Firmly backing the Rockets in this series. Wish it was Narva who was taking them on, but Fort Bevin deserves this one now that the Neptunes are out.

1979 MARCOTTE CUP CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS


2 Fort Bevin Rockets vs 4 Kirlow Kodiaks

The big storyline heading into the series was Tony Champagne's 15-game suspension which would keep him out of the Finals. The Kodiaks were forced to go into PR damage control while they prepared for their 4th Finals appearance. They called up promising rookie Zach Tackett to fill the vacant spot. Meanwhile, the Rockets were healing the bruises from two brutal 7-games series and nearly half their lines were nursing injuries. Both teams tried to keep a lid on just how many injuries were affecting them but as one pundit quipped, it was a “battle of the geriatric wards.” The Rockets have the statistical advantage but the Kodiaks are fresher and more healthy. Fort Bevin's goalie Geoff Thatchkin has 6 shutouts already in the playoffs while Kirlow's Mahaffey has three of his own. With the Rockets' top forward line banged up, focus will be on defenseman Pat Ossola who can score as well. Kirlow's Pascal Brink has carried a normally potent top line of Mark Tegler and Marc Truong who will need to step up their play. This is the Rockets' first-ever Marcotte Cup appearance since becoming a franchise in 1972.

Game 1: KIR 1 @ FTB 0 (2OT) – The tension in the air was palpable in Game 1. The play was tight and hard-hitting. Both teams played extremely well defensively and sent the game into two overtimes. A putback shot off a rebound by Mark Tegler early in the 2nd OT won it for the Kodiaks to steal a game in Fort Bevin.

Game 2: KIR 0 @ FTB 5 – The close defeat seemed to reignite the energy of the Rockets who returned for Game 2 to pummel the Kodiaks while Geoff Thatchkin was impenetrable in goal. Korycki scored twice and Pat Ossola had 4 assists to bring the series back to even.

Game 3: FTB 1 @ KIR 0 – The brilliant play of Thatchkin continued at the Orchard in Kirlow as he stopped 41 shots. A backhanded goal by forward Nigel Flood in the second period stood as the winner.

Game 4: FTB 8 @ KIR 1 – Brian Mahaffey allowed 4 goals in the first period before getting yanked for Greg Kannell who fared no better and gave up 4 more as the Rockets pounded the Kodiaks. A late soft goal by Brink blew the shutout for Thatchkin but Kirlow took no solace in it as they vowed to get back into the series.

Game 5: KIR 0 @ FTB 1 (OT) – The arena was rocking for Game 5 in Fort Bevin at the LPA. Team captain F Bernie Sharpe took a nasty hit from Kodiaks' defenseman Kenny Charry in the first period that was clean but sparked a big fight. The game resumed and became very tense and tightly-fought for the remainder of three periods. Still at zeroes, the game went into overtime. With both goalies having brilliant games, the top lines were logging extra minutes to try to force scoring chances. With OT winding down and seemingly headed for a second extra period, star forward Kevin Korycki stole an errant pass in the defensive zone and zipped up the ice. He swerved off just before reaching Mahaffey in the net and dropped a hard backhanded pass back toward a streaking Ossola who one-timed a massive slapshot that hit the right iron with a tremendous noise and dropped into the net in seemingly slow motion as the crowd waited with abated breath before going nuts. The force of the sound of the puck hitting the right post immediately became a sensation on TV stations replaying it afterward. The Rockets' huge playoff run was a resounding success and turning point for the franchise. For his stellar play in the net, Geoff Thatchkin was awarded Series MVP.

1979 MARCOTTE CUP CHAMPIONS: Fort Bevin Rockets (1)

Up next: A pivotal offseason

Congrats Fort Bevin, the Kodiaks will win it again someday

Nice!  Definitely a little surprised, (in a good way) that the Rockets won the championship!  Not to pat myself on the shoulder for guessing right, but I do love how indeed that tiebreaker rule technicality, (the one that allowed the Rockets to have home ice advantage against the Captains despite having won 1 fewer game than they did) actually did make a difference in that series!   Since they won the championship, I'm sure the Captains will make a big stink about the rules during the off season!

Would it be safe to say now that the Kodiaks are the most cursed franchise in the THL?  They've been to the playoffs many times, made it to 4 finals, and have still never won it all before!  

As always, good stuff Steel!

1980 OFFSEASON Pt 1

The UHA Splinters, Owners Go Rogue

As soon as the Rockets raised their Marcotte Cup, the six owners of the United Hockey Alliance met secretly together in Trowburgh. This time, all six owners agreed to apply for entry into the THL, as the UHA was on life-support financially and with the stubborn resistance of League President Barry Boyle to admit it, the future looked bleak for the league. Boyle was again incensed when he saw the new proposal but with a unanimous vote, he was forced to submit it to Commissioner Hatch of the THL. Hatch again emphatically denied the request, stating bluntly that he refused to work with Boyle in any capacity and the UHA teams “could all go die in a lake.”

This spurred a second secret meeting between the owners who unanimously voted to terminate Boyle as league president. Now headed by Swans owner Wilton Henson, an attorney and lobbyist himself, the six owners formed a new league banner by the name of Torland Association of Professional Hockey (TAPH) in order to proceed into legal bargaining with Commissioner Hatch without Boyle. The new proposal was received by Hatch who initiated a THL owners vote to determine the viability of a merger.

