The first class of the new Legends of Thursday Night Hockey Hall of Fame will be honored on Thursday Night. It is a star-studded cast headed by Joe "Joe" Farrelly, the driving force behind Thursday Night Hockey. Joe grew up in the tough Gilmore St. area of the Concord and for him hockey was "a way out". Farrelly, never one to follow conventional wisdom, carved his own path in hockey history. He enrolled at Bishop Brady High School which in those days was considered a hockey dead end, but he helped turn the Green Giants into a hockey power house. In 1973 Joe anchored the defense and helped lead the Brady squad to within nine seconds of a state championship. "We had em and all we had to do was skate the puck out of our zone", lamented Farrelly. Joe set an all-time mark for ice-time logged. It is a record that will probably never be broken. "It speaks volumes of Farrelly's abilities", said Phil "Commish" Stewart, "because that team was so deep in talent." A drinking problem kept Joe out of the UNH line up, but that didn't prevent the Concord Budmen from selecting him number one in the draft. "He could do it all for the Budmen", said Burns "Hugger" Hovey, the Budmen coach. Although the Budmen never won the Stanley Cup, they did win some games in Farrelly's years with the team. Farrelly's greatest contribution to the game of hockey, however, came when he convinced the best players of the Capitol City League to come with him and join the new NAHL. "It took balls to do that", said Mike "Hipshake" Farrelly, "but Joe had em the size of coconuts". Although many thought it would never fly, Joe knew what the public wanted and the moved re-energized hockey in the Capital City and left the old Capitol City League sinking faster than the Duke of Lancaster. Joe is now the head of Thursday Night Player's Association as well as arguably the league's top defenseman. Joe goes into the Hall in the "builders" category although he usually hires "Harry" to do any building for him.
Joining Joe in this first class are five in the "players" category. They are Dave "Tilly" Tillotson. Tilly learned the game on the black ice of White's Park from his older brother Brian and he went on to play for the Concord Crimson Tide under the legendary coach Dunc Walsh. "I owe it all to Coach Walsh for turning my life around", he said. Tilly went on play college hockey for New Hampshire College where he led them to an appearance in the Frozen Four and he was the runner-up for the Hobey Baker award. Tilly is currently the leading scorer in Thursday Night Hockey.
Joe and Tilly are joined by Greg "Hernia" Fournier, an "innovator" who is credited with inventing the hip check and shot blocking. He might have lead Concord High to it's first state championship had he not been kicked off the team for smoking cigarettes. "In those days cigarettes were cheap so why not smoke", said Hernia. Fournier was also a number one draft pick by the Budmen and played for them for more than thirty years before finally hitting his stride. "The timing was perfect because when Thursday Night Hockey was formed Hernia was turning heads in the Capitol City League", said Joe Farrelly, "we knew a lot of fans would come to the new league if Hernia was playing". He was right. "Thankfully Joe has gotten us huge pay increases because cigarettes are really expensive now", said Fournier.
On wednesday the Pucking Files will highlight the careers of the other three inductees.
No comments:
Post a Comment