Johnstown Chiefs

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Johnstown Chiefs
File:Johnstown Chiefs Logo.svg
City Johnstown, Pennsylvania
League ECHL
Operated 1987–2010
Home arena Cambria County War Memorial Arena
Colors Black, gold, white
              
Franchise history
1987–2010 Johnstown Chiefs
2010–2015 Greenville Road Warriors
2015–present Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Championships
Regular season titles None
Division Championships None
Conference Championships None
Kelly Cups None

The Johnstown Chiefs were a minor league ice hockey team located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that played in the ECHL. The team was founded in 1987 in the All-American Hockey League, and moved to the East Coast Hockey League (now "ECHL") when that league was formed.[1] The Chiefs lasted for 22 years in Johnstown, and was the last of the founding ECHL teams playing under its original name and in its original city. The Chiefs relocated to Greenville, South Carolina following the completion of the 2010 season.[2]

Franchise history

The owners originally wanted to name the team the Jets in honor of a team that had played in Johnstown from 1950 to 1977, mostly in the Eastern Hockey League. However, the old Jets' former owners still held the trademark for the name and refused to allow the new team to use it. Fortunately, they had a second choice. A contest was held by the owners, allowing the people of Johnstown to vote for the new team name. The cult hockey movie Slap Shot had been filmed in Johnstown, and featured a minor league team called the Charlestown Chiefs. The fans readily jumped on the tie-in, and the Johnstown Chiefs were born.[1]

The Chiefs played their home games in the historic 3,745 seat Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, where most of the hockey scenes in the movie Slap Shot were filmed. Despite popular belief, the Chiefs uniforms colors (black, gold, and white) were not chosen because of the local fans' connection to the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. Shortly after the emergency lease had been approved by the Cambria County War Memorial, head coach Joe Selenski traveled to Canada to find the team uniforms and called War Memorial Marketing Director Dennis Grennell at 3:00 AM to tell him that the only uniforms he could find were black and gold (similar to the Bruins' uniforms of the 1970s), but he didn't have enough money to buy them. Grennell agreed to pay for the uniforms using his own credit card.[3] Coincidentally, the Chiefs' first minor league affiliation would be with the Boston Bruins.

Among the franchise's notable players were:

  • Brent Bilodeau, long time captain who skated with the Chiefs from 1999 until his retirement in 2005. His 414 games played is the second highest total in Chiefs' history.
  • Bruce Coles, who holds the Chiefs' career mark for points scored with 227, having played in only 132 games for the team
  • Frederic Deschênes, who led the franchise in goaltending games with 152, 69 regular season wins, and 5 regular season shutouts.
  • Perry Florio, former all-star defenseman, the franchise's career assist leader with 171
  • Mark Green, holds the single-season Chiefs record for goals scored with 68.
  • Scott Gordon, the team's starting goalie in 1988–89, Gordon became the first ECHL player to advance to the NHL when he suited up for the Quebec Nordiques in 1989–90. He also played for Team USA at the 1992 Winter Olympics and later went on to become the head coach of the New York Islanders.
  • Arturs Irbe, a former NHL All-Star goaltender, Irbe played for the Chiefs briefly in 2003–2004, going 10–3–1 with a GAA of 2.13 and a .927 save percentage and was named to the ECHL All-Star team in 2004 but did not play due to an injury.
  • Lukáš Smítal, the career goal scoring leader with 107.
  • Jeff Sullivan, the career penalty minute leader with 1205 PIM.
  • Dmitri Tarabrin, the career leader in games played with 480 and the only player in Chiefs' history to have his numbered retired.

On August 17, 2007, the Chiefs announced that they entered into an affiliation agreement with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. During the 2007–08 season, the Chiefs served as the Avalanche's secondary minor league affiliate.[4] On September 18, 2007, the Chiefs announced they had also entered an affiliation agreement with the Boston Bruins for the 07–08 season.[5]

Prior to the 2008–09 season the Chiefs restored their affiliation with the Avalanche[6] and entered into an affiliation agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets who replaced the Bruins on August 22, 2008.[7]

For the 2009–10 season, the Chiefs were the secondary minor league affiliate to the Minnesota Wild.[8] Jeff Flanagan took up the role of Head Coach to start the year. After leading the team to an ECHL cellar dwelling 9-19-7 record, Flanagan was fired, replaced for the remainder of the season by majority owner Neil Smith on January 10, 2010.[9]

