WHILE originally competing for a 13-year stint from 1935 through ’48, the New York Rovers of the old Eastern Hockey League were one of those squads that boasted popularity on Broadway.
Playing many of their home games at the fabled Madison Square Garden, the Rovers featured a number of local players during their run in the minor professional ranks.
Taking on such EHL rivals as the Atlantic City Seagulls, Baltimore Orioles, Bronx Tigers, Boston Olympics, Washington Eagles, and the like, one of the top skaters ever to don a Rovers’ jersey was Fort William-born Murdo MacKay.
He joined them back in 1936 and went on to play four seasons with the club and ended up second overall, all-time, in franchise scoring with 149 points, in 186 outings, on 76 goals and 73 assists.
Prior to that, MacKay helped lead the Fort William Kams to a local junior title where he paced his club offensively, producing at a two-point-per-game pace.
An EHL all-star in his final year there, he went on to earn similar accolades in the American Hockey League (1948-49) as part of a 902-game career that saw him record 820 points, including 420 tallies, and also boast a stint with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.
Another interesting local who suited up for the Rovers was Frank Parker.
The crafty forward starred in the Lakehead heading to junior after a 101-goal season in bantam hockey in 1934-35.
Winning city championships with the Port Arthur Juniors and West End Bruins, Parker eventually ended up in New York appearing in over 100 contests, getting 69 points in total.
Like many other brave soles, he went on to serve his country, joining the Canadian Army in 1941 as a 21-year-old.
Initially reported killed in action during the calamitous Dieppe Raid of 1942 in northern France, in World War II, Parker actually survived and was captured, spending three years in a German Prisoner of War Camp, eventually being released in 1945.
Returning to North America post-war, Parker played one season in the Pacific Coast Hockey League with the Oakland Oaks with fellow Lakehead natives Henry Backor and John Raynak, before heading home and hoisting a local senior hockey league trophy with the Port Arthur Bearcats in 1947.
A true hero off the ice, Parker scored 212 times in his career as part of the 329 points he had in just 245 match-ups.
Others from northwestern Ontario who played for the New York Rovers included:
Jerry Kirk; Sam Kelly; Alex Birukow; Dick Kotanen; Steve Hrymnak; Vern O’Donnell and in a second installment of the organization in later years, Bill (Red) Johansen.
CONTRIBUTING IN THE SIX: Early in her tenure with the Toronto Six in the Premier Hockey Federation’s women’s professional league, Michela Cava is off to a solid start.
In her PHF debut, Cava notched the game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation and was named the match-up’s first star in a 4-3 Toronto road triumph over the host Buffalo Beauts.
Then playing in their first-ever home contest, the former Thunder Bay Queens’ standout tallied twice and set-up the deciding tally in 5-1 win over the Connecticut Whale.
Notching that decisive goal is the other Lakehead product and Queens’ alumna on the Six roster, Brooke Boquist.
That go-ahead effort was a shorthanded marker against Connecticut to send their side on to victory.
In the squad’s third appearance, Cava set-up two tallies, featuring another on the game-winner as the Six edged the Whale 3-2.
Cava had four successful seasons in Sweden and had a brief stint in China before joining Toronto while Boquist also competed in the Scandinavian country previously.
The Six are back at it December 4-5 in a two-game road set vs. the Boston Pride.
Rovers were popular on Broadway
Frank Parker (left) and Murdo MacKay (right) were just two, in a number of local products, who brought their talents to Broadway and competed with the New York Rovers in the old Eastern Hockey League some eight-plus decades ago.