Showing posts with label wha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wha. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Bob Jones: NAHL Scoring Leader 1974-75


bob jones syracuse blazers
Bob Jones was a fringe player in the world of professional hockey that found great success over his two years spent in the NAHL. Jones played 1974-75 with the Syracuse Blazers and 1975-76 with the Mohawk Valley Comets. In both seasons, he surpassed the 100 point plateau, leading the league in assists and points while a member of the Blazers.

Bob Jones – NAHL


In 1974-75, Jones played 67 regular season games for the powerhouse Syracuse Blazers. He scored 38 goals and assisted on 76 for 114 points. Bob tied for sixth in goal scoring while leading the NAHL in assists and points. Syracuse finished first overall in the eight team league with a 12 point cushion between themselves and second place. Yet, the Blazers fell in the semi-finals to the fourth seed Johnstown Jets.

The following year with the Mohawk Valley Comets, Jones scored 39 and assisted on 70 for 109 points over 69 regular season games. The league was much more offensive and he placed just sixth for assists and ninth for points. The Comets placed third in the five team East Division and lost in the first round to the Syracuse Blazers.

Bob Jones – Junior


Jones spent four years in the OHA Junior A from 1962-63 to 1965-66. All four years were spent with the same organization but the Guelph Royals became the Kitchener Rangers after the first year. In 1964-65, his 39 goals placed him tenth in the league. Over his OHA career, he totalled 171 points over 209 regular season games.

In 1965-66, Kitchener finished seventh in the nine team league with just 41 points over 48 regular season games. Yet, after knocking off the Niagara Falls Flyers in the opening round and the Toronto Marlboros in the semi-finals, the Rangers earned a berth in the Robertson Cup finals against Bobby Orr and the Oshawa Generals. Oshawa came out ahead, four games to one. Over 19 playoff games, Jones scored 11 and assisted on 14 for 25 points.

Bob Jones – Minor Pro


From 1966-67 to 1971-72, Bob spent most of his time in the minors, either in the CPHL, WHL and AHL. In 1969-70, he was part of the magical Buffalo Bisons AHL club that exited the league on a high. With the Sabres entering the National Hockey League for the 1970-71 season, it was known that 1969-70 was the last year for the Bisons.

The Fred Shero coached Bisons reached the Calder Cup finals and swept the Springfield Kings in four for the championship. Bob led the team with ten assists and 15 points over 14 playoff games. During the regular season, he scored 25 and assisted on 37 for 62 points over 71 games.

Bob Jones – Major League


His NHL experience was limited to just two games, played with the New York Rangers in 1968-69. However, Jones played 161 games in the World Hockey Association between 1972-73 and 1975-76. Bob wore a number of jerseys in the WHA, starting with the Los Angeles Sharks and moving on to the New York Raiders / New York Golden Blades / Jersey Knights mess. He also appeared with the Michigan Stags and Indianapolis Racers.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Larry Mavety: NAHL Bridges the Gap Between Pro Player and OHL Head Coach


larry mavety chicago cougars wha hockey card
Larry Mavety played in the North American Hockey League for parts of three seasons from 1974-75 to 1976-77. The high scoring defenseman got around the league, playing for three different clubs over his three years, intermingled with play in the World Hockey Association.

NAHL


Mavety played just four games in the NAHL during the 1974-75 season with the Long Island Cougars. He spent the bulk of his time with Chicago Cougars in the WHA. In 1975-76, he split his NAHL season between the Erie Blades and Binghamton Dusters. In his, and the league’s, final year, Larry played entirely for the Dusters. In 59 games on the blue line, he scored 16 goals and assisted on 51 for 67 points.

Pro Hockey


Larry Mavety played pro hockey from 1963-64 to 1976-77 in the IHL, WHL, WHA and NAHL. In his rookie year, 1963-64, with the Toledo Blades, he helped win the IHL championship. The Blades finished first out of the league’s seven teams during the regular season. In the post season, Toledo met the Fort Wayne Komets in the finals. Although the Komets outscored the Blades 26-24, Toledo won the series in six games.

Two years later, Mavety won another IHL championship, this time with the Port Huron Flags. During the regular season, Port Huron finished down in third place in the six team league. The Flags met the Dayton Gems in the finals and won four games to one.

Larry’s pinnacle season in the IHL came in 1966-67 when he was awarded the Governor’s Trophy on a less than stellar Port Huron Flags team. The Governor’s Trophy was handed out to the IHL’s top defenseman. Later is was renamed the Larry D. Gordon Trophy. Mavety finished the season with 25 goals and 48 assists for 73 points in 71 games. The Flags did not qualify for the post season, finishing fifth in the seven team league.

