Many people do not realize that the roots of professional
hockey in Dallas date back 55 years to the fall of 1941. It was a
strange and unusual site, as the Fair Park Ice Arena welcomed
the sport from the North to the citizens of Dallas for the first
time. Advertised in the papers as "The most dangerous game
in the world...murder on ice, it has been called...with playing
speed, flashing blades and crashing bodies," the lights came
up on a debut unlike any other.
In the spring of 1941, Clarence E. Linz announced his team,
the Texans, would be starting play the next year, joining the
American Hockey Association along with a candidate from
Fort Worth. As President of Ice Sports, Inc, Linz would become
instrumental in not only creating the Texans, but later, bringing
in ice shows, including the famous Sonja Henie Ice Show, to
the State Fair each fall.
Taking the helm of the Texans in their inaugural year would be
player/coach Leroy "Goldie" Goldsworthy. A former National
Hockey League player, he spent nine seasons in the big
leagues, scoring 123 total points off of 66 goals and 57 assists
while playing for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings,
Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and
New York Americans. It was through his many years with the
NHL that he hoped to be able to find players with experience
who could help him in his new endeavor.
Of the original team, only Paul Runge and Pete Palangio had
seen time in the NHL, with Paul playing from 1930 to 1938 with
Boston, the Montreal Maroons and the Montreal Canadiens
while Pete suited up for the Canadiens, Red Wings and
Blackhawks from 1926 to 1938.
On November 6, 1941, hockey made its debut in Dallas with
the first of 50 games, 25 at home. Fans could get in the game
for the mere general admission price of 55 cents. Three
thousand reserve seats were available from 80 cents up to
$1.20, while boxes and rinkside seats would run you anywhere
from $1.65 to $2.25.
Opening night was truly a spectacular gala. With World War II
raging, Linz made the decision that 50% of the proceeds
would be donated to the United China Relief Fund. Organized
by Mrs. William M. Lingo, Jr. and the Dallas Club women, they
hoped to raise $2,500 during the evening with Chinese
candies and cakes sold by girls in Chinese costumes during
the game. First time patrons to hockey, must surely have been
somewhat confused by the multi-cultural surroundings of this
strange sport.
Matching up against the St. Paul Saints in their inaugural
game, the Texans played in front of a near capacity crowd of
4,273. Tony Licari scored the team's first goal, but the Saints,
behind three power play goals, stole the home team's thunder
by winning the game 4-1. George Higgins, President of the
American Hockey Association, pronounced the game a
success and was pleased with the condition of the arena and
the number of spectators.
The season continued with Dallas fighting, many times literally,
for a playoff spot. Going into the final night of the season,
Dallas remained one point ahead of Tulsa for the final playoff
spot. The Texans had been clinging to a three point lead, only
to see it evaporate after a 4-2 loss to St. Paul in front of 2,500
fans on honorary newspaper boy night. Dallas would go home
early in their inaugural year, losing out on the money to be
made in the postseason. In the playoffs, the major share of the
gate receipts went directly to the players.
It would be the last time many of these men would come to
Dallas. The horrors of World War II and the continued
involvement of the United States and Canada forced the
cancellation of hockey in the south and meant the end of the
American Hockey Association.
Dallas would not see hockey again for four years.
Hockey was back in "Big D" for the 1945-46 season, as Linz
once again brought the Texans to life, this time joining the
Kansas City Pla-mors, Omaha Knights, St. Paul Saints, Tulsa
Oilers, Fort Worth Rangers and Minneapolis Millers in the
United States Hockey League.
The fight to make the Texans had been tough as those who
were cut would go to Eastern League teams where the
salaries were nearly one-half of those in the USHL.
On October 10, 1945, Linz announced Leroy Goldsworthy
would return as coach and introduced the team's first player,
20-year-old goaltender Al Picard. Goldsworthy rated the
youngster so highly, he expected to sell him at the end of the
season to an NHL club.
With Roy McBride the oldest man on the team at 24, many of
the players ranged in age from 17 to 20. Only Lloyd Finkbeiner
had seen action in the NHL, playing one game with the New
York Americans in 1940-41 and going scoreless, while only
Hugh Currie ever would in the future. During the 1950-51
season, he played in one game for Montreal, going scoreless.
Opening night brought a crowd of 4,300. Fans were able to
purchase their rinkside seats for a mere $2.00 while others
ranged from $1.00 to $1.50 with general admission at 70
cents. It was an exciting and hard fought contest as the home
favorites beat Tulsa 5-3, having been led by Lou Smrke who
tallied a hat trick with three goals.
The heroics and joy of opening night were short-lived. The
1945-46 season proved to be a roller-coaster ride of ups and
downs. At the end of February, the Texans set a new league
record of two consecutive losses by the largest margin, having
been defeated by Kansas City 13-1 and then Tulsa 12-1. In
their next two games, the club set a new league record for two
consecutive wins by the largest margin, beating both Kansas
City and Minneapolis 10-2. Such was the '45-46 season.
The rivalry with Fort Worth continued as former Texan Paul
Runge now coached the Rangers. The two teams met for the
last time on March 13 in front of 4,204 people in Fort Worth
and played to a 3-3 tie. New goalie Nick Pidsodny stopped 50
shots on the night, including 11 in the 10 minute overtime.
