Famous, Infamous and Just Plain
Strange
Championships. Star players. Brawls. Antics. The Rhode Island Reds
story is the stuff of legends, and in this growing archive, we offer up a few of
the more memorable and infamous moments in Reds history.
Chuck vs. Rocky
In his 12 seasons in pro hockey, Chuck Scherza earned a
reputation as a tough customer, a checker who could dig the
puck out of the corners, and never one to back down from a
fight. But there was one time when Scherza was quick to turn
down a fight, when he figured that discretion would be the
better part of valor. And no one could blame him. His opponent
would have been Rocky Marciano, the ?Brockton Blockbuster?
who eventually would reign atop boxing?s heavyweight
division.
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When
the Flu Turned the Reds Blue
When the Asian flu decimated their lineup in 1957, the Reds
turned to the schoolboy hockey powerhouse town of Burrillville
for a quick injection of talent.
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Do
You Believe in Miracles?
This bit of wonderment is about young love in Canada that
was interrupted by a hockey career, marriages and families,
and then revived after almost 70 years.
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Johnny
Bower's Long, Strange Trip
Johnny Bower took some unusual turns during his trip to the
Hockey Hall of Fame, including a detour that brought a
championship to Rhode Island and a pair of vintage pads to a
young goaltender to the Rhode Island Reds Heritage Society.
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The
Rhode Island Reds (un)Official Song
It was wriiten by a Czechoslavakian composer in 1927,
carried across France and Germany by the advancing Allied
armies, and landed on Miss Vivian's keyboard: The Beer Barrel
Polka.
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How 'Our Game' Got Its Start Here in
Rhode Island
Hockey in Rhode Island can trace its roots to 1926-27, when
the first boys? high school ice hockey league was formed,
containing Cranston, Hope, La Salle and Mount Saint Charles
high schools. It was the same year that the Reds took the ice
for the first time.
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Christmas
Night
Longtime followers agree that Christmas night games at the
Auditorium were historically wild and unpredictable. The enemy
always seemed to play mean spirited, as if they resented
having to be on the road. And the Reds, stuffed with
home-cooked turkey, played with equal belligerence.
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The
Clown Prince of Hockey
He was a sloppy skater and couldn't handle the puck without
looking down. But for his one season with the Reds, Jean
Baptiste Pusie may have been the best show in town .
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1111 Echoes
When the ball and crane finally (and tragically) brought
down this sports relic, the 1111 location was converted into a
parking lot for employees of the neighborhood's renowned care
center, Miriam Hospital. But today, the site is eerie.
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How the E-22 Landed
at the Auditorium
It was in late October 1954 at the old R. I. Auditorium
that a future eponym arrived. It was E-22, a new concept in
restoring an ice sheet after considerable use. It was among
the first ever in the northeast. It wasn't yet called a
Zamboni, but rather "an ice resurfacing machine."
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