International Hockey League (1951-1959)
Tombstone
Born: 1950
Move Announced: March 1959 (Greensboro Generals)
First Game:
Final Game: March 29, 1959 (W 4-3 vs. Fort Wayne Komets)
Turner Cup Championships: None
Arena
Hobart Arena
Opened: 1950
Branding
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Ken Wilson
Background
The Troy Bruins were a minor league hockey team that played in Ohio’s Miami Valley during the 1950’s. With a population of just over 10,000 residents in the 1950 U.S. census, Troy was one of the smallest communities in the United States to boast its own pro hockey team during the era.
The club started out as the Miami Valley Bruins in the fall of 1950, playing an independent schedule against various clubs from the upper midwest and Ontario, Canada. In the fall of 1951, the Bruins changed their name to Troy and joined the 5-team International Hockey League (IHL), competing against clubs from Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.
In the spring of 1955 the Troy Bruins advanced to the IHL’s Turner Cup championship series. They lost in the seven games to the Cincinnati Mohawks, a dynastic minor league club then in the midst of five straight Turner Cup championships.
Key Players
The Bruins featured two notable players whose influence on the game vastly outweighed their limited playing in the National Hockey League.
Larry Kwong (Bruins ’55-’57) was the first Asian-American to play in the NHL, skating a single 1-minute shift for the New York Rangers on the March 13th, 1948. Kwong played on for another decade, never coming close to returning to the NHL. In the 2000’s, with Kwong now an elderly man, his career enjoyed a re-assessment. The Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks both produced on-ice tributes to Kwong’s pioneering role in the sport.
Brian Kilrea (Bruins ’55-’59) played just 26 games in the NHL. But he is enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder, thanks to his pioneering role in the NHL labor union movement and his later career as a legendary Junior hockey coach.
Steve Gaber (Bruins ’51-’56) was the Bruins’ all-time leaders in games (289) and scoring (177 goals, 148 assists). Kilrea was Troy’s second leading scorer (88 goals and club-record 166 assists).
Demise
In March 1959, shortly before the end of the 1958-59 IHL season, Bruins owner/GM Ken Wilson announced the Bruins would be sold to Greensboro, North Carolina investors who wished to enter a club in the Eastern Hockey League. The Bruins became the Greensboro Generals of the Eastern Hockey League for the 1959-60 season.
Troy Bruins Shop
Contains Affiliate Links
They Call Me Killer: Tales From Junior Hockey’s Legendary Hall-of-Fame Coach
by Brian Kilrea with James Duthie
Bruins Video
Vancouver Canucks on-ice and video tribute to Larry Kwong. February 17, 2018.
In Memoriam
Larry Kwong (Bruins ’55-’57) passed away on March 15, 2018 at age 94. New York Times obituary.
Links
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