EPISODE 302: The NHL's Colorado Rockies - With Greg Enright

With the New Jersey Devils still in contention in this year's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, we turn the dials on our George Michael Sports Machine back to the late 1970s/early 1980s with hockey historian Greg Enright ("Rocky Hockey: The Short but Wild Ride of the NHL's Colorado Rockies") - for a deep dive into the Newark, NJ-based franchise's tenuous six-year incarnation as Denver's Colorado Rockies (1976-82).

It's a story that traverses four separate owners, six different coaches, a constant threat of relocation, a terrible lease arrangement in a state-of the art (McNichols) arena, one meager (1978) playoff appearance (despite finishing 21 games under .500), an iconic logo - and a bombastic (1979-80) season full of sour "Grapes."

If you consider yourself a fan of the Devils or even today's Colorado Avalanche, you'll love Enright's book - and this conversation!

Rocky Hockey: The Short but Wild Ride of the NHL’s Colorado Rockies - Buy book here

EPISODE 269: The NHL's Coca-Cola Bottlers' Cup - With Steve Currier

Pro hockey history enthusiast/author Steve Currier (Episode 37; "The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams") returns to the show after a five-year absence - this time to accompany us deep down the rabbit hole of one of the National Hockey League's most overlooked adventures of the 1970s.

In his new book "When the NHL Invaded Japan: The Washington Capitals, the Kansas City Scouts and the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Cup", Currier recounts the story behind the NHL's long-forgotten, but historically relevant 1976 promotional exhibition series (colloquially known as the "NHL Japan Series") between the league's two most lamentable teams that year - the sophomore-twin Washington Capitals (11W-59L-10T) and Kansas City Scouts (12-56-12) - and their curious mission to introduce professional hockey to the Land of the Rising Sun.

     

When the NHL Invaded Japan: The Washington Capitals, the Kansas City Scouts and the Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Cup - buy book here

The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams - buy book here

EPISODE 197: Colorado "Rocky Hockey" - With Terry Frei

Former Denver Post columnist and long-time sports writer/author Terry Frei (“Third Down and a War to Go;” “'77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age” + plenty more) joins to discuss the briefly curious life (1976-82) of NHL hockey's Colorado Rockies - Frei's first-ever professional newspaper beat assignment back in the day.

As originally recounted in his eyebrow-raising 2010 memoir Playing Piano in a Brothel: A Sports Journalist's Odyssey, Frei helps us better understand the events, personalities and hijinks that comprised the six-year Denver incarnation of the former Kansas City Scouts and future New Jersey Devils franchise - with some perspective on its under-appreciated history and legacy.

It's a story that traverses four separate owners, six different coaches, a constant threat of relocation, a terrible lease arrangement in a state-of the art (McNichols) arena, one meager (1978) playoff appearance (despite finishing 21 games under .500), a legendary logo - and a bombastic season of sour "Grapes."

If you're a fan of the Devils or today's Colorado Avalanche, consider this your hockey history lesson for the week!

Support the show by getting four free months of NordVPN when you use promo code GOODSEATS at checkout!

          

Playing Piano in a Brothel: A Sports Journalist’s Odyssey - buy book here

‘77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age - buy book here

Third Down and A War to Go - buy book here

EPISODE 167: The “Down Goes Brown” History of the NHL – With Sean McIndoe

While we ruminate on what a potential resumption of the National Hockey League’s delayed 2020 regular season (and playoffs) might look like in the months ahead, we pause to look back at the rich, but altogether confounding history of the world’s premier pro hockey circuit with Down Goes Brown blog scribe and Athletic columnist Sean McIndoe (The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL: The World's Most Beautiful Sport, the World's Most Ridiculous League).

Over its often-illogical 103-year history, the NHL has proven to be – as the dust jacket to McIndoe’s loving, but irreverent book intimates – a league that often can't seem to get out of its own way:

“No matter how long you've been a hockey fan, you know that sinking feeling that maybe – just maybe – some of the people in charge here don't actually know what they're doing.  And at some point, you've probably wondered – has it always been this way? The short answer is yes.  As for the longer answer, well, that's this book.”

McIndoe helps us cheat-sheet through some of the league’s defining historical inflection points, including:

• The myth of the “Original Six” – the hallowed group of supposedly foundational franchises cemented during WWII-era 1942 – that conveniently ignores 15 teams that preceded them in the league’s first 25 years of existence;

• 1967’s “Great Expansion” – when the NHL doubled its franchise count from six to twelve, including preemptive strikes against the Western Hockey League with new teams in Los Angeles (Kings) and Oakland (Seals);

• The 1979 “merger” with the pesky World Hockey Association – which absorbed only four of the challenger’s seven remaining clubs; AND

• Comical expansion/relocation follies in Cleveland, Kansas City, Denver, and Atlanta (twice).

This week’s episode is sponsored by the Red Lightning Books imprint of Indiana University Press – who offer our listeners a FREE CHAPTER of pioneering sportswriter Diana K. Shah’s new memoir A Farewell to Arms, Legs and Jockstraps!

The “Down Goes Brown” History of the NHL: The World’s Most Beautiful Sport; The World’s Most Ridiculous League - buy book here

EPISODE 139: The NHL’s Kansas City Scouts – With Troy Treasure

Veteran Missouri-area sportswriter Troy Treasure (Icing on the Plains: The Rough Ride of Kansas City’s NHL Scouts) joins the podcast this week to delve into the mostly forgotten (and woeful) two-season saga of the 1974 National Hockey League expansion franchise now known as the New Jersey Devils.

Along with the Washington Capitals, the Scouts were the last additions in the NHL’s aggressive expansion cycle begun in 1967, and a logical progression for a metro area historically steeped in minor league hockey.  While team president Edwin Thompson sought to call the club “Mo-Hawks” to reflect the geographical bond between neighboring Missouri and Kansas, Chicago’s similar-sounding Black Hawks squawked in opposition – leading to a community-sourced renaming to “Scouts” after a famous statue overlooking the city.

A construction-delayed (and livestock/rodeo-occupied) Kemper Arena forced the team to play its first month of games on the road (record: 0-7-1), until a 11/2/74 home debut (loss) to Chicago.  Their first win finally came the next day away at fellow debutante Washington – the only team to finish the season with a worse record than the Scouts’ 15-54-11.

The next season began more promisingly with KC a mere point out of contention for the NHL’s charitable playoffs by the end of December 1975.  However, the team crashed and burned over its remaining 44 games – posting a remarkably futile 1-35-8 record through season’s end.   

While rumors of relocation dogged the Scouts as early as the 1975 off-season, the club’s unwieldy ownership structure (at least two dozen investors), limited capital and thin talent pool (exacerbated by NHL expansion and a free-spending WHA) – all against a backdrop of a national economic recession –conspired against the Scouts even before they took to the ice.

Relocation to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies came swiftly in the summer of 1976, and Kansas City’s brief and forgettable fling with top-flight pro hockey was quickly over.

Treasure helps us dissect some of the Scouts’ more notable moments – and surmises why and how the NHL may someday again find its way back to the City of Fountains.

Support the show and enjoy nine free meals from HELLO FRESH (promo code: GOODSEATS9)!

Icing on the Plains: The Rough Ride of Kansas City’s NHL Scouts - buy here