There will be 24 hours of hockey played this weekend in West Springfield.
Ted and Evie Shore skate for the last time on the ice of the Eastern States Coliseum on March 17, 1991.
WEST SPRINGFIELD – They’ll be skating at the Eastern States Coliseum this weekend.
Well, not exactly.
The skaters, taking part in a “24 Hours of Hockey” marathon sponsored by the Springfield Falcons and Big Y World Class Markets, won’t be skating in the old building. Rather, they’ll be playing old-fashioned “pond hockey” on an outdoor rink behind it.
Falcons executive Donnie Moorhouse sees his “24 Hours” promotion as a salute to this area’s hockey history.
“By holding the event behind the Coliseum, ‘24 Hours of Hockey’ hopes to pay tribute to the cultural and historical significance of hockey in West Springfield and the region while also introducing the sport to new fans,” he said.
As the marathon games run from 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday, they stir special memories for a couple of Coliseum veterans – Ted Shore and his wife, Evelyn.
On March 17, 1991, they had the honor of taking a “Last Waltz” skate together on a Coliseum ice surface that would melt into history by the next morning.
As the son of Springfield Indians owner Eddie Shore, Ted first stepped onto the Coliseum ice in 1939, when he was nine years old. His dad had just purchased Springfield’s American Hockey League franchise – while still playing for the Boston Bruins – and he handed Ted “a new pair of black skates” for the first of his countless times on that beautiful surface.
Except for a hitch in the armed forces during the Korean War, Ted Shore worked with his dad for three decades as he oversaw the Coliseum’s hockey operations.
“I did everything in that building except sign the players’ checks. So did Jack Butterfield,” Ted said, referring to the man who served as general manager of the Indians before starting a long term as president of the AHL.
Fifty-two years after his first Coliseum skate, Ted brought Evelyn back to the “old barn,” where they had met when she was a member of the traveling ensemble for the Ice Capades, a hugely popular show that yearly sold out the Coliseum.
On the final day of the Coliseum’s ice-making operation in 1991, Exposition officials opened the building for one last, nostalgia-filled public skating party.
“Later that night, Evvie and I went back. The Zamboni was going, and the ice-making equipment had been shut off. We skated for about 15 minutes,” Shore said.
“It was a bittersweet time, because I knew I was saying goodbye to a rink that was my home away from home,” said Evelyn, who is a native of Pittsburgh.
“I had skated for five years with Ice Capades at the Coliseum. I literally met my husband on the ice there, and I had the privilege to skate in that old building whenever it was available to me,” she said.
Professional hockey left the Coliseum in 1972 when the Indians franchise moved into the new downtown Springfield Civic Center. The Indians did move back briefly, from 1976 to 1980, and the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association played some of their games there.
From 1980 to its closing 11 years later, the Coliseum basically served as the No. 1 venue for high school hockey in this area, often hosting state tournament play as well.
If Ted and Evelyn had the “last waltz,” who had the distinction of playing the last game on Coliseum ice?
That would be St. Joseph’s of Pittsfield and Westwood High School, which met on March 13, 1991, for the state Division III championship. Westwood won 4-2.
In that Coliseum finale, St. Joseph’s was sparked by Marc Salvi, a junior forward. For him, farewell to the Coliseum was prelude to a 1992 season in which he would score a Western Mass. record 55 goals and become the last Berkshire County player to win the Amo Bessone Award as the top player in Western Mass.
Cathedral was the last Connecticut Valley team to skate at the Coliseum. On March 9, 1991, the Panthers beat St. John’s of Shrewsbury 3-0 in a state Division II semifinal. Cathedral then lost to Archbishop Williams of Braintree in the state final at Boston Garden.
That 1991 season was the first for Edgar Alejandro as Cathedral coach. He would carry the school’s hockey program to the elite status it now enjoys.
It also was the season of Pat Moriarty, a Cathedral senior who scored 50 goals in 23 games and won the Bessone Award.
Moriarty, who now serves as Cathedral’s baseball coach, has vivid memories of playing at the Coliseum.
“There was no better place to play – the history, the tradition, the nostalgia. You’d feel it every time you’d step onto the ice. The Coliseum had its special aroma and atmosphere,” he said.
Over its 65-year history as a hockey venue, the Coliseum hosted countless pro, high school, college, junior and adult league games. It also was the place for skating parties and hours of public skating.
It all began on Dec. 1, 1926, when the Springfield Indians of the Canadian-American League lost 3-1 to the Boston Cubs before a crowd of 4,400. Tex Rikard, widely known as a promoter of heavyweight title fights in New York, dropped the ceremonial first puck marking the arrival of pro hockey in this region.
The Coliseum was erected in 1916 to serve as an arena for agricultural and dairy shows.
In May 1990, Eastern States Exposition officials, citing the prohibitive costs of maintaining the building’s refrigeration equipment, announced that the 1990-91 hockey season would be its last.
Now, long after its ice melted away, skaters are at back at the Coliseum (that is, behind it) for the 24-hour marathon – a touching tribute to a region rich in hockey history.