Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Legend Continues on Thursday


Continuing our bonus edition of The Files, we focus on the careers of the other three inductees into The Legends of Thursday Night Hockey Hall of Fame.
Jim "Heathy" Heath began his stellar career in the shadow of older brother Glen "Wonder" Heath. Jim was so overshadowed by big brother Glen that he was referred to as "Little Wonder" until High School where he emerged from the shadow of Wonder and earned his nickname "Heathy". It came accidently when playing under the legendary coach Tom "Tarzan" Walton. The roster listed Jim as a "heathy scratch". The misprint stuck with him once they dropped the "scratch". Heathy began turning heads with his play on the ice and on the baseball diamond. He was offered both baseball and hockey scholarships but turned them down in order play professional soccer in Central America. A military coup ended Heathy's soccer dream and landed him back in the Granite State playing for Concord's Budmen. He became a first round choice in the CCHL where he set records in goals and points by a defenseman. His slapshot was clocked at 102 miles per hour during the skills competition. He soon got the call to "The Bigs" where he continues to pile up points.
George "Dumpin" Chase grew up playing hockey on Turkey Pond with Hobey Baker. "He was an older kid at St Paul's that I looked up to", said George. "He used to tease me and call me "four eyes". George, the tall skinny kid with glasses became a standout at Milton Academy where he became half of the dynamic duo of "Chase & Kineally". He went on to skate for Bowdin College and was drafted by the NHAL. It was here that Coach Gary "Toe" Blake converted him to a defenseman and taught him "the ol' dumpin chase" tactic which Chase perfected. George also has been the coach of the Lady Paulies for the past decade.
Kurt "Kaiser" Gillies is part of "the first family of hockey" which consisted of three goalies; father Bruce, brother Bruce "the rooster" and brother Chris. "I had very little net to shoot at with all of them blocking the goal" said Kaiser, but, that's why I developed the ability to find the back of the net in impossible situations. After a stellar career for the Crimson Tide, the puck-moving defenseman went to Canada to play Junior A hockey where he caught the eye of the German olympic team. Since Kurt was the grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm for whom he is named, he was eligible to skate for Team Germany. Just before the start of the 1976 winter olympics, Kurt was accused by an Israeli court of nazi war crimes, but he was later cleared of all charges. Unfortunately for the Kaiser and for Germany he was unable to play in the 76 olympics because he was being held in a Tel Aviv prison. After his ordeal, Kurt returned to Concord and began playing in the CCHL where he was also known as "the Minister of Defence". "He was so difficult to play against" said former Montreal Canadien Kent Carlson, "that I used to vomit before games against him". The Kaiser jumped to the NAHL when he was offered a huge multi-year deal that included beer and pizza. He was the mainstay for Green in their championship run last year.

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