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American Hockey League

AHL announces 2006 inductees into American Hockey League Hall of Fame

January 5, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... The American Hockey League today announced the seven legends who have been selected to make up the historic inaugural Class of 2006 of the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.

The first inductees into the AHL Hall of Fame are Johnny Bower, Jack Butterfield, Jody Gage, Fred Glover, Willie Marshall, Frank Mathers and Eddie Shore.

"The AHL Board of Governors has unanimously endorsed the selection committee's recommendation of these seven players and builders as the most significant contributors over our first 70 years," said David Andrews, AHL President and CEO. "These individuals have established among them over several decades a standard of excellence that has defined our league. We are honored to name them as our first inductees into the AHL Hall of Fame, and to place them at the forefront of what will be a formidable group of hockey legends to be inducted in future years."

The first class of inductees will be honored as part of the festivities at the 2006 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic in Winnipeg on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

In a unique effort to make the rich tradition of the AHL available to the widest possible audience, the AHL Hall of Fame will be housed on-line at www.ahlhalloffame.com and will be accessible to fans worldwide with the click of a mouse as the newest member of the AHL Internet Network. The Network also includes theahl.com, caldercup.com and all 27 official team sites, and hosts more than 150 million page views each year. The AHL Hall of Fame site will be launched in conjunction with the Feb. 1 induction ceremony.

In operation since 1936, the AHL is celebrating its historic 70th anniversary this season, and continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 80 percent of all NHL players today are AHL graduates, and last year more than 7.1 million fans - an all-time league record - attended AHL games across North America.

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JOHN WILLIAM "JOHNNY" BOWER

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Johnny Bower became the poster boy for perseverance during his storied professional career, reaching legendary status in the AHL before finally getting a chance to star in the National Hockey League.

Born Nov. 8, 1925, Bower grew up in rural Saskatchewan, the only boy in a family of nine children. A friend gave him his first pair of skates, his dad shaved hockey sticks out of crooked tree branches, and he made goalie pads from an old mattress and pucks out of horse manure. But he still became one of the greatest goaltenders in hockey history.

Bower served four years in the Canadian Army during World War II, lying about his age and enlisting at 15. He soon began his professional hockey career, making his debut with the Cleveland Barons on opening night of the 1945-46 season.

Bower would share the goaltending duties in Cleveland during his first four seasons, in 1947-48 joining Roger Bessette to form one of the most formidable duos in AHL history. With Bower and Bessette manning the crease, Cleveland reeled off a 27-game unbeaten streak to end the regular season, then cruised to a Calder Cup championship, although Bower did not appear in the postseason.

In 1949-50, Bower became the Barons' number-one goaltender, and he would go on to backstop Cleveland to two more titles in 1951 and 1953 before finally getting his first taste of the National Hockey League. He spent the entire 1953-54 season with the New York Rangers, but returned to the AHL and continued his dominance, winning three consecutive Les Cunningham Awards as the AHL's most valuable player in 1956, 1957 and 1958.

Bower won another Calder Cup with the Providence Reds in 1956, led the AHL in wins a total of five times, and was named to six postseason AHL All-Star Teams, including five first-team selections. He also won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Award (then given to the goaltender with the lowest goals-against average in the league) on three occasions. On Oct. 23, 1956, in his first of two career All-Star Game appearances, Bower made 47 saves as the Reds shut out a team of AHL All-Stars, 4-0.

After the 1957-58 season, when he made a triumphant return to Cleveland and established career bests with a 2.17 GAA and eight shutouts, Bower was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the inter-league draft, and his AHL days were over. He would play an amazing 11 seasons with the Leafs, leading the team to three consecutive Stanley Cups from 1962-64 and a fourth in 1967 - at the age of 42.

Bower remains the winningest goaltender in American Hockey League history, with a remarkable record of 359-174-57 to his credit. His 45 career shutouts are also more than any other AHL goalie, and he still holds the league record for longest streak without allowing a goal, shutting out his opponents for a span of 249:51 during 1957-58.

Bower's number 1 was retired by the Cleveland Barons, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.

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JACK A. BUTTERFIELD

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Anyone associated with the present-day American Hockey League owes a debt of gratitude to Jack Butterfield. His passion, innovative talent and fiscal know-how solidified the league when faced with the twin threat of NHL expansion and the emergence of the World Hockey Association in the late 1960's and early 1970's. His efficiency and demeanor earned Butterfield a host of admirers, none more important than NHL president Clarence Campbell.

