{"id":2913,"date":"2026-04-19T19:09:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nthistory.com\/articles\/?p=2913"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:29:10","slug":"an-unbelievable-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nthistory.com\/articles\/an-unbelievable-end\/","title":{"rendered":"An unbelievable end: The Norsemen go out fighting"},"content":{"rendered":"(Read time:<\/span> 23<\/span> minutes)<\/span><\/span>
<\/div>\n
\"Norsemen<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Rise and fall of the Buffalo Norsemen: Part 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/span>
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“I have a theory about the brawl in Johnstown.”<\/p>Ed Helinski, Tonawanda NEWS sports writer on the Norsemen beat for 1975-1976. Interviewed for NTHistory.com, October 2025.<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lots of people, it turns out, have a theory about the brawl in Johnstown\u2014the brawl that effectively ended the Norsemen\u2019s NAHL franchise after just one season, exactly half a century ago. The problem is, no two theories are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what is<\/em> broadly agreed upon: on March 27, 1976, at the Cambria County War Memorial Auditorium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the Norsemen and Jets were set to square off in the deciding fifth game of a brutal, penalty-packed playoff series. During the warm-up skate, a free-for-all broke out. Most agree the Jets started it\u2014some say they even planned it. Also in the building that night\u2014watching from a reserved section\u2014were Paul Newman and members of the film crew for Slap Shot<\/em>, already in production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because there were no referees on the ice yet, the chaos continued until two Norsemen required hospitalization. When the Norsemen refused to re-emerge from their dressing room, the referees declared a forfeit, handing the Jets the game and the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years later, when Slap Shot<\/em> was released, audiences would watch an eerily similar pre-game fracas unfold on screen, with the Jets’ fictional alter ego, the Charleston Chiefs, doing the instigating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To this day I don\u2019t know why the Carlsons, Hanson and the rest of their team felt they needed to brawl us and outman us.”<\/p>Norsemen right winger Paul Crowley commenting in the Real North American Hockey League (1973-1977)<\/a> Facebook Group in 2022.<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So much for the facts. Now for the theories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some say the brawl was simply the product of tensions that had been building throughout the series. Some say it was the Jets’ retaliation for racist taunting suffered by their Black rookie during Game 4 in North Tonawanda. Others believe it was a psych-out tactic by a desperate Jets team on the brink of playoff elimination. Still others (including Tonawanda NEWS<\/em> writer Ed Helinski quoted above) believe it was an ambush staged for the technical benefit of the Slap Shot<\/em> film crew. According to this view, the Buffalo Norsemen showed up for a hockey game, and a movie broke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s return to that explosive series, game by game, and try to make sense of the unbelievable end<\/em> of a memorable, if short-lived, era in North Tonawanda history.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Mouse’s Norsemen squeak into the playoffs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is a minor (league) miracle that Guy “Mouse” Trottier’s Norsemen make the playoffs at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a strong season start to their first season as an NAHL franchise, the Norsemen’s bench is depleted by their parent team, the Toronto Toros<\/strong>, who snatch up players for their own playoff run. Norsemen GM Willie Marshall<\/strong> takes matters into his own hands in the spring of 1976 and uses his extensive hockey connections to hire new players, including legendary minor league character (and brother-in-law) Keke Mortson<\/strong>, Southern Hockey League Rookie of the Year Billy Steele<\/strong>, Dave Given<\/strong>, and Denis Andersen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this additional firepower, the Norsemen squeeze into the 1975-1976 NAHL playoffs with an unenviable 30-44 record, just four points ahead of the Binghamton Broome Dusters<\/strong> for the final Western Division playoff spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Guy<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After all we put up with this year, it\u2019s a good feeling to know that we are in the playoffs… you name it, and it happened to us this year. We stuck with our kids all year and only brought the veterans in when we really needed them. But, you never saw us go to that “goon” style of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Player-coach Guy Trottier, Tonawanda NEWS, March 18, 1976<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Waiting for the Norsemen in Round 1 are the defending NAHL champion Johnstown Jets<\/strong>: a punishing squad best remembered as the basis for Slap Shot<\/em>‘s Charleston Chiefs. The Norsemen played the Jets 10 times