Norsemen reach an unbelievable end, transcribed article (Tonawanda News, 1976-03-29).pdf
Dublin Core
Title
Norsemen reach an unbelievable end, transcribed article (Tonawanda News, 1976-03-29).pdf
Description
Timmins sees, hears, does nothing
Norsemen reach an unbelievable end
By MIKE BILLONI
AND ED HELINSKI
"They were scared to play us in the game of hockey. It's very simple and the only way they could get us was to do it before the game started."
That was the Buffalo Norsemen General Manager Willie Marshall speaking Sunday afternoon, a day after his hockey club's season came to an abrupt end.
The Norsemen, engaged in a North American Hockey League quarter-final round playoff series with the Johnstown Jets, had the best-of-five series tied at two games apiece, but were unable to play the deciding game, as an all-out brawl occurred before game time, forcing the Norsemen to their locker room.
The local group never came out of the dressing room, resulting in a forfeit victory for Johnstown and a 3-2 decision in the playoff series.
"It's a joke, a complete joke," Marshall said. "I have never heard of anything like this in all my years of hockey. Keke Mortson has never seen or heard of anything like this and hockey people I notified today just laughed out of disbelief."
"What really disturbs me is the passive nature of our commissioner Jack Timmins and his secretary Gary Clark," Norsemen owner Dr. Dudley Turecki said. "They both said they didn't see anything."
Many different accounts have been going around about what really happened Saturday night in the Cambria Arena, as an expected Standing Room Only crowd of over 4,000 people began to fill the arena.
Norsemen Player-coach Guy Trottier offered his version:
"We walked into the arena about 6 p.m. and as I found out afterwards, some Johnstown players were standing there and one of them told Jim Stanfield that he had better keep his head up during the warmup. Another one told Mario Vien to watch himself during the warmup.
"Well, we got dressed and went on the ice at 7:25. Johnstown came out at 7:27 and had to skate through our players to get to their end. As they skated through, Vern Campigotto raised his stick and cross-checked Greg Neeld in the back. Dave Hansen and Steve Carlson were behind him and all three jumped in and started to fight.
"Carlson took off his gloves and started to hit Neeld with his cast, that he has on his wrist, until Greg was lying unconscious. Then, Charlie Labelle jumped in to try and help and Carlson just started to beat on him with the cast. They really gave it to Labelle. He looked worse than Neeld did."
"Two guys got hold of (goalie Jim) Makey's arms while Dave Birch started to hit him in the stomach. When he was done (Player-coach Jim) Cardiff started to punch him.
"Seeing what I was seeing and feeling helpless, I asked the security people in the building to help us, but they said they couldn't. So, I ran to the hall and called the police. They said it was not in their jurisdiction to come over here.
"By then Willie (Marshall), Dr. Turecki and a few other owners came over and told me to get our team off the ice. They told me we weren't going to play the game.
"In the dressing room, I told the players to sit still while we found out what we were going to do. The first thing we had to do was call an ambulance for Neeld, who didn't know where he was. The ambulance arrived a little before 8 p.m. and took Neeld and Labelle away.
"In the meantime, Commissioner Jack Timmins and Clark came in to try to talk us into playing the game," Trottier continued.
Dr. Turecki, who was in the dressing room at the time, continues, "We told the commissioner that we were not going to return to the ice. We don't have to sacrifice the welfare of our players like that. No game is that important when two of our players are brutally attacked by these animals.
"Timmins told me that he couldn't make a decision unless he had some factual information," Turecki continued. "He told me instead of forfeiting the game, I should pull the guys off and play the game another night.
"That's not the problem, though. The problem is how do you resolve something like this, with this brutality.
"Mr. Timmins was very passive. He didn't want to make a decision. The whole problem is that we have a very weak commissioner," Turecki said.
Timmins, like his two earlier predecessors, is on a one-year tenure as commissioner. His term runs out in August and it's believed he makes between $20-25,000 per year.
Trottier told Timmins that he would send his players on the ice if the league would suspend Campigotto, Hansen and Carlson. Turecki said the commissioner said he couldn't do that.
"So," Turecki said, "we said we couldn't play."
It took the Norsemen over an hour and a half to get out of their dressing room after referee Steve Dowling awarded the Jets a forfeit victory at 8:05. League rules state that a team is allowed five minutes after game time to get on the ice.
After the police arrived at 9:15, it was another 15 minutes before they decided to enter the building.
"When we felt that it was clear enough for us to leave, we walked out. All the people were pushed back and we were forced to listen to their obscenities and screams," Trottier said.
"A group of people forced a door down and tried to jump us as we entered the bus. It was then that the police let the police K-9 dogs loose and that finally scattered the people. But, one guy didn't get away and a dog chewed him up pretty well," Guy said.
The Norsemen required a police escort from the arena to the hospital, where they picked up Neeld and Labelle. Then the police escorted them out of town.
"That was the worst I have ever seen," Trottier said. "I never saw anything like it."
