Toronto – When I explained that I was looking for the Turner Cup, the guide at the entrance to the Hockey Hall of Fame squinted. Well, he said, if it were on display, it probably would be around the corner, in the Hometown Heroes section, along with a bunch of other old trophies.
And there it was.
The Joseph Turner Memorial Cup looks much like the Stanley Cup, with the original cup on top of added bands that list the champions. It went to the champions of the International Hockey League from the 1945-46 season through 2000-01.
The league is defunct and the Turner Cup retired. I had read the trophy had gone to the Hall of Fame, but I wasn’t sure if it was stored in a back room or on display.
Ten years ago, the IHL Denver Grizzlies – a New York Islanders farm club led by forward Kip Miller and goaltender Tommy Salo, and coached by Butch Goring – won the Turner Cup in Denver’s final season as a minor- league hockey town.
The championship truly was a big deal at the time, with the Grizzlies drawing well (albeit with frequently “papered” houses) in their only season in Denver, helping to reinforce the notion that bringing another NHL franchise to Colorado wasn’t such a crazy notion, after all.
Shortly after the Grizzlies won the Turner Cup, word came the Quebec Nordiques were coming to Denver.
Four years ago, the IHL disappeared in a merger with the American Hockey League. It was unforeseen: The Turner Cup has eight bands for listing championship teams, and the Grizzlies’ roster is on the seventh. The eighth is empty.
What’s also a bit sad is the trophy honored Joseph Turner, a promising goaltending prospect. He led the Indianapolis Capitals to the AHL playoff championship in 1942 and also played one game that season for the parent Detroit Red Wings, filling in for injured starter Johnny Mowers in a 3-3 tie with Toronto. Though he was a native of Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit, he enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. The Hall of Fame display doesn’t tell this story, and even news accounts about IHL championship teams rarely explained the history of the Cup.
Turner was killed in action in Europe, during the 1944-45 Battle of Hurtgen Forest.
The Norris family, owners of the Red Wings, donated the Cup to honor him and the champions of the IHL. A new minor league formed right after the war.
And now the trophy is in retirement.
Given the jarringly archaic names of some NHL awards – such as the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Eastern Conference champion – the league should explore the possibility of getting an award named for Turner back into the hockey mix. It could either be a substitute for one of the archaic names, or a new award altogether. Perhaps the actual Turner Cup could be placed on a new base, with a replica replacing it above the bands listing the IHL champions in the trophy case. It could go to the NHL general manager/executive of the year.
Or to the goaltender adjudged to have persevered through difficult circumstances. (In other words, a good goalie who hung in there and played well with a bad team, a la Columbus’ Marc Denis in 2003-04.)
Or to … I’m open to suggestions.
When are they going to learn?
The NHL favored making visors mandatory and the union was willing to go along, but the grousing of many players shot down the possibility of eye protection becoming universal under the new collecting bargaining agreement.
And already, the NHL has lost one of its stars – Mats Sundin – for at least the near future, after a puck nailed the Maple Leafs center in the eye in Toronto’s opener. The fractured orbital bone was bad enough, but the word was that if it had struck him a little higher, the damage could have been worse – and career-threatening.
Eric Lindros took over the center’s spot on the top line with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov. Sundin makes $6.84 million, and the Leafs have to count all of that – plus the salary of anyone called up – against the cap until he is out for 24 days or 10 games. After that, the Leafs would get some relief.
More than ever, with the cap also being an issue, it makes economic sense for the NHL to be zealous about doing all it can to protect its investments in players. Everybody should have to.
Starting off on the wrong Foote
Blue Jackets: Ward Churchill and Glenn Morris, in favor of free speech as long as it’s their own, will oppose this Columbus reference, and Mayor Hickenlooper will think it’s a hassle, but it’s worth noting that Adam Foote didn’t get off to a great start with the Blue Jackets. Washington’s Dainius Zubrus got the game-winning goal on the power play that followed Foote’s high-sticking double-minor.
End of Tampa Bay’s banner day
Lightning: Denver native John Grahame, succeeding Nikolai Khabibulin as Tampa Bay’s No. 1 goalie, was thrilled as he watched the unveiling of the Stanley Cup banner on opening night in the St. Pete Times Forum.
“Everybody got the chills,” Grahame said. “I know I did.”
Kovalchuk back with Thrashers
Thrashers: Left wing Ilya Kovalchuk has agreed to a contract extension with the Thrashers, the player’s agent told The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. The five-year deal, which still needs league approval, is worth $32 million.
But Kovalchuk was playing hardball. The superstar, who came to the U.S. to visit his girlfriend and their infant daughter last week, had said he would return to Russia today and play for his team in Moscow on Wednesday if he hadn’t re-signed with the Thrashers. If he played a game in Russia once the NHL season had started, he wouldn’t have been able to play for Atlanta in 2005-06.
Kovalchuk previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “It’s my intention to go back (to Russia) and play there. … It would be much more preferable to play in the NHL because, of course, it’s a better level of competition – however, under certain conditions. I honestly think that my agent (Jay Grossman) was fair and reasonable and flexible.”
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
