IHHL: New Owner Announcment

Coming on the heels of the Yahoo! partnership announcement, the IHHL has announced that it has secured a new owner for the Richmond Prexies. Mr. Jason Hawthorne Petty, a railroad baron/magnet from Maine, will be taking over and moving the Prexies from Richmond to Harpswell, Maine.

In moving the team to Maine, Mr. Petty and the IHHL appear to be paying homage to that revered franchise, the Portland Mariners. This move has more than a touch of history about it and is almost a homecoming for fans in the New England. There has not been in a team in Maine since the tragedy that befell the Portland Mainers.

At the announcement press conference, Mr. Petty talked about the history of the Prexies and what it meant to be able to bring a team to Maine. 

“I have been a longtime fan and supporter of the IHHL and it was heartbreaking to watch the tragedy unfold surrounding the Richmond Prexies this season. Sid and the other players played their heart out, but with so much drama off the ice, there was no real way for them to stay focused.

When [IHHL Co-Commissioner] Scott [Hall] approached me about the chance to help out the league and this great team, I jumped at the opportunity. In bringing the Prexies to Maine, we get a chance to bring hockey home to the birthplace of one of the IHHL’s great teams!”

Mr. Petty and the IHHL, out of respect for the Portland Mariner’s history, have announced that the team will be relocating to Harpswell, Maine, and changing their names to the Harpswell Mayors.

When asked about the parallels between the Mariners and new ownership, Commissioner Heilmann said, “There is no way that this move could be better for our fans and supporters. Mr. Petty has a strong appreciation for the sport and respect for the history the league. His plans for the Harpswell Mayors will pay homage to the Portland Mariners and help engage our already active fans. This is going to be a great partnership!”

In taking over the Prexies, Mr. Petty is inheriting a strong team and worthy successor to the Portland Mariners. Many in the IHHL believe that, were it not for the tragedy that befell the previous owner, the Prexies would have been a strong contender for the Ice Cup. We here at Game Misconduct look forward to learning more about Mr. Petty’s plans for the team and wish him success in the season ahead.

IHHL: Player Coaches

Early on in the history of the Icehouse Hockey League, teams gravitated to a player coach model. Today we will be taking a look at the worst example of the player coach movement and the best. From 1929 until 1940, at least 2 teams in the league had a player/coach each season. The most infamous of these occurred right at the start of the Great Depression, with the, Montreal Reds dynasty.

Up until the 1929 season, the Reds had been coached by Tommy Creglorn. Creglorn, a legendary no-nonsense disciplinarian, often had conflicts with the players, but his track record in the playoffs and ability to get results kept him off the hot seat. That is, until he ran afoul of Reds star forward, Jacques Le’Lain. Right before the start of the Icebucket Championship in the 1928/1929 season. Le’Lain and Creglorn had a blowout over control of the locker room which lead to Creglorn being terminated and Le’Lain guiding the team through the playoffs to their fourth consecutive Icebucket Championship.

The following season, with Le’Lain officially installed as the Reds’ coach, did not go as well. The Reds suffered through their worst season ever; both in terms of injuries as well as losses. Many believe that Le’Lain’s lackadaisically training style lead the all time record in man game lost for the IHHL. This surge in injuries quickly depleted the depth of the Reds’ bench. Le’Lain’s frustrations were on full display during games, screaming at his players and breaking sticks over the goal posts. He quickly lost the locker room and after posting the worst record in Reds history, was removed as head coach.

The best example of the player coach era was the Washington Winter Warriors. The Warriors were a perennial fixture of the Icebucket Championships, making appearances in the final round more often than any other team from 1921 through 1950. From their inception, the Warriors operated under a player/coach model.

The Warriors were unique in that their owner, was the player/coach. The patriarch of the team, William Cannon, was a solid stay-at-home defenseman, who was comfortable coaching from the bench or on the ice. Cannon coached the Warriors from 1921 until 1939, where he retired from playing, but still acted as the coach of the team.

Cannon’s retirement and transition to an owner-coach marked the end of the player coach era for the IHHL. Many of the IHHL teams still have owners who coach the team as well. The most prominent examples being the IHHL Commissioner and Milwaukee Monarchs Owner, Derek Heilmann and the Denver Donkeys, Cody Wright. Many in the IHHL feel that this level of involvement by the owners with the team creates a stronger bond and results in a more engaging game play.

IHHL: Yahoo! Partnership Announcement

In the first bit of positive news to come out of the IHHL since the close of the season, Game Misconduct has received word that the IHHL has announced that the Board of Governors has voted and approved partnering with Yahoo! for the 2014-2015 IHHL Season.

In announcing the partnership, IHHL Commissioner Derek Heilmann was quoted as saying, “Moving the IHHL to Yahoo!, allows us to better serve our fan base, owners, and teams. Yahoo!, much like the IHHL, is pushing the envelope of technology to reach new markets and provide content where people are looking to find it; be that on the Web or a mobile device.

This partnership strengthens the our position at the forefront of technology is just one more piece of our broader strategy as the IHHL plans for the future.”

One of the big concerns for the league in this postseason was the lack of a partner to carry games moving forward. Since the public fallout between the IHHL and ESPN, many had wondered if the IHHL would be able to find anyone to work with. Given Yahoo!’s recent forays into the digital media realm, this is a deal that makes sense and could prove to be a huge boon to the IHHL as they look to shore up relations with their fans.

At last report, the IHHL was still on the hunt for two new team owners, but hopefully this partnership is just the start of positive news as the league prepares for the 2014 -2015 season.

IHHL History: First Dynasty

For the Icehouse Hockey League, the “Red Scare” of the 1920’s was a reference to the dominant play of the Montreal Reds. From 1925 to 1928, the Reds set the bar for repeated wins of the IHHL Ice Bucket. Previously, the Saskatoon Sasquatches held the IHHL record for consecutive Ice Bucket wins with their back-to-back win in 1922 and 1923. With the Reds four consecutive championships, the 1920s became known as the golden decade of Canadian hockey in the IHHL.

Throughout their winning seasons, the Reds combined hard hitting defense with a soft and deft touch of their forwards. Jacques Le’Lain, the Reds’ premier winger, racked up over 100 points in three of the four championship years. Le’Lain, known as an intense competitor, would stop at nothing to win and would often crash the net in an effort to unnerve opposing goalies. In 1926, Le’Lain was suspended for 5 games after boarding Boston Shamrocks goalie Bill McGuire, knocking him unconscious and ending his season. 

The Reds also had the best defensive pairing of the era in Max Wheeler and John Lach. Known around the league as the Red Wall,  Wheeler and Lach were considered the most physical defensemen in the league, racking up over 600 hits between them in the 1926 season. Despite the physicality of their play, the pair always made clean hits; resulting in some of the lowest PIMs in the league.

Harnessing and directing all of this skill and raw power was the job of head coach Tommy Creglorn. Creglorn, a no nonsense taskmaster, accepted nothing but perfection and discipline from his team. Training camps were known as “Creglorn’s  Crucible”, and led to more than one player quitting the league before the official start of his career. Held in the Canadian Rockies, the training camps were grueling affairs for the players in the summer months. Creglorn touted his training camps as the key to the Reds’ success, conditioning the players to be ready for any physical challenge. 

The combination of soft hands, hard hits, and disciplined play elevated the Reds to legendary heights in the league. Players like Le’Lain, Wheeler, Lach, and others, forged in the crucible of Creglon’s training camp, dominated the league. It would take half a century before another team could be compared the Reds; making the Reds the IHHL’s first true dynasty.