Greensboro Generals (1959–77)

The Greensboro Generals were a minor league ice hockey team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Greensboro was part of the Eastern Hockey League from 1959 to 1973, and then played in the Southern Hockey League from 1973 to 1977. The team was founded when the Troy Bruins of the International Hockey League were relocated by owner Ken Wilson and admitted to the EHL, to play in the recently built Greensboro Coliseum.
==History==
The team was owned by a group of local investors led by Carson Bain, who brought in Roland McLenahan as the team's first coach. The Eastern Hockey League was classified as amateur, although Generals players were recruited and paid. The Generals debut game at the coliseum was a 4–1 victory versus Washington, played on November 11, 1959, in front of a crowd of 3,014. Goaltender Norm Defelice won the George Davis Trophy for the lowest goals against average in the 1959–60 season.
Ronnie Spong took charge of the Generals as player-coach in 1960, and remained in that role until 1971, leading the Generals to a winning record in all but one of those seasons. The Generals reached the championship finals three years in a row from 1962 to 1964, and won the league title in 1963. Centerman Don Davidson won the John Carlin Trophy in the 1963–64 season as the league's scoring champion. The Generals had solid goaltending in the late 1960s with Peter McDuffe winning the EHL Rookie of the Year in 1967–68, and Ernie Miller winning the George Davis Trophy in 1969–70 for the lowest GAA in the EHL. Greensboro returned to the league finals in 1970, but finished as runners-up.
In the spring of 1971, Bain and his partners sold the Generals to Tedd Munchak, owner of the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. Don Carter became player-coach in 1972, then was replaced by Bob Smith as goaltender and coach in 1973. At the end of the season, the Generals along with three other teams, announced that they would leave the EHL to form the Southern Hockey League.
Ted Lanyon became head coach for the 1973–74 season, but struggled in the new league dropping to third place. The Generals moved to the smaller Piedmont Arena in 1975 due to financial difficulty, and Ronnie Spong returned as head coach. The Generals finished last place in each of the final three seasons of play. On January 4, 1977, the Generals folded mid-season due to continued financial problems. Three other SHL clubs folded the same week, and the league folded on January 31.
===Major league affiliations===
The Generals were primarily affiliated with the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975, but also had secondary National Hockey League affiliations from 1967 to 1977.
Years 	Affiliations
1967–71	Chicago Blackhawks
1971–72	Toronto Maple Leafs
1972–74	Los Angeles Sharks
1974–75	Michigan Stags, Baltimore Blades, New York Islanders
1975–76	Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals
1976–77	Atlanta Flames, Cleveland Barons, Colorado Rockies
==Notable players==
Notable Greensboro Generals players that also played in the National Hockey League or World Hockey Association:
 
*Ron Anderson (b. 1948)
*Steve Andrascik
*Jamie Bateman
*Jacques Blain
*Kirk Bowman
*Don Burgess
*Brian Bye
*Brian Cadle
*Jack Caffery
*Jeff Carlson
*Lyle Carter
*Chick Chalmers
*Jack Chipchase
*Mike Conroy
*Tom Cottringer
*Claude Cyr
*Murray Davison
*Norm Defelice
*Brian Derksen
*Jerry Engele
*John Fisher
*Greg Fox
*Russ Gillow
*Don Gordon
*Bruce Greig
*Howie Heggedal
*Earl Heiskala
*Paul Hoganson
*Bill Horton
*Don Howse
*Mike Hyndman
*Mike Jakubo
*Eddie Johnston
*Ed Johnstone
*Jim Jones
*Doug Kerslake
*Jarda Krupicka
*Moe L'Abbé
*Michel Lachance
*Ted Lanyon
*Barry Legge
*Bernie MacNeil
*Peter McDuffe
*Jimmy McLeod
*Rick Morris
*Bob Perreault
*Tony Poeta
*Jan Popiel
*Steve Richardson
*Lorne Rombough
*Bob Russell
*Barry Salovaara
*Nick Sanza
*Danny Schock
*Steve Self
*Tom Serviss
*Bob Sicinski
*Fred Speck
*Guy Trottier
*Gordon Tumilson
*Don Ward
*Jim Watson
*Steve West
*Alton White
*Ian Wilkie
*Gary Williamson
*Hal Willis
*Bob Winograd
*Roger Wilson
*Bill Young
*Jerry Zrymiak
*Wayne Zuk
==Results==
Season-by-season results in the EHL and SHL.
 
