Detroit’s hockey octopus tradition began in 1952

Pete and Jerry Cusimano are legendary figures in the history of the Detroit Red Wings hockey club. They made their mark some 70 years ago in 1952, not as players but as innovative fans.

 

Red Wings fans are everywhere. This is Jaclyn Schultz, Miss Michigan in 2013, who was competing in the Miss USA Pageant.

 

In the 1952 National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs, the Red Wings had swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semifinal round, winning 4 games to none. Playing now against the Montreal Canadiens in the finals, Detroit held a 3-0 lead. 

Just one more win was needed for the Red Wings to finish a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs and bring the Stanley Cup to Detroit. 

The Cusimano brothers had tickets for Game 4 of the championship series, with the Red Wings playing at home. Jerry had a revelation while stocking the market counter with seafood. He told Pete: “An octopus has eight legs. Let’s take it to the game and throw it on the ice. It’ll be good luck.”

“The logic was irrefutable,” sports journalist Frank Ahrens would write years several years later. “After all, when it comes to the number 8, your choices from the animal kingdom are pretty limited. What’re you going to throw, a handful of spiders?” 

“Pete and Jerry boiled the dead octopus, to transform it from its natural state of gray and slimy to maroon and rubbery, so it wouldn’t stick to the ice,” Ahrens said. 

Pete shared: “If you try to throw it like a baseball, you’ll throw your arm out. I would fling it sidearm.”

 

Ahrens reported that when the Cusimanos’ octopus “hit the ice at old Olympia Stadium, now long gone, no one knew what to make of it. The referee skated over to pick it up but recoiled when he saw what it was. An opponent whacked it with his stick.” 

“The game announcer is reputed to have said: ‘Octopi shall not occupy the ice. Please refrain from throwing same.’” 

“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. It is known that the Red Wings, in fact, swept the playoffs and won the Cup in eight games. Coincidence? Detroiters think not,” Ahrens concluded. 

Eventually, a purple octopus mascot was created, and in the 1995 playoffs, a large octopus prop was unveiled. It’s attached to the rafters and lowered when the Red Wings skate out onto the ice.

 

As the years went on, some modifications were made to the figure. Now, its eyes light up red (blinking on and off) and it wears a large Red Wing jersey (No. 8). 

Later, the octopus mascot had a tooth extracted in order to give him a “hockey player” look.

 

The mascot figure was named Big Al, a tribute to the Red Wings’ head ice manager and Zamboni driver. He was the guy who had to scoop up the goopy debris from the rink. He developed an act of swinging the remains over his head, like a cowboy twirling his lasso, to incite the crowd. 

There is no costumed Big Al mascot. No one suits up as Big Al. The character has no feet. He can’t join in any mascot games, which gives him limited functionality.

Yet, Big Al fit perfectly into Detroit’s marketing as “Hockeytown,” which began in earnest in 1996, under Red Wings’ owners Mike and Marian Ilitch, founders of the Little Caesar’s Pizza chain. The nickname gained national and international recognition.

 

Hockeytown was and still is a tribute to all the great players…from Gordie Howe to Stevie Yzerman…who have worn the Red Wings famed red and white logo – an automobile tire that sprouted wings.

Rolling along U.S. Route 70…we arrive in Spencer

With the Burke County town of Valdese now in the rearview mirror, our journey along U.S. Route 70 through the Piedmont section of North Carolina passes through Catawba, Iredell and Rowan counties. 

Interesting towns and cities along the way include Hickory, Conover, Claremont, Statesville, Cleveland and Salisbury. 

The Route 70 “heritage trail itinerary,” picks back up again in Spencer, located just beyond Salisbury.

 

Spencer began as a railroad town. Now, it’s known as the home of the North Carolina Transportation Museum, which interprets all forms of transportation history from dugout canoes to airliners. It’s located on the property of Southern Railway’s Spencer Shops and features the largest collection of rail relics in the Carolinas. 

The transportation museum is a site to see, operated by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

 

The Southern Railway Company was formed in 1894, acquiring several regional railroads. The mastermind of the operation was Samuel Spencer, company president.

 

He soon determined that the Southern Railway needed to build a “back shop” service facility on the eastern main line, located equidistant between Washington D.C., and Atlanta – in order to switch locomotives, refuel, inspect and service the equipment. 

Rowan County’s largest landholder at the time was John Steele Henderson, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1884-94. He got wind of Spencer’s plan and “began secret negotiations with the railroad company to help them buy land for the proposed facility” at a bargain price.

 

On Aug. 19, 1896, dignitaries gathered for the opening ceremony of the Spencer Shops. To attract workers, Southern Railway created 500 lots for “employee housing.” The lots were $100 apiece. The deeds contained restrictive architectural covenants. The town also took the name of Spencer and was incorporated in 1905. 