Born Aug. 1, 1919, the native of Regina, Sask., played amateur hockey until a back injury suffered while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II took him off the ice for good. Butterfield became a public relations executive and part-time trainer for the AHL's New Haven Eagles, working for his uncle, Eddie Shore. After stints in United States Hockey League and the Pacific Coast League, Butterfield returned to the AHL to serve as the rink manager, concessions manager, trainer, coach and eventually general manager of the Springfield Indians, overseeing the only back-to-back-to-back Calder Cup champions in AHL history (1960, 1961, 1962).

Butterfield joined the administration of the AHL in 1957 as the Indians' alternate governor and became league President nine years later. As AHL President, Butterfield took on several arduous tasks, most significantly the restructuring of the league's joint affiliation agreement with the NHL to allow AHL teams to better develop prospects for their corresponding NHL parent clubs. This arrangement prevented the AHL from succumbing to the loss of players to the expanded NHL, and put it in a stronger position when the WHA began signing players in the early 1970's. His reputation was such that his opinion was often sought by the NHL Rules Committee.

Butterfield also revised the original AHL constitution and by-laws to reflect the constant growth and development of the league and the sports landscape as a whole.

Butterfield has been the chairman of the AHL Board of Governors since his 28-year tenure as President ended in 1994. He was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980, twice won the James C. Hendy Award as the league's outstanding executive (1971, 1984) and was a winner of the Lester Patrick Award for service to hockey in the United States (1985).

Since 1984, the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs has been awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy. And in 1998, Butterfield was named the inaugural recipient of the Thomas Ebright Award for outstanding contributions to the AHL in a career that has now spanned parts of seven decades.

Butterfield also remains active in the Springfield community, serving on the Board of the Springfield Shriner's Hospital and serving as vice-chairman of the Springfield March of Dimes.

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JODY WILLIAM GAGE

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Although Jody Gage played just 68 career games in the National Hockey League, he gained legendary status in the American Hockey League, where he set numerous offensive and longevity records over the span of a magnificent 17-year career.

A Toronto native (b. Nov. 29, 1959), Gage was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1979 and joined the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings that fall. He set the table for his prolific career in his AHL debut on Oct. 11, 1979, scoring four goals in an 8-3 win over Hershey. Gage spent most of the next six seasons with the Wings in Glens Falls, N.Y., winning a Calder Cup championship in 1981 and scoring 40 goals during the 1983-84 campaign.

In the summer of 1985, Gage signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres and soon became one of the most recognizable figures in the storied history of the AHL's Rochester Americans. His Amerks debut was déjà vu, as Gage scored four times to help defeat Hershey. He finished his first year in Rochester with 42 goals and 99 points and was named a First Team AHL All-Star, but the club finished out of the playoff picture.

In 1986-87, Gage tied what was then an AHL record with 14 goals in 17 postseason games as Rochester won the Calder Cup. And in 1987-88, he became the second player in AHL history to score 60 goals in a season, setting a career high with 104 points and earning the Les Cunningham Award as the league's most valuable player. Gage reeled off four straight 40-goal seasons from 1989-93, and not coincidentally, the Americans returned to the Calder Cup Finals three times in that span.

On Nov. 12, 1993, Gage became just the third AHL player ever to record 1,000 career points with an assist vs. Binghamton. Just two months later, a further pursuit of history was temporarily derailed when Gage suffered a season-ending knee injury in his 999th career AHL game. After a lengthy rehabilitation, he became the fifth player in league history to reach 1,000 games on Nov. 25, 1994. And on Mar. 26, 1995, in the first period of a 5-4 win over visiting Albany, Gage became the third member of the AHL's exclusive 500-goal club.

Gage, who was named co-captain of the U.S. team at the 1995 AHL All-Star Game, the first edition of the event after a 35-year hiatus, retired during the 1995-96 season ranked third in league history with 504 goals and 1,048 points, and as the AHL's all-time leader with 51 career Calder Cup Playoff goals. His seven career 40-goal seasons are an AHL record, and he is also Rochester's all-time leader in games played, goals, assists and points.

Upon his retirement, Gage became the Americans' assistant general manager and helped the club to the 1996 Calder Cup championship. He was named GM in 1996-97, and in the last nine seasons has overseen five division championships and two more Calder Cup Finals appearances in Rochester, as well as the Amerks' franchise-record 51-win season in 2004-05.

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FREDERICK AUSTIN "FRED" GLOVER

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Fred Glover retired in 1968 as the league's career leader in games played (1,201), goals (520), assists (814), points (1,334) and penalty minutes (2,402), and although each of those marks has since been eclipsed, he remains one of the AHL's all-time greats.

