Les Binkley: Pittsburgh's Original Starting Goalie

NAHL

At 41 years old, Les Binkley played his final season of professional hockey in the North American Hockey League with the Buffalo Norsemen. Binkley appeared in 24 games for Buffalo in the team’s only year in the NAHL. That season, Les also played seven games in the WHA with the Toronto Toros, posting a less than stellar 5.73 goals against average.

Buffalo had Guy Trottier as player / head coach, also in his last year of pro hockey. The Norsemen finished fourth in the West Division and fell to the Johnstown Jets in the opening round of the playoffs.

Pro Hockey

Binkley played three years of junior hockey in the OHA from 1951-52 to 1953-54, all with the Galt Black Hawks. He played pro hockey from 1955-56 to 1975-76 in seven different leagues (IHL, EHL, AHL, WHL, NHL, WHA, NAHL).

At 33 in 1967-68, expansion finally gave Binkley a shot at the National Hockey League. Les was the first player signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins and he played between the pipes for the club from 1967-68 to 1971-72.

With the World Hockey Association starting business for the 1972-73 season, Binkley jumped ship to play for the Ottawa Nationals. He followed the club as they moved to Toronto to become the Toros and, as mentioned above, played his final seven games with the club in 1975-76.

His one and only championship came back in 1956-67 with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League. Binkley played all of the team’s 64 regular season games and helped them to the final series where they downed the Philadelphia Ramblers in seven games.

The following season, he once again played all 64 games for the Clippers and once again led them to the EHL finals. This time, the Clippers fell to the Washington Presidents in seven games

In 1961-62, Les played his first season in the American Hockey League, appearing in 60 of 70 games for the Cleveland Barons. Binkley was honoured with the Dudley ‘Red’ Garrett Memorial Award as the league’s top first year player. The Barons finished first in the four team West Division. Cleveland lost to the Springfield Indians in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs. In an odd playoff format, the Indians were the top team in the East Division meaning the top two teams in the AHL were pitted against each other in the first round of the playoffs.

In 1965-66, again with the Cleveland Barons, Binkley was the recipient of the Harry ‘Hap’ Holmes Memorial Award as the goaltender with the lowest goals against average in the AHL. He played 66 of Cleveland’s 72 regular season games and all of their 12 playoff games. The Barons finished second in the West Division and reached the Calder Cup finals before bowing out to the Rochester Americans in six games.

 

Mike Zuke: 1976-77 Mohawk Valley Comets Goal Scoring Leader

NAHL

Mike Zuke played just 48 games in the North American Hockey League in 1976-77, the NAHL’s final season. Yet, Zuke led the Mohawk Valley Comets with 42 goals while appearing in 65% of the team’s 74 regular season games. The goal total placed him tied for eighth in the NAHL with Henry Taylor of the Johnstown Jets.

1976-77 was Zuke’s first year of pro hockey after four years with Michigan Tech. Mike remains Michigan Tech’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points. He finished the 1976-77 season with 42 goals and 29 assists for 71 points. He also appeared in fifteen games in the World Hockey Association with the Indianapolis Racers.

The 1976-77 Comets went through a pair of player / coach’s in Bob Woytowich and Bill Horton. The team reached the post season but fell in the first round to the Binghamton Dusters. Zuke didn’t play in the playoffs. The Indianapolis Racers lost in the second round of the WHA playoffs but Mike didn’t appear in any of those games, either.

Pro Hockey

Mike was drafted into the two major hockey leagues in 1974. At the NHL Amateur Draft, the St. Louis Blues took him in the fifth round, 79^th overall. In the WHA Amateur Draft, it was the Indianapolis Racers selecting him in the fourth round, 47^th overall. He would go on to play for both teams.

In the WHA, Zuke appeared in 86 regular season games. There was his fifteen games with the Racers in his rookie season while the rest of WHA games were played the following year with the Edmonton Oilers.

