Jim Stanfield: Short NAHL Stay With Buffalo Norsemen In 1975-76

Jim Stanfield was one of three brothers that all played junior hockey with the St. Catherines Blackhawks in the Ontario Hockey Association and all played in the National Hockey League for at least one game. Stanfield played in the NAHL towards the end of his pro hockey career with the Buffalo Norsemen during the team’s only year in the league.

Jim Stanfield – NAHL

Stanfield played for the Buffalo Norsemen for part of the 1975-76 North American Hockey League season. He appeared in 27 regular season games, scoring ten goals and assisting on 19 for 29 points with the Guy Trottier coached team. He also appeared in four Lockhart Cup playoff games, adding two points. Stanfield started the season in the WIHL, playing 33 games for the Spokane Flyers. Over his 33 games, he scored 33 goals.

The Norsemen finished the 1975-76 NAHL regular season fourth in the five team West Division and seventh overall in the ten team league. Buffalo lost in the opening round of the playoffs to the Johnstown Jets.

Jim Stanfield – Junior Hockey

Jim played three years of junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1964-65 to 1966-67. His first two years were spent with the St. Catherines Blackhawks. Stanfield’s final year was with the London Nationals in that franchise’s second year of existence. Jim finished second on the Nationals with 32 goals, six behind team leader Garry Unger. Turk Broda was in his first of two years as head coach of the team.

Jim Stanfield – Pro Hockey

Stanfield played pro hockey from 1967-68 to 1976-77. He appeared on teams in the CHL, NHL, AHL, WHL, WIHL and NAHL. Jim played in seven regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1969-70 and 1971-72, all with the Los Angeles Kings.

In 1968-69, he was part of Central Hockey League championship team with the Dallas Black Hawks. Dallas met the Oklahoma City Blazers in the finals and won the best of four series in five games.

The following year, Stanfield joined the Springfield Kings in the American Hockey League for the final 18 games of the regular season. He started the year playing 55 games with Dallas. In the Calder Cup playoffs, Jim led Springfield with eight goals and nine assists for 17 points over 14 games. The Kings reached the Calder Cup finals before being swept by the Buffalo Bisons.

In 1974-75, Jim scored 45 goals and assisted on 57 for 102 points over 47 games with the Spokane Flyers of the WIHL. He was second in the league in goals, tied for third for assists and led the league in points.

Jim’s brother Fred Stanfield played 914 regular season games in the NHL between 1964-65 and 1977-78 with the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabres. Brother Jack Stanfield played one Stanley Cup playoff game with the Blackhawks in 1965-66. All played junior hockey for the St. Catherines Black Hawks.

Louis Levasseur: The Real Life Denis Lemieux

He’s the inspiration for the character of Denis Lemieux in the 1977 movie Slap Shot and the goalie that led the Johnstown Jets to a Lockhart Cup championship in 1974-75. Louis Levasseur played his first full pro season in the NAHL and went on to appear in the World Hockey Association. Levasseur even played one game in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars.

Louis Levasseur – NAHL

Louis played goal for the Johnstown Jets for two seasons, 1974-75 and 1975-76. In his first year, he played in 26 regular season games, posting a 3.15 goals against average and one shutout. He also appeared in one game with the Springfield Indians in the American Hockey League.

The Dick Roberge coached Jets has a roster populated by the three Carlson brothers, Dave Hanson and Ned Dowd. Along with Levasseur, it was the basis for the story behind the Slap Shot movie. Johnstown placed fourth out of eight teams during the NAHL regular season. In the Lockhart Cup playoffs, the Jets swept the Binghamton Dusters in the finals for the championship. Levasseur played 12 games in the playoffs for Johnstown.

In 1975-76, Louis played 30 games for the Jets, posting a 3.04 GAA and one shutout. He also accumulated a whopping 41 penalty minutes over his 30 games. Levasseur was a callup to the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA and appeared in four games. The Jets were not as successful as the year before despite having players like Bruce Boudreau, Galen Head and Paul Holmgren on the roster.

Like many of his teammates, Levasseur is credited for the 1977 Slap Shot movie. The Jets players played as 'doubles' for the hockey action scenes.

Louis Levasseur – Pro Career

Levasseur saw his first pro action way back in 1968-69, appearing in two games for the Nashville Dixie Flyers of the EHL. Over those two games, he allowed seven goals for a 3.50 GAA. He wouldn’t play pro again until 1972-73 when he played in four games for the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.

1974-75 was his first full pro season. Louis played in the WHA between 1975-76 and 1978-79 with the Fighting Saints, Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers and Quebec Nordiques. In 1977-78, he played 12 playoff games for the Whalers with the team losing in the Avco World Trophy finals to the Winnipeg Jets. He had backed up veteran Al Smith most of the season.

As mentioned, Levasseur played in one NHL games, with the Minnesota North Stars in 1979-80. That one game was less than stellar with Louis allowing seven goals. His pro career ended after playing for the Oklahoma City Stars of the CHL in 1980-81.

Levasseur was involved in some interesting trades during his WHA career. In January, 1977, Louis, along with Mike Antonovich, Bill Butters, Dave Keon, Jack Carlson, Steve Carlson and John McKenzie were traded to the Edmonton Oilers for cash after the Fightning Saints ceased operations. In September of the same year, Louis was traded to New England from Edmonton for Brett Callighen and Dave Dryden.

