31 March 2010, 10:56 pm
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Hanson-Brother-talks-surreal-demise-of-Slap-Sho?urn=nhl,231057#remaining-content This coming Saturday evening at 7:05, the puck will drop for the final time at the Cambria County War Memorial as the Johnstown Chiefs take on the Elmira Jackals in an ECHL tilt. For those who are not familiar, the Chiefs are the team the movie Slap Shot was loosely based upon. The basic story line: a floundering minor league hockey team is going to be sold and moved to Florida at the end of the season. Back then the real team was the Johnstown Jets, playing in the North American Hockey League. Dave Hanson, along with Jeff and Steve Carlson who portrayed the Hanson brothers actually played for the real life Jets. The three, in addition to Jack Carlson who was originally cast for Hanson's role, spent time at various levels of professional hockey including the WHA and NHL. The current situation is a bit of life imitating art. The Jets folded following the 1980 season and were resurrected in 1986 as the Chiefs. They moved to the East Coast Hockey League in 1988 and have been playing in the ECHL ever since. In 2002 Neil Smith, former GM of the New York Rangers, purchased the team with a promise of not moving them for two season. Smith made good on his promise and has been trying to find a local buyer pretty much since who would purchase the team and keep them in Johnstown. He made good on his two season promise but has reached the end of the line on moving the team. Next season the franchise will head south to Greenville, SC instead of Florida. I will be making the trek west to be in attendance for the game. Here are my questions: Have you seen Slap Shot? What is your favorite quote from the movie? How far would you travel to see their final game? Should the ECHL do anything to keep one of it's more historic franchises in Johnstown? @Jason: I get the point you make 100% but I still view it as slightly different. The Mighty Ducks franchise started an NHL franchise (albeit one that won a Stanley Cup). In this case, we are talking about a minor league franchise which was the foundation of a movie most would consider iconic in the hockey world.... Read More »
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