Although he never played in the National Hockey League, Mavety played 248 regular season games of major league hockey in the World Hockey Association between 1972-73 and 1976-77.  He did a bit of moving around, playing for the Los Angeles Sharks, Philadelphia Blazers, Chicago Cougars, Toronto Toros, Ottawa Civics and Indianapolis Racers. He played 18 playoff games in 1973-74 as the Chicago Cougars reached the Avco Cup finals before being swept by the Houston Aeros.

OHL Coach and Executive


In 1979-80, the OMJHL (now the Ontario Hockey League) expanded to include the Belleville Bulls. Larry Mavety was the franchise’s first head coach. He stood behind the bench in Belleville from 1979-80 to 1996-97, with exception of 1988-89 and 1989-90 when he moved down the road to Kingston. The Bulls achieved playoff success in 1985-86, reaching the Robertson Cup finals before bowing out to the Guelph Platers.

In 1997-98, Larry again made his move to Kingston, this time for good. He was head coach of the Kingston Frontenacs from 1997-98 to 2002-03 before moving to the head office. In 2007-08 and 2008-09, he returned to the bench on an interim basis. Mavety is currently a special advisor to the club.

 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Joe Hardy: First Pro 200 Point Season


jocelyn hardy beauce jaros nahl
Jocelyn ‘Joe’ Hardy was one of the greatest to play in the NAHL. Wayne Gretzky is widely known as the first NHL player to achieve the 200 point plateau in a single season. A little known bit of hockey trivia is that Joe Hardy was the first professional player to reach 200 points and beyond in one regular season.

With the Beauce Jaros in 1975-76, Handy scored 60 goals and assisted on 148 for an incredible 208 points in just 72 games. Of course, the 148 assists and 208 points will always remain as NAHL records. Making this even more incredible is the fact that Joe also acted as the team’s head coach for the 1975-76 season. He led the Jaros to a first overall finish in the ten team league. Beauce reached the Lockhart Cup finals before losing to the Philadelphia Firebirds in six games.

Hardy played parts of three seasons in the NAHL from 1974-75 to 1976-77, appearing with the Long Island Cougars, Beauce Jaros and Binghamton Dusters. His pro career lasted from 1966-67 to 1977-78 with stops in six different leagues, including the NHL and WHA.

As the NAHL and the WHA went hand in hand, it’s not surprising that Hardy played 210 games in the Rebel League between 1972-73 and 1974-75. He was a regular with the Cleveland Crusaders in 1972-73, the World Hockey Association’s inaugural season. The following season, he saw 77 games with the Chicago Cougars. He split the 1974-75 season between the Cougars, Indianapolis Racers and San Diego Mariners.

Joe had stints in the National Hockey League in 1969-70 and 1970-71, playing a total of 63 games. In 1969-70, he played 23 games for the Oakland Seals, with an additional four games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He also appeared in 46 games with the Providence Reds that year. The following year, he played 40 games with the same NHL franchise, although they were now known as the California Golden Seals.

In his final professional hockey season, 1977-78, Hardy played for the Binghamton Dusters, a franchise that made the move to the AHL with the demise of the NAHL. He finished first in the league with 63 assists and seventh in the league with 87 points. Joe returned the following season as head coach of the Dusters for one season.

His coaching career was resurrected in 1987-88 in the QMJHL. He coached the Shawinigan Cataractes for four years and the Beauport Harfangs for one.



 
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
1966-67 New Haven Blades EHL 72 28 51 79 77
1969-70 Providence Reds AHL 46 11 27 38 44
1969-70 Oakland Seals NHL 23 5 4 9 20
1969-70 Seattle Totems WHL -- -- -- -- --
1970-71 California Golden Seals NHL 40 4 10 14 31
1971-72 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 65 18 42 60 105
1972-73 Cleveland Crusaders WHA 72 17 33 50 80
1973-74 Chicago Cougars WHA 77 24 35 59 55
1974-75 Long Island Cougars NAHL 4 1 2 3 2
1974-75 Chicago Cougars WHA 17 1 6 7 8
1974-75 Indianapolis Racers WHA 32 2 17 19 36
1974-75 San Diego Mariners WHA 12 2 3 5 22
1975-76 Beauce Jaros NAHL 72 60 148 208 98
1976-77 Beauce Jaros NAHL 22 7 36 43 30
1976-77 Broome County Dusters NAHL 28 22 28 50 19
1977-78 Binghamton Dusters AHL 73 24 63 87 56

NHL Totals
63 9 14 23 51

WHA Totals
210 46 94 140 201