PHATS/SPHEM Mark Brennan

By Mark “Peaches” Brennan

So, this past year I had the pleasure of going to the annual PHATS/SPHEM convention in Orlando. It was a quick 48-hour turnaround. My goodness, how things have changed from 1986 to now.

As we enter our 55th year as professional societies, maybe it would be a good time to reflect on how we have changed—just in the time that I’ve been involved in hockey in some capacity over some 45 years, give or take.

What is still true and without excuse: we all do what we do because of our love for the game and the professionalism we all bring to our jobs. It’s always been said that you must buy into it. “It’s a lifestyle, not a job.”

With that being said…

THE GOLDEN YEARS?

SPHEM did not exist until 1996.
White jerseys at home (only one set of home and road for the entire season).
We were in the “Chuck Norris Division” (Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, St. Louis, and Minnesota).
We had one trainer, one equipment manager, and a third guy on the training staff.
There was an “off” in offseason.
Players came to camp to start getting in shape by Christmas.
All-Star break was three days, and Christmas break was two.
We had our own hotel rooms on the road.
There was one head coach and one assistant coach.
Video was what we saw when we looked up at the big screen—if an arena had one.
I worked in four of the Original Six buildings (Maple Leaf Gardens, Montreal Forum, Chicago Stadium, and Boston Garden). Honorable mention: Checkerdome, St. Louis, and the Colisée, Quebec (especially for the hot dogs).
There was no board or ice advertising.
No flip-flops or blenders.
Morning skates were done wearing game jerseys on the road.
Everything fit into one standard stretch van (Big Brad or Big Tony).
All sticks were wood, and players curved their sticks with propane torches.
Tape had a name—there was either Gordie Howe or Mark Howe.
Sticks were $228.00 per dozen (Sherwood 5030 Featherlight).
If a player wanted to change blades, they changed the whole skate.
Stoned out nicks on the bench.
Usually went through maybe two pairs of gloves in a season.
Maybe two pairs of skates.
Skates were ~$275.00 per pair, with an additional $50.00 for a custom fit.
Blades were all carbon steel with replaceable white tips (had to be repaired during a game if a player wanted to continue playing—this was in the NHL Rule Book).
No cell phones or travel secretary (we handled the paper tickets and flew commercial).
We handled all the ticket requests on the road for the team.
Some players didn’t wear helmets.
Referees had names on their jerseys. We could yell at them, and they could yell at us.
Players put gauze rolls in their shin pads for added protection.
“Gunk” was a gray sludge that seemed to grow in certain pieces of equipment.
SB95 and EK46 were standard (look that up).
Fluid replacement in the room between periods was known as 12, 12, 12 (12 water, 12 Coke, and 12 Gatorade). No “Sport Cola,” unless you played Edmonton.
Had 12 bottles on the bench for the players and white sweat towels.
Stick boys, if they did a good job, made $50.00 per game.
We usually only carried three extra players on the road.
“Optional” practice was still a bad word.

I’m sure there are more that I just cannot remember at this time. If you want to add, please feel free to do so. As always, safe travels and best of luck down the stretch. See you all in Orlando—and cheers to all.

Best always,
Mark “Peaches” Brennan
PHATS/SPHEM HHOF 2010

Seat of Your Pants

by John Doolan

To ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ is to decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a predetermined plan or mechanical aids. It’s a similar phrase to “winging it,” and both expressions come from early aviation. A line from the movie “Heartbreak Ridge” in which Clint Eastwood says “Adapt, Overcome, and Persevere.” I am confident that even in today’s game, you are all winging it at some point.

At some point either your athletes or yourselves have used a few of the below mentioned adaptations or inventions.

Tommy Naylor spent 26 years with the Maple Leafs and was part of 9 Cups. He retired in 1970 but was called back to do skates for Team Canada in the 72 Summit Series. He was widely sought out for his sharpening doing so not only for hockey but also international figure skaters.

He has been credited with designing the portable sharpener so teams could travel with their own machine. He also had a hand in the evolution of skates, which did not have a tendon guard. After seeing players getting tendon cuts, Tom came up with a sewable guard, which then was intricated into the boot by manufacturers. Bobby Hull played his whole career with the boot and sewn on tendon guard. Blades have come a long, long way from Tommy’s days. At one time we had tube skates, maybe you young guys have seen pictures. The heal of the blade came to a sharp point and if a player fell a certain way, the heal of his skate could injure someone. Tom came up with a heal plug (pictured 1,2) that inserted into the open end of the tube style blade. He also came up with the wrap around calf protection for shin guards mostly used by defenseman. (pictured 3)

This is just a short overview of what Tommy Naylor gave to the game and our groups.

The Alumni strongly encourage the HOF committee to induct Mr. Naylor posthumously.

Fifty or so years ago, manufactures did not make goalie pants. Goalies wore the same pant as everyone else except for one change. We would take foam and make a roll about two inches in diameter, tape it and sew them into the inseam to close the 5 hole.

Mitten Clips are just what the name says, small bands of elastic with two clips. Their purpose is to prevent little tykes from losing their mittens and clip to the coat. Someone came up with the idea to use them to keep suspenders tighter on the pants. Zinger in Winnipeg had a cottage industry supplying a beefed-up model to other equipment managers at one point in time.