In February 2010, the Tribune-Democrat reported that television reports from Greenville, South Carolina stated that the Chiefs would be relocated to Greenville following the 2009-10 season and compete at the BI-LO Center. Greenville had previously been home to the Greenville Grrrowl, who played in the ECHL from 1998-06 when the ECHL revoked Greenville's franchise rights.[10] On February 17, 2010, the league announced that the Chiefs would be relocating to Greenville after the league's Board of Governors voted unanimously in favor of the move.[2] News of the relocation also made the press in New York City, including the New York Times, due to Smith being the former president and governor of the New York Rangers and former general manager of the New York Islanders. The team, renamed the Greenville Road Warriors, are affiliated with the Rangers, a legacy of the relocation.

The team played their final game as the Johnstown Chiefs on Saturday April 3, 2010. The result was a 5-3 loss to the Elmira Jackals. According to a pre-game address by minority owner Ned Nakles to the fans in attendance, the Chiefs name, logo, team records and history would not follow the team to Greenville, but would remain in Johnstown under ownership by a non-profit group to possibly be used again should a new team enter the ECHL in the city.[11]

The Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, announced prior to the Chiefs season finale that they would play 10 of their 36 regular season home games and one preseason game at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena during the 2010-11 ECHL season.

The Chiefs along with the Wheeling Thunderbirds (now known as the Wheeling Nailers) played the role of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1995 film Sudden Death starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The premise was the Penguins playing the Chicago Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup when terrorists attempt to hold the Vice President hostage in the arena.

Season results

Records as of 2009–10 season.[12]

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, PCT = Winning percentage, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season League Division GP W L T OTL SOL Pts PCT GF GA PIM Coach(es) Result
1988–89 ECHL 60 32 22 - 6 - 70 .583 295 251 Steve Carlson Lost in Finals
1989–90 ECHL 60 23 31 - 6 - 52 .433 233 291 2047 Steve Carlson Out of playoffs
1990–91 ECHL East 64 32 29 - 3 - 67 .523 324 287 1646 Steve Carlson Lost in round 2
1991–92 ECHL West 64 36 23 - 5 - 77 .601 294 248 1750 Steve Carlson Lost in round 2
1992–93 ECHL East 64 34 23 - 7 - 75 .585 281 264 1647 Ed Johnstone Lost in round 2
1993–94 ECHL North 68 37 27 - 4 - 78 .573 323 308 1978 Ed Johnstone Lost in round 1
1994–95 ECHL North 68 31 32 - 5 - 67 .492 256 297 1656 Ed Johnstone Lost in round 1
1995–96 ECHL North 70 21 38 - 11 - 53 .378 249 322 2481 Nick Fotiu Out of Playoffs
1996–97 ECHL North 70 24 39 7 - - 55 .392 253 354 2287 Nick Fotiu Out of Playoffs
1997–98 ECHL Northeast 70 23 41 6 - - 52 .371 219 297 2118 Nick Fotiu
Scott Allen		 Out of Playoffs
1998–99 ECHL Northeast 70 27 34 9 - - 63 .450 218 265 1734 Scott Allen Out of Playoffs
1999–00 ECHL Northwest 70 33 28 - 9 - 75 .535 235 234 1959 Scott Allen Lost in round 3
2000–01 ECHL Northwest 72 28 36 8 - - 64 .444 207 238 1865 Scott Allen Lost in round 2
2001–02 ECHL Northwest 72 39 31 2 - - 80 .555 220 232 1688 Scott Allen Lost in round 3
2002–03 ECHL Northwest 72 28 33 11 - - 67 .465 214 243 1700 Toby O'Brien Out of Playoffs
2003–04 ECHL Northern 72 45 20 7 - - 97 .673 223 195 1491 Toby O'Brien Lost in Q/R
2004–05 ECHL North 72 22 36 14 - - 58 .402 191 258 1421 Toby O'Brien Out of Playoffs
2005–06 ECHL North 72 30 26 16 - - 76 .527 223 243 1119 Frank Anzalone Lost in round 2
2006–07 ECHL North 72 33 33 - 3 3 72 .500 216 232 1179 Frank Anzalone Lost in round 1
2007–08 ECHL North 72 36 30 - 3 3 78 .541 235 234 1568 Ian Herbers Lost in round 2
2008–09 ECHL North 72 37 30 - 5 0 79 .549 228 232 1472 Ian Herbers Out of Playoffs
2009–10 ECHL East 72 18 43 - 7 4 47 .326 215 307 1385 Jeff Flanagan
Neil Smith		 Out of Playoffs

