The Greensboro Generals were a minor league ice hockey team based in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

. Greensboro was part of the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

from 1959 to 1973, and then played in the Southern Hockey League from 1973 to 1977. The team was founded when the

Troy Bruins The Troy Bruins were an International Hockey League team based in Troy, Ohio that played from 1951 to 1959 at the Hobart Arena. Notable players were Brian Kilrea and Larry King Kwong. Goaltender Bill Tibbs won the James Norris Memorial Troph ...

of the International Hockey League were relocated by owner Ken Wilson and admitted to the EHL, to play in the recently built

Greensboro Coliseum The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum (the first and biggest building on the site), is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight venu ...

History

The team was owned by a group of local investors led by Carson Bain, who brought in Roland McLenahan as the team's first coach. The Eastern Hockey League was classified as amateur, although Generals players were recruited and paid. The Generals debut game at the coliseum was a 4–1 victory versus Washington, played on November 11, 1959, in front of a crowd of 3,014. Goaltender Norm Defelice won the George Davis Trophy for the lowest

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

in the 1959–60 season. Ronnie Spong took charge of the Generals as player-coach in 1960, and remained in that role until 1971, leading the Generals to a winning record in all but one of those seasons. The Generals reached the championship finals three years in a row from 1962 to 1964, and won the league title in 1963. Centerman Don Davidson won the John Carlin Trophy in the 1963–64 season as the league's scoring champion. The Generals had solid goaltending in the late 1960s with Peter McDuffe winning the EHL Rookie of the Year in 1967–68, and Ernie Miller winning the George Davis Trophy in 1969–70 for the lowest GAA in the EHL. Greensboro returned to the league finals in 1970, but finished as runners-up. In the spring of 1971, Bain and his partners sold the Generals to Tedd Munchak, owner of the

Carolina Cougars The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise in the American Basketball Association that existed from 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Ca ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

. Don Carter became player-coach in 1972, then was replaced by Bob Smith as goaltender and coach in 1973. At the end of the season, the Generals along with three other teams, announced that they would leave the EHL to form the Southern Hockey League.

Ted Lanyon Edward George Lanyon (June 11, 1939 – May 21, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played five games in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a ...

became head coach for the 1973–74 season, but struggled in the new league dropping to third place. The Generals moved to the smaller Piedmont Arena in 1975 due to financial difficulty, and Ronnie Spong returned as head coach. The Generals finished last place in each of the final three seasons of play. On January 4, 1977, the Generals folded mid-season due to continued financial problems. Three other SHL clubs folded the same week, and the league folded on January 31.

Major league affiliations

The Generals were primarily affiliated with the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

from 1972 to 1975, but also had secondary

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

affiliations from 1967 to 1977.

Notable players

Notable Greensboro Generals players that also played in the National Hockey League or World Hockey Association: * Ron Anderson *

Steve Andrascik Steven George Andrascik (born November 6, 1948) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers during the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs, ...

* Jamie Bateman * Jacques Blain *

Kirk Bowman Robert Kirk Bowman (born September 30, 1952) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey winger. He played 88 regular season games in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map ...

* Don Burgess *

Brian Bye Brian Eldon Bye (born June 27, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Drafted in the eighteenth round of the 1974 NHL amateur draft by the New York Islanders, Bye opted to play ...

* Brian Cadle * Jack Caffery * Jeff Carlson *

Lyle Carter Lyle Dwight Carter (born April 29, 1945) is a former professional hockey goalie, who played 15 games in the National Hockey League with the California Golden Seals during the 1971–72 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1967 to 19 ...

* Chick Chalmers *

Jack Chipchase Jack Chipchase (born April 5, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA). He played part of the 1972–73 WHA season for the Philadelphia Blazers. He served as the head coa ...

* Mike Conroy * Tom Cottringer *

Claude Cyr Claude Jean Joseph Cyr (March 27, 1939 – June 1, 1971) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in one National Hockey League game for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1958–59 NHL season. He replaced Claude Pronovost for ...

* Murray Davison * Norm Defelice * Brian Derksen *

Jerry Engele Jerome Wilfred Engele (born November 26, 1950) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman who scored 2 goals and played 100 games in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars between 1975 and 1978. He was the coach of ...