In 1948-49, his first AHL season, a 21-year-old Glover (b. Jan. 5, 1928) scored 35 goals and recorded 83 points for the Indianapolis Capitals, the first of eight times in his career he would lead his team in scoring. He earned the first of his record-tying five Calder Cup championships as a player in 1950 with Indianapolis, and in 1950-51, he scored what would stand as a career high 48 goals, earning a First Team AHL All-Star berth.

Glover spent most of the next two years in the NHL with Detroit and Chicago, until the fateful day of Jan. 16, 1953, when he was traded by the Black Hawks to the AHL's Cleveland Barons. It was in Cleveland that Glover forged his place in league history as one of its greatest players ever.

In his first year and a half with the Barons, Glover totaled 90 points in 84 games and helped Cleveland to two Calder Cup championships, and he quickly became one of the AHL's marquee stars. Beginning in 1954-55, Glover appeared in all six of the league's annual All-Star Games, and he won a scoring championship in 1956-57, when he also claimed his fourth Calder Cup.

The heart, soul and captain of the Barons had his most memorable season in 1959-60, when in a five-week span he surpassed the AHL's career records for goals, assists and points. Glover finished that campaign with a franchise-record 107 points, leading the league in scoring for the second time and earning the first of three Les Cunningham awards as the AHL's most valuable player.

Glover's last six years in Cleveland (1962-68) were spent as a player/head coach, and he captured his third MVP award and fifth Calder Cup championship in 1963-64. He took on the duties of assistant general manager in 1965, and continued to lead on the ice as well. On Feb. 11, 1967, Glover netted his 500th career AHL goal, and by the time he hung up his skates in 1968 to become the head coach of the NHL's Oakland Seals, only Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard had scored more goals in all of professional hockey.

Glover currently sits in second place on the AHL's all-time lists for goals, assists, points and games, and third in penalty minutes. He is also third in points (104), tied for second in goals (48), fifth in assists (56) and second in games played (120) in Calder Cup Playoff action. His 17 Calder Cup postseason appearances are a league record, and his seven postseason All-Star Team berths and five First Team selections are both more than any other forward in AHL history.

Glover played 992 regular-season games in a Cleveland Barons uniform, the most ever by one player for one AHL team. His number 9 was retired by the club in 1969, and is still honored today by the current Barons franchise.

A Toronto native, Glover passed away on Aug. 16, 2001, at the age of 73.

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WILLIE CHARLES MARSHALL

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A talented playmaker, Willie Marshall was known as a dangerous sniper during his 20 seasons in the American Hockey League, in which time he became the most prolific scorer in league history.

Born Dec. 1, 1931, in Kirkland Lake, Ont., Marshall made his AHL debut with the Pittsburgh Hornets in 1952-53, scoring 27 goals and dishing out 39 assists for 66 points in 62 games and leading the Hornets to the Calder Cup Final. It would be the first of 13 seasons in which Marshall would lead his AHL team in scoring.

Marshall soon became a model of consistency, topping the 20-goal mark in each of his first 12 years in the American Hockey League. In 1954-55, he saw action in 16 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but still managed to register 48 points in 46 contests in Pittsburgh, then lead the Hornets to a Calder Cup championship.

Following the 1955-56 season, in which Marshall was named a First Team AHL All-Star, Duquesne Gardens was torn down and the Hornets were forced into dormancy; Marshall was sold to the Detroit Red Wings and landed with the Hershey Bears. After finishing second in the AHL scoring race in 1956 and 1957, Marshall won his first - and only - league scoring title in 1957-58, putting up 104 points in the regular season and 19 more in the playoffs as the Bears captured the Calder Cup.

A trade back to the Maple Leafs brought Marshall to a brief stint in Rochester, but he was loaned back to Hershey and helped the Bears to another championship in 1959, Marshall's third Calder Cup win in five years. He continued to average better than a point per game with Hershey, and in 1962 earned a nod as a Second Team AHL All-Star after registering 95 points in 70 games, including a career-best 65 assists.

Marshall joined the Providence Reds in 1963 for three seasons, then moved on to the Baltimore Clippers for five (1966-71). He returned to Rochester to finish up the 1971-72 season, his record-tying 20th in the AHL, and retired as the league's all-time leader in games played (1,205), goals (523), assists (852) and points (1,375), as well as hat tricks (25) and Calder Cup Playoff assists (71) and points (119).

Marshall still ranks fifth on the Hershey Bears' franchise scoring list with 570 points in 439 games in Chocolatetown, and his number 16 has been retired by the club.

