The Pittsburgh Hornets were a charter member of the American Hockey League, which started play in 1936. They played in the Duquesne Gardens at Fifth and Craig, and became a Toronto farm team in 1945. The Hornets lost the Calder Cup final three times before 1952, including a Game 7 loss to the Cleveland Barons in 1951.
The 1951-52 team came out of the gate strong and ended up with a 46-19-3 record. Their 95 points were the most in the AHL, two ahead of Cleveland.
By winning the Western Division title, the Hornets started the playoffs with a best-of-seven series with the Eastern Division champion Hershey Bears. The winner would go on to face the survivor of a four-club tournament among the second- and third-place teams in the finals.
Hornets Coach King Clancy moved training to Johnstown for the playoffs. "Johnstown will remain the headquarters of the squad during the title round," wrote Fred Landucci in the Pittsburgh Press. "The team will remain there and come to Pittsburgh before each home game."
Game 1 against Hershey went into the third overtime before rookie Bob Hassard, the Hornets' leading scorer, scored his second goal of the game to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 win at 6:16. (AHL rules provided for a full 10-minute overtime if the score was tied, followed by 20-minute sudden death periods.) The game, which had started at 8:30 p.m., ended at 12:30 a.m.
After Hershey once again scored the first goal, the Hornets won Game 2, 3-1. Bill Ezinicki, Ray Hannigan and Hassard scored for Pittsburgh.
The series then shifted to Hershey, where the Hornets won Game 3, 4-1. Hassard scored another two goals. Frank Mathers and Rudy Migay added one apiece.
Clancy was happy with his goaltender, Gil Mayer. "He made great stops in each game. But at the same time, Hershey was playing great offensive hockey. They were inspired. We just beat them."
The Bears were inspired enough to win Game 4, 3-1. After Ray Hannigan's power play goal brought the Hornets into a tie early in the third period, Norm Corcoran and Ray Garlepy scored for Hershey to send the series back to the Duquesne Gardens.
The Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in Game 5, but Andy Barbe and Chuck Blair scored to tie it up. After Chuck Schertzl's second goal put Hershey back in the lead, Gordie Hannigan (Ray's brother) tied it in the middle of the second period. The score remained 3-3 through the 10-minute overtime, then Bob Solinger beat goalie Gordie Henry 1:56 into sudden death to send the Wasps into the finals.
The Hornets outshot the Bears, 47-19, as they won their 21st straight game on Gardens ice.
The club now got to sit back and await their next opponent. Before they scattered for a few days, there was a team meeting. A few players who didn't see much action during the series had a light workout: spare goalie Don Lockhart, Phil Maloney, Mathers, "who was used sparingly during the series," and John Ashley, "who saw no action in the five games." The parent Maple Leafs called up Hassard and put him on emergency stand-by for their Stanley Cup series, but he would be back for the Calder Cup finals.
The Hockey News announced their AHL All-Star teams, and Mathers and George Armstrong were on the first team. Armstrong, who scored 30 goals in 50 games, had been called up to Toronto. Tim Horton was named to the second team, as was coach King Clancy.
When they gathered again, the Hornets practiced at the Gardens for two days before they got back to work in Johnstown. Clancy said, "I think it's better for them to be away from home while getting ready for an important series like this. In Johnstown, they won't be disturbed by phone calls and well-wishers, and will be by themselves where they can talk and think hockey all the time."
The Providence Reds lost their first two games to the Cleveland Barons before coming back to win the best-of-five series. In the next round, they beat the Cincinnati Mohawks, who had eliminated the Buffalo Bisons, in four.
Providence was led by a top line of Ray Powell, Paul Gladu and Barry Sullivan. They scored nine of the Reds' 13 goals in the Cincinnati series, and 15 of 30 in the first two rounds.
Game 1 was April 8 at the Duquesne Gardens. Migay gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 7:38 of the first period. Ray Hannigan scored at 3:13 of the third. A power play goal by Gladu made it 2-1 at 8:19, but Barbe scored at 12:55 and Ezinicki put in a rebound at 13:13 for a 4-1 final.
"Only seven penalties were inflicted in the contest, one of the cleanest of the season at the Gardens," wrote the Post-Gazette's Jimmy Jordan. A crowd of 4,800 saw it.
"I was afraid of this one after our long layoff," Clancy said. "It took us two periods to settle down, but we really rolled in the last period."