"The best part is that the league let it go. They didn't do a thing about it. They couldn't see anything wrong with it. In fact they asked us to play the game on another night.
"But, Commissioner Timmins failed to realize that Neeld and Labelle were gone, but it would still be okay to send the rest of my players out there. He wouldn't take the responsibility of our players, so there was no way that I was going to send them out there.
"And to this day, nobody from the Johnstown Jets was suspended, while myself and Neeld have already been suspended in this series," Trottier added.
On the bus ride home, a few of the Norsemen tried to relive what had just happened.
"In the warmup, everyone was skating around and that number fourteen (Campigotto) asked me if I wanted to fight in the warmup. I said yeah and dropped my gloves. Then I don't remember what happened," Neeld said.
"I got on the ice and saw one of our guys getting hammered," related Labelle. "I rushed over to help him and somebody hit me with something on the side of my head. I dropped to my knees and I covered up. They kept hitting me on the head and the back. Then I saw two guys hold (Jim) Makey while Steve Carlson was suckering him."
"I saw nine guys and we only had three," said Makey, who was the third Norsemen to feel the punishment. "I went to separate a few guys and two of them grabbed me. Then Birch hit me a few times. They had it all planned out.
"I called Timmins before we left and asked him to have police protection for us," Marshall said. "He told me that he couldn't get police protection for the players on the ice.
"It was all premeditated just like they told you in your story Friday, it happened here Saturday. Campigotto told Neeld that he was going to get him and sure enough he did," Marshall added.
"Now we are the bad guys again because we pulled our team off the ice. They beat up two of our only enforcers and say, 'okay, we are ready to play now,' and the commissioner of this league goes along with them."
The Norsemen's Board of Directors said Sunday that it would seek legal advice for the team and its players today.
"I didn't think an important game like this should have ended in a forfeit," Timmins said.
When asked if he saw the pregame fracas, he replied that he saw nothing. But, as one observer said later, "I turned around when it all started and I saw Timmins sitting in the stands."
Nevertheless, Timmins met with Marshall, Turecki and Johnstown Executive Director John Mitchell. Norsemen officials said Timmins wanted to know who started it. After a short meeting, the forfeit stood and Johnstown prepared for its next round against the Philadelphia Firebirds.
"Timmins was so scared he didn't know what he was doing at that meeting," Marshall said.
The Johnstown players were celebrating the playoff victory in their locker room after the forfeit was awarded.
But, as actor Paul Newman, the star of the upcoming movie "Slap Shot" told the Jets, it was a helluva fight, but not much of a game.
Norsemen reach an unbelievable end
By MIKE BILLONI
AND ED HELINSKI
"They were scared to play us in the game of hockey. It's very simple and the only way they could get us was to do it before the game started."
That was the Buffalo Norsemen General Manager Willie Marshall speaking Sunday afternoon, a day after his hockey club's season came to an abrupt end.
The Norsemen, engaged in a North American Hockey League quarter-final round playoff series with the Johnstown Jets, had the best-of-five series tied at two games apiece, but were unable to play the deciding game, as an all-out brawl occurred before game time, forcing the Norsemen to their locker room.
The local group never came out of the dressing room, resulting in a forfeit victory for Johnstown and a 3-2 decision in the playoff series.
"It's a joke, a complete joke," Marshall said. "I have never heard of anything like this in all my years of hockey. Keke Mortson has never seen or heard of anything like this and hockey people I notified today just laughed out of disbelief."
"What really disturbs me is the passive nature of our commissioner Jack Timmins and his secretary Gary Clark," Norsemen owner Dr. Dudley Turecki said. "They both said they didn't see anything."
Many different accounts have been going around about what really happened Saturday night in the Cambria Arena, as an expected Standing Room Only crowd of over 4,000 people began to fill the arena.
Norsemen Player-coach Guy Trottier offered his version:
"We walked into the arena about 6 p.m. and as I found out afterwards, some Johnstown players were standing there and one of them told Jim Stanfield that he had better keep his head up during the warmup. Another one told Mario Vien to watch himself during the warmup.
"Well, we got dressed and went on the ice at 7:25. Johnstown came out at 7:27 and had to skate through our players to get to their end. As they skated through, Vern Campigotto raised his stick and cross-checked Greg Neeld in the back. Dave Hansen and Steve Carlson were behind him and all three jumped in and started to fight.
"Carlson took off his gloves and started to hit Neeld with his cast, that he has on his wrist, until Greg was lying unconscious. Then, Charlie Labelle jumped in to try and help and Carlson just started to beat on him with the cast. They really gave it to Labelle. He looked worse than Neeld did."
"Two guys got hold of (goalie Jim) Makey's arms while Dave Birch started to hit him in the stomach. When he was done (Player-coach Jim) Cardiff started to punch him.
"Seeing what I was seeing and feeling helpless, I asked the security people in the building to help us, but they said they couldn't. So, I ran to the hall and called the police. They said it was not in their jurisdiction to come over here.
