Eastern Hockey League (1959-1973)
Southern Hockey League (1973-1977)
Tombstone
Born: Spring 1959 – EHL expansion franchise
Folded: January 4, 19771NO BYLINE. “Greensboro Generals Fold”. The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC). January 5, 1977
First Game: October 24, 1959 (W 4-3 @ Clinton Comets)
Last Game: January 2, 1977 (L 4-3 vs. Tidewater Sharks)
Walker Cup Championships (EHL): 1963
Southern Hockey League Championships: None
Arenas
1959-1975: Greensboro Coliseum (7,192)
1975-1977: Piedmont Arena
Marketing
Team Colors: Green, Gold & White
Ownership
Owners:
- 1959-1971: Carson Bain, et al.
- 1971-1973: Tedd Munchak
- 1973-????: Norman Curtis & Carl Scheer
Background
The Greensboro Generals were a long-running minor league outfit that was one of the first pro hockey teams to establish a following in the American South. The Generals formed as an Eastern Hockey League expansion franchise in 1959, the same year that the city of Greensboro, North Carolina opened up the 7,000-seater Greensboro Coliseum. To stock the team, the Greensboro backers acquired the struggling Troy (MI) Bruins of the Midwest-based International Hockey League and brought many of the ex-Bruins to Greensboro. A crowd of 3,014 showed up at the Coliseum on November 11, 1959 for the Generals home debut, a 4-1 victory over the Washington Presidents.
From the team’s formation and through the 1960’s the Generals were operated by a group of civic leaders fronted by heating oil entrepreneur Carson Bain. (Bain would also serve a term as Greensboro’s Mayor from 1967 to 1969). In the spring of 1971, Bain and his partners sold the Generals to Tedd Munchak, owner of the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. By this time, however, the EHL and minor league hockey in general was entering a period of decline and decay. The EHL dissolved in the spring of 1973, splitting into two offshoots. The Northeastern clubs formed the North American Hockey League and the Southeastern teams re-organized into the Southern Hockey League.
Demise
The Generals ran out of gas in the mid-1970’s. The club’s final two seasons were marred by financial problems and a move to the smaller, cheaper Piedmont Arena. On January 4, 1977, the Generals closed down in the middle of the 1976-77 campaign. Three other SHL clubs folded the same week, and the league itself threw in the towel four weeks later on January 31, 1977.
The historic Greensboro Generals brand name was resuscitated in 1999 for a new East Coast Hockey League franchise that played five seasons at the Coliseum from 1999 through 2004.
Greensboro Generals Shop
Links
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4 Responses
Hey!
I’m on the hunt for a 1965-70 Jacksonville Rockets program to buy so any help would be appreciated! eBay wasn’t any help.
Thanks
I am trying to locate Wally Sprange who I played with before he went to the U.S. in a suburb of Toronto, Ontario.
I found him, lives just outside Toronto, Ontario. Canada
I am now 76 years old but I still remember the fun and excitement of watching the Generals in action.
I miss the teams and the fans who came, win or lose. My wife and I sat behind the goalie and felt the
spray of the ice with the players doing battle. Bring on the Checkers.