EHL Roadtrip 2010 - Day 1 (Part 2) - Utica Memorial Auditorium

Friday October 29 Troy to Utica.

On Day 1, I was scheduled to see the Hershey Bears (EAHL 1933-39) play the Syracuse Blazers at the Syracuse War Memorial Auditorium at 7:30 PM. Since Clinton and Utica were more-or-less on the way, I decided to scout those locations first, just to make sure I wouldn't waste time trying to find anything when I returned on Saturday.

I planned to get to Syracuse in time to take some shots of the NY State Fairgrounds Arena before going to the game at the War Memorial. Then on Saturday morning I would go back to Clinton, with hopes of sneaking on the ice for a lap in the AM, before going to the Clinton Historical Society between 11 and 2. Saturday would end off with Franklin Pierce (a school from near where I live in southern New Hampshire) playing Utica College at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, which brings us to our first official stop.

The "Aud" was where the Clinton Comets usually played their weekday home games starting with the 1960-61 season. It is about 15 minutes northeast of Clinton. The Aud is easy to get to off of the NY State Thruway. There's an outdoor parking lot next door. The lot was empty, except for a guy in a truck parked half on the curb at the entrance. We both eyed each other, but neither blinked nor said anything. The next night it turned out that he was the guy who I paid for parking. I parked and got out and took the shots below. As per usual in central New York, the weather was pretty gloomy both days.

Utica Memorial Auditorium Front Entrance


Front of Building from across 5-S, Oriskany Street.

Side entrance across from parking lot.

Side entrance from the parking lot.

Rear of building from parking lot side.

As I had my face pressed against the glass to see in, a man opened the door and asked if I needed anything. I explained about just being an old Eastern Hockey League fan. I'm guessing by his expression that he had no idea what I was talking about. So, I just nodded and smiled and said I'd be back for the game tomorrow night, which completely failed to change his expression.

.I took a couple of more outside shots, and then it was off to Clinton...

Photo-safety tip of the day: Don't try to take pictures while you're driving.

Clinton Comets Revisited

Here's a remembrance of the Clinton Comets by Richard L. Williams, Town and Village Historian, for the Clinton Historical Society.

According to Wikipedia, the original Clinton Arena burned down September 11, 1953. The Comets played in both the Western Ontario League and a partial schedule in the EHL for the 1954-55 season. The Comets played a combined 74 games (35-35-4), which at that time was considered a very long season.
This makes me wonder if Clinton had been a new franchise for the 1953-54 EAHL season, and if their arena burning down had an affect on the EAHL not playing that year. After that year off, the EAHL reformed into the "modern" EHL for the 1954-55 season. Ed Later Note: No, Clinton was not in the EHL's plans until September 1954, when a meeting for a New York State league was held at the same time as a meeting for restarting the EHL.