Lorne Rombough: Long Island Cougars 1973-74

1973-74 was a great year for Lorne Rombough. He was a fifty goal scorer in his only year in the North American Hockey League and played his only three games of major league hockey with the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association.

Lorne Rombough – NAHL

In 1973-74, Lorne played 68 regular season games for the Long Island Cougars in the inaugural season of the NAHL. Rombough scored 50 goals and assisted on 42 for 92 points on the John Brophy coached team. He led the Cougars in goals and points. Lorne’s 50 goals placed him fourth in the league and he was the last of four players to surpass the 50 goal plateau that season. His 92 points placed him tenth in the league.

As for the Cougars, the team placed third in the seven team league, one point below .500. Yes, just two of seven teams had winning records in the 1973-74 NAHL. This imbalance certainly showed in the playoffs. Long Island reached the Lockhart Cup finals before being swept by the Syracuse Blazers in four games. The Blazers outscored the Cougars 27-5 in the series.

Lorne Rombough – Pro Hockey

 

In 1967-68, Lorne was team captain with the State University of Buffalo in U.S. College Hockey. The team went undefeated during the 15 game regular season but fell to Oswego State in the playoffs, their only loss of the season.

Rombough played pro hockey from 1969-70 to 1979-80 in a handful of leagues that includes the IHL, EHL (2 versions), AHL, NAHL, WHA, SHL, PHL and NEHL. His actual first pro game came in 1968-69 when he appeared in a single game with the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL. Lorne scored a goal in that first taste of pro hockey.

Lorne played for the predecessor of the Cougars, the Long Island Ducks of the EHL. In 1971-72, he placed ninth in the Eastern Hockey League with 42 goals in 75 regular season games. He also assisted on 35 for a total of 77 points that year.

As mentioned, he got his lone shot at major league hockey in 1973-74. Rombough played three games with the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association. His short stay was pretty impressive with two goals and an assist for the WHA club.

Perhaps, his best year in pro hockey came in 1974-75 with the Hampton Gulls of the SHL. Lorne scored 56 goals and assisted on 43 for 99 points over 72 regular season games. Rombough placed second in the league for goal, three behind league leader Andre Deschamps of the Charlotte Checkers. The two were the only players that season to surpass the 50 goal mark. Lorne’s 99 points placed him fourth in the SHL.

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.

Rick Dorman

Rick Dorman was, whether the league liked it or not, what the North American Hockey League was all about. He could score, 17 goals in his lone NAHL season, but it was his league leading 238 penalty minutes in 1976-77 that defined Dorman’s game. A junior with the Flin Flon Bombers, a team that Bobby Clarke made famous, Dorman played pro through the 1984-85 season but got his start in the NAHL.

Rick Dorman – NAHL

Rick played his first pro season, 1976-77, in the NAHL with the Johnstown Jets and Erie Blades. As it was the last season of the league’s existence, it was Dorman’s only year in the NAHL. He started out with the Jets but appeared in just nine games. His offensive numbers were decent with two goals and four assists for six points. Rick sat 44 PIM in those nine games.

Dorman moved on to the Erie Blades and played 52 regular season games with the club. He scored 15 and assisted on eleven for 26 points while sitting 194 minutes in penalties. The Nick Polano coached Blades reached the Lockhart Cup semi-finals before falling in five games to the Syracuse Blazers. In the playoffs, Rick added four assists over nine games and sat an additional 48 minutes in the box. It’s no surprise that he led Erie in PIM for both the regular season and playoffs.

Rick Dorman – WCHL

Dorman played two years in the WCHL (present day WHL), 1974-75 and 1975-76. In his first season, he played exclusively with the Flin Flon Bombers. Over 67 games, he scored 16 and assisted on 23 while sitting a whopping 442 minutes in penalties. He place second in the league to Jerry Rollins, a player that started out the season with the Bombers before moving to Winnipeg.

In his second season, Rick played a combined 60 regular season games with the Bombers and Winnipeg Clubs. He scored 11 and assisted on 23 with a total of 346 PIM. He placed second in the sin department again, this time to Ted Olson, a player that split his year between the Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Centennials.

He returned to the league in an executive capacity for a short time, about a decade ago. In August, 2003, Rick was named the General Manager of the Moose Jaw Warriors. However, in October, 2004, before the 2004-05 season started, Dorman was let go by the club.

Rick Dorman – Pro Hockey

Rick played pro hockey from 1976-77 to 1984-85 in the NAHL, USHL, IHL and AHL. However, most of his time was spent in the IHL. In his second pro year and his first in the IHL, Dorman sat 475 PIM over 76 regular season games with the Dayton/Grand Rapids Owls. He finished second, behind Alvin White of the Kalamazoo Wings who amassed 510 penalty minutes.

1979-80 was Rick’s only full year in the American Hockey League and he made his mark. With the Binghamton Dusters, he placed fifth in the league for PIM with 267 over 77 games. The league leader that year was Chris Nilan of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs with 304 PIM.

Two years later, Dorman showed off his offensive abilities a bit with the Flint Generals of the IHL. Sure, he placed fifth in the league with 288 PIM but he also scored 15 and assisted on 42 for 57 points over 77 games.

In his final year of pro hockey, Rick still had it in him. With the Indianapolis Checkers of the IHL, he placed sixth in the league with 263 PIM over a full 80 game schedule.