Turning Back the Clock
International Incidents re-lives colorful era of pro hockey in Ohio
At one time or another, and maybe more frequently since we are spending more time at home, we have all played along with the game show “Jeopardy!”.
Let us jump right to Final Jeopardy with the category: “Central Ohio Hockey History”.
The answer: Checkers, Golden Seals and Owls.
The correct question: What is International Hockey League (IHL) teams that called Columbus home in the 1960s and 70s.
The history of these teams and the birth of professional hockey in Columbus is presented by Eric Weltner in the documentary “International Incidents”.
Weltner, a self- proclaimed “junkie of the game”, grew up watching the teams play at the Ohio Exposition Center on the Ohio State Fairgrounds and was motivated to complete the 4000 hours of effort to pay homage to an era he believes has been overlooked.
“My girlfriend got me an autograph sheet of guys that were on the team from 1973-74 and it sparked my interest again. I spoke to the archivist at the Columbus Dispatch and she told me that nothing was there. The whole file (hockey from the 60’s and 70’s) is gone.” declared Weltner. “I thought that was bizarre and disquieting. I didn’t want them to be forgotten.”
Weltner did find accounts of the decade of hockey from newspapers via microfilm.
“I literally just started cold-calling former players from the white pages. One player would give me another player’s name and he would give me a couple and I just did this ‘daisy chain’ of finding people.”
In 2011 Weltner began the self-funded project that debuted on screen earlier this year in January.
Throughout the process, Weltner was encouraged to fulfill the project during conversations with the former players.
“They were just neat individuals. I think they (players) couldn’t believe they were being recognized 40-45 years later.”
Not only were the former players in disbelief regarding Weltner’s effort to share their history, they provided Weltner one of his greatest rewards at a sold-out Columbus Blue Jackets’ game on the eve of “International Incidents” premier at which the former players were recognized.
“I got a call from the Blue Jackets and they wanted to run a trailer and do a segment during the game. The two players with me got a standing ovation and one of two said ’20,000 people just clapped for us” and he was elated,” shared Weltner.
“It was a long period of time. I stayed focused because I love the game and I love Columbus. The biggest thing that kept me going was I had given people my word that I was doing something,” said Weltner.
“I was going to do it as a book but thought motion and sound would be cool to do this project,” offered Weltner. “Most of the images are ‘still’ images but there is so much technology you can make motion with still images.”
The 80-minute film explains the genesis of professional hockey in Columbus and introduces several key personalities from the trio of IHL teams based in Ohio’s capital city.
Weltner’s effort skates us from the first professional hockey game played in Columbus-an exhibition game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Checkers in 1966- through the histories of the three IHL franchises.
That initial game featuring the Blackhawks’ Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull had to be played with a “running clock” due to poor ice conditions.
Weltner described the timeline of the three organizations as a “relay race” beginning with the 1966 Checkers started by three brothers from Cleveland: Jerry, Ray and Larry Schmelzer. Ironically, the brothers had just missed out on owning the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association and turned to owning an IHL hockey franchise after falling short of the Celtics’ ownership.
After four seasons, and the IHL reclaiming the franchise, Charles Finley purchased the franchise.
Yes, the same Charles Finley of baseball’s Kansas City and Oakland Athletics and the NHL’s California Golden Seals.
The Columbus Golden Seals existed from 1971-73.
Welcome the Columbus Owls who played at the fairgrounds from 1973-77.
One of the interesting details regarding the Owls was that the team created a line consisting of all former American collegiate players. This was the first occurrence of such a line in professional hockey according to Weltner.
A consistent challenge of each of the organizations was the limited and, in some cases, non-existent of ice available at the fairgrounds during the playoffs. Due to high school basketball playoffs and the circus, the facility would be unavailable. The teams would have to locate alternative ice, sometimes out of Ohio, to host playoff games.
Among the numerous players featured in the documentary are Steve Lyon and Edward “Moe” Bartoli.
“Lyon was a skilled player and was fearless. He did not mind engaging and played very aggressively and assertively. He could score, hit and get the crowd on their feet,” assessed Weltner.
Lyon was recognized as one of the IHL’s top performers for the league’s 50th Anniversary.
Weltner also recounted his own personal experience with Lyon in which the young Weltner asked-and received- an autograph from Lyon while the player was serving a penalty.
Bartoli served as a player-coach for the Checkers, a coach and later general manager of the Golden Seals and served as a coach and general manager of the Owls.
“He (Bartoli) was just a legend in minor league hockey,” acknowledged Weltner. “He was a big personality in the IHL. He was a draw at home and on the road.”
A draw indeed, Bartoli once amassed 14 penalty minutes in an all-star game.
Going forward, Weltner would like to see more recognition of the sport’s history in the Columbus area.
“I don’t know what it would entail, but I am surprised that Columbus does not have a Central Ohio Hockey Hall of Fame like Toledo or Dayton. There is some rich history here.”
Like many events in the last several months, Weltner had to cancel several showings of “International Incidents”. There is hope those events will be re-scheduled and a showing at Winterfest in Toledo in December will be added. The film is going to be available on DVD and an on-line platform later in the year as well.
Follow Jim Smith on twitter @BlueLineNotes