in the NAHL regular season, registering a dismal 2-8 record, and never winning in Johnstown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, spirits are high in the Norsemen camp. The Jets finished fourth last season and still won the Lockhart Cup\u2014so why not Buffalo? Even getting out of the first round would be a significant achievement, and<\/em> help the team’s financial bottom line. Winning teams draw crowds, and with attendance running well below expectations, that revenue is badly needed if the Norsemen are going to become a self-sustaining franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to the newly minted Buffalo Norsemen, the Johnstown Jets are a hockey institution, playing their 26th season at Cambria War Memorial Arena. In the weeks running up to the playoffs, they have been moonlighting: filming scenes for a movie written by their former teammate Ned Dowd’s sister, Nancy Dowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opponents: The Johnstown Chiefs. Er, Jets.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Charlestown Chiefs in Slap Shot<\/em> (1977). Several “actors” in the movie actually played on the Jets, including Dave Hanson, Steve Carlson, and Jeff Carlson, who portrayed the Chiefs’ goon squad “Hanson Brothers.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hollywood comes to Johnstown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ned would call me from these various towns\u2014Utica, Syracuse, New Haven\u2014and tell me how he was being beaten up and having his teeth knocked out. Well, it sort of fascinated me.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nancy Dowd, New York Times<\/em><\/a>, March 3, 1977. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Nancy Dowd started shopping around the script she’d written based on her brother’s NAHL experiences, nobody would believe the violence and depravity depicted on the page. The movie executives thought it was all too outlandish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had her brother Ned record some of the Jets\u2019 bus rides to capture the profanity and chaos firsthand. Then she sent Ned to relay those stories directly to the executives. That\u2019s when it clicked: this wasn\u2019t exaggerated material, it was real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The characters in her script\u2014the long-haired, bespectacled brothers who moved like a single unit on the ice (and took out their frustrations on vending machines), the grinders barely aware of ownership, the womanizers\u2014were all grounded in reality. If anything, what she put on the page was toned down from what was actually happening on the backroads of the North American Hockey League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Game One<\/h2>\n

NAHL Quarter-Finals<\/p>\n

Norsemen 3, Jets 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 21, 1976 \u00b7 Memorial Auditorium \u00b7 Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Playing at the “Aud”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first game of the NAHL Western Division quarterfinals is played on the NHL Sabres<\/strong> home ice, the Memorial Auditorium<\/strong> in Buffalo (the Sabres will host the hapless Kansas City Scouts<\/strong> later that evening).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keke kicks into high gear<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The signing of Keke Mortson<\/strong> pays off in Game 1. The colorful 42 year-old scores twice to lead the young Norsemen team to a 5-1 rout before 4,041 fans. With single-goal contributions from Larry Gould<\/strong>, Jim Stanfield<\/strong> and Billy Steele<\/strong>, the Norsemen run the score up to 5-0 before goaltender Jim Makey’s shutout bid bid is spoiled by the Jets’ Jean Tetreault<\/strong> with 3:54 left in the third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Player-coach Guy Trottier<\/strong>, who does not dress because of ongoing back pain, is elated. \u201cIf we keep playing that way, we won\u2019t get beat,\u201d he crows to the Tonawanda NEWS<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norsemen put together a remarkably clean game, refusing to be drawn into penalties. In the first and second periods, Johnstown is assessed six consecutive penalties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Starting lineup from that night’s game program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Box score for Game One<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nBUFFALO NORSEMEN 5, JOHNSTOWN JETS 1\n-----------------------------------\n\nSCORING\n\n1st Period\nBUF  Mortson (Morin, Gould)..  6:40\nBUF  Gould (Lahey)........... 10:33\n\n2nd Period\nBUF  Mortson (Lahey, Gould)....... 12:32\nBUF  Stanfield (Given, McConvey).. 13:16\n\n3rd Period\nBUF  Steele (unassisted)............14:24\nJHN  Tetreault (Bechtold, Cardiff). 16:06\n\n\nPENALTIES\n\n1st Period\nBUF  Harker, holding........ 2:14\nJHN  Bench minor............ 3:50\nJHN  Docken, slashing....... 7:06\nJHN  Cardiff, interference...15:29\nJHN  Head, tripping......... 19:32\n\n2nd Period\nJHN  Cardiff, holding..............  7:03\nJHN  S. Carlson, roughing.......... 16:56\n\n3rd Period\nBUF  McConvey, cross-checking...... 13:30\nBUF  Bench minor................... 16:48\n\n\nSHOTS ON GOAL\nJHN   7   10   16 \u2014 33\nBUF  15   12   14 \u2014 41\n\nSCORING BY PERIOD\nJHN   0    0    1 \u2014 1\nBUF   2    2    1 \u2014 5\n\nATTENDANCE: 4,041<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n  
