Sports stats



SPHL Knoxville Ice Bears

On a mission with Jim Bermingham

September 4, 2002 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release


KNOXVILLE, TN- If sheer numbers alone determined a man...Jim Bermingham would still be one of the top guys in all of minor league hockey. 702 games. 247 goals, 390 assists. 637 career points. For ten years Jim Bermingham has been doing it right. Ten years of blood, sweat and yes, the occasional tear. He has played right along side of some of the best names in hockey. He has had countless coaches, and even more teammates. He's a National Hockey League Draft Pick, and among the leaders in career numbers for the East Coast Hockey League. Along the way he has earned the respect of everybody he has played for, with or against...but it is still not enough. Does Jim Birmingham still have something to prove? You're damn right he does. You're mission, if you choose to accept it...convince yourself you are not happy to have Jim Bermingham. To do so, your mind might self-destruct in ten seconds.

Some people were meant to be carpenters. Others doctors, or lawyers or even writers. Jim Bermingham was born to play a game. His grandfather, Ken Mosdel, played professional hockey for 11 years and won 5 Stanley Cups. Growing up in Montreal, Jim was fortunate enough to skate on the famed Montreal Forum's ice for the better part of his childhood. Imagine the impression skating with "Rocket" Richard could have on a young kid. "Richard to (insert your last name here)...scoooore!" was what every kid in Quebec was pretending every single day...but Jim Bermingham was living it. After three years of Junior hockey with Laval, the Detroit Red Wings drafter Bermingham in the ninth round of the NHL Entry Draft. At twenty years of age, Jim had signed a two-year deal with a premier team in the league, been included on the team's 50-man roster, and was on top of the world. But every good situation has its downfalls. "They had such as strong team back then", says Bermingham. "They were building their team for all the Stanley Cups that they won. It was a tough lineup to crack". With Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Paul Ysebaert, Ray Sheppard, Bob Probert and cast of others in front of him, Bermingham was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With the odds of making that team stacked against him...Bermingham pressed on. His first year in pro hockey (1992-1993), Jim made a big enough impression with the Toledo Storm of the East Coast Hockey League that he was called up for 21 games with the Adirondack Red Wings of the American Hockey League. Anywhere else he would have been at least a second-line Center, but in Adirondack he was a fourth-line Center behind future NHL'ers Keith Primeau, Slava Kozlov and Mike Sillinger. Once again, it was wrong place...wrong time for Jim Bermingham. "I got to sit back and watch those guys play a lot", he says. "My ice time was definitely limited, but that first year was an unbelievable experience. I was twenty years old, playing hockey with the Detroit Red Wings AAA farm team. It was a great experience for me". Watching all of those guys ahead of him, you would figure that there were a ton of lessons to be learned. At the age of 18, Jim would learn perhaps his biggest. "It was my first training camp with Detroit and I was sitting in the locker room next to Bob Probert", chuckles Bermingham. "I was getting ready to take a sip of my Gatorade, not even paying attention. Everyone was looking at me and I'm thinking to myself...why is every one looking at me"? Well, it turns out that Probert had put his teeth in Jim's drink. "So I take a big chug of Gatorade and I end up with Bob Probert's teeth in my mouth! That was kind of an interesting experience...but you live, you learn, so now I do it (pranks) to the young kids when they come to team's I'm playing on".

Over the next nine years Bermingham would bounce back and forth between the American and East Coast hockey leagues. His numbers would continue to pile up. 75 points in 1993-1994. 72 the next year. 85 the year after. His best year came in the 1997-1998 season while playing with the Huntington Blizzard of the ECHL. Bermingham would light the lamp 41 times and assist on 59 others breaking the triple digit plateau for the first time in his career. When it was all said and done, Bermingham had played 500 games in the ECHL. He had racked up 226 Goals and 362 assists for a whopping 588 points. "I think I did a pretty good job while I was there", he says. "Now I'm just concentrating on what I can do at this level".

Through the years Bermingham has traveled to close to 100 cities. He has seen a great part of this land from East to West. North to South. He has covered nearly every inch of America. "It's always nice to go and see new places", he says. "And when you're winning, places look even better"! He is also no stranger to Knoxville. He makes his home here now. Ironically enough, one of the wildest things Jim has ever seen on the ice happened right here in the Big Orange City. "Back in the day", Bermingham remembers, "We were playing the old Cherokees, and the Coach grabbed the stick out of my hands and hit a fan across the arm with the hockey stick. After the game we went to get on our bus, and the police showed up and had our Coach in handcuffs and took him off to the police station! So we were stuck in Knoxville for a day and a half waiting for our Coach to get bailed out of jail"! Jim also partook in Roller Hockey International...an upstart league in the mid '90's. He played two seasons in the league with stints in Phoenix, San Jose and Anaheim. "It's a lot different game. It's more of a little man's game. It was all about speed and quick in's and out's, but it was still a lot of fun". Everywhere he has played though, he has earned the respect of both coaches and players alike. The hockey community is one of the closest in all of sports, but with an unmatched work ethic, and his genuineness, Jim Bermingham was able to penetrate its inner circle. "Hockey is a small world", he says. "When you play as long as I have you do get some respect".