Mike moved to the National Hockey League for the 1978-79 season, escaping the WHA a year before the rebel league’s demise. He played 455 regular season games in the NHL between 1978-79 and 1985-86 with the St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers.

After several years behind the bench as assistant coach of his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League in the 1990’s, Zuke has settled in St. Louis, Missouri. He currently owns Mike Zuke Enterprises, a company that specializes in sports apparel.

Bob Woytowich: A Pro Hockey Career Wrapped Up in the NAHL

NAHL

Bob Woytowich played part of one season in the North American Hockey League at the tail end of his pro hockey career. Woytowich was a player / head coach of the Mohawk Valley Comets for the first 37 games of the 1976-77 NAHL season, the last year for the league.

In 37 games, the defenseman assisted on ten goals and sat two minor penalties. He was replaced by another player / head coach in Bill Horton. The Comets finished sixth in the eight team league and were ousted in the opening round of the Lockhart Cup playoffs by the Binghamton Dusters. 1976-77 was Woytowich’s final year playing pro hockey.

Pro Hockey Career

Bob played pro from 1960-61 to 1976-77. He appeared in 503 games in the National Hockey League between 1964-65 and 1971-72 with the Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.

In 1967-68 with the expansion Minnesota North Stars, Bob helped the team reach the Stanley Cup semi-finals against the St. Louis Blues. The North Stars lost the series in seven games but outscored the Blues 22-18. Four of the seven games went into overtime with the seventh game being decided in double overtime.

In 1969-70, Woytowich found himself in another semi-final series against the Blues, this time as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blues won the series in six games. Bob played in the NHL All-Star game in 1970, the only time in his career.

Woytowich also played 242 regular season games in the World Hockey Association between 1972-73 and 1975-76. He played for the Winnipeg Jets and Indianapolis Racers but had his most success in Manitoba with the Jets reaching the finals in 1972-73, the inaugural season of the WHA, before bowing out to the New England Whalers in five games.

Bob Woytowich died in 1988 at the young age of 46.

 

Bill Horton of the NAHL's Mohawk Valley Comets

NAHL

Bill Horton, the cousin of Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Tim Horton, played two years in the North American Hockey League, 1975-76 and 1976-77. Both his years were with the Mohawk Valley Comets. Horton played just ten games in 1975-76 before appearing in a nearly full season of 66 games in 1976-77, the final year of the NAHL.

In 1976-77, Bill Horton was not only the Comets star defenseman. He was also the head coach of the team. Mohawk Valley finished sixth out of eight teams during the regular season. It wasn’t hard to reach the post season that year. The Beauce Jaros dropped out of the league after 30 games and the rest of the seven teams made the playoffs. The Comets lost in the opening round to the Binghamton Dusters, three games to two.

Playing Career

After one year of junior hockey in the OHA with the London Nationals (now the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League) in 1966-67, Horton played for the Dayton Gems in the IHL for the 1967-68 season. It would be the closest he’d come to a championship as a player. The Gems reached the IHL finals before losing to the Muskegon Mohawks in five games.

Bill played pro hockey from 1967-68 to 1981-82 in the IHL, EHL, WHA, SHL, NAHL, PHL and ACHL. He never played in the NHL but played 193 games of major league hockey between 1972-73 and 1974-75 in the World Hockey Association. In the WHA, Horton played for the Cleveland Crusaders, Los Angeles Sharks and Indianapolis Racers.

Horton played his final three years as a player / head coach, with an emphasis on the coaching. In 1980-81 with the Syracuse Hornets of the 2^nd generation EHL, Bill played three games and sat 28 minutes in the penalty box. As a coach, he lasted ten games with just a tie to show for it. The following year, he played three games with the Mohawk Valley Stars of the ACHL, along with his coaching duties. Once again, he appeared in three games, this time sitting 43 minutes in the penalty box while assisting on one goal. Despite this ‘goonery’, for most of career, Bill kept his game clean.