Game Two<\/h2>\n  
NAHL Quarter-Finals<\/p>\n  
Jets 6, Norsemen 4<\/strong><\/p>\n  
March 22, 1976 \u00b7 Cambria County War Memorial Arena \u00b7 Johnstown, P.A.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
Outplayed in P. A.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Johnstown Jets, back in front of their rabid fanbase in the rolling Pennsylvania hills, recapture the combination of punishing physical play and overwhelming offense that made them division champs. They outshoot Buffalo 47-30, and rack up 55 penalty minutes to the Norsemen’s 14. By the second period it is 5-1 Jets. Three late Buffalo goals make for a final score (6-4) that sounds closer than the game actually was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Norsemen’s power play continues to suffer without player-coach Guy Trottier<\/strong>, who has now missed the last four games with a bad back. His fifteen regular season power-play goals and seven game-winning goals were a critical ingredient in getting the Norsemen this far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uneven officiating vexes both sides<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Referee Gene Kusy<\/strong> infuriates both teams with inconsistent penalty calling–letting everything go the first two periods, then doing an about-face in the third. The Jets’ Dave Hanson<\/strong>, still raw over an earlier call, fires the puck at Kusy, but is not penalized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Greg<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Next thing I know is a knife flies between Guy and myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greg Neeld, Buffalo Norseman defenseman, commenting in the Real North American Hockey League (1973-1977)<\/a> Facebook group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
A knife at a hockey fight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After the game, Buffalo defenseman Greg Neeld<\/strong> sees his coach Guy Trottier<\/strong> out on the ice. Mr. Neeld described what happens next on Facebook in 2022:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
I noticed Guy Trottier our coach (who I also loved playing for) was out at centre ice yelling at someone in the stands. I was not going to leave Guy out there by himself so I pulled up beside him. I do not know how it got started and I wasn’t going to ask Guy at that point. The F-U’s started flying back and forth and the guy then put his hand over one of his eyes and pointed at me. I responded with an F-U and the finger. Next thing I know is a knife flies between Guy and myself. The guy in the stand threw a knife at us!! I knew I could not climb the boards to go after him so I took my hockey stick and put it in my right hand, took three or four strides and I to this day still do not know how I did this (probably adrenaline), threw the stick as hard as I could and this guy had to be 30 to 40 feet away from me and the stick hit him right in the middle of the forehead. He and his buds took off at that point and Guy and I headed to the dressing room. What angered me is that the guy took and did not return my hockey stick!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
An article in the Tonawanda NEWS<\/em> the next day says that Neeld didn’t actually hit anybody. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guy Trottier<\/strong> defends his defenseman in the press\u2014perhaps a touch overzealously. After claiming fans also poured a beer and threw a “steel can” at Neeld, Guy implausibly adds: “[Neeld] started swinging his stick to scare the [heckling fans] away and he lost his balance and the stick flew right up into the air and went into the stands.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that’s how the sandwich got in the fish tank, Daddy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
[Greg Neeld] shouldn’t have been playing with us. He should have been playing for the Sabres. He made people look stupid<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Norsemen fan Dan Dzikoski<\/strong>
Interviewed September 2025 for NTHistory.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
A surreptitious suspension<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It is probably not Neeld<\/strong>‘s finest moment. But the game is over, and the beaten Norsemen pile back into the team bus. It is not until they are on the way to the motel that Trottier <\/strong>reads in the game report that the big defenseman has been given a two-game suspension for throwing his stick: a devastating loss of a key player to a team already knocked on its heels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, site of Games 2, 3, and 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Willie<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
This is a dirty, rotten thing. It’s the same old stupid thing that has been going on all year \u2014 let the bad guy get away with everything and then penalize the good guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GM Willie Marshall, interviewed in “Neeld suspension irks Norsemen<\/a>,” Tonawanda NEWS<\/em>, March 24, 1976.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