But Bermingham realizes in the fans minds...you're only as good as your last game. "What's in the past...is in the past", Bermingham preaches. "You've got to move on. Every year you have to re-prove yourself. I'm looking forward to proving myself to the guys on the team that I'm playing with this year, and to everybody in the organization. And to myself...I want to have the type of years that I had two or three years ago. I've got my mind set that I'm going to have a successful year on and off the ice".

So what do you get for the man who has accomplished so much? A ring for starters. Through it all, a championship has been the one thing that keeps averting Jim Bermingham. He has come close on several occasions, but for him it's always a bridesmaid and never a bride. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't always in the back of my mind", he says. He has contemplated hanging up the skates for good many times during his ten-year career. But the prospect of winning a championship always brings him back. "I'd like to go out with a ring. We came close last year when I was in Elmira. We lost in the finals, and that was real tough to handle. We had such a great team, and had such a great run". There were many offers on the table this year for Jim, but the thought of hoisting a cup in Knoxville outweighed the rest. He and Tony Martino have known each other for over ten years. They used to skate together back in Montreal during the summers. When the offer came, Bermingham jumped right on it. "I didn't hesitate twice in signing in Knoxville. It's a great city to begin with, I know some people here already, and there the friendliest people I have ever been around. I'm looking forward to great things happening this year". Bermingham believes the quest for his holy grail will end right here in Knoxville. "I remember coming into this building when the Cherokees were here and the building was just rocking! It wasn't a fun to place to come to as a visitor. The fans are right on top of you yelling and screaming at you. It's a great hockey city, and if things go the way we think they will this year...Knoxville will be an unbelievable place to play"!

Still a naysayer? Bermingham doesn't blame you. "I didn't put up numbers that I thought I could of last year. But it was a different situation in Elmira. I took on a different role there. I took a back seat to some younger players who were unbelievable. I got traded there and they were having a great year. I just tried to help them out whenever I could". Last season was the first in Bermingham's career that he didn't see play at a higher level. Call it old age, call it heading off into the sunset, but don't be surprised to see a "rebirth". Bermingham understands what is expected of him this season in Knoxville and he embraces the challenge. "There's a lot of pressure on my shoulders to put up numbers", he says. "I am expected to put points on the board, but the bottom line is winning. If we're winning it won't matter what my numbers are, but I know that come October 18th, I will give everything I have to make this team successful".

With the signing of Jim Bermingham, everyone associated with the Knoxville Ice Bears has been talking. From the ownership group to Joe fan, everybody thinks they know Jim Bermingham. In six months everybody will have a different outlook on this man. Some better, some worse perhaps, but no one will really know what his game is all about until deep into the season. Can he carry this team on his back? Will he have to? "All I ask is that people give me a chance", Bermingham says. All he wants is the opportunity to prove to everybody that he can play this game that he was born to play. "I feel with the players we've already signed around me, it's only going to make me better". Jim feels that this team that is currently assembled can win 45 games this season. He knows that the Ice Bears have the talent. He knows this is his best shot at ever winning a ring, and he knows now, that all eyes will be on him. "Without hesitation, I can say that we could win 45 (games)", he says with confidence. "I think I can put up 30 or 40 goals and get close to 100 points again this year. But all this is irrelevant. The bottom line is winning. If I score 2 goals and we win 55 games then that's all that matters".

If the Knoxville Ice Bears are successful, you can rest assured Jim Bermingham will be a major part of it. It all comes down to this season for him. He has coaching plans in his future, and realizes he will learn a lot from Tony Martino this season. He will be a marked man all season long as he weaves his way up and down the ice. He will take a hit, protect a teammate, score a ton of points and help teach some of the younger guys the ins and outs of the game. He does most of this for you, and a little bit of it for himself. The fact of the matter is he does have something to prove. It's his chance to silence the doubters. He wants every fan in Knoxville to share in his first championship, and all Jim Bermingham wants in return is your support. The only question left is will he get it...or is it...mission impossible?

Check out the Knoxville Ice Bears Statistics



SPHL Stories from September 4, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Knoxville Ice Bears Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central