Coaching Career

Horton coached in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League from 1981-82 to 1986-87. In his first year, as head coach of the Mohawk Valley Stars, he achieved the championship he could never find as a player. The Stars finished second overall in the six team ACHL. They met the Salem Raiders in the finals and won the series in six games for the title.

The following year, Mohawk Valley once again made it to the final series. Their opponent this time was the Carolina Thunderbirds. Carolina finished the regular season in first place. The Stars finished in third, 47 points behind the Thunderbirds. Carolina swept the final series in four games. The Thunderbirds went 8-0 in the 1982-83 ACHL playoffs.

In order to exact revenge on Carolina, Horton had to switch teams. In 1983-84, he was head coach of the Erie Golden Blades. The team finished second overall in the six team league, one point behind the first place Thunderbirds. The two met in the finals with Erie coming up victorious, winning the series four games to one.

Horton returned to Mohawk Valley to coach in 1985-86. The team was now known as the Comets again. Bill did not find much fortune with the team and was replaced early in the 1986-87 season.

 

 

Larry Mavety: NAHL Bridges the Gap Between Pro Player and OHL Head Coach

Larry Mavety played in the North American Hockey League for parts of three seasons from 1974-75 to 1976-77. The high scoring defenseman got around the league, playing for three different clubs over his three years, intermingled with play in the World Hockey Association.

NAHL

Mavety played just four games in the NAHL during the 1974-75 season with the Long Island Cougars. He spent the bulk of his time with Chicago Cougars in the WHA. In 1975-76, he split his NAHL season between the Erie Blades and Binghamton Dusters. In his, and the league’s, final year, Larry played entirely for the Dusters. In 59 games on the blue line, he scored 16 goals and assisted on 51 for 67 points.

Pro Hockey

Larry Mavety played pro hockey from 1963-64 to 1976-77 in the IHL, WHL, WHA and NAHL. In his rookie year, 1963-64, with the Toledo Blades, he helped win the IHL championship. The Blades finished first out of the league’s seven teams during the regular season. In the post season, Toledo met the Fort Wayne Komets in the finals. Although the Komets outscored the Blades 26-24, Toledo won the series in six games.

Two years later, Mavety won another IHL championship, this time with the Port Huron Flags. During the regular season, Port Huron finished down in third place in the six team league. The Flags met the Dayton Gems in the finals and won four games to one.

Larry’s pinnacle season in the IHL came in 1966-67 when he was awarded the Governor’s Trophy on a less than stellar Port Huron Flags team. The Governor’s Trophy was handed out to the IHL’s top defenseman. Later is was renamed the Larry D. Gordon Trophy. Mavety finished the season with 25 goals and 48 assists for 73 points in 71 games. The Flags did not qualify for the post season, finishing fifth in the seven team league.

Although he never played in the National Hockey League, Mavety played 248 regular season games of major league hockey in the World Hockey Association between 1972-73 and 1976-77.  He did a bit of moving around, playing for the Los Angeles Sharks, Philadelphia Blazers, Chicago Cougars, Toronto Toros, Ottawa Civics and Indianapolis Racers. He played 18 playoff games in 1973-74 as the Chicago Cougars reached the Avco Cup finals before being swept by the Houston Aeros.

OHL Coach and Executive

In 1979-80, the OMJHL (now the Ontario Hockey League) expanded to include the Belleville Bulls. Larry Mavety was the franchise’s first head coach. He stood behind the bench in Belleville from 1979-80 to 1996-97, with exception of 1988-89 and 1989-90 when he moved down the road to Kingston. The Bulls achieved playoff success in 1985-86, reaching the Robertson Cup finals before bowing out to the Guelph Platers.

In 1997-98, Larry again made his move to Kingston, this time for good. He was head coach of the Kingston Frontenacs from 1997-98 to 2002-03 before moving to the head office. In 2007-08 and 2008-09, he returned to the bench on an interim basis. Mavety is currently a special advisor to the club.