The Winston-Salem Polar Twins were a minor league professional ice hockey team, based in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

. The team was a founding member of the Southern Hockey League in 1973, and played home games at the

Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The arena, which opened in 1955, held 8,200 people and was eventually replaced by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1989. It was home to ...

. The initial owners of the team were a group of 15 investors, led by Ed Timmerman and Eldridge Hanes. In the 1973–74 season, Winstom-Salem finished fourth place, and lost in the first round of the playoffs under player-coach Don Carter. In 1974, Forbes Kennedy was brought in to coach, and improved results two years in a row, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs both seasons. In December 1975, the Polar Twins were sold to Jim Crockett Jr. Player-coach Ron Anderson took over in the fourth season, and the team was in last place in January. On January 7, 1977, during the team's fourth season, Crockett announced he was folding the team.

Major league affiliations

The Polar Twins were 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) ...

in the 1973–74 season, and with 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 ...

from 1974 to 1977.

Notable players

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

Randy Andreachuk Randy Andreachuk (born July 19, 1954) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in two World Hockey Association games with the Winnipeg Jets (1972–96), Winnipeg Jets during the 1974–75 WHA season, 1974–75 seas ...

* Ron Ashton * Bernie Blanchette * Bob Boyd * Ken Brown * Brian Carlin * Bob Champoux * Howie Colborne * Roger Cote * Gary Cunningham * Brian Derksen * Gary Doyle * Bob Fitchner * Derek Harker *

Rich Hart Richard Edward Hart also known as Dick Hart (born October 5, 1952) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. During the 1976–77 season, Hart played four games in the World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association ...

Don Herriman Donald Herriman (born January 2, 1946) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward. He played 155 games in the World Hockey Association with the Philadelphia Blazers, New York Golden Blades, Jersey Knights and Edmonton Oilers The ...

Greg Holst Gregory Holst (born February 21, 1954 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian-Austrian professional ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player who played eleven games in the National Hockey League. He is currently serving as head coa ...

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 ...

* Dennis Kassian *

Jamie Kennedy James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in '' The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His oth ...

* Bill Laing * Rick Lalonde *

John Mazur John Edward Mazur (June 17, 1930 – November 1, 2013) was an American gridiron football player and coach. He was played college football as a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. Mazur served as head coach for the New England Patriot ...

* Bob McAneeley *

Jim McCrimmon James Duncan McCrimmon (born May 29, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 2 games in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Blues during the 1974–75 season. He also played 114 games in the World Hockey ...

* Bill Morris * Jim Murray * Terry Ryan * Blaine Rydman * Ron Serafini *

Danny Sullivan Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Champions ...

* Jim Watt *

Don Wheldon Donald Edward Whelden (December 28, 1954 – June 3, 1985) was a professional ice hockey defenseman who played two games for the St. Louis Blues in the 1974–75 season. He was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Whelden was killed on June 3, 198 ...

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 H ...

Results

Season-by-season results:

Franchise leaders

All-time and season leaders: ;All-time regular season *Games played: Bill Morris, 186 *Goals scored: Ken Gassoff, 83 *Assists: Ken Gassoff, 135 *Points: Ken Gassoff, 218 *Penalty minutes: Brian Molvik, 318 ;Single-season records *Goals scored: Bernie Blanchette, 39 (1973–74) *Assists: John Campbell, 59 (1975–76) *Points: John Campbell, 92 (1975–76) *Penalty minutes: Ron Fogal, 248 (1974–75) ;Postseason records *Goals scored: Bill Morris, 6 (1974) *Assists: Bill Morris, 8 (1974) *Points: Bill Morris, 14 (1974) *Penalty minutes: Greg Holst, 42 (1975)

References

{{Southern Hockey League (1973–1977) 1973 establishments in North Carolina 1977 disestablishments in North Carolina Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Detroit Red Wings minor league affiliates Edmonton Oilers minor league affiliates Ice hockey teams in North Carolina Ice hockey clubs established in 1973 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1977 Jersey Knights minor league affiliates New York Golden Blades minor league affiliates New York Rangers minor league affiliates Southern Hockey League (1973–1977) teams Sports in Winston-Salem, North Carolina St. Louis Blues minor league affiliates