Hornets Left Lasting Impression
By George Von Benko

Editor's Note: The Penguins are paying tribute to Pittsburgh's rich hockey history when their farm club the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins hosts the Cleveland Barons at Mellon Arena March 1 at 7:30 as part of a tribute to the 1951-52 Calder Cup Champion Pittsburgh Hornets.

Pittsburgh has always been regarded as a good hockey town with a rich tradition dating back to the 1900s when it produced some outstanding amateur teams.

The Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets attracted some of Canada's finest players. The Pittsburgh Pirates were members of the NHL in 1925.

The Pittsburgh Shamrocks had a brief one-year run.

But it was the Yellow Jackets, who later became the American Hockey League's Pittsburgh Hornets, who left a lasting impression on the Pittsburgh hockey scene.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won two Stanley Cup championships in the 1990s, but the Hornets brought the city its first pro hockey title during the magical 1951-52 season.

The Hornets won the American Hockey League's Western Division title posting a 46-19-3 record and 95 points that year. They dispatched Eastern Division champion Hershey in the first round of the playoffs, four games to one, and beat Providence for the Calder Cup, four games to two.

The Hornets in the 1950s were the minor-league farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won four Stanley Cups between 1947 and 1951.

Players like Tim Horton, George Armstrong, Leo Boivin, Rudy Migay, Bob Solinger, Frank Mathers, Pete Backor and Gil Mayer dotted the

Pittsburgh lineup. Some went on to star with the Maple Leafs and some made it to the hockey Hall of Fame.

With just six teams in the NHL, it was tough to make a NHL roster.

"You go to camp every year," winger Andy Barbe said. "Forty guys were looking for 14 jobs. After awhile you just forgot about playing inthe NHL."

"There was no such thing as free agency," defenseman Frank Mathers said. "You signed with Toronto or Pittsburgh and you were there for life unless you were sold. At that time, that was the way it was. What made it tough too—right in that era—was that Toronto had a good team. They won it three years in a row and it was tough."

Because it wasn't easy to break into the NHL the American Hockey League was a very tough and talented league. Toronto was a powerhouse and their farm club at Pittsburgh was loaded.

The Leafs were known for their strong defensive play in those days and that filtered down through the system.

The Hornets possessed an outstanding defensive corps in 1951-52 led by future Hall of Famers Tim Horton and Leo Boivin. Pete Backor and Mathers were also part of that 'brick wall' defense.

"We weren't high scoring at all. Our game was to keep it close and win 2-1 or 3-2," said Mathers, who was paired with Pete Backor on defense.

"We had some horses," Barbe said. "Anybody could have played in goal for us because our defense was that strong. Half the guys playing in the AHL could have played in the NHL that's how good we were. Our defensemen were like horses. They played hard and rough. You didn't put your head down too often. You kept it up."

During the 1950s, Gil Mayer was Pittsburgh's version of "Mr. Zero."

Mayer and Cleveland net minder Johnny Bower became the top two goalies in the American Hockey League. Between 1951 and 1958, the AHL first All-Star team goaltender was held by either Mayer or Bower.

"I loved playing in Pittsburgh," Mayer gushed. "When I left there I was never the same—I didn't play as well as I did in Pittsburgh. I loved Pittsburgh.

Statistics bear that out. Mayer was the goaltender on three consecutive Calder Cup finals teams, winning the championship in 1952. After what many consider an "off year" in 1954, Mayer guided the Hornets back to the Calder Cup Championship in 1955.

"We had great hockey teams back then," Mayer said. "We had talent. It was like a NHL team."

Frank "King" Clancy coached the 1951-52 Hornets and a lot of Mathers' memories of that club center on Clancy.

"He was a character," Mathers said. "He was a negative type of a coach. He'd tell you, 'boys go out there and play hard, but don't get hurt. Don't go in the corners and stuff like that.' "It just got you mad enough so that you would do all those things."

Leo Boivin, a Hall of Fame defenseman, started his professional career with the Hornets and later played with the Penguins. Boivin enjoyed playing in Pittsburgh.

"Pittsburgh was a good hockey town," Boivin recalled fondly. "They had their fans there and we used to go to Hershey or Cleveland and the fans would go on the bus trips. We drew very well."

Part of the charm of the old Hornets was the building they played in the old car barn Duquesne Gardens.

"The fans were right on top of you," Mathers said. "But it was dark and dingy, and it was cold. It was an old car barn, but it was home. They claimed the rats there were the biggest in the league."

"It had a charm all its own," Mayer said. "It was one of the best places I played in - it was similar to the rink in Providence. It was small and there were a lot of screened shots for the goalie, but I loved it."

The 1951-52 Hornets marched through the playoffs and left wing Ray Hannigan's goal at 6:08 of the second overtime period gave the Hornets a 3-2 road victory and a 4-2 series win over the Providence Reds on April 20, 1952. It brought the Calder Cup to Pittsburgh.

"That team that we had in 1951-52," Mathers said. "That was as good a team as I played on I think—talent wise."