Season 	Lge	GP 	W 	L 	T 	Pts 	Pct 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	Standing 	Playoffs
1959–60	EHL	64 	26 	33 	5 	57 	0.445	236 	253 	841 	3rd, southern 	Lost in round 1
1960–61	EHL	64 	40 	22 	2 	82 	0.641	339 	257 	753 	1st, southern 	Lost in round 1
1961–62	EHL	68 	36 	30 	2 	74 	0.544	284 	258 	505 	1st, southern 	Lost in finals
1962–63	EHL	68 	40 	26 	2 	82 	0.603	305 	263 	588 	1st, southern 	Won championship
1963–64	EHL	72 	41 	29 	2 	84 	0.583	294 	257 	877 	1st, southern 	Lost in finals
1964–65	EHL	72 	37 	33 	2 	76 	0.528	333 	301 	619 	2nd, southern 	Lost in round 1
1965–66	EHL	72 	37 	31 	4 	78 	0.542	291 	263 	785 	3rd, southern 	Lost in round 1
1966–67	EHL	72 	35 	37 	0 	70 	0.486	265 	279 	997 	3rd, southern 	Lost in round 1
1967–68	EHL	72 	46 	20 	6 	98 	0.681	364 	248 	906 	1st, southern 	Lost in round 2
1968–69	EHL	72 	41 	22 	9 	91 	0.632	350 	279 	681 	1st, southern 	Lost in round 2
1969–70	EHL	74 	45 	22 	7 	97 	0.655	333 	241 	1123 	1st, southern 	Lost in finals
1970–71	EHL	73 	44 	21 	8 	96 	0.658	340 	234 	1132 	2nd, southern 	Lost in round 2
1971–72	EHL	73 	34 	27 	12	80 	0.548	284 	252 	1229 	2nd, southern 	Lost in round 2
1972–73	EHL	76 	40 	28 	8 	88 	0.579	391 	315 	1382 	2nd, southern 	Lost in round 1
1973–74	SHL	71 	33 	37 	1 	67 	0.472	285 	310 	1168 	3rd, SHL 	Lost in round 1
1974–75	SHL	72 	23 	47 	2 	48 	0.333	262 	384 	1280 	5th, SHL 	Out of playoffs
1975–76	SHL	72 	18 	42 	12	48 	0.333	221 	317 	1212 	6th, SHL 	Out of playoffs
1976–77	SHL	40 	15 	24 	1 	31 	0.388	140 	173 	798 	6th, SHL 	folded
TOTALS 	EHL	992	542	381	69	1153	0.581	4409	3700	12418	7 division titles	1 championship
TOTALS 	SHL	255	89 	150	16	194 	0.380	908 	1184	4458 	  	 
==References==
==External links==
* The Eastern Hockey League
Category:Atlanta Flames minor league affiliates
Category:Baltimore Blades minor league affiliates
Category:Chicago Blackhawks minor league affiliates
Category:Cleveland Barons minor league affiliates
Category:Colorado Rockies (NHL) minor league affiliates
Category:Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States
Category:Detroit Red Wings minor league affiliates
Category:Eastern Hockey League teams
Category:Established in 1959
Category:Disestablished in 1977
Category:Ice hockey teams in North Carolina
Category:Michigan Stags minor league affiliates
Category:New York Islanders minor league affiliates
Category:Southern Hockey League (1973–1977) teams
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs minor league affiliates
Category:Washington Capitals minor league affiliates