Mohawk Valley Comets

North American Hockey League (1973-1977)

Tombstone

Born: 1973 – The Clinton Comets relocate to Utica, NY
Folded: 1977

First Game: October 12, 1973 (W 3-2 vs. Broome Dusters)
Last Game: March 25, 1977 (L 5-2 @ Broome Dusters)

Lockhart Cup Championships: None

Arena

Utica Memorial Auditorium
Opened: 1960

Marketing

Team Colors: Red & Blue

Ownership

Owner: Victor Ehre et al.

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Background

The Mohawk Valley Comets were based in Utica, New York and played in the North American Hockey League during the mid-1970’s. The team originated in nearby Clinton, New York, where the Clinton Comets played pro hockey in the Eastern Hockey League from 1954 until that league’s demise in the spring of 1973.

As the EHL was falling apart, a group led by Utica Mutual Insurance Company CEO Victor Ehre bought the Comets franchise. A group of former EHL owners who wanted to continue on formed a successor league, the North American Hockey League, to begin play in the fall of 1973. The Comets joined the NAHL and moved 8 miles northeast to the Utica Memorial Auditorium, dropping “Clinton” in favor of “Mohawk Valley” along the way.

World Hockey Association Affiliations

Like most NAHL teams, the Comets served as a farm club to major league teams in the World Hockey Association (1972-1979). The Comets variously served the Cincinnati Stingers, Indianapolis Racers and Toronto Toros during their four-year run in Utica. The rivalry between the WHA and the NHL created an explosion of major league hockey franchises in the 1970’s, where there had been just “The Original Six” only a decade before. The result was that the top minor leagues were plundered of most of their best talent to feed the rapid expansion of the NHL and the WHA. The players left behind were often less skilled and more reliant on fighting and intimidation to earn their paychecks. There was no shortage of goons in the NAHL.

Demise & Aftermath

The pugilistic brand of hockey offered by the NAHL served as the direct inspiration for the 1977 Paul Newman hockey comedy Slap Shot. Although the film became a cult classic, it did little to boost the fortunes of the struggling league upon its release in late February 1977. Six weeks after the movie’s premier, club owner Victor Ehre announced that that the Comets were for sale. His group would not finance another season in the fall of 1977. There were no buyers and the Comets folded.

The rest of the NAHL folded a few months later in September 1977.

The Mohawk Valley Comets name has subsequently been revived on two occasions. An Atlantic Coast Hockey League team used the name for two years from 1985 to 1987. A semi-pro team in Whitestown, New York briefly took the name in the early 2000’s.