"By then Willie (Marshall), Dr. Turecki and a few other owners came over and told me to get our team off the ice. They told me we weren't going to play the game.
"In the dressing room, I told the players to sit still while we found out what we were going to do. The first thing we had to do was call an ambulance for Neeld, who didn't know where he was. The ambulance arrived a little before 8 p.m. and took Neeld and Labelle away.
"In the meantime, Commissioner Jack Timmins and Clark came in to try to talk us into playing the game," Trottier continued.
Dr. Turecki, who was in the dressing room at the time, continues, "We told the commissioner that we were not going to return to the ice. We don't have to sacrifice the welfare of our players like that. No game is that important when two of our players are brutally attacked by these animals.
"Timmins told me that he couldn't make a decision unless he had some factual information," Turecki continued. "He told me instead of forfeiting the game, I should pull the guys off and play the game another night.
"That's not the problem, though. The problem is how do you resolve something like this, with this brutality.
"Mr. Timmins was very passive. He didn't want to make a decision. The whole problem is that we have a very weak commissioner," Turecki said.
Timmins, like his two earlier predecessors, is on a one-year tenure as commissioner. His term runs out in August and it's believed he makes between $20-25,000 per year.
Trottier told Timmins that he would send his players on the ice if the league would suspend Campigotto, Hansen and Carlson. Turecki said the commissioner said he couldn't do that.
"So," Turecki said, "we said we couldn't play."
It took the Norsemen over an hour and a half to get out of their dressing room after referee Steve Dowling awarded the Jets a forfeit victory at 8:05. League rules state that a team is allowed five minutes after game time to get on the ice.
After the police arrived at 9:15, it was another 15 minutes before they decided to enter the building.
"When we felt that it was clear enough for us to leave, we walked out. All the people were pushed back and we were forced to listen to their obscenities and screams," Trottier said.
"A group of people forced a door down and tried to jump us as we entered the bus. It was then that the police let the police K-9 dogs loose and that finally scattered the people. But, one guy didn't get away and a dog chewed him up pretty well," Guy said.
The Norsemen required a police escort from the arena to the hospital, where they picked up Neeld and Labelle. Then the police escorted them out of town.
"That was the worst I have ever seen," Trottier said. "I never saw anything like it."
"The best part is that the league let it go. They didn't do a thing about it. They couldn't see anything wrong with it. In fact they asked us to play the game on another night.
"But, Commissioner Timmins failed to realize that Neeld and Labelle were gone, but it would still be okay to send the rest of my players out there. He wouldn't take the responsibility of our players, so there was no way that I was going to send them out there.
"And to this day, nobody from the Johnstown Jets was suspended, while myself and Neeld have already been suspended in this series," Trottier added.
On the bus ride home, a few of the Norsemen tried to relive what had just happened.
"In the warmup, everyone was skating around and that number fourteen (Campigotto) asked me if I wanted to fight in the warmup. I said yeah and dropped my gloves. Then I don't remember what happened," Neeld said.
"I got on the ice and saw one of our guys getting hammered," related Labelle. "I rushed over to help him and somebody hit me with something on the side of my head. I dropped to my knees and I covered up. They kept hitting me on the head and the back. Then I saw two guys hold (Jim) Makey while Steve Carlson was suckering him."
"I saw nine guys and we only had three," said Makey, who was the third Norsemen to feel the punishment. "I went to separate a few guys and two of them grabbed me. Then Birch hit me a few times. They had it all planned out.
"I called Timmins before we left and asked him to have police protection for us," Marshall said. "He told me that he couldn't get police protection for the players on the ice.
"It was all premeditated just like they told you in your story Friday, it happened here Saturday. Campigotto told Neeld that he was going to get him and sure enough he did," Marshall added.
"Now we are the bad guys again because we pulled our team off the ice. They beat up two of our only enforcers and say, 'okay, we are ready to play now,' and the commissioner of this league goes along with them."
The Norsemen's Board of Directors said Sunday that it would seek legal advice for the team and its players today.
"I didn't think an important game like this should have ended in a forfeit," Timmins said.
When asked if he saw the pregame fracas, he replied that he saw nothing. But, as one observer said later, "I turned around when it all started and I saw Timmins sitting in the stands."
Nevertheless, Timmins met with Marshall, Turecki and Johnstown Executive Director John Mitchell. Norsemen officials said Timmins wanted to know who started it. After a short meeting, the forfeit stood and Johnstown prepared for its next round against the Philadelphia Firebirds.
"Timmins was so scared he didn't know what he was doing at that meeting," Marshall said.
The Johnstown players were celebrating the playoff victory in their locker room after the forfeit was awarded.
But, as actor Paul Newman, the star of the upcoming movie "Slap Shot" told the Jets, it was a helluva fight, but not much of a game.
Date
1976-03-29
Collection
Citation
“Norsemen reach an unbelievable end, transcribed article (Tonawanda News, 1976-03-29).pdf,” North Tonawanda History, accessed May 6, 2026, https://www.nthistory.com/items/show/4474.