Chiefs alumni who have played in the NHL

# Player Position Year(s) with Chiefs NHL Team Year(s) in NHL
31 Canada Scott Bailey G 1992-93 Boston Bruins 1995-97
-- Canada Garrett Burnett LW 1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 2003-04
-- Canada Shawn Byram LW 1989-90 Chicago Blackhawks
New York Islanders		 1990-91
1991-92
-- United States John Craighead RW 1992-93 Toronto Maple Leafs 1996-97
-- The Bahamas Andre Deveaux C 2005-07 Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Rangers		 2008-09
2011-12
-- Canada Benoit Dusablon C 2000-01 New York Rangers 2003-04
-- United States Brian Eklund G 2005-06 New York Rangers 2005-06
23 United States Matt Glennon LW 1991-92 Boston Bruins 1991-92
30 United States Scott Gordon G 1988-89 Quebec Nordiques
New York Islanders(head coach)		 1989-91
2008-2010
30 United States David Gove C 2001-02 Carolina Hurricanes 2005-07
1 Latvia Arturs Irbe G 2003-2004 Carolina Hurricanes 2003-04
31 Canada Neil Little G 1994-95 Philadelphia Flyers 2001-02
2003-04
-- United States Raymond Macias D 2007-09 Colorado Avalanche 2008-09
-- United States Marquis Mathieu D 1995-96 Boston Bruins 1998–2001
-- Canada Brett McLean C 1999–2000 Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Florida Panthers		 2002-04
2005-07
2007-09
17 Canada Mitch Molloy LW 1989-90 Buffalo Sabres 1989-90
26 United States Chris Mueller C 2008-09 Nashville Predators
Dallas Stars
New York Rangers
Anaheim Ducks		 2010-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-
-- Canada Doug O'Brien D 2004-05 Tampa Bay Lightning 2005-06
-- Canada Wes O'Neill D 2007-09 Colorado Avalanche 2008-10
17 Canada Greg Parks RW 1989-90 New York Islanders 1990-93
-- Kazakhstan Dimitri Patzold G 2003-04 San Jose Sharks 2007-08
44 Canada Jay Rosehill D 2005-07 Toronto Maple Leafs
Philadelphia Flyers		 2009-12
2012-14
30 Canada Dany Sabourin G 2000-02 Calgary Flames
Pittsburgh Penguins
Vancouver Canucks
 2003-04
2005-06, 2007-09
2006-07
8 Canada Ryan Savoia C 1996-98 Pittsburgh Penguins 1998-99
15 Canada Jody Shelley LW 1998–2000 Columbus Blue Jackets
San Jose Sharks
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers		 2000-08
2008-10
2010
2010-13
-- Canada Jason Simon LW 1990-91 New York Islanders
Phoenix Coyotes		 1993-94
1996-97
1 Latvia Peter Skudra G 1995-97 Pittsburgh Penguins
Buffalo Sabres
Boston Bruins
Vancouver Canucks
 1997-2000
2000-01
2000-01
2001-03
-- Czech Republic Radek Smolenak LW 2006-07 Tampa Bay Lightning
Chicago Blackhawks		 2008-09
2009-10
-- Canada Grant Stevenson RW 2004-05 San Jose Sharks 2005-06
10 United States Billy Tibbetts RW 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers		 2000-02
2001-02
2002-03
-- Canada John Tripp RW 1998–2000 New York Rangers
Los Angeles Kings		 2002-03
2003-04
4 Canada Derrick Walser D 1998–2000 Columbus Blue Jackets 2001-04, 2006–07

Retired numbers

The Chiefs retired four numbers: the numbers of Don Hall, Dick Roberge, Galen Head and Reg Kent, all of whom had played for the Johnstown Jets. Former Chiefs forward Dmitri Tarabrin had his number retired by the Wheeling Nailers in December 2010, during a "split home game" played in Johnstown.

References

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  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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