I received an article by a long time Dallas Black Hawk fan,
Jeff Scoggin (thanks again Jeff). The article was written by
Temple Pouncey, a staff writer for the Dallas Morning News.
The article was written shortly before the Dallas Black Hawks
announced they were folding, in 1982. It was filled with
great moments in Black Hawks history. So now I've decided to
give other visitors, to the "Old" C.H.L. site, an
outlet to share some of their favorite memories with the rest
of us "Old" C.H.L. fans. Since Temple's article was
the first one on the site, I've decided to name this part of
the site "The Memories". Now the continuation of
this page depends on you, the fans. If you would like to
contribute to "The Memories" please email me. Thanks - Paul
This month in "The Memories" we go way back to the 1963/64 season of the Central Professional Hockey League, the leagues inaugural season. On March 9th and 11th, the St. Paul Rangers and the Cincinnati Wings were scheduled to play two games in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa had been without professional hockey since 1951, after losing their arena to a fire. Tulsa was wanting to join the league for its inaugural season, but could not due to the newly constructed Assembly Center in downtown Tulsa that had not been completed. These two hockey matches were the first sporting events to take place in the newly finished arena. Crowds of 5,822 and a sellout crowd of 6,888 fans were delighted after seeing these two CPHL teams battle it out on the ice. On hand to witness the series was CPHL President Jack Adams.
Below is the write ups, photos and box scores from the Tulsa World. Hope you enjoy it !!!
Thanks to Mike P. for sharing the articles and photos.
A rare program for the series.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tuesday, March 10, 1964
Pro Hockey Return Sees St. Paul Victory
Crowd of 5,500 Helps Dedicate Assembly Center
by Tom Lobaugh
Tulsa World Sports WriterTwo goals within a minute in the final period proved the margin of victory as the St. Paul Rangers skated past the Cincinnati Red Wings, 5-3, Monday night.
The Central League hockey game, first sports attraction to be offered in Tulsa's new 7 1/2 million-dollar Assembly Center, drew 5,500.
The Rangers kept up a relentless pressure on the Red Wing net. Cincinnati goalie Bob Champoux should have put in for overtime pay after his busy night, for he made 43 stops to only 19 for his St. Paul counterpart, Marcel Pelletier.
Crowd Quiet at First
At first the two unfamiliar teams failed to arouse much enthusiasm. But the rough action soon developed plenty of partisan cheering. And a couple of pier-six brawls gave the fans their "heroes" and "villains," even though the participants were strangers to the Tulsa crowd.The victory moved St. Paul into third place in the league, a point behind Minneapolis and a point ahead of St. Louis. Both those teams were idle Monday.
St. Paul turned the tide with its alert and aggressive defense, led by Bob Woytowich. He not only played a smart game at the blue line, but set up three Ranger tallies with adept stickwork and sharp passes.
The fans' appreciation of hockey, and of the sparkling new Assembly Center, was somewhat marred by the fact the scoreboard and clock weren't working.
The teams will square off again at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Lineups:
St. Paul: Goal - Pelletier. Defense - Woytowich, Plager, Chevrier, Pratt. Forwards - B. Taylor, T. Taylor, Hughes, Cunningham, Oftebro, McComb, Johnson, Hall, Andrea.
Cincinnati: Goal - Champoux. Defense - Mitchell, Marshall, Harris, Muloin, LaFreniere. Forward - Laufman, Ross, Menard, Faulkner, Chiz, Balon, Paul, Campbell, Mestinsek.
Referee: Hood. Linesman: Forbes, McLain.
Scoring:
First Period: 1, Cincinnati, Balon (Harris, Faulkner) 9:02; 2, St. Paul, Chevrier (Cunningham) 19:57. Penalties - McComb 11:40; Plager, minor and major, 18:37; LaFreniere, double minor and major, 18:37; Muloin 19:57.