The season ended on March 19, 1946. The Dallas Morning
News announced this as "the biggest hockey season this city
has ever had." In the final game, the Texans faced league
leader Kansas City in front of a near capacity crowd of 5,000. It
was rumored that the Pla-mors wanted to run up the score to
show their dominance heading into the postseason. The home
town team caught wind of this plan and set out to foil it. Playing
what the paper called, "the fastest and most rugged athletic
competition ever unreeled on a local battlefield," the Texans
gave Kansas City a 5-1 lashing.
The 1946-47 team brought in new players as well as a new
coach while the league accepted a new team - the Houston
Huskies. George Boothman was signed on to take the helm for
Dallas as well as play center for the club after captaining the
Buffalo Bisons to the AHL Championship in 1946.
The Texans proved to be one of the strongest in the USHL that
year. After winning their opener on October 24, 8-4, over Tulsa,
behind John MacKenzie's two goals in 20 seconds, they came
back and defeated Omaha, 2-1, in front of 4,100 fans to jump
into first place.
First place is where they remained throughout the season.
Despite the replacement of Murray Armstrong for George
Boothman as player/coach, the team finished on top of the
Southern Division with a 27-18-15 record and 69 points.
In the post-season, Dallas entered as the top team in the
Southern Division, but due to the scheduling format, was
forced to play the best team in the league, the Omaha Knights,
who had a 29-16-15 record. The Texans dropped the series to
Omaha in six contests.
With the start of 1947-48 season, a few changes were in store
for the league and in particular the Texans. Jim Hendy took
over as the new President of the USHL while on the local
scene, Lex Cook took over coaching duties for the Dallas club.
Another difference for the Texans was their agreement to be
for the first time a farm team for the powerful Montreal
Canadiens of the NHL. Despite this seemingly quality
improvement though, the Texans were in for a rough year.
Points would come hard for the Texans as they finished with
the worst record in the league that season at 21-39-6 for only
48 points. Leading scorer for the club was Gord Petrie with 62
points off of 13 goals and 49 assists while Nick Pidsodny was
the top netminder on the team with a 4.18 GAA, 10th in the
league. For the season-ending All Star squad, Jake Milford, a
player/assistant coach for the Texans, was the only member
named, earning a spot on the First Team.
The Texans inter-state rival from Houston took home the Paul
W. Loudon Trophy as league champions, defeating
Minneapolis three games to two.
Things could only get better for the local team when the
1948-49 campaign opened. Lex Cook was returning as coach
of the Texans with the Montreal Canadiens still providing some
exciting skaters to stock the club.
A bright, new addition to the team was Joe Bell, who was sent
down from Montreal after playing parts of two years with the
New York Rangers in the NHL. In his 62 games in the big-time,
he had totaled 17 points (8-9-17). Also, coming to Dallas was
the fiery goaltender Paul Bibeault. In his seven seasons in the
NHL from 1940 to 1947, he recorded 3.65 goals against
average while playing in a combined 297 games for Montreal,
Toronto, Boston and Chicago.
Introduced to members of the media by officials of the Ice
Cycles of 1948, an exhibit at the Texas State Fair, the team
also featured newcomers George Bougie, Jimmy Moore and a
young kid name Howie Morenz, Jr. - the son of the Hall of
Famer who played with Montreal, Chicago and New York from
1923 to 1937.
With the season starting, the Texans were one of the youngest
clubs on the circuit, featuring no less than six players making
their professional debuts. Because of this, coach Cook
pleaded with the Canadiens to send down some help for the
home opener. Montreal responded with Roger Leger, Todd
Campeau, Jacques Richard and Jimmy Galbraith. Leger, who
played with Montreal the previous season when they went to
the Stanley Cup Finals, volunteered to go to Dallas so he could
take off some of the weight he had acquired over the
off-season.
By the time the Texans rolled into town for their home-opener,
they were already in last place with a 1-3-1 record. Squee
Allen was now suffering from a broken leg and was out. And
netminder Bibeault, who was called "belligerent" by the local
media, was leading the league, in of all things, penalty minutes
and, prior to their home game with St. Paul, was stricken with
Pleurisy and wasn't able to suit up.
The end of the 1948-49 season brought the end of
professional hockey to the Dallas area. Due to increased travel
costs, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston all dropped out of the
USHL. The league would thrive for two more seasons, adding
teams from Louisville, Milwaukee and Denver, before finally
bowing out all together after the 1950-51 campaign.
Upon their withdrawal from the USHL, the three Texas teams
made plans to form an new league, along with Wichita, called
the Texas Hockey Association. Chrys Kelly of Dallas was to
serve as President with the league expanding into places like
San Antonio, Shreveport and New Orleans by 1950. The new
organization, though, failed to materialize, leaving Dallas
without professional hockey for the next 18 years.
Before the Stars arrived in Dallas for the 1993-94 season, the Central
Hockey League operated a team in Dallas from 1967-1982 called the
Dallas Blackhawks, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The CHL returned for two seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94 with the Dallas
Freeze before that club ceased operations.
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