|
The history of the original Nottingham Panthers between 1939 and 1960 covers the history of the Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team from the initial attempts to establish the club in 1939 and the team's first season in 1946 to the closure of the Panthers in 1960. Originally planned to begin play in 1939 after the opening of the Nottingham Ice Stadium, World War II prevented this from happening until 1946. The Nottingham Panthers would go on to play for fourteen seasons, claiming three league championships and one Autumn Cup title. The Panthers joined the new British National League in 1954 and following the league's collapse in 1960 the club were left with little option but to fold. The Nottingham Panthers would eventually be reformed two decades later and continue play to this day. ==1939-50: Formation, World War II and early years== The Nottingham Ice Stadium opened on April 10, 1939 and hosted its first game of ice hockey two days later when the Harringay Racers defeated the Harringay Greyhounds 10-6 in a challenge game.〔Nottingham Evening Post, April 13, 1939, 'Ice Hockey Thrills Crowd of 5,000 at Nottingham Match - Harringay Teams in Opposition'〕 The souvenir brochure published to mark the Stadium's opening included details of a new professional ice hockey team called the Nottingham Panthers to begin play in the English National League that autumn.〔Mick Holland, ''Nottingham Evening Post Football Post (November 18, 2006), No. 18, Vol. LXXXVI〕 A team was assembled in Canada and brought to the United Kingdom but were prompty sent home having not played a single game due to the outbreak of World War II.〔 Some of the players from this team didn't even get the chance to see the Ice Stadium.〔Martin C Harris, Homes of British Ice Hockey〕 However, three challenge games were played by teams calling themselves the Nottingham Panthers during 1939-40. The first was on November 15, 1939 when the Panthers were defeated 7-4 by a team of Canadians based at the nearby RAF Grantham. The second took place on December 2, 1939 when the Panthers defeated 'RAF (Canadians Section)' 8-7 and the final game took place on February 2, 1940 when a team known as the 'Cambridge Canadians' were defeated 12-1. Like their opposition, these Panthers teams were made up of Canadian soldiers based in and around Nottingham.〔Michael A. Chambers, Nottingham Panthers Factual Scrapbook 1939-2007〕 The Stadium was requisitioned soon afterwards for use as a makeshift munitions store and morgue, preventing further ice hockey games from taking place.〔 The Ice Stadium reopened on August 31, 1946〔 and plans were immediately made to bring a professional team to the venue. The new club appointed Olympic gold medalist and former Wembley Lions player Alex 'Sandy' Archer as their coach and he recruited a team largely from his home city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Panthers made their competitive debut on November 22, 1946 when they defeated the Wembley Monarchs 3-2 at the Ice Stadium. The following day they played their first away game, losing 11-3 to the Harringay Greyhounds. The club's first season was a difficult one. After their opening night win the Panthers would win just six more games and finish bottom of the seven team English National League by eleven points.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work=panthershistory.co.uk )〕 Archer brought in five new players for the club's second season. A late withdrawal led Archer to recruit 21-year-old Chick Zamick to the team. The Panthers continued to struggle, finishing next to last in the Autumn Cup and English League tables and third from bottom in the English National Tournament, level on points with the two clubs below them.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work=panthershistory.co.uk )〕 Zamick led the team in scoring, with 65 goals and 124 points in his first season. Archer left the club during the close season and was replaced by another of Great Britain's Olympic winning team, Archie Stinchcombe. Stinchcombe's first season saw a small improvement in the club's fortunes with a fifth-placed finish in the Autumn Cup, a fourth-placed finish in the league standings and a runners-up spot in the International Tournament (a competition involving all the members of the English League apart from Harringay Racers along with French side Racing Club de Paris).〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work=panthershistory.co.uk )〕 Zamick was again the top scorer, with 134 points in total. Nottingham's first silverware came the following season when they lifted the ''Sussex Daily News Cup'', a competition involving the Panthers, Brighton Tigers, Earls Court Rangers and Streatham.〔 This followed a third-place finish in the Autumn Cup and a sixth-place finish in the league. In 1949 Zamick won the ''Nottingham Sportsman of the Year'' award for the first time, beating opposition such as the Notts County and England centre forward Tommy Lawton. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Nottingham Panthers (1939–60)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|