JULY 26, 1948
MOTORS FIRE MOORE AS COACHING CHANGE MADE
The Detroit Motors have hired veteran hockey man Badger Rigney to take over behind the bench for the struggling franchise. The 50-year-old Rigney, who last coached the Brooklyn Eagles four years ago, will replace Mark Moore who was dismissed last week. The club also announced that long-time forward Doug Yeadon, has decided to retire as a player and will join Rigney on the bench as his assistant.
For Rigney it is a return home of sorts as the final season of his 15-year playing career was with the Detroit club when they were known as the Olympians. Rigney made his playing debut with Boston as a 23-year-old defenseman and also had stops in Hamilton, with the New York Shamrocks and Quebec before finishing his career in the Motor City after the Champlains relocated from Quebec City. He was a hard-nosed, talented defenseman known for his tenacious play -hence the nickname as his real name is Richard Rigney.
After his retirement as a player, Rigney left the sport for four years and, always cunning with his investments, managed to make enough money to purchase the Eagles franchise from Bill Yeadon when Yeadon ran into financial difficulty. Rigney installed himself as owner-coach until deciding to sell the club in 1944. Now, and very much at Yeadon's urging -Bill is the Motors head scout- Rigney returns to the sport.
Assistant Coach Doug Yeadon began his playing career for his father with the then-New York Eagles but was sold to Detroit in 1937. He played 583 career NAHC games and scored 154 goals including a career best 21 in 1941-42 for the Motors before annoucing his retirement and plans to move behind the bench last week. Highly respected by his teammates, it seems a natural transition into the coaching ranks for the 35-year-old.
Shown the door by Detroit is Mark Moore, who also his ties to the Eagles as his first NAHC job was as an assistant coach in Brooklyn before heading to the Great Western Hockey League where he coached Tacoma for one season. When Motors owner John Connolly Jr. fired long-time coach Jack Barrell, it was Moore who was brought in to replace the former star player. Moore narrowly missed the playoffs his first season in Detroit but guided the club to a 3rd place finish a year later. His third season, just completed, had a terrible start and led to rumours he might be fired mid-season. The club made a playoff push, which saved his job for the short term, but the Motors finished in last place. Connolly had been debating his options for some time until finally making the decision to replace Moore last week. In three season with Detroit, Moore was 67-65-24 but led his club to just one playoff series. Replacing a legend like Jack Barrell with a struggling team really put Moore in a spot where it was nearly impossible for him to succeed.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
NOTABLE FREE AGENTS
A number of veteran players are left looking for work after their previous organization opted not to resign them. Here is a team-by-team look at the changes.
BOSTON BEES: The big news is that 33-year-old winger Waldermar Rupp was not offered a new deal. The long-time assistant captain was showing his age last season with a career worst 22 points in 46 games but he did add a pair of goals and an assist in two playoff games which helped Rupp remain the modern-era (post 1940) playoff scoring leader with 60 points. He had been a part of 5 Challenge Cup winning Bees clubs.
Boston also dropped 25-year-old center Daniel Fortin and 29-year-old winger Leroy Hester, each of whom split the season between the big club and Springfield.
CHICAGO PACKERS: The Packers cut ties with a pair of defensemen in Ted Stevens and Ian Groening as well as veteran winger Marsh Mansfield. Stevens, 25 and a three-year veteran on the Chicago blueline, was injured much of last season but had worn out his welcome due to frequent conflicts with teammates. Groening, also 25 and in his third season with the Packers, was limited to just 8 games this past season due to injuries. The 33-year-old Mansfield had some strong seasons early in his career with the Shamrocks and scored 34 points for Chicago two years ago but found himself in the press box much of this past season and had only 9 points in 27 games.
DETROIT MOTORS: The only player move of note was the decision by long-time assistant captain Doug Yeadon to retire after more than a decade in the league. The 36-year-old will not go far as it was announced recently that Yeadon will be an assistant coach with the Motors this season, following in the footsteps of his father Bill, the long-time coach and current Head Scout of the Detroit club.
MONTREAL VALIANTS:It has been well documented that the Vals made a decision to do a complete overhaul of their organization with many changes highlighted by the decision not to resign veteran goaltender Millard Touhey or his backup Sam Desjardins. Others not resigned include veteran rearguard Leo Bernard and a number of forwards rangine from 24-year-old Max Ducharme to 35-year-old Doug Lynch. In addition, 33-year-old center Tony Narand, who played just 20 games last season due to an injury, decided to retire.
NEW YORK SHAMROCKS: Very little will change on the Shamrocks roster with only veteran goaltender Ronnie Flanagan, who played in just 1 game for the Shamrocks last season, being let go from their main roster.
TORONTO DUKES: The Dukes gave a trio of veterans their walking papers but only one saw an action with the Cup winners last season. That would be 22-year-old defenseman Rob Painchaud, who had 12 points in 33 games during the season before being demoted to Cleveland. Two long-time fixtures on the wing are also gone in Syl Beam and Mahlon Klein but neither played a game for the Dukes last season. Beam missed the entire year with a preseason eye injury while Klein was dispatched to Cleveland after a long career with Toronto that saw him as a key piece of a pair of Challenge Cup winners earlier in the decade.
OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK
- Former world middleweight champion Dennis O'Keefe was a surprise loser in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fl. O'Keefe, who has lost three of his last five fights, was outpointed by a little known pugilist named Robert Schultz.
- Tom Miller, two-time Christian Trophy winning shortstop from Coastal State and the first overall draft pick remains unsigned by the Washington Eagles. After Dave Smith agreed to a deal with Cincinnati, Miller is the only remaining first-rounder yet to sign.
- Top Army and diplomatic chiefs spent much of the week in the White House after being summoned by President Truman to discuss options to handle the Russian blockade of Berlin.
- Cabinet ministers of the five nations belonging to the Western European union meet in the Netherlands to discuss common interests but the Berlin blockade is expected to be the main subject.
- Truman will hand Congress an administration bill to deal with the rapidly rising cost of living when the special session gets underway this week. It is expected to be a stormy session dominated by discussion on price controls and civil rights.
Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of
THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.