The Spencer Shops once employed nearly 3,000 people. The late Charlie Peacock, a retired Spencer Shops trainman, once told the Journal of Commerce: “Every time you come to Spencer and look around and see the vastness of it, I think you have to remember the great contributions the railroads made when they finally tied the nation together with two ribbons of steel.”

 

Spencer Shops, one of the finest repair facilities in the world, buzzed with activity while work crews serviced 100 steam locomotives a day, the Journal reported. The shops’ multiple track system could hold 265 railway cars at a time. A massive crane inside the machine shop could lift a 150-ton steam locomotive.

 

With the advent of diesel locomotives in the late 1940s, the need for Spencer Shops waned. 

“The first time I ever saw one of them (diesel locomotives) pull in here, I knew it was going to be the end of the steam locomotive,” Peacock said. 

He was right. In 1953, Southern Railway became the first major railroad in the United States to convert totally to diesel-powered locomotives, ending its rich history in the “golden age of steam.” 

Southern Railway closed the main repair shops in 1960; just a handful of workers stayed on through the 1970s to perform minor repairs. 

In the late 1970s, all work at Spencer Shops came to a halt when Southern Railway opened a new diesel complex in Linwood in Davidson County. 

With the end of Spencer’s operational existence, talk immediately began of turning the complex into a museum. 

In September 1977, Southern Railway presented the first deed of Spencer Shops’ property “as a gift to the people of North Carolina.”

U.S. 70 ‘heritage road’ merits a pit stop in Valdese

Motorists who are moseying from west to east on U.S. Route 70 in North Carolina officially “enter” the Piedmont Crescent region when they cross the boundary from McDowell County into Burke County. 

So you’ll know, Burke County was named for Thomas Burke, a favorite son and a delegate to the Continental Congress. Burke was elected as the third governor of North Carolina in 1781. 

The county seat is Morganton, named for Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan, hero of the American Revolutionary War. The community dates back to 1777.

 

Nine miles east of Morganton is a quaint small town with about 4,400 people. It’s called Valdese and is totally unique. It’s the only community named Valdese in the entire world.

 

“Valdese” is said to be Italian for “Valley of Our Lord.” The town was formed in 1893 by 29 people from 11 families who came from northern Italy near France to farm the land and exercise their religious freedom. 

The late Fred Cranford always told the story best. He wrote the script of the outdoor drama “From This Day Forward.” The play is performed annually in July and August by the Old Colony Players at the Fred B. Cranford Amphitheater in Valdese.

 

The production tells the story of the Waldenses, a religious sect who once occupied a remote area in the Cottian Alps. 

“They believed in the priesthood of all believers, translating the scripture into the ‘common’ languages of the people of the day and encouraging education so that all people could read the Bible for themselves,” Cranford said. 

“A simple people, they were dedicated to taking care of the poor and justice for the oppressed. The Waldensian community was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1184. Pope Innocent III in 1215 declared all Waldensians heretics.” 

“The Waldenses were heavily persecuted, and thousands were murdered for their faith,” Cranford said. 

Yet, as a people they persevered. Many, many generations later, they came to face a different peril in the 19th century. Their farms were too small to feed everyone, and starvation was the new enemy.

 

In 1892, a seemingly generous offer came from North Carolina. “The Morganton Land and Improvement Company agreed to sell land on credit, enabling a large group of Waldenses to remain together,” Cranford said. A tract of 10,000 acres was eventually agreed upon. 

The Morganton Herald sent out a welcome message, stating: “This Waldensian Colony, the first foreign settlement in the state of any importance since the Moravian settlement at Salem (1766), is we hope the precursor of many such movements.” 

On May 29, 1893, a westbound Richmond and Danville Railroad train stopped “in the middle of nowhere (about mid-way between Connelly Springs and Morganton),” Cranford said. Deboarding with their luggage were the first “Waldensian colonists” – 11 men, 5 women and 13 children. 

On hand to greet the immigrants were local dignitaries and officials from the Morganton Land and Improvement Company. 

It was an awkward situation, Cranford reported, as the European newcomers spoke fluent Italian and French, but not a word of English. The local dignitaries knew not a word of Italian or French. 

Before the end of the year in 1893, three more waves of Waldensians arrived, adding another 193 people to the community. 

Burke County soil did not prove to be fertile ground for agriculture. 

Other industrial pursuits proved more successful – namely textiles and bakeries.

 

The Waldenses of Valdese affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in July 1895.

Hockey trivia time: Who are the ‘Original 6?’

Can you name the National Hockey League’s “Original 6?” 

The term refers to the six teams that arrived during the formative years of the NHL…and have survived for about 100 years, give or take.

Alphabetically, the Original 6 are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The Canadiens and Maple Leafs are the elders and the only charter members of the NHL, which was formed in 1917. The other four came on board in the early 1920s. 

