1976 Buffalo Norsemen program from the North American Hockey League

Buffalo Norsemen

North American Hockey League (1975-1976)

Tombstone

Born: May 5, 1975 – NAHL expansion franchise1UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL. “Norsemen New Team”. The Daily Messenger (Canandaigua, NY). May 6, 1975
Folded: June 19762Drumsta, Peter. “Norsemen Are Planning To Leave League for Year”. The News (Buffalo, NY). June 17, 1976

First Game: October 17, 1975 (L 4-3 vs. Broome Dusters)
Last Game: March 27, 1976 (L 3-2 {via forfeit} @ Johnstown Jets)

Lockhart Cup Championships: None

Arena

Branding

Team Colors:

Ownership & Affiliation

Owners: Dr. Dudley Terecki, Dr. Syde Taheri, et al.

World Hockey Association Affiliation: Toronto Toros

 

Background

The Buffalo Norsemen were a one-year wonder in the obscure North American Hockey League of the 1970’s.  NAHL clubs served as farm teams for the major league World Hockey Association, a 1970’s rival to the National Hockey League. The Norsemen had a working agreement with the WHA’s Toronto Toros during their lone season of play in 1975-76. The NAHL also provided the inspiration for Paul Newman’s 1977 hockey comedy Slap Shot, which began production during the 1975-76 season.

The Norsemen finished their only campaign with a record of 30 wins and 44 losses. Larry Gould was the team’s leading scorer with 32 goals and 68 assists in 71 games.

Despite their relatively poor regular season record, the Norsemen qualified for the NAHL’s Lockhart Cup playoffs in March 1976. What followed was a truly bizarre first round playoff elimination at the hands of the Johnstown Jets.

Pre-Game Brawl with Johnstown

The Norsemen faced the Jets in the quarterfinal round.  During an early game in the series in Buffalo, a black player on the Jets roster was subjected to racist taunts and signs by Norsemen fans.  When the series moved to Johnstown, Jets players retaliated by instigating a full-fledged brawl during the pre-game skate around.  The melee sent Norsemen players Greg Neeld and Charlie Labelle off to the hospital.

After the fight subsided, the Norsemen retreated to their locker room at the Cambria County War Memorial and refused to come back on the ice.  NAHL officials handed the Jets a victory by forfeit…which also gave them the series victory and eliminated the Norsemen from the playoffs!   The incident inspired a pre-game brawl scene in Slap Shot, released the following year and based largely on the Johnstown Jets.

“Naturally we took the team off the ice,” Norsemen General Manager Willie Marshall told the press at the time.  “We had two players who couldn’t play.  They beat up a couple of our stars…Hockey is secondary in this league.  I hate to say I’m a part of this league.  The people running the league have lost all touch with reality.  We’re here to develop young hockey players, not goons.”

The Norsemen never played another game.  The club folded following the 1975-76 season.

 

Buffalo Norsemen Shop


Norsemen Logo T-Shirt from Vintage Ice Hockey

 

Buffalo Norsemen Dated T from Vintage Ice Hockey

 

Norsemen Mug from Vintage Ice Hockey

 

 

 

Links

North American Hockey League Media Guides

North American Hockey League Programs

###

Comments

11 Responses

  1. My father and grandmother were part of the norsemen ownership group. If anybody has any interest in knowing anything about that season i was at almost every home game and some road games…including the brawl in johnstown. Feel free to message me on facebook. [email protected] or text only [email protected]

  2. I was at some of the home games and don’t remember the racial signs. I’m sure some idiots yelled stuff but I never saw any signs,. That was just an excuse used by them. After all fighting the Norseman before the start of the game because of fans signs is lame excuse. I don’t remember anything in the papers about racial issues at the games.League was goon hockey but had some great older and younger players.

    1. I was at the game in N. Tonawanda, where the Norsemen played, against the Jets. There were no “racist taunts and signs” there. It was a very small building. The truth is that the Jets were beating up Buffalo’s good players all during the game. That’s all they did, they barely played hockey. On the way home my father said it was a trash league and said we would never go again, but they ended up folding the team.

