:''This article refers to the Saginaw Gears of the IHL. For the Saginaw Gears of the UHL, see

Saginaw Gears (UHL) The Saginaw Gears were a minor professional ice hockey franchise that played in the United Hockey League (UHL), formerly known as the Colonial Hockey League. The Gears existed for five seasons and part of one other, from 1994 to December 19, 19 ...

''. The Saginaw Gears were a minor-league

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

franchise that played in the defunct International Hockey League (IHL). The Gears existed from 1972 to 1983. The Gears played their home games at Wendler Arena in the Saginaw Civic Center (now known as The Dow Event Center). IHL hockey would later return to the Tri-Cities when the

Flint Generals The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...

were moved to

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

to become the Saginaw Generals for the 1985–86 season.

Championships

The Gears made the playoffs for nine straight seasons, from 1973–82. The Gears reached the Turner Cup Finals five times in that stretch, and won the following championships:

Trivia

The

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

replica at the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

has

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

misspelled as "Sagimaw" for the 1976-77 championship.

Notable players

The Gears sent several players to the

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 ...

in their 11-year existence. The biggest names include: * John Gibson *

Lou Franceschetti Louis Carlo Franceschetti (born March 28, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League with the Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Buffalo Sabres between 1981 and 1991. He was selec ...

* Bob Froese * Greg Hotham, whose sons Scott and Andrew played for the

Saginaw Spirit The Saginaw Spirit are a major junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the Major Junior leagues of the Canadian Hockey League ...

Mario Lessard Mario Lessard (born June 25, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Born in East Broughton, Quebec, Lessard began his National Hockey League career with the Los Angeles Kings in 1978, the team he would play his entire NH ...

Mike Palmateer Michael Scott Palmateer (born January 13, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goalie. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1976 to 1984 for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals. Playing career As a yout ...

* In 1974–75, longtime NHL forward/defenceman

Reg Fleming Reginald Stephen "Reggie, The Ruffian" Fleming (April 21, 1936 – July 11, 2009) was a professional hockey player in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers ...

joined the Gears in time for the 1975 playoffs. * Head Coach

Don Perry Donald Frederick Perry (March 16, 1930 – April 15, 2019) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and coach. Biography Perry, born in Edmonton, Alberta, began his playing career with Edmonton area junior league teams. He broke into professional ...

also made it to the NHL, coaching the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

from 1981–84. *

Marcel Comeau Marcel Comeau (born March 1, 1952) is a Canadian ice hockey scout, and former player, coach, and National Hockey League team executive. He played eleven seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL), where he was the league's top scorer an ...

, 1980–81 IHL's top scorer and most valuable player * Dennis Desrosiers 10 year veteran of the Gears. High scoring right wing / tough guy. Color commentator of

Decades long career as a coachhttps://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=1346

References

External links

Saginaw Gears statistics at Hockey Database
Professional ice hockey teams in Michigan Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States International Hockey League (1945–2001) teams 1972 establishments in Michigan 1983 disestablishments in Michigan Ice hockey clubs established in 1972 Boston Bruins minor league affiliates {{Michigan-sport-team-stub