Montreal, Quebec, Canada is where the league started, essentially to find opponents to play against the French-speaking “le Club de Hockey Canadien.”

 

The Montreal franchise has won 23 NHL titles, thereby hoisting the prized Stanley Cup championship trophy more than any other team. Montreal’s logo accents the “CH” – Canadien Hockey. 

Contemporary fans enjoy the antics of Youppi!, the Canadiens’ mascot. It’s French (more or less) for “yippee.” Youppi! actually started out as a baseball guy. 

He was designed by Bonnie Erickson, who formerly worked with Jim Henson and created legendary Muppet characters such as the dynamic Miss Piggy and the hilarious senior citizen duo of Statler & Waldorf. 

Youppi! worked for the Montreal Expos Major League Baseball team from 1979 until 2004. When the franchise moved south of the border and became the Washington Nationals, Youppi! was homeless.

 

The Canadiens, bless their hearts, adopted Youppi! in 2005, making him the first mascot to make the switch between two major sports leagues. 

Toronto, Ontario, was extended an NHL invitation in 1917. The Toronto hockey club was known first as the Arenas and later as the St. Patricks. In 1927, the franchise took on the name Toronto Maple Leafs. Good choice…and very patriotic.

 

But would “Maple Leaves” be better grammar? Mike Kovacs of LastWordOnSports.com in Beamsville, Ontario, said the team was named after a World War I Canadian fighting unit, the “Maple Leaf Regiment.”

Kovacs said: “Most nouns that end in ‘f’ are pluralized by dropping the ‘f’ and adding ‘ves.’” Proper nouns, however, don’t have to play by the same rules. They may be pluralized by simply adding ‘s.’ “So, Leaf (from the regiment) becomes Leafs,” he said. 

Toronto hockey players have always had a large maple leaf displayed on the front of their jerseys. Carlton, an anthropomorphic and adorable polar bear, has been the Maple Leafs’ mascot since 1995.

 

In 1924, Boston was the first city in the United States to be awarded a spot in the NHL. The Boston Bruins hockey club filled the bill. “Bruins” is an Old English word used for brown bears in classic folk tales. Blades the Bruin has served as the team mascot since 1999.

 

Three more American teams came into the league in 1926. One was the Chicago Blackhawks,

 

Its original owner named the club “Blackhawks,” after his World War I U.S. Army division. Today, the Blackhawks’ mascot is Tommy Hawk, an impish creature who has a reputation for creating “mascot mayhem.”

 

The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings also entered the NHL in 1926. The Rangers team is the most anemic of the Original 6, having won just four Stanley Cups.

 

All these years, the Rangers have been mired in mediocrity. The team’s logo is drab and dated. Worst of all, there is no Rangers mascot. 

Detroit, on the other hand, has won 11 Stanley Cups…and the Red Wings club is represented by an octopus as its mascot. We’ll visit “Hockeytown” next.

Montreal has hockey lore of epic proportions

Montreal, Quebec, Canada is the cradle of ice hockey in North America, and the Montreal Canadiens hockey club remains the most revered franchise. 

Every hardcore hockey fan knows that the club in Montreal was founded in 1909, making the Canadiens the oldest hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL), one of the oldest continuously existing sports franchises in the world…and also one of the most successful in all of sports. 

Montreal’s mystique is glorified by the team nickname – “the Habs”…and the club’s logo – a big red “C” with a white “H” in the middle.

 

Sports historians agree that “Habs” is an abbreviation of “Les Habitants.”

 

This term dates back to the 17th century. It applied to the French people who came to inhabit New France – a territory that extended in North America from Newfoundland to the Canadian prairies and included the Great Lakes region. 

Jamie Fitzpatrick, a freelance sportswriter in Newfoundland, Canada, said: “In 1924, the first person to refer to the team as the ‘Habs’ was George Lewis ‘Tex’ Rickard, owner of Madison Square Garden in New York City. Rickard apparently told a sports reporter that the ‘H’ in the logo on the Canadiens’ jerseys stood for ‘habitants.’”

 

Rickard had no clue; he just made that up. Rickard, who was a leading sports promoter of the day. His mouth frequently “shot from the hip.” 

But sports headline writers loved it. “Habs” had way fewer characters than “Canadiens.” 

A note about Rickard: He grew up in Sherman, Texas, and became a cowboy at age 11. At age 23, Rickard was elected marshal of Henrietta, Texas, and took the nickname “Tex.” 

Tex Rickard’s enthusiasm for hockey was sincere, however. When he was awarded an NHL franchise in New York City for the 1926 season, he dubbed his club the “Rangers.” (Yep, boy howdy, they were “Tex’s Rangers” all right.) 