The Hornets rolled again two nights later in front of 4,835. Ezinicki knocked a Horton rebound past Providence goalie Harvey Bennett at 12:28 of the first period. Migay scored at 14:37 and Johnny McLellan followed at 19:12 to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead after one period.
In the second period, with the Hornets shorthanded by two men, Migay stole the puck from Barry Sullivan for a breakaway and put the puck through Bennett at 12:07. Gordie Hannigan scored on a breakaway at 12:07 of the third to close the scoring in a 5-0 Pittsburgh victory in Game 2. Mayer only had to stop 20 shots for the shutout.
The Reds had a happy Easter April 13, as they returned home and pounded the Hornets, 5-1. Gladu opened the scoring during a two-man advantage at 4:56. Ray LaPlante added a power-play goal at 10:40, and Barry Sullivan put home a backhander at 12:33 to give Providence a 3-0 lead after one period.
Solinger gave Pittsburgh a flicker of hope when he scored at 6:24 of the second, and the Reds' Pat Egan was called for a major when his high stick broke Barbe's nose. Referee Frank Udvari kept calling penalties, though, and both teams were two men short when Joe Lund beat Mayer at 17:03 to restore the three-goal lead.
The Hornets took the game to Providence in the third, but Bennett was up to the challenge. Jean Paul Denis scored at 15:12, making the final 5-1, before a crowd of 5,878.
Coach Terry Reardon said, "The three-day rest and our home ice really helped us. The Hornets are still in the driver's seat. We've got to do it again tomorrow or we'll be in real trouble."
Migay suffered a bruised knee and would be questionable for Game 4.
There was a bit of controversy about officiating. The Press' Landucci wrote, "Both teams objected to Frank Udvari working Sunday's game and they protested again when he let the game almost get away from him several times.
"Officials of both teams preferred Jack Mehlenbacher, who refereed the first two games in Pittsburgh. If Udvari is used again tonight, it is likely to precipitate another argument."
Udvari refereed and Migay, who was a game-time decision, played in Game 4, as did Barbe. After each team scored in the 10-minute overtime, Migay scored at 18:40 of sudden death to give the Hornets a 3-2 win in front of 5,566. Pittsburgh went home with a 3-1 advantage in the series.
There was no scoring in the first period, but Udvari called 13 penalties. In the second, Powell stick handled through the Hornet defense and beat Mayer at 13:05. Migay tied it at 15:02 when he deflected in a Frank Sullivan shot. After a scoreless third period, Denis scored at 3:25 of overtime. But Solinger converted a Migay pass at 8:22, and the score remained tied at the end of the regular overtime. In sudden death, Solinger stole the puck from Art Michaluk and set up Migay for a 10-foot angle shot that won it.
Mayer wound up with 26 saves, while Bennett stopped 50 shots.
While most of the Hornets returned to Johnstown, Migay and Gordie Hannigan went on to Pittsburgh to receive treatment at Mercy Hospital -- Migay for his knee, and a jammed shoulder for Hannigan.
Both played before "a jam-packed crowd of 5,285 fans" at the Gardens on April 17. The fans left disappointed, though, as Providence earned another 5-1 victory.
Bennett stopped 19 shots in the first period. At the other end, Pete Kapusta knocked in a Zellio Toppazzini rebound at 13:43 to give the Reds the lead.
In the second period, Frank Sullivan fed a pass though two Providence defenders, and Migay converted to tie the game at 2:22. But Bennett stopped 16 Hornet shots in the period, and Gladu scored on a breakaway at 17:00 to give the Reds the lead. Toppazzini added a goal at 18:18 to extend Providence's lead to 3-1 after two.
Pittsburgh pressed the issue in the third, and while Bennett stopped another 10 shots, Moe Morris and Powell converted breakaways to make the final 5-1.
Bennett ended up with 45 saves to Mayer's 20.
Before Game 6, Clancy said, "I don't know what to think. Providence has a fighting, resourceful club and that Thursday's victory gave the Reds a tremendous lift. If we're on, I think we'll take them on their own ice, but we'll have to be at our best."
The Post-Gazette entitled its Game 6 box score "After 16 Years!" On April 20 in Providence, Ray Hannigan scored at 6:08 of sudden death to give the Hornets a 3-2 win and their first Calder Cup. "A screaming crowd of 6,154, largest in three seasons here, groaned as the shot flashed past Goalie Harvey Bennett."
