Editor’s note: Throughout November, the Pucks and Recreation staff will alphabetically recount every state’s most memorable all-round hockey calendar year. The fourth installment of the five-part series covers New Mexico through South Carolina. In descending priority, we will take into account achievements by major professional, college, minor professional and junior teams plus players born or raised in a given state.
New Mexico: 2000
The WPHL’s penultimate year has been New Mexico’s closest brush with pro hockey postseason glory. Down the stretch, the Scorpions sandwiched one loss with six- and 11-game win streaks, effectively securing the second playoff seed.
The timely turbo jolt leapfrogged the first-round bye and into the early rounds of the postseason. New Mexico took seven of nine games from Corpus Christi and Austin before meeting first-place Shreveport.
The Mudbugs prevailed in six games for the title. Nonetheless, the Scorpions were the clear-cut toast of Albuquerque for one winter and spring. – Al Daniel
New York: 1980
What would Lake Placid be had it not hosted America’s greatest hockey memory?
In its second Olympic go-round, the Adirondack village witnessed the now self-explanatory Miracle on Ice. After Team USA secured its stunning gold-medal triumph, one of its defensemen refilled his tank and moved to Long Island.
With the Islanders, Ken Morrow tacked three months onto his 1979-80 whirlwind. When it was over, he added a Stanley Cup ring to his hardware collection.
The start of a four-year dynasty was also the culmination of the Empire State’s best collective NHL spring. The Isles, Rangers and Sabres had all reached the playoff quarterfinal for the first time. And with the Islanders bumping Buffalo in the semifinals, two distinct regions sustained their ice deep into May. – A.D.
North Carolina: 2005
The 2004-05 NHL lockout left the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers as their state’s top pro hockey team. They would extend that unique season in the spotlight to the third round of the playoffs.
That summer, Charlotte’s Jared Boll entered Columbus’ prospect pipeline as a fourth-round draft choice. He would be the first of (so far) three native North Carolinians to reach The Show.
Two months later, the Hurricanes joined the rest of the league’s incumbents in their merciful return. With no 2004-05 transcript, they had only October, November and December to place on their 2005 record.
The Hurricanes would emerge with the league’s fourth-best cumulative record in the calendar year. A month-long 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) and nine-game winning streak therein highlighted that hustle. They started another run of nine uninterrupted victories on New Year’s Eve, improving to 24-7-7.
All of that presaged their franchise-best 112 regular-season points and 2006 Stanley Cup triumph. – A.D.
North Dakota: 2010
There is plenty more to North Dakota hockey than the men’s Division I team in Grand Forks. And while 2010 was hardly the top year in UND’s annals, the program had plenty of genuine highlights.
The incumbent squad went 30-11-4 over the calendar year and won the WCHA playoff title. Alumnus Jonathan Toews won his first Olympic gold medal, first Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Elsewhere, two junior teams kept their fan bases occupied for the maximum length of their respective seasons. The USHL’s Fargo Force appeared in their second consecutive Clark Cup Final, losing a close best-of-five set to Green Bay. The NAHL’s Bismarck Bobcats won their first Robertson Cup, blanking Fairbanks, 3-0, at home for the clincher. – A.D.
Ohio: 1953
On six occasions between 1948 and 1964, the Buckeye State witnessed two Triple-A playoff titles. Of those years, 1953 saw the best combined reckonable forces in each corner.
With the Cincinnati Mohawks, Troy Bruins and Toledo Mercurys, Ohio filled the top half of the six-team IHL standings. Grand Rapids upset Troy in the first round, but met its match when the Mohawks mustered a four-game sweep. The victory started a five-year Turner Cup dynasty in Cincinnati.
If not for a 1952 offseason transfer, the Mohawks could have challenged the Cleveland Barons for the Calder Cup. Instead, Ohio’s lone AHL chapter flourished toward a regular-season and playoff crown. The Barons vanquished the Pittsburgh Hornets, 1-0, in overtime in Game 7. – A.D.
Oklahoma: 1993
A quarter-century earlier, the Tulsa Oilers and Oklahoma City Blazers forged a crossroads moment for the old Triple-A Central League. The 1968 Oilers denied the Blazers a championship three-peat with a first-round, seven-game ouster, then won the title themselves.
How could the intrastate rivals top that moment, let alone in a Double-A CHL? By having the new Oilers and Blazers go to Game 7 of the 1993 championship, capping their respective inaugural seasons.
Oklahoma City and Tulsa split their regular-season series and finished first and second, respectively. Upon reconvening in the second and final playoff round, neither scored fewer than three goals each night. The Oilers would polish their four-games-to-one upset with an 8-6 barnburner in the capital. – A.D.
Oregon: 1998
The Portland Winterhawks have won three Western League playoff titles and two Memorial Cups. But they have only done both in the same year once.
By sweeping Brandon for the WHL crown, the 1998 edition secured a Memorial Cup passport to Spokane. The Hawks went 3-0 in the preliminary round, including a 4-2 win over the host and rival Chiefs.
The OHL’s Guelph Storm denied the Pacific Northwest a rematch by beating the Chiefs, 2-1, in the semifinal. The subsequent title tilt got ugly when Portland’s Marian Hossa absorbed an injurious knee check. But the Hawks avenged the hit en route to an overtime triumph of their own, 4-3. – A.D.
Pennsylvania: 1984
With two teams combining for seven Stanley Cups, Pennsylvania has many years one could single out. But the Commonwealth’s single-best year in hockey was one where neither team was on top.
In the 1984 offseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux. An instant legend as a player, Lemieux would Pittsburgh to two Cups. Later on, as an owner, he bought the franchise to save it from bankruptcy. Under Lemieux’s ownership, the Pens have added three more titles.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers were beginning a campaign that would culminate in the Cup final. They rode goaltender Pelle Lindbergh through the regular season and playoffs before falling to Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers. – Zach Green
Rhode Island: 1998
Providence College had the best representation on the first women’s hockey team to win Olympic gold. The Gretzky of her game at the time, Cammi Granato, was one of seven Friars on that icebreaking U.S. roster. Another one, goaltender Sara DeCosta, represented PC and her native Warwick.
With Brown University’s Katie King and Tara Mounsey, Ocean State schools produced 45 percent of the champions at Nagano.
The winter of 1998 was less blissful for Rhode Island’s pro hockey entry. But after finishing 18th among 18 AHL teams, the Providence Bruins wasted no time turning 180 degrees. With first-year coach Peter Laviolette, they spent the fall previewing their 1999 Calder Cup title.
The game of the year: Nov. 25, when the P-Bruins netted 10 first-period goals in a 14-2 thrashing of Syracuse. That was also the last installment of a nine-game regulation unbeaten tear. A month later, Providence closed 1998 with its fifth of what would be 11 straight victories. – A.D.
South Carolina: 2009
South Carolina does not often come to mind in hockey talk. But that doesn’t mean the game cannot survive there. Quite the contrary, as two ECHL teams are currently thriving in the Palmetto State.
Both of those teams had a landmark moment in 2009. The older franchise, the South Carolina Stingrays, won the Kelly Cup for the third time in 16 their seasons.
While that is normally a big-enough event to make that the state’s best hockey year alone, it wasn’t all. Towards the tail end of 2009, the Johnstown Chiefs began seeking relocation from Pennsylvania. They would ultimately turn to Greenville, S.C., which had the Road Warriors (now Swamp Rabbits) in place the next year. – Z.G.
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