Remember the 1960s

Dec 1st, 1966 – Clinton Arena. Seated: Borden Smith, Jack Kane, Lennie Speck, Bill Bannerman, Jim Jago. Back row: Tim Hook, Pat Kelly, Pete Babando, Bill Heindl, Ed Babiuk

Angie Defelice & Ben Woit look on as Norm Defelice guards the Clinton twines.

At the finish of the 1963-64 season, the Clinton Comets overcame deficits in the quarter, semi, and championship series including 4 straight victories after a game one defeat in the Walker Cup final to win the Eastern Hockey League Championship over the favored Greensboro Generals. (To read a clearer text image–>Right Click on Text Image; Select Open Image in a New Tab; Click on tab.)                    

An autographed composite photo of the EHL Champion Comets given as a premium to donors toward the Clinton Fire Department’s Building Fund.

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. Philadelphia Ramblers game during the 1960 season.

In the mid-1960s, I was temporarily the goal Judge at the far end of the Clinton Arena for Clinton Comet games. I believe that the following story happened during a particularly important playoff game with a long-term foe of the Comets. The Arena was full to overflowing with a crowd that wanted to win, and nothing else would satisfy them…

Learning to skate and figure skate during the late 1960s…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. New Haven Blades game during the 1960-61 season.

My dad worked for WKTV, and Hockey Ray would give him tickets to the games. I was little, and my teeth were coming in, and I was cranky, but we couldn’t miss a Comets game!…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. Philadelphia Ramblers game during the 1961-62 season.

The program for the Clinton vs. Generals game during the 1962 season.

A geographic anomaly seeded our youth and high school teams with a host of excellent players: Hamilton Place. In this tiny dead-end street lived two of the finest coaches of Clinton youth hockey (Mr. Dockrell and Mr. Hameline), and a host of top players…

There is a 1963 Clinton Courier photo (to be downloaded separately) as part of the front page lead story of the Clinton pee-wee all-star team, which was headed to Lake Placid for the State Championship. There were other tournaments in my pee-wee and bantam years…

No history of hockey in Clinton would be complete without referencing the backyard rinks and pond hockey games. In the 60s, we were fortunate to have parents that believed kids belonged outside playing pick-up…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. Greensboro Generals game during the 1963-64 season.

Many memories after my parents shipped me off to prep school, where I found myself on Williston Academy’s Varsity hockey team, one of three Clintonians with Jimmie & Robbie Alanson. Budge Gere had been a goalie at Williston, and went on to play for Dartmouth…

I am extremely grateful for my hockey experiences at Hamilton. Just prior to my senior year in high school, I was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic with a heart murmur and advised to refrain from any more competitive sports. My high school, Duluth East, was rated #1 in hockey-crazy Minnesota…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. New York Rovers game during the 1964-65 season.

Watching the Clinton Comets back when the goalie, Norm Defelice, played without a face mask. Watching him bend down low trying to see through the screens when the opposing team was on a power play. Sometimes the shot would go right over his shoulder and he would never see it…

Thinking about all of this made me wonder exactly how much ice time we logged at the Peaches’. A conservative estimate: 25 hours a week, or about 400 hours a season. I played there regularly from the 2nd grade through the 9th grade, so about 3,500 total…

In the 1960s/1970s, I doubt there was any street within Clinton that had more hockey players living on it than Hamilton Place. The 28 homes on the street in the 1960s/1970s housed 16 players and 2 coaches…

I recall the expression “Bernie’s Bombers” being coined by sophomore Will Heintz during the 1966-67 season on a bus ride to Ithaca. It was catchy, and it stuck immediately. But Will could’ve picked it up from our senior captain Tim Hogan, who learned it…

While playing for Clinton High School in the Lake Placid Tournament against Potsdam High School, Greg Batt, our biggest player, was knocked over the boards and completely off the ice. Also, Peter Weimer, who was playing goal…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. Charlotte Checkers game during the 1966 season.

In March 1967, playing at the Clinton arena, the Clinton “B” Team got by Cazenovia in a squeaker. The highlight of that game was in the third period, when two “Caz” brothers, real goons, jumped my 5’ 3” frame and pulled my jersey over my…

I was very fortunate to be coached as a youth by many of the Clinton Comets mentioned earlier, such as Jack Kane, Ian Anderson, and Archie Burton, while also playing for Bernie Burns in 1979. These men were instrumental in developing my enthusiasm for the sport, and had a direct effect on me…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. Syracuse Blazers game during the 1967-68 season.

There were too many exciting CCS Varsity games and moments to share here. I was blessed to play with an abundance of great players who were great guys, too.  And as I said earlier, many went on to play college…

I was 14 at the time. We used to go to the Hamilton College Hockey games whenever possible, especially as my dad, Nick Burns, was an alumnus. During the week, school nights, we would listen to the Hamilton College radio station for the broadcast of the evening games…

Went on my first date with my husband about 49 years ago, to a Comet game at Clinton Arena…

Ken Grabeldinger’s hockey academy, also known as the Thursday Night League, was the premier prep school in Central New York. Dinger was the Dean of Admissions and head of the on-ice faculty; teaching staff included…

My father, Shell Storrier, was a time keeper for the Clinton Comet games at both the Clinton Arena and Utica Auditorium in the 1960s. In the Arena, the time keeper sat in the penalty box. Sometimes he was not sitting alone in the penalty box; players would at times spend a couple of minutes with him…

I had the good fortune of traveling with the Hamilton College hockey team to the ECAC Division II Playoffs some 50 years ago, as a spectator.
In the semi-final game on March 6, 1968, against Colby, on their home ice…

The program for the Clinton Comets vs. Long Island Ducks game during the 1968-69 season.

Michael Denk’s Clinton, NY and Hamilton College hockey timeline 10 top memories…

One of the great things about being on the ‘69 Sectional Championship team was the next several years playing in college against our Clinton friends and teammates. For the Williams teams that Joe Hameline and I led, that meant getting humbled by Steve Eckerson’s goaltending…

Being a member of the Clinton HS team that beat Rome in the first-ever Section III Championship.