Barbe opened the scoring at 1:09 of the first. Barry Sullivan tied the game with a power play goal that bounced over Mayer's skate 16 seconds into the second period. Horton gave the Hornets another lead when he stole the puck from Lund at center ice and broke in for the score. After Udvari disallowed an apparent Hassard goal, ruling it was kicked, Ken Smith tied the game at 18:46 of the second. The third period and 10-minute overtime were scoreless, despite a holding penalty on Hassard in the overtime.
Exactly how the game-winner was scored depends on which newspaper you believe. In the Post-Gazette, Jimmy Jordan wrote, "Ray Hannigan ended the series with a 15-foot shot into the lefthand corner of the net ... He had taken a pass from Chuck Blair near the blue line and skated on in to catch Goalie Bennett off guard for the clincher." According to the Press' Fred Landucci, "The playoff [sic] came when Phil Maloney snared the puck, passed to Chuck Blair who relayed to Ray right at the left corner of the crease. Red Goalie Harvey Bennett had no chance to save."
The Post-Gazette noted, "Conspicuous by his absence was League President Maurice Podoloff. Neither Podoloff nor the Calder Cup were present at the playoff game. Just when the cup will be presented still was a mystery after it had been won by the Hornets."
The team did return to Pittsburgh with the Calder Cup the next day; there are no details about how it was presented. Pennsylvania Station was packed, with Mayor David L. Lawrence, a band, and several hundred fans jamming the outer lobby of the station, to the annoyance of passengers trying to get to and from trains. Most players had been planning to get off the train at East Liberty, but the team received a telegram in Johnstown urging them to stay on board for the reception Downtown.
After a party at the Downtown Elks, most of the team scattered to their summer jobs, a few in gold mines. Tim Horton stayed in town to marry Dolores Michalek of Mt. Oliver at the Shady Side Presbyterian Church on April 23.
The victory didn't merit more than a small box on the front page of the Post-Gazette. The Press didn't put it on the front page at all. And once the players were gone, so was hockey coverage.
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Several Hornets went on to notable careers.
George Armstrong was an AHL first All-Star in 1951-52, having scored 30 goals in 50 games when the Maple Leafs called him up in midseason. He stayed in Toronto, becoming the Leafs' captain in 1957, and retiring in 1971. He was elected into the Hall in 1975.
Gordie Hannigan, Bob Hassard, Tim Horton, Leo Boivin and Rudy Migay all spent significant time with the Maple Leafs in 1952-53.
Hannigan had a decent 52-53, but bounced between the Leafs and Hornets after that.
Hassard stuck in Toronto for a year, then mostly spent time back in Pittsburgh.
Migay stayed with the Leafs through the '50s. When the Penguins came into being, he was a scout and minor league coach for them.
Leo Boivin and Tim Horton both went on to lengthy NHL careers, and both played with the Penguins as their careers wound down. Each was enshrined in the Hall of Fame, although neither's Penguin experience was a reason for his election. Boivin retired in 1970. Horton played until his death in an auto accident in 1974. He was also involved with a chain of donut shops.
After leading the Hornets to back-to-back Calder Cup final appearances, King Clancy became Toronto's coach in 1953. After three years, he moved into the Leafs' front office, where he remained for decades. Clancy was elected into the Hall in 1958, albeit for playing rather than coaching.
Frank Mathers was a mainstay of the Hornet defense until Duquesne Gardens closed in 1956. He then went to Hershey, where he was player-coach for six years, coach for another 11, and then president/general manager for 18 more years. Whenever the Bears played the Hornets in the 1960s, newspaper stories would inevitably mention that he was a former Hornet. Mathers became a Hall of Famer as a builder for his tenure in Hershey.
John Ashley, who was never active in the playoffs, eventually became an official. He refereed every NHL Game Seven from 1964-72, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1981.
So that's six Hall of Famers associated with one minor league team.
And Frank Udvari, the referee whose work in the games in the Rhode Island Auditorium was controversial, was called up to the NHL during the 1952-53 season, and lasted until 1966. He then became a supervisor of officials for decades, and was elected to the Hall of Fame.
Jordan noted in the April 22 Post-Gazette, "In fact, it was the first professional team championship won by a Pittsburgh club in any sport since the Pirates grabbed off the National League pennant back in 1927 -- almost 25 years ago." The next one wouldn't take so long, but that's a story for another time.
All quotes are from original coverage in the Pittsburgh Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
