Florida hockey at new heights since 1st pro league launched in 1938

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as “The Hockey Maven,” shares his humor and insight with readers every Wednesday. With skyrocketing hockey interest in Florida generated by the Florida Panthers consecutive Stanley Cup triumphs, the calendar turns back to the Panthers’ maiden NHL season and even earlier to the Sunshine State’s first pro hockey league in 1938.

Just two months ago, a second straight Stanley Cup parade took place along the South Florida beachfront, overflowing with joyous fans of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers stretching endlessly on the beach.

While watching thousands cheer the likes of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand, I wondered if anyone could imagine that pro hockey in Florida actually was born in a Miami suburb 87 years ago.

The original 1938-39 circuit was called the Tropical Hockey League (THL) with four teams all based at the Coral Gables Coliseum, renamed the Metropolitan Ice Palace. The rosters were dominated by Canadians with a sprinkling of Americans. One of them, 18-year-old Bob Dill of St. Paul, Minnesota, eventually became a hard-hitting New York Rangers defenseman.

As it happened, the one-shot THL was the first, but not last, attempt to sell pro hockey among the sheltering palms.

A proposed 1972 Florida entry in the World Hockey Association proved to be more illusion than reality. Despite its flighty name, the Miami Screaming Eagles lacked a nest, not to mention a nest egg. The name was soon dropped and the franchise-to-be moved north to become the Philadelphia Blazers.

It wasn’t until Blockbuster Video mogul Wayne Huizenga was granted an NHL franchise Dec. 10, 1992, that major league hockey became firmly established in South Florida. Huizenga named New York Islanders dynasty-builder Bill Torrey as president and the franchise ripened faster than a grapefruit in the sunshine.

“My dad jumped gung-ho into the job,” said Rich Torrey, Bill’s son, “and never worked harder in his life. Dad wanted his final hockey legacy to be permanently planting an NHL flag in South Florida, plus he got help from (general manager) Bob Clarke and coach Roger Neilson.”

By contrast, the state’s original pro hockey circuit embraced the Miami Clippers, Havana Tropicals, Miami Beach Pirates and Coral Gables Seminoles. The league’s one and only rink had a seating capacity of 3,750.

According to the “Puckstruck” website, Havana never got past the Miami city line.

“The Cuban connection was in name only, styled in the hope of attracting curious, would-be fans from Miami’s thriving Little Havana neighborhood,” the article explained.

Dill was attracted to the THL by “Bullet Joe” Simpson, who coached Miami and entered the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Class of 1963.

“My dad went south because he needed the money,” Bob Dill, Jr. said. “America was in a depression and though Dad wasn’t getting much (an estimated $25 a week), it was a good experience for him and eventually led him to the Rangers.”

Apart from Simpson, other hockey personalities included Mike Goodman, a gold medalist with Canada at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics who played for the amateur Winnipeg Falcons and was Seminoles player-coach. King Clancy, who retired from the NHL six games into the 1936-37 season and became a referee, made a THL guest officiating appearance in January 1939.

Opening night, Dec. 10, 1938, drew a near-capacity crowd when the Clippers defeated the Miami Beach Pirates 3-2.

“The balance of the season featured some rough hockey,” according to Puckstruck. “There were fights and scrums and the swinging of sticks.”

But the end was near. The Ice Palace owners staged a 1939 All-Star Game and then closed the season without a playoff. An attempt to revive the THL in 1941 was no more successful than the Miami Screaming Eagles.

Thus went the last vestige of pro hockey in Florida until Huizenga purchased the Panthers for $50 million, whereupon Torrey managed to get a competitive team on the ice from the opening face-off.

“Bill referred to the first year Panthers as ‘just a ragtag group of castoffs, but he just loved them,” Rich Torrey said, “especially the vets he brought in to get it off the ground.”

Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, and forwards Scott Mellanby and Bill Lindsay, among others, helped set a then-NHL record for most points (83) as an expansion franchise. The Panthers’ original home, the 14,500-seat Miami Arena, soon was filling to 94 percent capacity, a pleasant surprise to skeptics such as Lindsay.

“I couldn’t believe that we were playing hockey in a place that had beaches and sunshine all the time,” said Lindsay, today the Panthers radio analyst. “But we were told from the outset that we were here to also grow the game. We signed autographs every day after practice and built a brand that quickly got people interested. And it kept getting better, especially our Cup run in ’96.”