League News

Somewhat lost in the hubbub of merger news, rumors that several THL franchises may be soon on the block began to surface. Lynette Rankin, 71, was experiencing declining health and it was thought that she may end up selling the Falcons since she had no children. Neptunes owner Harlan Durant, 75, was rumored to be wanting to downsize his business affairs closer to his hometown of Hyletville. Another rumor was that Roddy Paquette, 71, and owner of the Kodiaks, might be considering moving on from running pro sports operations. 

UHA-THL Merger

With Barry Boyle officially out of the picture, although he'd filed claims against all six owners, Hatch and the THL owners met together at league headquarters to discuss a merger. Several owners were against any kind of merger. Some were concerned about new teams in their own markets. Larry Lamb of the Abrieden Bucks was staunchly against it, as the UHA already had two teams in the Bancana-Abrieden metro. Some owners refused to negotiate with former pro-Boyle owners. Most of the owners were in agreement that six new teams would be too many.

On the new TAPH side, upon hearing that THL owners didn't want to accept six new teams, the owners began campaigning for entry, further splintering the meager resources of the TAPH. Hatch was adamant that he wouldn't allow Bancana Kings owner Frank Matney and Alko Wildcats owner Mike Rosenberg to step foot into the league because they'd both been staunch Boyle supporters. But the THL owners were negative toward the livelihood of the Solinza Marauders, owned by Milo Tidwell, who seemed more interested in his fashion business than hockey, and the problem with the Swans and Blazers occupying the same territory and being located so closely.

Midway through the heated discussions that went back and forth for days, the Alko Wildcats were officially denied entry. Hatch and the owners didn't trust Rosenberg and Alko would be the furthest city by distance in the league if admitted. Rosenberg agreed to sell the team and players to the THL. Hatch was against Matney's Kings joining, but Matney refused to sell his players and the owners agreed that it would be bad business not to bring the talented Pete Lentini and the Sallee brothers into the THL. Matney agreed to sell half of his controlling interest to Bob Vernon from Angelise, Solinza, and the Kings would be officially accepted as a merger team. This put the Marauders at a severe disadvantage due to two teams now already in the area, especially after Edward Zook's entry bid was accepted on the condition of upgrading the Killers' arena in Kurohara. This left the Marauders to fight it out with the Swans and Blazers. Wilton Henson's business ties with several THL owners got him on the inside track and the Vensessor bid was accepted. Hatch was in favor of only adding three teams but the owners wanted to make it an even number, citing the 1972 expansion with four teams that had been successful.

The choice between a third team in Bancana or a second team in the PVMA became intense. Word leaked to the media and stirred up a storm of people wondering if the merger deal would be finalized. Between talks, Blazers owner Mitchell Wilkes showed up at Milo Tidwell's fancy office in Bancana with a large entourage and peacefully but sternly shook him down. Wilkes offered to buy out Tidwell's controlling interest in the Marauders and sweetened the pot with offering discounts in his fabric mills in Prestonburg. Tidwell felt threatened enough to willingly sign the deal, although suspicions remain as to exactly how “peaceful” the “discussions” actually occurred. Wilkes turned around and sold the controlling interest to the THL and the Marauders roster would be dismantled and absorbed while the Blazers would remain in Prestonburg.

The rosters of the Wildcats and Marauders were equally distributed among the four new merger teams of the Bancana Kings, Kurohara Killers, Prestonburg Blazers and Vensessor Swans. Among notable players, F Evan Starling signed with the Swans, F Mac Strong signed with the Blazers, F Derek McClanahan and D Curt Clemmons signed with Kurohara. And F Cameron Sallee officially joined his brother in Bancana even though the word had been out for awhile.

1980 Merger Team Identities

With their joining the THL, three of the four merger teams took the opportunity to craft new identities or make adjustments. Only the Killers made no changes.

1980 Bancana Kings


Previous Identity - 1975 Bancana Kings

With Frank Matney now a name-only owner, new controlling partner Bob Vernon initiated a spat of changes, many of which seemed somewhat haphazard. The uniforms were overhauled. The new set features full gold sleeves on both home and away. The numbers and striping remains similar. The gold pants give way to only a navy set. The cursive B logo is replaced by a pair of logos, one a block-font Kings with an odd added script tail, and an italicized block-B with a crown to show movement and an inset K. The home sweater features the Kings mark and the away features the Crown-B.


1980 Kurohara Killers



The Killers were the only team not to make changes, only shown here for THL posterity.


1980 Prestonburg Blazers



Previous Identity: 1978 Prestonburg Blazers

The Blazers took the opportunity to craft a completely new logo and tweak their recent uniforms changes. The new logo takes the simplified shape of a blast furnace and combines it with the hypocycloid from past identities. The striping on the uniforms were tweaked to sit more below the shoulders and the number font was changed to a classic serif with double outlines. 


1980 Vensessor Swans


Previous Identity: 1975 Vensessor Swans

The Swans only made two tweaks. They brightened their shade of red just slightly and simplified the tail on the swan in the logo for a bolder, sleeker look.


C&C appreciated! The offseason will continue.