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

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

. 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 Tro ...

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

Greensboro Coliseum First Horizon Coliseum (formerly Greensboro Coliseum) is an arena in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959 as the first building of the Greensboro Complex, the 22,000-seat arena is the home arena of the UNC Greensboro Spartans basketball t ...

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 (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 spo ...

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 professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

. 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 () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

from 1972 to 1975, but also had secondary

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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 (November 6, 1948 – May 11, 2024) was a Canadian professional 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, and 97 games i ...

Jamie Bateman James Bateman (born September 16, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Drafted in the fifth round of the 1974 NHL amateur draft by the Boston Bruins, Bateman opted to play in t ...

Jacques Blain Jacques "Jim" Blain (born July 19, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. During the 1972–73 season, Blain played 70 games in the World Hockey Association with the Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounce ...

* Kirk Bowman * Don Burgess * Brian Bye * Brian Cadle * Jack Caffery * Jeff Carlson *

Lyle Carter Lyle Dwight Carter (born April 29, 1945) is a Canadian former professional hockey goalie. He 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 19 ...

* Chick Chalmers * Jack Chipchase * Mike Conroy * Tom Cottringer * Claude Cyr * Murray Davison * Norm Defelice * Brian Derksen *

Jerry Engele Jerome Wilfred Engele (born November 26, 1950) is a Canadian former 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 head coach ...

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...

* Greg Fox * Russ Gillow * 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 Indianap ...

* Howie Heggedal * Earl Heiskala * Paul Hoganson * Bill Horton *

Don Howse Donald Gordon Howse (born July 28, 1952) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 33 games in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings during the 1979–80 NHL season, 1979–80 season. The rest of his career, ...

Mike Hyndman Michael Anthony 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 ...

* Mike Jakubo *

Eddie Johnston Edward Joseph Johnston (born November 24, 1935) is a 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 as a player ...

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 cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

* Doug Kerslake * Jarda Krupicka * Moe L'Abbé * Michel Lachance *

Barry Legge Barry Graham Legge (born October 22, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 107 games in the National Hockey League and 345 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, Mi ...

* Bernie MacNeil * Peter McDuffe * Jimmy McLeod * Rick Morris * Bob Perreault *

Tony Poeta Anthony Joseph Poeta (March 4, 1933 – May 2, 2004) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played one game in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1951–52 season, on February 17, 1952 against the Boston Bruins. The ...

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 the ...

* Steve Richardson * Lorne Rombough * Bob Russell * Barry Salovaara * Nick Sanza * Danny Schock * Steve Self * Tom Serviss *

Bob Sicinski Bob Sicinski (born November 13, 1946, in Brampton, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 353 games in the World Hockey Association. He played with the Chicago Cougars and Indianapolis Racers. While playing for the India ...

* Fred Speck * Guy Trottier * Gordon Tumilson * Don Ward * Jim Watson * Steve West * Alton White * Ian Wilkie * Gary Williamson * Hal Willis *

Bob Winograd Robert Earl Winograd (born June 6, 1950) is a former professional ice hockey player in Canada. He played professionally in the World Hockey Association (WHA), the North American Hockey League and the American Hockey League from 1972 until 1977. Bo ...

* Roger Wilson *

Bill Young William, Will, Bill or Billy Young may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Young (composer) (died 1662), English composer and viola da gambist * William Young (architect) (1843–1900), Scottish architect, designer of Glasgow City Chambe ...

* Jerry Zrymiak * Wayne Zuk

Results

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

References

External links