  3. I’m the guy who came up with the name “Norseman ” . They gave me two free lifetime tix . It was a contest where names were sent in . Too bad only one year.

  4. Information is incorrect. Yes the pre-game brawl did take place & I know that because I was there. What is not correct is that the Jets went on to win the league championship. The Jets won the championship the previous season (74-75). The Philadelphia Firebirds won it for the 75-76 season.

  5. Thank you Drew! I didn’t expect such a quick response especially on something that happened so long ago. I know it doesn’t mean a whole lot to many people now, but I was a huge Johnstown Jets fan as a young boy & teenager. It still means a lot to me now because I have such great memories of going to the Cambria County War Memorial with my brother & friends & enjoying Jet games. The night the brawl took place we really didn’t know what was going on except after it was over the PA announcer said that the Norsemen had forfeited & our tickets were good for the next round. By the way I also had to correct the current manager of the arena recently for the same reason because on the arena website Hockey Heritage section it stated that the Jets won a championship that year. At least you had the courtesy of a correction response, all they did was remove the little write up & didn’t have the decency to admit the mistake & this was in Johnstown!

  6. Al,

    I’m wondering the exact same thing. Unfortunately, there’s a lack of assigned numbers and Goalies glove hand listings for the team on HockeyDB.com And since only a few of the 9 Norseman goalies played in the majors, HockeyReference.com is all-but-useless for the rest.

    The Mystery Goalie is not among the most likely suspects. Mario Viens wore #1 and had a similar mask, but he caught with the right hand. Les Binkley also caught with the right hand. (I got a cab ride from Les in the 80’s. Coincidentally, he picked me up across the street from his old Toros owner’s house!) Dave Tataryn caught with his left, but he only played 2 games for Buffalo. I’ve seen a program from one of those 2 games that listed him as #30. For goalies with listed glove hands, that only leaves Pat Rupp, who played just 4 games with the Norsemen.

    So that leaves several “lesser known” goalies whose glove hands are NOT listed. But other than Bill Cheropita (21 games), they all played 13 games, some just 1-3 games. Most didn’t have long careers, so looking them up via other teams would require more time than I have.

    It’s definitely worth noting that this picture could have come from an exhibition game. It was common for teams to use last year’s photos, at least in early season programs, materials, etc. That, or to use exhibition game photos. Since the Norsemen were a new team, last year didn’t exist. So early action photos had to be exhibition games. If it was from an exhibition game, numbers haven’t yet been solidified. So it is still possible, that the Mystery Goalie IS Dave Tataryn wearing #1 in a pre-season game. Then again, I have Toros photos with Tataryn wearing 2 different masks with the Toros, neither of which is the mask worn here. It looks more like Vien’s mask. (Borrowed perhaps?)

    To add to the confusion & body count, the parent team (Toronto Toros) just churned through goalies (6!) & defenders (14!) in 75-76. They lost Gratoony the Looney (Wasn’t he always “lost”?) to the NHL that year and they struggled to replace him. Unfortunately, Binkley was determined to be “past his prime”. So, the Toros had nothing but rookie goalies, borrowed from nearby Buffalo. It’s possible the Norsemen expected Tataryn to be their #1, but lost him & Viens to the Toros. It was a bumby year for goalies in the Toros’ organization. Sadly, they didn’t find their #1 (John Garret) & #2 Wayne Wood) goalies until it was WAY too late…for both teams really.

    On the up side, I CAN identify with a high degree of certainbty all but one of the other Norsemen. At the upper left, #5 is the one-eyed defender Greg Neeld who gets hospitalized in the playoffs. On the upper right is #4 defender Dave Syvret. With the puck is #8 Larry Gould. Since I can’t see the number, or his face really, I can’t tell who is on the lower left. It must be a right shooting forward. Going by his skates, he probably was playing RW and turning away from the board. Because he doesn’t have a helmet, odds are good he’s probably a vet like Cleland “Keke” Mortson, or Guy Trottier.

    So unfortunately, “The Case of the Mystery Goalie” is still a mystery Scooby Doo!

  7. GJ Head, love seeing your comment as the son of Galen Head & by the way, your dad was a pretty good hockey player!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share