It turns out that NAHL Commissioner Jack Timmins<\/strong> is in the crowd that night, and witnesses Neeld’s ill-advised stick-throwing (though he claims he was too far away to see anything thrown at Neeld). Instead of leaving the officiating to the officials, Timmins rushes into the Jets’ office after the game “to make sure that [referee] Kusy had given Neeld a game misconduct for his action” (Jets check Norsemen in rough 6-4 battle<\/a>, Tonawanda NEWS<\/em>, March 23, 1976)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident rekindles the Norsemen\u2019s mistrust of NAHL officiating (recall that Trottier was suspended three games in December for publicly criticizing the league). The Norsemen are quick to point out that no similar penalty was meted out to the Jets for flinging the puck at the ref for calls they didn’t like (twice<\/em>, according to Trottier). GM Willie Marshall says he “doesn’t condone” what Neeld did, but insists it’s a “civil matter.” “It’s so typical of this league. Every call they make is so inconsistent,” Marshall fumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n  
Game Three<\/h2>\n  
NAHL Quarter-Finals<\/p>\n  
Jets 8, Norsemen 2<\/strong><\/p>\n  
March 24, 1976 \u00b7 Cambria County War Memorial Arena \u00b7 Johnstown, P.A.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
Trottier’s…”back”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Neeld<\/strong>‘s two-game suspension in Game Two forces coach Trottier <\/strong>to return to the playing lineup for Game Three in Johnstown, bad back and all. He tells the Tonawanda NEWS<\/em> he stayed in in bed the entire day before the game with a heating pad. The old NHL-er, drawn out of retirement to coach, finds himself playing hurt against a brutal Johnstown Jets team. It will be his final game as a player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The score is tied late in the first period and the Norsemen are on the power play when the Jets’ Steve Carlson<\/strong> takes a run at the tiny Trottier, driving him into the boards. Carlson is sent to the box for Roughing, giving the Norsemen a two-man advantage for more than three minutes. It is a golden opportunity to take the lead and force the Jets to play from behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delay of Game penalty a turning point<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The cheap shot seems to hurt Trottier badly. For instead of attacking the Jets with a two-man advantage, the season’s power play maestro dawdles with the puck, avoiding Johnstown players and buying time to rest his back. Referee Steve Dowling is having none of it. He calls a Delay of Game penalty on the Norsemen with just 0:29 remaining in the first period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trottier is beside himself with rage. He argues the call with referee, and is given a 10-minute Misconduct penalty for his outburst. When the period ends, Trottier skates after Dowling again, perhaps looking to do more than just talk this time. His teammates have to physically restrain him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referee Dowling has had enough. He hits Trottier with a Game Misconduct penalty, which carries an additional automatic two-game suspension. He will not be able to play for the remainder of the series. Mike Billoni describes what happens next:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
And if the [Slap Shot] cameras were following Guy to the dressing room, they would have seen a mob of Johnstown fans throw litter and yell obscenities toward Trottier. This angered Guy so much, that he wanted to fight the fans. Well, after several minutes of having security guards and Norsemen players pull him into the locker, peace finally settled in the Cambria Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Norsemen lose as Guy’s misdeed proves costly.” Mike Billoni for the Tonawanda News<\/em>. March 25, 1976<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Opening the (Johnstown) flood gates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Jets showed Paul Newman exactly what hard hitting and a few cheap shots can produce\u2014goals.<\/p>Mike Billoni, Tonawanda NEWS, March 25, 1976<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
With Trottier ejected, veteran Keke Mortsen<\/strong> assumes coaching duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnstown wastes no time in exerting their will over a demoralized and weakened Norsemen club. They score three unanswered goals in the second period. The game is never in reach for the Norsemen again. They skate to a humbling 8-2 final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jets rookie Hank Taylor has the game-winning goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Leading the Jets’ 8-2 rout is Black rookie Hank Taylor<\/strong>. He has had a spectacular season with the Jets, scoring an NAHL record-setting 50 goals. In a few weeks he will be voted the NAHL’s Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in North Tonawanda, Taylor’s race will become another explosive element in this series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n  
Game Four<\/h2>\n  
NAHL Quarter-Finals<\/p>\n  
Norsemen 3, Jets 2<\/strong><\/p>\n  
