Philadelphia Ramblers

Eastern Hockey League (1955-1964)

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Background

The Philadelphia Ramblers were a minor league hockey outfit that played nine seasons in the Eastern Hockey League from 1955 until 1964.  The “Ramblers” name was a revival of a previous Philly minor league club that competed in the American Hockey League from 1935 to 1941.  Both incarnations of the Ramblers played at the old Philadelphia Arena at 4530 Market Street.

The Ramblers were never especially good.  They advanced beyond the 1st round of the playoffs only once in nine seasons.  At the conclusion of the club’s second campaign in the winter of 1956-57, the Ramblers advanced to the EHL Championship Series. They lost to the Charlotte Checkers 4 games to 3.

During the summer of 1964, the Ramblers franchise was revoked and replaced by a new club – the Jersey Devils – in nearby Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Ramblers owner and President Bud Dudley was also the founder and promoter of the Liberty Bowl college football bowl game, which started out in Philadelphia in 1959.  Dudley later moved the game to Memphis, Tennessee in 1965, where it continues to this day.   Dudley was the Executive Director of the Liberty Bowl until his retirement in 1994.  He passed away in 2008 at age 88.

Philadelphia Ramblers Shop

In Memoriam

Don Dragan, a founding owner and vice president of the Ramblers and an executive with the Philadelphia Arena Corp., died of a heart attack on January 8, 1962 while overseeing the removal of the ice surface at the Arena. He was 48 years old.

Links

Eastern Hockey League Programs

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