OT: Buffalo Norsemen and Johnstown Jets Inspired Part of "Slap Shot"

[Marvin]

For those who don't know:

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/history/bn-chronicles-slap-shot-scenes-inspired-by-north-tonawanda-based-team/article_b6c9faf6-3f3d-11ec-bbbb-bf0006e5d7bb.html?fbclid=IwAR31LbzmizelhKs_sKol1Urob4NoIVsuOX2_N_bf-LbdvYtT0Oq0a6fEljw

[woods-racer]

7 minutes ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

For those who don't know:

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/history/bn-chronicles-slap-shot-scenes-inspired-by-north-tonawanda-based-team/article_b6c9faf6-3f3d-11ec-bbbb-bf0006e5d7bb.html?fbclid=IwAR31LbzmizelhKs_sKol1Urob4NoIVsuOX2_N_bf-LbdvYtT0Oq0a6fEljw

I read that article. Thank you for shearing.

 

Loved to have seen it in person.

Even more so, I'd buy all the players involved many beers to just sit and listen to the stories from that era. 

[Huckleberry]

Yeah I can't read buffalo news or WGR -  They block Europe because they are  to stupid to figure out GDPR rules xD

Probably fun story though.

[woods-racer]

13 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Yeah I can't read buffalo news or WGR -  They block Europe because they are  to stupid to figure out GDPR rules xD

Probably fun story though.

“As I bent over to look for my glasses, a crowd of Johnstown players surrounded me. Fearing for my life, I grabbed a stick and started backing up, until I reached the fourth stair leading to the press box,” wrote Billoni in the Tonawanda paper the day after the incident. Billoni, who would later become the general manager of the Buffalo Bisons, refused calls from Carlson to “come down and fight.”

In his book, Dave Hanson says he left the building that night in a police car “before he could nail” Neeld. Billoni wrote that day that Hanson was taken away in cuffs because he speared Neeld in the stomach.

Two days later, Neeld was back in the lineup for Buffalo for the decisive Game 5, but Hanson wrote that pay back during the game might be difficult. After losing an eye during an incident earlier in his hockey career, Neeld always wore a helmet and face shield that blocked punches during a fight.

 

It's a great story, riddled with truth from both sides...

[Doohicksie]

I've never watched Slap Shot. So I tried to find it on one of my streaming services.  Couldn't find it for free but I did find The Sandlot which I have also never watched.  It is a pretty good movie.

Edited November 15, 2021 by The Ghost of Yuri

[bob_sauve28]

Just a thought, but this may be another example of how the ubiquitous nature of cameras and tv have led to a drop in violence. Hockey use to take place “in the dark” so to say but once the tv started showing Terry O’Reilly going into the stands in Madison Square Garden after fans the powers that be had to do something. 

 

That story is pretty wild but not surprising, players wanting to brutalize the refs and fans out of control. No thanks! 

 

Interesting look at how hockey and society has has evolved in our lifetimes 

[CallawaySabres]

I got my son a norsemen shirt for Xmas a few weeks ago

[mphs mike]

I went to a couple Norsemen games - including one time they played in the Aud. It was a long time ago, but if my memory is correct, the level of play was slightly above top notch high school hockey. Glorified beer league 

[Marvin]

59 minutes ago, mphs mike said:

I went to a couple Norsemen games - including one time they played in the Aud. It was a long time ago, but if my memory is correct, the level of play was slightly above top notch high school hockey. Glorified beer league 

I was at a couple of those games too.  Not far above beer league.

[Hawerchuk]

Great read! Thank you for sharing this as I didn't know anything about the Norsemen. I absolutely love the Slap Shot movie as I've seen it about 20 times.

[Pimlach]

Guy Trottier was a great AHL player fir the Bisons. 

He spent a few seasons  with the Leafs, then a few in the WHA.  I recall he was player-coach of the Norseman but never saw a game.