In 2004, the American Hockey League honored Marshall at the All-Star Classic in Grand Rapids and unveiled the Willie Marshall Award, which is now presented annually to the AHL player who scores the most goals each season.

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FRANK SYDNEY MATHERS

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The embodiment of its most storied franchise, Frank Mathers was one of the American Hockey League's greatest players, coaches, executives and ambassadors during a 57-year association with the AHL.

A native of Winnipeg, Mathers was a gifted sportsman who played halfback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He also served as a pilot in the Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Mathers soon turned his attention to hockey, and beginning in 1948, after three years in the Quebec senior circuit, he spent eight seasons patrolling the blue line for the AHL's Pittsburgh Hornets, establishing himself as one of the best defensemen in the league. He was named a First Team AHL All-Star five straight years, the only player in AHL history ever to accomplish that feat, and he helped the Hornets to Calder Cup championships in 1952 and 1955. Mathers would also participate in all six of the AHL All-Star Games held in the 1950's, five as a player.

When the Hornets folded after the 1955-56 season, Mathers nearly retired to pursue a career in dentistry. But legend has it that Hershey Bears president and general manager John Sollenberger persuaded Mathers in unique Hershey fashion to join his team as a player/coach: by taking him on a few roller-coaster rides at Hersheypark.

Mathers' arrival immediately changed the fortunes of the Bears franchise. Coming off consecutive fifth-place finishes, Hershey qualified for the playoffs in 1957 and won back-to-back Calder Cup titles in 1958 and 1959. Mathers retired from playing during the 1961-62 season, but continued as the Bears' head coach through 1973, capturing another Calder Cup in 1969 - the fifth of his career.

Mathers became the Bears' president and GM in 1973 and raised his career championship total to eight, overseeing Hershey's Calder Cup wins in 1974, 1980 and 1988. The 1987-88 Bears are widely regarded as one of the best AHL teams of all time, winning 50 games during the regular season and posting a perfect 12-0 record during the 1988 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Mathers compiled a record of 610-512-134 in 1,256 games as Bears head coach, leading Hershey to the Calder Cup Playoffs in 16 of his 17 seasons behind the bench, including six Finals appearances. He is the AHL's all-time leader in games coached, and ranks second in coaching victories.

Mathers was named the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL's outstanding coach in 1969, and won the league's James C. Hendy Award as outstanding executive in 1977. He was honored with the prestigious Lester Patrick Award in 1987 for service to hockey in the United States, and earned the ultimate honor in 1992 when he was enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Mathers was named an honorary life member of the AHL's Board of Governors in 1994, and in 1996, the AHL instituted the Frank Mathers Trophy, which is now awarded each year to the Eastern Conference's regular-season champion.

Mathers passed away on Feb. 9, 2005, at the age of 80, but will forever be remembered as one of the truly legendary figures in the American Hockey League.

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EDWARD WILLIAM "EDDIE" SHORE

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An imposing blend of raw talent and intimidation, defenseman Eddie Shore finished his illustrious playing career in the American Hockey League, then became a team owner and manager and continued to be a demanding and successful hockey figure.

Early in the 1939-40 season, Shore sensed that his National Hockey League days were numbered. He seized the opportunity to purchase the Springfield Indians of the AHL, where he became player/owner. A few weeks into the season, the Bruins were floundering and Boston manager Art Ross approached Shore about a possible comeback. A short-term arrangement was made whereby Shore would play strictly in home games.

Before the season was out, Shore was dealt to the New York Americans. At one point in March, Shore appeared in six playoff encounters in as many nights - three with New York and three with Springfield.

Shore retired from the NHL at the conclusion of that topsy-turvy year to devote his full attention to his AHL investment. When the United States Army took over the Eastern States Coliseum during World War II, Shore moved to Buffalo and managed the Bisons to two Calder Cup championships. The Indians franchise was reactivated in 1946-47 and Shore remained part of the team until he sold it in 1976. With Shore at the helm, Springfield captured Calder Cup titles in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1971 and 1975.

Shore was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947, and in 1958, the AHL created the Eddie Shore Award, presented annually to the top defenseman in the league.

As an AHL owner and coach, Shore gained a reputation as a demanding yet innovative teacher of the game. Many players were upset by his extreme methods, but others would claim they learned valuable hockey lessons they wouldn't have received anywhere else.

Long after his playing days were finished, Shore's influence continued to be felt. In 1970, he was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to the game of hockey in the United States. And in 1997, a panel of experts assembled by The Hockey News selected Shore as one of the 10 greatest players in the history of the National Hockey League.

Shore, a native of Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., passed away in 1985 at the age of 82.

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