Good Tuesday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope you guys had a good Monday.
After a brief detour to hoops last week, as the NCAA Tourney was down to its Final Four teams, Leo Strawn, Jr. returns to the ice one last time for the year.
ICYMI, Leo has of late turned his attention to old-time Ice Hockey (Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, and Volume 6). There have been some amazing old photos on those posts, some of which I’m sure you’ve probably never seen, and definitely worth a read!
This article will put a bow on Leo’s look at the major winter sports.
And now, here’s Mr. Strawn with…
by Leo Strawn, Jr.
I’m Leo…welcome to my world!
This edition will wrap up my look at uniforms on ice. As it was in the previous hockey edition, this will focus on the Buckeye state.
Most of these Leo’s World articles are written weeks in advance and sometimes I need to update with a comment or two before handing it over to Phil and this is one of those times. It seemed like a good idea to start the Ohio editions with a CBJ rant and end with the good stuff from Columbus hockey. Maybe I should have done that as a stand-alone part 1 and put the rest of the state in part 2 because a few readers thought I might have overlooked two Columbus favorites, the Chill and Owls. Ha, not a chance! Keep reading, because in addition to the Chill and Owls, there are two others from Columbus that deserve accolades. I wonder how many of my fellow Columbus hockey fans might have forgotten about them…?
I also wanted to add that Patrick_in_Mi asked about the photos. Aside from the ones collected from the internet, the ones you see that are behind glass were pics I took when Columbus hosted the NHL All Star Game in January, 2015.
Picking up where I left off…
In addition to the Cincinnati Stingers, I have mentioned Cleveland teams a couple of times in this series, also. The WHA franchise was, of course, the Crusaders who were formed in 1972 and, after considering a move to Hollywood (between Fort Lauderdale and Miami), Florida to become the Breakers, the club moved to Minnesota in 1976, to become the second incarnation of the Fighting Saints.
The NHL immediately filled that void when the Golden Seals moved there in 1976, playing two seasons as the Barons, who also moved to Minnesota after merging with the North Stars.
But, if you think it sounds like hockey in Cleveland was never richly supported, you would be mistaken. Cleveland had an IHL side known as the Indians that began playing in these uniforms in 1929 before adopting the Falcons as its nickname in 1934.
In 1936, the Falcons joined a league that would become the AHL. The following season, they changed their name to the Barons. After 3 1/2 decades in the American Hockey League, the Barons suddenly had to compete with the Cleveland WHA club in 1972, even though both franchises were owned by Nick Mileti. Not surprisingly, attendance and revenue plummeted for the AHL Barons and forced Mileti to move the team to Jacksonville, Florida in the middle of the season. Those Barons played their final game in Ohio on February 4, 1973. I’m aware of two of their uniforms from the early-to-mid 1960s. I love the stripey look on the early 1960s Barons!
Among others, the IHL Lumberjacks filled the void in Cleveland from 1992-2001.
Columbus also has a rich hockey tradition, believe it or not. The IHL Columbus franchise played from 1966-70 as the Checkers. They had a cool medieval-looking crest for a logo and some creative uniforms.
After Charlie O. bought the Oakland Seals, the IHL squad in Columbus became a California farm team known as the Columbus Golden Seals. On the ice, they were very much Finley’s team.
In 1973, they became the Owls. Always loved that logo. Sadly, they left for Dayton in 1977.
In the 1990s, Columbus had a team in the ECHL known as the Chill. They had an awesome logo that had icicles running through the lettering and wore some creative sweaters.
I was hopeful back then that the NHL team would purchase the rights to the Chill name and retain their logo and on-ice look, but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully, hockey in Columbus will look that good again one day.
In a week, we’ll head out to the diamond.
Until then…
Cheers!
Readers? What say you?
Thanks, Leo! And holy cow does that Indians sweater make me wish that Ottawa would adopt barber pole stripes already. It’s one of those looks that some team at the top level should wear.
Ottawa at the top level of junior hockey does of course!
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‘Nothing like taking individual team photos while a guy sweeps the sidewalk in the background…
Growing up playing hockey my dad would tell me about chicken wire glass and sturdy nets without pegs. Super cool seeing the net in the first Barons picture, can’t imagine running into that!
GTGFTS: Sunday June 21, 2015. Phillies 9 Cardinals 2. Guessing the old time graphics related to a Father’s Day promotion. I was not at that game but did attend the Nationals game mentioned on the scoreboard.
The Owls eventually moved to Grand Rapids, MI where they lasted until 1980. I went to many Owls games growing up in Grand Rapids. I agree that is a great logo!
That Barons logo with the guy in the top hat and the monocle is so nice, reminds me of the old Duquesne Duke. Great pics, but the best is the one with the street sweeper in the background. Standing on a sidewalk in full uniform wearing skates has a very surreal quality. “One moment there was ice in the streets and the next…all gone! Really!”
Despite the lack of success on the rink, Ohio’s sweater hand (Crusaders, Stingers, NHL Barons) was strong in the ’70s. I was chuffed to see a competent jersey finally on the backs of the Blue Jackets this season.
Oh, how I miss the Chill. Had season tickets. Great times.
GTGFTU
25 Sep 2024 (Confidence Level 80%)
Batter is Jonatan Clase, who only played 7 games for the Jays while wearing #8, and the picture appears to be him hitting his lone HR in that time, a 2 run 7th inning shot off Josh Winckowski.
Final Score Toronto 6, Boston 1
One thing I miss more than the Lumberjacks, and that’s the Barons. That 70s uni is a Top Five look for all of hockey.
After the Jacks folded, there was another Barons team. The SJ Sharks bought the Kentucky Thoroughblades, moved them to Cleveland and gave them a dapper looking shark as the mascot.
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After they moved to Worcester, MA, the Utah Grizzlies moved to Cleveland and became the Monsters.
Thanks for more Ohio hockey goodness!
No worries, Jimmer. Glad you enjoyed.
100% agree on the Barons. Mileti made a mess of things with the Crusaders/Barons debacle. The NHL might not have invested in Cleveland if the Crusaders had never existed and the original Barons franchise might still be skating in Cleveland, otherwise. Who knows. He had his fingers in baseball too. Steinbrenner (like him or hate him) would have done much, much more for baseball by the lake than Mileti ever did.
Cheers!
By the way, both the Cleveland Barons and the Cleveland Rams live on in Northeast Ohio.
There are a few Barons teams playing youth developmental hockey…
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…and the Rams are the nickname for the Cleveland Pop Warner Association.
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Those Columbus Checkers sweaters sure had some interesting stripes. I would love to see how those Florida Breakers uniforms would have turned out. Ahh, what might have been! I definitely remember those Cleveland Lumberjacks (and previously Muskegon) unis. Great time for minor hockey back then. That Columbus Chill uni sure is…uhhh…interesting. The logo looks like a beer logo or maybe an energy drink.
I’d love to see CBJ dust off the Checkers design for a game sometime. Before the Reverse Retro 2.0 designs came out, I actually mocked up an idea for a CBJ RR based on that uniform. The side profile of a cannon actually fits pretty nicely inside the C for the logo.