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

* Greg Fox *

Russ Gillow Russell Howard Gillow (born September 2, 1939 in Hespeler, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 109 games in the World Hockey Association with the Los Angeles Sharks and San Diego Mariners. As a 32-year-old rookie in t ...

* Don Gordon *

Bruce Greig Bruce Greig (May 9, 1953 – May 24, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played nine games for the California Golden Seals of the National Hockey League and 60 games for the Calgary Cowboys, Cincinnati Stingers and Indianapol ...

* Howie Heggedal *

Earl Heiskala Earl Waldemar Heiskala (born November 30, 1942 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player. He now lives in Imperial Beach, CA. He played in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers and also played in the WHA with the Los A ...

Paul Hoganson Paul Edward Hoganson (born November 12, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played two games in the National Hockey League and 143 games in the World Hockey Association. Hoganson played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, ...

* Bill Horton * Don Howse *

Mike Hyndman Mike Hyndman (born December 8, 1945, in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian former ice hockey right winger who played in the World Hockey Association for the New England Whalers and the Los Angeles Sharks. Hyndman spent two seasons in the Ontario ...

* Mike Jakubo *

Eddie Johnston Edward Joseph Johnston (born November 24, 1935) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and former coach and general manager in the National Hockey League. His professional career spanned fifty-three years (twenty-two ...

Ed Johnstone Edward Lavern "Eddie" Johnstone (born March 2, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades in the World Hockey Association (WHA), followed by parts of ten seasons in the National ...

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

* Doug Kerslake *

Jarda Krupicka Jaroslav "Jarda" Krupička (born March 15, 1946) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. During the 1972–73 season, Krupicka played 36 games in the World Hockey Association with the Los Angeles Sharks The Los Angeles Sharks were ...

* Moe L'Abbé *

Michel Lachance Michel Lachance (born April 11, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 21 games in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Rockies. As a youth, he played in the 1967 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tourn ...

* Barry Legge *

Bernie MacNeil Stephen Bernard MacNeil (born March 7, 1950) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward who played 4 games in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Blues. MacNeil was born in Sudbury, Ontario. In addition to his time with the ...

* Peter McDuffe *

Jimmy McLeod James Bradley McLeod (April 8, 1937 – May 18, 2019) was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. McLeod started his National Hockey League career with the St. Louis Blues in 1972. He would also play in the World Hockey Association with the Chicago Co ...

* Rick Morris *

Bob Perreault Joseph Robert Michel Perreault (January 28, 1931 – September 10, 1980) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 31 games in the National Hockey League and 1 game in the World Hockey Association between 1955 and 1973. He played wi ...

Tony Poeta Anthony Joseph Poeta (March 4, 1933 – May 2, 2004) was a professional ice hockey player from 1950 to 1960. Poeta played for teams in the National Hockey League, Ontario Hockey Association, American Hockey League, International Hockey League, ...

Jan Popiel Jan Popiel (born October 9, 1947) is a Danish-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 296 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Chicago Cougars, Denver Spurs, Houston Aeros and Phoenix Roadrunners. He is t ...

* Steve Richardson * Lorne Rombough * Bob Russell * Barry Salovaara * Nick Sanza *

Danny Schock Daniel Patrick Schock (December 30, 1948 — June 15, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 20 regular season games and one playoff game in the National Hockey League. He played with the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flye ...

* Steve Self *

Tom Serviss Thomas Hugh Serviss (born May 25, 1948) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 286 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Los Angeles Sharks, Michigan Stags, Baltimore Blades, Quebec Nordiques, and Calgary Cow ...

* Bob Sicinski * Fred Speck *

Guy Trottier Guy Albert Trottier (April 1, 1941 – June 19, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 115 games in the National Hockey League and 174 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the New York Rangers, Toronto Map ...

* Gordon Tumilson * Don Ward * Jim Watson * Steve West * Alton White * Ian Wilkie * Gary Williamson * Hal Willis * Bob Winograd * Roger Wilson *

Bill Young Charles William Young (December 16, 1930 – October 18, 2013) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 until his death in 2013. A Republican from Florida, Young served as chairman of the Hou ...

* Jerry Zrymiak * Wayne Zuk

Results

Season-by-season results in the EHL and SHL.

References

External links