What would happen if your sweaters showed up without a “tie down, fight strap?” Well, they were not always taken for granted. In fact, they are the result of “Winging It.” Up until expansion in 67’ the game was not as rough until the Big Bad Bruins and Broad Street Bullies came to play. My first recollection of a tie down was taking an old skate lace and a quarter and tying the quarter, then tying to the pants. Ken Carson, long time trainer in both hockey and baseball took it a step further. He would take garter belts, cut the straps and have those then sewn to the sweater, preferably on a number for better reinforcement. The strap could then be attached to the pants’ suspender button.

Several years ago, you began adding “Plate Protectors” to gloves. Well once again, this is a concept that goes back to the late 60’s. Ken also worked with Spalding, who was also in the hockey biz to design what we called a “Fastback Glove”. (picture 4) Designed to add extra protection, it was also introduced by other manufactures like Cooper and Jofa.

HOF member Mark Brennen has also winged it several times over his career. There was a time when the toe of goalie pads was attached to the skate with “toe buckles and staples that went around the cowlings of the skates resulting in goalies taking direct shots to the skate. (picture 5) Mark came up with the idea of putting a protective piece where the buckles were and lacing them to the skate using a lace resulting in the “Toe Bridge” that is the now the norm.

Just as today, we had an open relationship with the players, manufactures and the equipment reps. We looked to them for innovation, and they looked to us for inspiration. It was a working relationship, we shared ideas and we were happy to see changes made to where we all are today.

We will have several Alum in attendance in Florida, so please take a moment to introduce yourselves and pick our withering brains. Good luck for the rest of the season!

Picture 2 Heal Plug

Picture 3 Wrap Around Calf Protection for Shin Guards

Picture 4 Fastback Glove

Picture 5 Goalie Pads

All photos courtesy of John Doolan

Changes

by Mark “Peaches” Brennan

Got a phone call from John Doolan, who wanted to know if I could write an article for the alumni about life after hockey. Guess I never thought about a life after hockey. For years we live out our dream and never think that it will end.

The first time it ended I never saw that coming. As I have always said, don’t wait for the “what the f@#$ moment!” “Didn’t see that coming.” As the HR department said, “You have 20 minutes to clean out your space!”.

The only guarantee we have is one day we will either retire or be fired. I have had both in my career. Thankfully, the second time around, it was my choice to leave the Portland Winterhawks and retire. They were gracious enough to let me enjoy the moment. Yes, after almost four decades and some 2,250 games, it was time to pass on the sharpening jig. It was a great career and an honor to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on behalf of PHATS/SPHEM.

So, I did retire? Did I plan to retire, hell yes! Did I plan on playing golf every day and sitting on some tropical island, hell yes, I did! Did reality check in at some point? Hell, yes it did!

The reality is, we planned for both of us to retire at some point and looked at our lives both as a partnership between my wonderful wife Judy, the first PHATS/SPHEM Administrator, and what type of impact it would have both mentally and financially.

So, what is my advice? Plan to retire when you first start working. We planned and invested for years and had a long-term plan. So, to anyone out there, have a plan both mentally and financially. It is over quicker than you think.

So, back to what this is all about, is there life after hockey? There is life after anything. It’s called life changes. So, I retired for five weeks and got bored as hell and ran out of things to do around the house and needed to be busy. So, I did the next best thing to working in hockey, I got a job in a brewery. Go figure, beer league hockey comes to reality. Landed a job, full time at a wonderful and progressive local independent brewery (Ecliptic Brewing). I’m having a great time and learning a whole new skill in packaging and production, and I work with passionate people who believe in what they are doing, and we get to share it with a lot of people. Sounds like a hockey mindset.

So, I ride my bike to work every day at 5:15am, rain or shine. Have a clean bill of health, normal blood pressure and have lost 15lbs in the process so far. Go figure, work in sports all my life and get out of shape and have high blood pressure and then get a job in a brewery, get in shape, and get healthier.

Do I miss the game? Every day I miss the game, but most of all I miss the people I have met and who will always be considered friends for life. So glad to have been part of the brother and sisterhood and I have always believed, only we know what we do every day in and out. Do I miss the work, hell no! It sucked most of the time, the late nights and time away from home. Now I only work five days a week, home every night for dinner and off every weekend. We even have paid time off. This has been a real adjustment for both me and Judy. But, getting used to it. And just so everyone knows, we don’t drink beer all day at work. Only when we are off the clock and in a responsible manner.

So, life after hockey is what you make it. Plan for it and think about it. It is going to happen to everyone. It is over sooner than you think so don’t get caught in the moment. Regardless, age and time wait for no one. Do we plan for more life changes after the brewery? Darn well better believe it! We have already planned to be moving to that island, sitting on that beach and just maybe, enjoying that cold brew that I may have had a small part in making.

Cheers to you all, safe travels and happy landing, best to all.

Mark “Peaches” Brennan

HHOF 2010

Mark Brennan working his last game for the Winterhawks

Mark Brennan at Ecliptic Brewing

All photos courtesy of Mark Brennan