April 8, 2005 RETURN TO THE ICE Omaha lands minor league pro hockey team By Gerry Cantlon Special to MissingNebraska.com The Big O will be getting a little bigger in the minor pro sports scene this coming fall. The long anticipated news came last week that Triple AAA level hockey will be returning to the renovated Civic Auditorium joining the Pacific Coast League baseball Omaha Royals to call the River City home at the top rung of minor league sports after a 30 year absence. The parent NHL team will be the Calgary Flames who currently share an AHL affiliate with the Carolina Hurricanes in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Flames would be reactivating their dormant franchise the Saint John (New Brunswick, Canada) Flames who were folded two years ago and place them in Omaha. The possibility of the NHL lockout continuing into a second season may prove fruitful for Omaha fans in seeing their brand new team. Among the players they could see is AHL 1st team All Star selection RW Chuck Kobasew who currently has a Lowell leading and second most in the AHL 37 goals and 71 points, a league leading plus 34 and tops the game winning goal department with 11. Kobasew plays on the leagues top line with Eric Staal (Carolina property) and veteran LW Colin Forbes in forming one of the leagues most dangerous offensive trios who are a combined plus 99. Goaltender Cam Ward who is having an outstanding rookie season in the AHL was just named to the AHL All Rookie team and is currently 24-16-3 in 46 games played with a 7th best 2.04 GAA, six shutouts and 2nd best save percentage at .935.. On the blue line Mike Commodore who has plenty of NHL experience and played for the Flames in their Stanley cup run that fell short when they lost to Tampa Bay in seven games last June. It’s the second time the Flames have had Omaha as their top farm team, the Atlanta Flames (who moved to Calgary) in the mid-‘70’s called the Knights of the original Central Hockey League home to develop their players such as Eric Vail, Ken Houston, Ed Kea and Guy Chouinard in taking their first pro steps in Omaha. The key to the return of minor league hockey was having local investors involved. The Flames will provide all the hockey operations personnel and the players while the local group will handle the business side of the equation. The Knights of Aksarben Foundation a group consisting of local businesses and civic leaders provided the necessary component. The name of course has history written all over it with Knights, a name synonmous with hockey in Omaha. The Aksarben name is of course an anagram for Nebraska and was the name of the Coliseum when the first edition of the Knights played in 1939 in the American Hockey Association and a then young lad Gordie Howe played a season before going onto his legendary NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings and ended it with the Hartford (CT) Whalers and is known as Mr. Hockey. Howe also played with his two sons, Mark and Marty in the WHA (World Hockey Association) with the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers. The NHL’s all time winningest coach Scotty Bowman started his mentoring in Omaha too. The AHL has recently seen several franchises move to new markets in the Midwest in Des Moines, Iowa and Peoria, Illinois and Omaha fits into the picture. Andrews several months ago said in regards how the changes all fit together. “A franchise in Omaha was predicated on us having a team in Des Moines (Iowa Stars) so that you develop that regional or local rival to develop fan identity and of course it helps the economics of the business with the travel costs,” remarked AHL President Dave Andrews. The team in Des Moines will play in the brand new Wells Fargo Arena and be the top farm team of the Dallas Stars and in Peoria, the St. Louis Blues sold and moved their top farm team from Worcester, Massachusetts to Peoria to become the Rivermen next fall. The Peoria team currently plays in the Double AA level of hockey the ECHL. Currently Omaha native Jed Ortmeyer, a forward toils in the AHL with the Hartford (CT) Wolf Pack top farm tram of the New York Rangers and his teammate is onetime UNO player D Bryce Lampman. The Auditorium on Capitol Avenue is currently home to Creighton University basketball and volleyball teams and the Omaha Beef of IPFL (Indoor Professional Football League). The building seats 9,300 for sporting events last hosted minor league hockey back in the mid-1970’s with the Omaha Knights of the original Central Hockey League and the last hockey was junior league with the USHL Omaha Lancers who moved across the river to Council Bluffs, Iowa in 2002. The Aksarben Foundation is looking to use the Knights name again, but has to some legal research on who has the rights to the name. Many legendary players in hockey’s illustrious history started in Omaha. The AHA (American Hockey Association) 1939-1942 had Leighton “Happy” Emms who played in the NHL with the New York Americans, Boston, Montreal and with the Detroit Falcons, the original name before the Red Wings after three years here. Billy Reay who went onto coach the Chicago Black Hawks also began his apprenticeship in Omaha. The USHL (United States Hockey League) Knights 1945-1952 had “Mud” Bruneteau and “Motto” McLean who were the godfathers of youth hockey in the city and went on to win Stanley Cups in Detroit and Lee Fogolin Sr. whose son Lee Jr. had an outstanding NHL career in Buffalo. Fred Glover, the all-time leading scorer in AHL history started off his pro career with the Knights and besides Howe another Hall of Famer goalie Terry Sawchuk toiled in the cage for that squad. The IHL (International Hockey League) from 1959-1963 had forward Floyd Crawford who became a Canadian junior hockey coaching legend and had three sons play in the NHL and AHL. The CPHL (Central Professional Hockey League) Knights had Andre Boudrias who had a long NHL career with Montreal, Minnesota and Vancouver and ended it with the WHA Quebec Nordiques. RW Bill Fairbairn who played with St. Louis and NY Rangers, defenseman Al Hamilton who was with the Rangers and Buffalo before a seven year career with Edmonton Oilers of the WHA. Today Hamilton coaches youth hockey in the Edmonton area. Barclay Plager, had long career with St. Louis, Jim Roberts (Montreal and St. Louis) also a distinguished minor pro coaching career and goalie Jack McCartan who played on the 1960 U.S. gold medal team in Sqaw Valley, California . The great defenseman Serge Savard of Montreal Canadians fame played two games in a Knights uniform. The last edition of the Knights of the original Central Hockey League (1968-1975) sent at least 14 quality starters to The Show. Syl Apps Jr. (Pittsburgh), Dwight Bialowis (Minnesota), Andre “Moose” Dupont Rangers, St. Louis, Philadelphia (were he won two Stanley Cups) and Quebec, Don Luce (Buffalo), Orland Kurtenbach (Vancouver), Steve Vickers (Rangers), Peter McDuffe (Kansas City), Michel Parizeau ( Philly/ St. Louis-NHL, Indianapolis/Quebec-WHA) and the crazy late Steve Durbano (St. Louis/ Kansas City-NHL, Birmingham-WHA) who had 402 PM in his only season here. Wayne Schaab started his successful minor pro career in Omaha and was a top player in the AHL in the late 70’s and early 80’s with the Maine (Portland) Mariners. A whole new generation of stars will start out in Omaha starting next year. Feedback