The Norsemen are here, article and transcription (Paul Moran, Norsemen Magazine, c.1975-09)
Dublin Core
Title
The Norsemen are here, article and transcription (Paul Moran, Norsemen Magazine, c.1975-09)
Description
“THE NORSEMEN ARE HERE”
Paul Moran
Progress very often is an intangible sort of thing. But at times it comes at you more quickly than a Guy Trottier wrist shot. Consider the Norsemen.
A year ago they were not yet a glimmer in the eye of Willie Marshall, now general manager, or any of the 10 owners. Now the Norsemen are the most exciting attraction in hockey north of Memorial Auditorium and south of Maple Leaf Gardens.
“The Norsemen are here” shout bumper stickers on what seems to be half the automobiles in the Tonawandas. They are, to be sure. And if the early interest and excitement the team has generated in its infancy is any indication of its future, the Norsemen are here to stay.
The Norsemen appear to be a certain bet to attain success in the North American Hockey League, both on the ice and at the turnstiles. But the scene at the Tonawanda Sports Center was not always one of congratulations and backslapping. The future was not always as promising as it now is. In fact, for a time, however brief, it was rather bleak. Professional hockey was not an integral part of anyone’s plan for the future. But, that was last year.
Remember the Tondas? A year ago Marshall and his employers, Drs. Dudley Turecki and Syde Taheri, were fighting to keep the Tondas from being banished from the Sports Center. The details of the Tondas’ saga are too intricate and lengthy to discuss here. Suffice it to say that the team was a victim of the bureaucracy which holds the reins of the amateur hockey world on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
The ill-fated efforts to bring, and later to keep, amateur hockey and the Ontario Hockey Association in North Tonawanda failed to deter the Turecki-Taheri combo from the goal the doctors had set for themselves. They would bring hockey to North Tonawanda.
The doctors and the North American Hockey League first crossed paths just when each needed the other. The doctors sought an avenue leading directly toward their goal. The league, looking toward expansion and solid market potential, was looking for franchise owners.
Liz and Dick or Ike and Mamie could have been no more a perfect match than Turecki-Taheri and the NAHL. They sized each other up for awhile. The league looked at the market, and at the Sports Center. The doctors looked at the business end. Marshall looked at the hockey end. It may not have been love at first sight, but a beautiful marriage resulted nonetheless.
The doctors had a franchise. The next step was the formulation of a recipe for success.
They brought in eight other individuals — each an expert in a certain field — and sold shares in the club. The groups handled the business of putting together a hockey team. The appointment of Marshall to oversee the hockey portion of the operation came shortly thereafter. The formation of the Norsemen was formally announced at a press conference at May at the Statler Hilton. Plans at the time were generally sketchy, but the wheels of progress, which would before long begin to whirr, slowly began turning.
Each of the 10 owners assumed part of the burden of plotting the club’s course of action during those formative days. The efforts of each, combined with the owners’ resulted eventually in a meld that is a hockey organization from top to bottom, professional in every respect.
The wheels of progress had become a whirr by early summer. But the whirr was not out of control. No decision was made without full consideration being given to all the alternatives. Things progressed quickly, but not too quickly.
Perhaps the most important decision made by Marshall and the owners was the appointment of Guy Trottier as player-coach. The decision was another in a line of good ones. Marshall and Trottier have become a team, the goal of which is to put together a top flight hockey team in the shortest possible time. They work well together, and it shows.
With the aid of the parent WHA Toronto Toros and NHL Buffalo Sabres, the Norsemen appear well on their way to making a name for themselves in the NAHL. Their early showings prove that a challenger to the Lockhart Cup lurks in North Tonawanda. It wears green and gold and answers to Norsemen.
That’s progress.
Paul Moran
Progress very often is an intangible sort of thing. But at times it comes at you more quickly than a Guy Trottier wrist shot. Consider the Norsemen.
A year ago they were not yet a glimmer in the eye of Willie Marshall, now general manager, or any of the 10 owners. Now the Norsemen are the most exciting attraction in hockey north of Memorial Auditorium and south of Maple Leaf Gardens.
“The Norsemen are here” shout bumper stickers on what seems to be half the automobiles in the Tonawandas. They are, to be sure. And if the early interest and excitement the team has generated in its infancy is any indication of its future, the Norsemen are here to stay.
The Norsemen appear to be a certain bet to attain success in the North American Hockey League, both on the ice and at the turnstiles. But the scene at the Tonawanda Sports Center was not always one of congratulations and backslapping. The future was not always as promising as it now is. In fact, for a time, however brief, it was rather bleak. Professional hockey was not an integral part of anyone’s plan for the future. But, that was last year.
Remember the Tondas? A year ago Marshall and his employers, Drs. Dudley Turecki and Syde Taheri, were fighting to keep the Tondas from being banished from the Sports Center. The details of the Tondas’ saga are too intricate and lengthy to discuss here. Suffice it to say that the team was a victim of the bureaucracy which holds the reins of the amateur hockey world on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
The ill-fated efforts to bring, and later to keep, amateur hockey and the Ontario Hockey Association in North Tonawanda failed to deter the Turecki-Taheri combo from the goal the doctors had set for themselves. They would bring hockey to North Tonawanda.
The doctors and the North American Hockey League first crossed paths just when each needed the other. The doctors sought an avenue leading directly toward their goal. The league, looking toward expansion and solid market potential, was looking for franchise owners.
Liz and Dick or Ike and Mamie could have been no more a perfect match than Turecki-Taheri and the NAHL. They sized each other up for awhile. The league looked at the market, and at the Sports Center. The doctors looked at the business end. Marshall looked at the hockey end. It may not have been love at first sight, but a beautiful marriage resulted nonetheless.
The doctors had a franchise. The next step was the formulation of a recipe for success.
They brought in eight other individuals — each an expert in a certain field — and sold shares in the club. The groups handled the business of putting together a hockey team. The appointment of Marshall to oversee the hockey portion of the operation came shortly thereafter. The formation of the Norsemen was formally announced at a press conference at May at the Statler Hilton. Plans at the time were generally sketchy, but the wheels of progress, which would before long begin to whirr, slowly began turning.
Each of the 10 owners assumed part of the burden of plotting the club’s course of action during those formative days. The efforts of each, combined with the owners’ resulted eventually in a meld that is a hockey organization from top to bottom, professional in every respect.
The wheels of progress had become a whirr by early summer. But the whirr was not out of control. No decision was made without full consideration being given to all the alternatives. Things progressed quickly, but not too quickly.
Perhaps the most important decision made by Marshall and the owners was the appointment of Guy Trottier as player-coach. The decision was another in a line of good ones. Marshall and Trottier have become a team, the goal of which is to put together a top flight hockey team in the shortest possible time. They work well together, and it shows.
With the aid of the parent WHA Toronto Toros and NHL Buffalo Sabres, the Norsemen appear well on their way to making a name for themselves in the NAHL. Their early showings prove that a challenger to the Lockhart Cup lurks in North Tonawanda. It wears green and gold and answers to Norsemen.
That’s progress.
Date
1975-09
Collection
Citation
“The Norsemen are here, article and transcription (Paul Moran, Norsemen Magazine, c.1975-09),” North Tonawanda History, accessed October 23, 2025, https://nthistory.com/items/show/4525.