Fitzpatrick said that Montreal’s “distinctive C-wrapped-around-H logo stands for the hockey team’s official name, “le Club de Hockey Canadien.” 

“Therefore, the ‘H’ stands for ‘hockey,’ not ‘Habs,’ Fitzpatrick wrote…and it has ever since it was first rolled out in 1914.

 

The NHL itself dates back to 1917, when the Canadiens and three other teams formed a new professional league. The Canadiens were joined by the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Arenas. 

Matt Drake, an editor at SB Nation, a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media, said: “The idea was to promote the Canadiens as the Francophone (French-speaking) team, with the Wanderers as the Anglophone team, to foster a great rivalry.” 

Unfortunately, the Wanderers ceased operation after just one season, because the team’s rink burned down. The Montreal Canadiens went on to amass a record 23 Stanley Cups (league championship titles). No other team even comes close. 

Who’s the greatest Montreal Canadien of all time? You might select from two local boys who grew up playing hockey in Montreal. They are Henri Richard, who played on teams that won 11 Stanley Cups, the most in NHL history, and his older brother, Maurice “Rocket” Richard, was a member of 8 championship squads.

Henri Richard (above) and Maurice Richard (below)

 Others deserving consideration are: Jean Beliveau and Yvan Cournoyer, with 10 Stanley Cup wins apiece; Claude Provost (9); Jacques Lemaire and Serge Savard (8); Jean-Guy Talbot (7); Bernie Geoffrion, Doug Harvey, Tom Johnson, Dickie Moore, Larry Robinson, Ralph Backstorm, Jacques Laperriere and Guy Lapointe (6).

 

Jean Beliveau

All of these players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. With 64 inductees, Montreal has the most players to be enshrined. 

Hockey season has arrived, so learn to enjoy it

Professional hockey is already underway. The season just seems to sneak up on us in early autumn every year…when everyone in America is watching football.

Ice hockey is the national sport of Canada, and that is where the National Hockey League (NHL) got its start. The sport is still somewhat foreign, however, to many of us who live south of America’s “rust belt.” 

So put on your padded uniform that resembles a child’s go-out-to-play snowsuit, strap on your skates and fasten your helmet chin strap…it’s time to learn a wee bit more about this crazy game that claims to be the “fastest game on ice.”

 

Sources generally agree that field hockey preceded ice hockey. There’s a French connection to the game, as it takes its name from “hoquet,” a French word meaning “shepherd’s staff,” which resembles the shape of a hockey stick. 

Kevin Ward of Perani’s Hockey World, a sports retailer based in Flint, Mich., said that “early outdoor ‘pucks’ were made from wood, but when they decided to take the game inside, lacrosse balls were used. They cut the balls in thirds, using only the middle section.” 

“The hockey puck is named after a character from England’s famous playwright William Shakespeare,” Ward said. “In Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream,’ Puck was a flighty and mischievous elf.” 

“Cutting up lacrosse balls wasn’t a sustainable practice to support the growth of the hockey, so they needed to find a different means. In the early 1900s, pucks were made by gluing together two pieces of used tire rubber.” 

“In 1940, pro hockey hall of famer Art Ross (of Naughton, Ontario) improved the design by creating a vulcanized rubber puck,” Ward said. 

Today, regulation NHL pucks are black in color, 3 inches in diameter and 1-inch thick, weighing between 5.5 and 6 ounces. Pucks are kept frozen in an ice-packed cooler, which usually sits on the officials’ bench. Freezing the puck reduces its bounce.

 

Once in play, the puck begins to thaw out. A special cold-sensitive paint on the puck lets the officials know when it’s time to change pucks. The average NHL game will use between 40 to 50 pucks. 

When the first hockey games were played outdoors on frozen ponds or rivers, each team may have had 30 players per side. 

A fellow named James Creighton of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, arranged for the world’s first indoor hockey game on March 3, 1875, at the famed Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For these indoor games, the number of participants was reduced to nine per side.

 

Creighton was the captain of the McGill University Hockey Club in Montreal and was responsible for writing the rules of the game. He is considered to be the “father of hockey.”

 

Here is an early match featuring the McGill skaters.

Another fellow who helped advance the sport of hockey was Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley of London, England, known as Lord Stanley of Preston. He was appointed by Queen Victoria as Governor General of Canada in 1888. 

He and his family became highly enthusiastic about hockey after attending games at Montreal’s 1889 Winter Carnival.

Two of his sons, Arthur and Algernon, learned how to skate and play the game. They formed a new hockey team in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, and persuaded their father to donate a trophy to be honor the championship team “in the dominion” (of Canada). 

The first winner of the Stanley Cup in 1893 was a team representing the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. 

The reigning 2022 Stanley Cup championship team is the Colorado Avalanche.

 

It’s time to change pucks.