Hockey PC pickup, and a nice little puzzle

[steve B]

Another pickup from the stamp show. Pretty ordinary postcard of the Hershey PA Sports arena showing a bit of hockey.



At least it's ordinary until you read the back



Appears to be written by a coach, could be interesting. Couldn't pass that up for the price...(Yes, that's the price the dealer wrote on it and since I bought a decent stack of stuff he gave me a bit of a discount.)

Looked at the Hershey team, the US Olympic team, no luck. So I tried the name.
I think the sender is Leland "Hago" Harington, who played for the Canadiens and Bruins and later coached the Boston Olympics of the EAHL.
He was from Melrose, and I suppose Leland could be shortened to Len. Or is that "Lee" which might make more sense.

But the bits that still puzzle me and make me unsure
Why would a Boston team train in Hershey PA? The Hershey team and area was important, but with all the rinks etc in the Boston area you'd think they wouldn't have to travel.

The timing is odd to me too. October 4 and he's just checking out a training camp? I couldn't find a schedule for the league or team.

Steve B

[Butch7999]

Hi Steve, Hershey was home to Boston's top (AHL) minor-league affiliate from 1945-46 to 1957-58 (as it had been from
1937-38 to 1941-42, and was again from 1963-64 to 1970-71 and 1982-83 to 1984-85). It was (and to some extent still is)
fairly common practise for NHL teams to hold combined pre-season training camps with their top minor-league affiliate.

Hershey's 1947-48 AHL campaign opened on October 14. Boston's NHL season started October 19. Training camps were
usually shorter sixty or seventy years ago, but the more likely explanation is just that Harrington was hired as an
assistant coach or scout well after training had already begun, not that camp necessarily opened only on the 4th.

Anyway, that's our take on it, for whatever it's worth. Very cool PC!

[vintagesportscollector]

Great image. The Hershey Bears were also part of the EAHL. Here is an interesting link to the team and the arena's history. There is a picture of your PC image. I am guessing the Boston Olympics were just in town for an early season game or tournament. Harrington may just be stating how nice the arena was (as it was the class of the league), not necessarily implying he was training his team there for any extended period.

Edit: I was typing at the same time as Butch, and didnt see his reply. His take may (probably is) more accurate then mine.

http://hockeyscoop.net/hpa/

image.jpg

[Exhibitman]

I love PC picks like that. I once found a PC with a note on the back written and signed by a boxing HOFer who died in the 1930's; got it for a few bucks.

[Butch7999]

Joe's surmise is at least as valid as ours. Nothing definitely says Harrington was involved in any official capacity, so indeed
he may have just been having a look-see. And it's certainly possible the Boston Garden was booked for some other event(s)
during Bruin training camp. A search of Boston newspapers from those weeks might provide more definitive answers.

[steve B]

Assuming it is Harington he was the head coach of the Olympics from 1940-41 through 1947-48

http://www.hockeydb.com/stte/boston-olympics-4927.html

Not a big NHL career, but he did play.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...TRUE&pid=17090

The short training camp or preseason visit makes sense to me.

seeing the actual picture is very cool! I make custom pages to put stuff like this in a binder, I'll have to figure out how to use the actual pic instead of just the image of the front. Not much room on an 8 1/2 x11, but there must be some way. Maybe two sided.....Or a couple pages so I can include the playing/coaching record.

I'll post scans of the final pages once I get them done.

Thanks everyone.

Steve B

[Huysmans]

Hey Steve,

The info you posted regarding Harrington and his position with the Olympics is correct. I have a 1943-44 Boston Olympics and US Coast Guard Cutters dual-team signed stick. The Cutters were an interesting team, with a few NHL Hall of Famers who volunteered during the war... Including a Canadian, with Winnipegger and Hall of Famer Art Coulter. Other Hall of Fame members on the Cutters were Johnny Mariucci and Bruins netminder Frank Brimsek. The Boston Olympics this season included teenagers Fernie Flaman and Allan Stanley... Who would both go on to long Hall of Fame careers.
Here's a photo of the Harrington signature on the stick, and you'll notice the similarities between the style of the "H", and the space between the "G" and "T". I'd say it's a safe bet the individual on your postcard is Hago Harrington.

I hope this info helps.
Brent

[steve B]

Wow, that's fantastic. Really does look like it's him.

With all the pics, and stats I had a lot more info than usual when I make a page for an item. So I went a bit fancy. Double sided page printed on acid free cardstock. The PC is mounted with archival photo corners. Then I put it in a single pocket page. Most of my pages are really simple, just a title like at the top of this one and the side that's not displayed printed below unless the item is blank backed or there's not much to the other side.

If either Brent or Joe objects to me using their pics this way I'll change it so I'm not using them. I'll be a bit sad since I think it came out pretty nice, but I'd change it.

Steve B

[vintagesportscollector]

Looks great Steve, very nice!

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by vintagesportscollector

Looks great Steve, very nice!

+1

[steve B]

Thanks guys!

I started doing this for some of the stamps I collect, there are commercialy made album pages for the basic ones, but none for a more advanced collection - Plate varieties, different papers that the catalog doesn't list etc. Once I finished that I started doing some of the other stuff. It takes up a bit more space, but I have a bunch of stuff where I know what's special about it but almost anyone else would have a bit of work to do. So I make a page with at least a minimal writeup.

It also helps organize. I have to decide if something is special or valuable enough that I want to spend the effort making a page.

Steve B