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In 1942, shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutters hockey club was born.
Brainstorm of Lieutenant Commander C. R. MacLean, a former player from Michigan and personnel officer at Curtis Bay Yards in Maryland, the Cutters played through the 1942-43 and 1943-44 seasons in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League, considered to be one of the most competitive leagues of its time.
They also played a number of exhibition games and once, at Carlin's Iceland in Baltimore, their home ice, the Cutters went head-on against the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
The Cutters took two league championships in their brief history, and the team was broken up when the Coast Guard came under pressure because the guys were playing hockey when so many others were in combat.
Go read, and learn about a little-known bit of frozen history.
Posted by Ted at October 28, 2006 09:47 AM