Dude, who just stared him down for a second, and then shrugged and said "you know I'm right."

I swear to Jeebus I thought Player-Dude was gonna start crying. He looked so incredibly hurt. Crazy Jedi mind trick ****.

Good times.

Funny you mention that. I was younger then. It specifically remember there being an 11/10 heckler at that arena. Not sure if it was this guy you're referring to or not. Come to think about it. It seemed like half the crowd just showed up there to talk smack.

 

[Svechhammer]

Changed thread title.



Anyone here remember this? Looks to me like this is the Greensboro Coliseum. Have been told about a game there in which opposing players fought Greensboro fans after a beer was thrown at them and I'm fairly confident this is it.

Anything like this ever happen at Icecaps games? Don't remember Checkers games getting this violent, but I'm sure I'm wrong.

Edit: Found an article on this incident HOCKEY FANS, MONARCH FOES MIX IT UP COLISEUM FIGHT

Lol that reminds me of the time that Flyers fan fell into the penalty box with Tie Domi

 

[zetajerk]

I love than 90s ECHL stuff. It looks like a completely different world. Where I grew up, we had the UHL in the 90s which had a similar feel to it. I would loved to have seen what the old arena was like for hockey. I like glass buildings, it looks cool.

 

[tarheelhockey]

If I were to compile a reel of my all time favorite hockey highlights, it would include that Huntsville player going backwards off the glass with the ref. That’s a straight up WWE moment.

 

[HisIceness]

In an attempt to find more Icecap footage I came up empty. I did however find more Greensboro Monarchs footage. The quality of the video unfortunately sucks but it's still good 90s ECHL action.

 

[Lempo]

In an attempt to find more Icecap footage I came up empty. I did however find more Greensboro Monarchs footage. The quality of the video unfortunately sucks but it's still good 90s ECHL action.

Dude you're in some serious withdrawals.

 

[Cane mutiny]

Sometimes Dorton smelled like pig ****, which is why our current mascot is a giant pig.

Carolina Rollergirls used to have their home matches there a few years back, and it still smelled the same. They use the Raleigh Conv Ctr now.

Peter K's son Jason(?) used to be with the IceCaps, and it was rumored that's one of the reasons PK chose Raleigh for the franchise. He was already familiar with the area and liked it. Don't know how much bearing it actually had.

 

[cptjeff]

I think that's the actual game speed. The announcer's commentary sounds like a natural tempo and he's more or less keeping up with the play.

We have guys in lower C that skate faster than that. I'm not even exaggerating. Whether they belong in lower C is another matter, but we have them.

Since we're reviving this thread, might as well respond to this. The reason the game looks so slow is that was just standard for pro hockey back then- players took much longer shifts, really only changing at natural breaks in play, and played at a slower pace as a result. It was more like soccer, where you had to pace yourself. Watch old NHL games and you'll see the same thing. The modern style of short shifts at sprint speed really started at scale in the early 80s, with (who else?) Scotty Bowman as the person who really brought it to the NHL. Conditioning and gear played a factor too, but the biggest shift was philosophical.

 

[Linaik]

I wasn't around to witness it myself, but players fighting fans was apparently a common occurrence back in the 1970s and 1980s minor leagues. Slap Shot was loosely based on real life events after all...

My fondest minor league memory was watching two drunk fans fight each other while rolling down the upper deck on/near Thanksgiving at a Checkers game once. Probably 20 years ago now.

As for the thread, I always thought this was a great book on hockey in the South:

I was in Erie, PA, in the 70s and saw quite a few Erie Blades games, and never saw fighting with the fans, but it wouldn't surprise me. There was a lot of it in the NHL, I'm sure the minors were probably worse.

Slap Shot was filmed in Johnstown, PA, and some of the players were in the movie. Saw Johnstown play in Erie a few times.

One of the most fun times I've had at a hockey game was when the Blades won whatever trophy that league had. The score came down to, I think it was 2-1, and we were all on our feet for the final few minutes. I really loved that team.

As for the Ice Caps, only game we saw was the final game they played in Raleigh. It was fun. I think there was an NHL goalie, or goalie who had played in the NHL.

 

[HisIceness]

Dude you're in some serious withdrawals.

Dog days of summer.

 

[tarheelhockey]

As for the Ice Caps, only game we saw was the final game they played in Raleigh. It was fun. I think there was an NHL goalie, or goalie who had played in the NHL.

Joakin Gage... he had a long AHL career and got called up for a couple of dozen games in Edmonton.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I would still kill for an icecaps throwback jersey.

 

[Canes]

I can't believe there aren't any out there on the internet for sale. Granted, it's been 20 years and they were just an ECHL team but it's not like they're the Macon Whoopee or one of those teams who existed for only one season.

 

[cptjeff]

I can't believe there aren't any out there on the internet for sale. Granted, it's been 20 years and they were just an ECHL team but it's not like they're the Macon Whoopee or one of those teams who existed for only one season.

That stuff is hard to find. It was a massive pain to track down a Generals Jersey from the modern iteration a few years ago when I wanted to buy one. And I couldn't find the blue one. Of course now that I check, there are two on ebay right now. For some reason there are Filipino knockoffs of the 60s Generals jerseys- be warned though, I bought a Quakers jersey from a similar source, and the quality is crap. Still, I don't think many people own Syd Howe Quakers jerseys, so I'm happy enough.

Anyway, ECHL teams sell very little merch compared to even the smallest NHL team, and what they do sell they sell to diehards who tend to hold onto it, so there's just not much floating around on the secondary market.

 

[HisIceness]

There's still a few Icecap jerseys at PNC walking around. You could always talk to those folks, see if they have extras or whatever.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

they go up on ebay sometimes also

 

[Lempo]

There's still a few Icecap jerseys at PNC walking around. You could always talk to those folks, see if they have extras or whatever.

He said he would kill people, there was no talk of talking to them.

#hankrovert

 

[geehaad]

#hankrovert

Hank the Rover

Cruises around looking for things to smash.