Curt Brackenbury: NHL Enforcer Honed His Craft In The NAHL

Tough guy Curt Brackenbury played most of his second year of pro hockey in the North American Hockey League with the John Brophy coached Long Island Cougars. It served as a bit of transformation in his game after providing more of an offensive role in 1972-73 with the Jersey Devils of the EHL. His penalty minutes ballooned from just 66 with the Devils in 1972-73 to the fifth highest in the NAHL in 1973-74.

Curt Brackenbury – NAHL

Brackenbury played in the NAHL for just the 1973-74 season, the first in the league’s four year history. With the Long Island Cougars, Curt played 45 regular season games, scoring eight goals and assisting on 20 for 28 points while sitting 194 minutes in the penalty box. His 194 PIM placed him fifth in the NAHL, 91 behind fourth place Bill Goldthorpe of the Syracuse Blazers and a whopping 177 behind the league leader, Nick Fotiu of the Cape Cod Cubs.

Over 17 Lockhart Cup playoff games, Brackenbury added five goals and an assist while spending nine minutes short of an hour in the sin bin. The Cougars reached the Lockhart Cup finals before being swept by Goldthorpe and the Syracuse Blazers.

The 1973-74 season was not exclusive to the NAHL for Curt. He played in 13 games with the Des Moines Capitols in the IHL, along with four games for the Chicago Cougars in the World Hockey Association.

Curt Brackenbury – Pro Hockey

Brackenbury played pro hockey from 1972-73 to 1982-83 in the EHL, IHL, NAHL, WHA, SHL, NHL and CHL. As mentioned, his pro career started with a different role than what the rest of his career would quickly evolve into. With the Jersey Devils, he scored 17 goals and assisted on 27 for 44 points over 68 games. He sat just 66 minutes in the box.

After his year with the Long Island Cougars, Curt followed John Brophy to the SHL and the Hampton Gulls for the 1974-75 season. Soon after, he was a regular in the WHA. Between 1973-74 and 1978-79, Brackenbury played 265 regular season games in the World Hockey Association with the Cougars, Minnesota Fighting Saints and Quebec Nordiques. He scored 41 and totalled 91 points while accumulating 753 PIM.

In the Avco World Trophy playoffs, Curt played an impressive 48 games, adding 14 points and 161 PIM. In 1976-77, he helped the Quebec Nordiques to the finals against the Winnipeg Jets. Quebec won the championship with the series going the full seven games.

In 1975-76, Curt’s year was split between the financially crippled Minnesota Fighting Saints and the Nordiques. His combined 365 PIM over 74 regular season games led the WHA.

When the WHA ceased after the 1978-79 season, Brackenbury played his first games in the National Hockey League with Quebec. Between 1979-80 and 1982-83, Curt played in 141 NHL regular season games with the Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues. He appeared in just two Stanley Cup playoff games, both with the Oilers.

In Curt’s final year of pro hockey, he appeared in just six games with the Blues. Brackenbury finished up the 1982-83 season in the Central Hockey League with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, playing in 44 games.

Jim Corsi of the Maine Nordiques

Since 1998-99, he has been the goaltending coach for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Jim Corsi got his start in professional hockey with the Maine Nordiques of the NAHL in the league’s final season, 1976-77.

Jim Corsi – NAHL

In his first year pro, Corsi played in net for 54 of the Nordiques 74 regular season games. He posted a 3.57 goals against average and had one shutout. Backing him up and playing in 28 games was Mario Viens. Viens played pro for just the 1975-76 and 1976-77 season after four years in the QMJHL with the Cornwall Royals. In 1975-76, he split his season between the Toronto Toros in the WHA and the Buffalo Norsemen in the NAHL.

Corsi played in all 12 playoff games for Maine in 1976-77. After finishing second overall in the eight team league, the Nordiques then swept the Johnstown Jets in the opening round and downed the Binghamton Dusters in the semi-finals. In the Lockhart Cup finals, Maine came up against the Syracuse Blazers in the finals and were swept out of NAHL history.

Jim Corsi – Pro Hockey

Out of Concordia University in the CIAU, Corsi played professional hockey from 1976-77 to 1979-80 in North America and from 1980-81 to 1991-92 in Italy. In North America, Jim played in the NAHL, WHA, AHL, NHL and CHL. Over two years in the World Hockey Association, 1977-78 and 1978-79, he played in 63 games for the Quebec Nordiques. In the second year, he split duties with another former NAHL goalie, Richard Brodeur. Behind the bench of that Nordiques team was Jacques Demers.

In 1979-80, Corsi played 26 games with the Edmonton Oilers in their first year in the National Hockey League after the WHA merged. It ended up being Jim’s only NHL action and he shared duties with five other goalies that year. Eddie Mio played the most games with 34. Other notable goaltenders playing for Edmonton that year included Ron Low and Dave Dryden.

During his days in Italy, Jim played for club teams while also appearing with the country’s national team. Corsi appeared at eight IIHF World Championship tournaments for Italy. He was on the roster for the Italian squad at the 1984 Winter Olympic games.

Jim Corsi – Coach

Corsi has been goaltending coach with the Buffalo Sabres since 1998-99. Since, the team has not had a problem keeping pucks out of the net, rather putting them in. His star pupils have been Ryan Miller and Marty Biron.

 

Eddie Mio: 17 Games with the Erie Blades

Eddie Mio in the NAHL

Eddie Mio got his start in professional hockey with the Erie Blades of the North American Hockey League. Mio played 17 regular season games with the Blades during the 1976-77 season, the last year of the NAHL, recording a 3.27 goals against average. He also appeared in two Lockhart Cup playoff games as the Blades lost out in the opening round to the Philadelphia Firebirds, three games to one.

That season, Mio backed up Lynn Zimmerman, Erie’s main goalie for 1975-76 and 1976-77. Zimmerman played pro from 1966-67 to 1977-78 in a handful of leagues, including the EHL, AHL, CHL, WHL, NAHL and WHA. In the World Hockey Association, Lynn played for the Denver Spurs, Ottawa Civics and Houston Aeros.

Eddie Mio in Pro Hockey

During his four year stint at Colorado College from 1972-73 to 1975-76, both the WHA and National Hockey League came calling. Mio was taken in the seventh round of the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, 124^th overall, by the Chicago Black Hawks. That same year, he was also selected in the tenth round of the WHA Amateur Draft by the Vancouver Blazers, 138^th overall.

Eddie played pro hockey from 1976-77 to 1985-86 on teams in the NAHL, WHA, AHL, CHL and NHL. He played in the World Hockey Association in 1977-78 and 1978-79 with the Indianapolis Racers and Edmonton Oilers. He followed the Oilers to the NHL after the demise of the WHA. Mio played in the NHL from 1979-80 to 1985-86 with the Oilers, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.

Mio was the number one goalie with the Oilers in 1980-81 and with the Rangers in 1982-83. In that 1980-81 season, Eddie was in the hunt for the Art Ross Trophy with five assists – not bad for a goalie. In both 1981-82 and 1982-83, Mio saw the bulk of his Stanley Cup playoff action, appearing in eight games each year with the Rangers. Each year, New York made it out of the preliminary round but in each year they fell to the powerhouse New York Islanders in six games.

In a bit of useless hockey trivia, The Rangers traded Eddie to the Red Wings, along with Ron Duguay and Ed Johnstone for Mike Blaisdell, Willie Huber and Mark Osborne. In his final year of pro hockey, 1985-86, Mio played 18 games for the Red Wings and posted a dismal 6.32 goals against average.