March 25, 1976 \u00b7 Tonawanda Sports Center \u00b7 North Tonawanda, N.Y.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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Norsemen rookie Claude Noel (far right in white) scores the game-winner at the Tonawanda Sports Center. From the scrapbook of Kim Turecki-Chiodo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A storybook comeback<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Trailing in the series 2-1, the Norsemen pile into the team bus (driven by trainer Gary “Cabbage Head” Stevens) to return to North Tonawanda. If the Norsemen are to stay alive in the series, they will have to do so without the services of two key players: Greg Neeld<\/strong> (the tall, one-eyed defenseman who is a Buffalo Sabres draftee) and player-coach Guy Trottier<\/strong> (who will still be allowed to coach).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jets stun the Norsemen just eleven seconds into the game with a goal by player-coach Galen Head<\/strong> (Head will also make an appearance in the Slap Shot<\/em> movie.) It’s a savage first period, with fifteen<\/em> penalties handed out: eleven for Roughing\/Fighting, and three Game Misconducts. The Norsemen outshoot the Jets by a whopping 18-8, but return to their home dressing room trailing by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The penalties subside in the second period. The Jets’ Galen Head<\/strong> strikes again with an early unassisted goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Down 2-0 in the second, the Norsemen offense finally wakes up. Just as he had done in Game One at the Aud, the wily old veteran Keke Mortson<\/strong> gets things going. The Norsemen capitalize on back-to-back power plays with goals by Mortson and late-season addition Billy Steele<\/strong>, evening the score at 2-2 in a three-minute volley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final period, Norsemen rookie Claude Noel<\/strong> scores the game-winner on a shot that just manages to bounce past Johnstown goalie Levasseur<\/strong>. Noel was a skinny defenseman  when he arrived in North Tonawanda six months before. He has flourished with the move to the center position, finishing third on the team in scoring and first in the hearts of the Norsemen fans, who voted him the “Most Popular Norsemen.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noel\u2019s heroics\u2014and the team\u2019s remarkable comeback\u2014would be overshadowed by truly ugly events off the ice in that Game Four. Those events, however they\u2019re remembered, set the stage for the melee two nights later in Johnstown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A racist “sign” of the times<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
That was a sign of the times in North Tonawanda. You know, it’s always been a rough town when it comes to minorities. Let’s face facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ed Helinski, Tonawanda NEWS reporter, 1975-76 (interviewed in 2025)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
At least one person I spoke to in researching this series does not recall “the sign” being held by a fan at Tonawanda Sports Center on March 25, 1976. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many more do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the west end of the arena, about 15 rows up, a Norsemen fan holds a racist sign. Its target is the Jets’ Hank Taylor, a Black rookie who had the game-winning goal in Johnstown the night before. The sign states, in the most reprehensible terms, that Black men don’t belong in hockey, but in basketball. And the sign wasn’t all: another person who was there that night relates that “The N-word was probably tossed around [the arena] quite liberally as well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neeld’s suspension doesn’t stop his mouth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Greg
Greg Neeld, player photo. Courtesy of Kim Turecki-Chiodo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Although serving the second game of a two-game suspension for hurling his stick into the Johnstown crowd after losing Game Two, Greg Neeld<\/strong> is in North Tonawanda for Game Four. And he makes his presence known. In his street clothes, he goads the opposing Jets, heckling them vociferously in the small arena, and fully living up to his reputation as one of the league’s elite shit-talkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Dave Hanson’s autobiography, Slap Shot Original<\/em>, he claims that Neeld “apparently” joined in the racial taunting of Hank Taylor as well. Although no one I spoke to for this series had that specific recollection, it is clear that Neeld was a vocal presence during his team’s come-from-behind victory. All this animosity erupts when the game ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neeld speared; Local journalist struck<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The three Jets involved in the altercation after Game Four. Steve and Dave will portray two of the three “Hanson Brothers” in Slap Shot<\/em> that summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
As the final buzzer sounds and the teams head for their locker rooms, referee Fournier wisely tries to keep them separated. Norsemen coach Guy Trottier<\/strong> objects and helps his players muscle past him. Between the ice and the players’ dressing rooms is a restricted area where rink officials, local press, and management are standing about. Greg Neeld<\/strong> is also waiting there. As the teams leave the ice and enter this area, all H-E-double-hockey-sticks<\/em> breaks loose.

