By RAY SPITERI, REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Photo by Mike DiBattista

A new book detailing the storied history of junior A hockey in Niagara Falls will be released next month.

The Flyers and the Thunder: Major Junior Hockey in the Roar City, is a 200-plus page hardcover book that features more than 500 photographs and artifacts, along with biographies, records, statistics and trivia related to major junior hockey in the city from 1960 until 1996.

It's the second hockey book written by John Hewitt, a freelance writer and historian. Garden City Hockey Heroes, a look back on junior A hockey in St. Catharines, was released two years ago.

Hewitt said readers will be able to walk down memory lane while turning the pages of the Niagara Falls book, especially those who remember the 106 players the city sent to the National Hockey League, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Mike Gartner.

"The city was certainly roaring back in the day," said Hewitt, a St. Catharines native who recalls being a Niagara Falls Flyers season- ticket holder.

"It was just a different feeling back then -- a special period and a different era."

The Flyers, of the former Ontario Hockey Association, played in the Falls from 1960- 72 and then again from 1976-82. The Niagara Falls Thunder, of the Ontario Hockey League, were in the city from 1988-96.

Hewitt said there are several intriguing junior A hockey stories that unfolded in Niagara Falls over the years.

"(The Flyers' owner) Hap Emms said the biggest mistake he made was pulling out of Niagara Falls and buying the St. Catharines Black Hawks," said Hewitt.

The Emms family sold the Flyers in 1972. The new owners relocated the team to Sudbury. That same year, the Emms family bought the rival Blackhawks. In 1976, the team relocated to Niagara Falls, taking the same name as the previous team.

"It just wasn't the same for Hap in St. Catharines," said Hewitt. "After four years, attendance declined to the point where he decided to pull out and return to the Falls."

Marcel Dionne, who made his OHA debut with the St. Catharines Blackhawks against the Flyers at Memorial Arena in 1968, said past players are asking him to send them copies of the new book.

"You can read (the book), but the pictures tell you the entire story," said Dionne, whose debut game at Memorial Arena had to be stopped 16 times and took 3 1/2 hours to complete because of fog and haze at ice level.

"The pictures allow guys to go back in time and identify themselves -- to remember where they were."

The book will be launched June 10 at a reception in Niagara Falls. It will be available for sale June 11 at Marcel Dionne Inc., on Montrose Rd. in Niagara Falls, all Gales Gas Bar locations in Niagara, all Bob's Fast and Fresh Convenience Stores in Niagara and at the MacBain Community Centre in Niagara Falls.

Five dollars from every book sale will go towards the Bob Gale Recreation Fund, which provides assistance to Niagara Falls residents who otherwise would not be able to participate in active and healthy lifestyle activities.

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