Second Period: 3, St. Paul, Andrea (Woytowich, Johnson) 9:57; 4, St. Paul, Hughes (B. Taylor, Cunningham) 15:27. Penalties - LaFreniere 13:49; Plager 17:31.
Third Period: 5, Cincinnati, Harris (Menard, Chiz) 1:16; 6, St. Paul, Hughes (Woytowich, Andrea) 9:19; 7, St. Paul, Pratt (Cunningham, Woytowich) 10:07; 8, Cincinnati, Mestinsek (Paul, LaFreniere) 14:45. Penalties- T. Taylor, minor and major, 6:32; Paul, major, 6:32.
Stops:
Pelletier........8 4 7 - 19
Champoux..13 16 14 - 43
Attendance - 5,822
"Old Time Hockey" A great photo from game 1 in the series.
St. Paul's Bob Plager downs Cincinnati's Roger LaFreniere in a midst of a
free for all.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tuesday, March 12, 1964
New Center Full As St. Paul Pins Cincinnati, 5-1
by Tom Lobaugh
Tulsa World Sports WriterA sellout crowd of 6,800 - largest ever to view a hockey game in Tulsa - saw the St. Paul Rangers continue their mastery of the Cincinnati Red Wings, 5-1, at the Civic Center Wednesday night. Some 250 other fans were turned away.
The Rangers combined aggressive defense with sharp passing to take a clean sweep of Tulsa's abbreviated "season".
St. Paul won the series opener Monday night, 5-3. The twin victories gave the Rangers 12 victories against three losses and two ties in their Central League rivalry with the Wings.
Forecast: Thaw
The Civic Center ice now will be melted, and the rink probably won't be frozen again until Tulsa's Oilers make their debut in the Central League in October.Center Billy Taylor and right wing Howie Hughes were the stars of St. Paul's second victory here. Taylor scored twice in the second period. Hughes added a third period goal and set up both Taylor tallies.
In a futile attempt to raise the score even higher, the Rangers removed goalie Marcel Pelletier from the net for the last 30 seconds of the game, attacking with six forwards.
The strategy neither helped nor hindered. St. Paul couldn't get a good shot in the closing seconds. Cincinnati had the puck twice in that span, but two length of the ice shots were wide of their target.
Lineups:
St. Paul: Goal - Pelletier. Defense - Woytowich, Plager, Chevrier, Pratt. Forwards - B. Taylor, T. Taylor, Hughes, Cunningham, Oftebro, McComb, Johnson, Hall, Andrea.
Cincinnati: Goal - Champoux. Defense - Mitchell, Harris, Muloin, LaFreniere. Forward - Laufman, Ross, Menard, Faulkner, Balon, Shearer, Cox, Hincks, Chiz, Peters.
Referee: Hood. Linesman: Forbes, McLain.
Scoring:
First Period: 1, St. Paul, Chevier (Hall, Johnson) 8:17; 2, Cincinnati, Balon (Ross, Laughman) 16:11. Penalties - None.
Second Period: 3, St. Paul, B. Taylor (Woytowich, Hughes) 3:31; 4, St. Paul, Andrea (Johnson) 13:33; 5, St. Paul, B. Taylor (T. Taylor, Hughes) 16:20. Penalties - Chevier 1:11; Pratt 13:53.
Third Period: 6, St. Paul, Hughes (Woytowich, Cunningham) 2:50. Penalties - Harris 1:07; Hall 7:25; Harris 9:12; Muloin 9:43; Woytowich 9:43.
Stops:
Pelletier........8 15 15 - 38
Champoux..13 17 13 - 43
Attendance - 6,888
St. Paul Goalie, Marcel Pelletier, trying to make save while Cincinnati
Wings players Pete Shearer (20) and Wayne Muloin (4) poke at the loose
puck between Marcel's pads. St. Paul's Captain, Wally Chevrier, comes to the
aide of his goaltender during game 2 action. And yes gang, that's real
"chain link" fence atop the boards !!!