The Jets’ Vern Campigotto<\/strong> yells to Neeld<\/strong>, \u201cHey, you one-eyed ****, we are going to run you out of the building Saturday [for Game Five].\u201d Just then, the Jets’ Steve Carlson<\/strong> comes flying off the ice and throws a haymaker at Neeld, trying to catch him off-guard. Carlson misses and instead strikes Tonawanda NEWS<\/em> reporter Mike Billoni<\/strong>, knocking his glasses from his head. As Billoni searches for his glasses on the floor, more Jets arrive from the ice and surround him. In a panic, he grabs a stick (the players benches are also nearby) and scrambles backward to the stairs leading up to the press box, staving off his would-be attackers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Jets’ Dave Hanson<\/strong> spears Neeld (who, again, is there in street clothes) in the stomach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The North Tonawanda police are called to help restore order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
March 26, 1976 Tonawanda NEWS<\/em> clipping. From the Norsemen scrapbook of Kim Turecki-Chiodo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Jets’ Dave Hanson recalls the incident this way in his autobiography:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
After the game I tried to go after Neeld, but the police grabbed me before I could nail him and escorted me to the squad car parked outside the back of the building. I still had my skates and uniform on, it was crazy. A couple of the other Jets players also tried to get at Neeld, most notably Vern Campigotto, but with no success. I was finally let go once order was restored inside.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
No penalties result from the post-game encounter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Norsemen officials demand that Steve Carlson<\/strong> and Dave Hanson<\/strong> be suspended for their post-game violence, just as Neeld was for throwing his stick into the crowd in Johnstown. When it becomes clear that the league is not going to penalize the Jets in any way, GM Willie Marshall<\/strong> vents to Mike Billoni on the record:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis just goes to show you the inconsistency of this league,\u201d he tells the reporter. \u201cI just hope some justice is done.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Norsemen\u2019s owner Dr. Turecki <\/strong>is well aware of the series’ rising violence. \u201cWe are going to request some police protection for Saturday\u2019s game there. A lot of our fans are going up for the game and I wouldn\u2019t want them or our team members injured by the people in Johnstown.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Game Four box score<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n## JOHNSTOWN JETS 2, BUFFALO NORSEMEN 3\n\nSCORING\n\n1st Period\nJHN  Head (Gorton, Campigotto)..... 0:11\n\n2nd Period\nJHN  Head (unassisted)............ 14:01\nBUF  Mortson (Gould, Andersen).... 15:07\nBUF  Steele (Mortson, Stanfield).. 18:10\n\n3rd Period\nBUF  Noel (LaBelle, Crowley)...... 12:24\n\nPENALTIES\n\n1st Period\nJHN  Cardiff, interference........ 0:37\nJHN  Boudreau, roughing\/fighting.. 3:03\nBUF  Crowley, roughing\/fighting... 3:03\nBUF  Morin, roughing.............. 4:02\nJHN  Cardiff, roughing............ 4:02\nJHN  Tenesi, roughing............. 4:34\nBUF  Steele, roughing............. 4:34\nBUF  McConvey, roughing........... 6:03\nJHN  Birch, fighting.............. 9:00\nBUF  Lahey, roughing.............. 9:00\nJHN  Hanson, tripping............ 11:56\nJHN  Cardiff, misconduct......... 13:16\nBUF  Steele, misconduct.......... 13:16\nJHN  Tetreault, fighting\/misconduct 17:27\nBUF  Lahey, fighting............. 17:27\n\n2nd Period\nJHN  Levasseur, delay of game.... 15:00\nJHN  Tetreault, interference..... 17:39\n\n3rd Period\nBUF  Morin, elbowing.............. 2:51\nJHN  Hanson, elbowing............. 8:58\nJHN  Reed, hooking............... 10:19\nJHN  Reed, tripping.............. 16:16\n\nSHOTS ON GOAL\nJHN   8   11   10 \u2014 29\nBUF  18    6   12 \u2014 36\n\nSCORING BY PERIOD\nJHN   1    1    0 \u2014 2\nBUF   0    2    1 \u2014 3\n\nATTENDANCE: 1,531\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n  
Game Five<\/h2>\n  
NAHL Quarter-Finals<\/p>\n  
Jets 3, Norsemen 2 [Forfeit]<\/strong><\/p>\n  
March 27, 1976 \u00b7 Cambria County War Memorial Arena \u00b7 Johnstown, P.A.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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