The Flint Generals were a

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team based in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at the Industrial Mutual Association (IMA) Sports Arena. The Generals won two league championships Colonial Cups in the

Colonial Hockey League Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French colonial architecture * Spanish colonial architecture Automobiles * Col ...

and

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Unite ...

History

Flint had been home to minor professional hockey in some incarnation since 1969, except for a one-year break in the 1990–91 season. This incarnation of the Flint Generals came about in the 1993–94 season after the

's (CoHL) Flint Bulldogs owner Skip Probst moved the Bulldogs from Flint to

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

. The following summer, Dr. Khaled M. Shukairy was granted an expansion franchise in the CoHL to play in Flint. After a fan vote, "Generals" had been voted on by the fans to be the name of the new franchise after the original Generals' team that relocated to

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...

in 1985. Flint won their first Colonial Cup against the

Thunder Bay Senators Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

in the 1995–96 season, in which the Generals claimed the championship in a six-game upset and won the final game by a score of 9–0. This team included such players as Kevin Kerr, who would later break the all-time minor league hockey scoring record and coach the Generals; Robin Bouchard, who was traded early the next season in a lopsided trade that did not favor the Generals; Andrei Mezin, the goalie who would go on to play for his native Belarus in the Olympics and upset Sweden; and female goaltender,

Erin Whitten Erin Hamlen (born October 26, 1971) is an American former ice hockey goaltender and the current head coach of the Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She was among the first ...

. The second Colonial Cup came in a 4–0 sweep of the Generals rival, the

Quad City Mallards The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the United Hockey League, International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named aft ...

, in 2000. The Generals were coached by former NHL player

Doug Shedden Douglas Arthur Shedden (born April 29, 1961) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1981 and 1991. After his playing career he became a coach, and worked in the minor leagues for severa ...

. They included former NHL players Bobby Reynolds, Mark Major, and Nick Stajduhar, as well as two 100 point scorers in Ross Wilson and Don Parsons, UHL Defenseman of the Year Gary Roach, late-season additions

Cory Cyrenne Cory Cyrenne (born August 25, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was named the Canadian Junior A Hockey Player of the Year in 1995 and received a hockey scholarship to Colorado College. He was also named the CHL's Spo ...

and Vladimir Serov, and goalie Mark Richards. Serov and Cyrenne totaled 60 points in 37 regular season games, and in the 2000 finals, Serov scored the game-winning goal with 50 seconds left in game three and the game-winning goal with 3:52 left in game four to preserve the victories for the Generals. After several years of mediocre hockey and questionable ownership, the Generals finished the 2009–10 season on a hot streak, clinching the final Turner Cup playoff berth on the season's final day. The Generals faced the

Muskegon Lumberjacks The Muskegon Lumberjacks are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They play in Muskegon, Michigan, at Trinity Health Arena. The Lumberjacks replaced the International Hockey League fr ...

in the first round of the Turner Cup playoffs, and after falling behind three games to one, came back to win the series in seven games. The Generals then fell to the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...

in a five-game series; the Generals' only win in the series was a 7–6 overtime win in Game 3. Despite the turnaround in 2009–10 and rumors of more stable ownership taking over, the Generals folded when Perani Arena management decided to give the arena lease to the junior Michigan Warriors of the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

Championships

Season-by-season results

Retired numbers

* #1 — Bob Perani * #5 — Stephan Brochu * #16 — Doug Manchak * #20 — Kevin Kerr * #77 — Brett MacDonald

References

External links

Flint Generals official site
{{IHL Defunct United Hockey League teams Ice hockey teams in Flint, Michigan International Hockey League (2007–2010) teams Defunct ice hockey teams in Michigan Ice hockey clubs established in 1993 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2010 Chicago Blackhawks minor league affiliates New Jersey Devils minor league affiliates 1993 establishments in Michigan 2010 disestablishments in Michigan