NHL Retirees Who Coached In 1983-84 ACHL

1983-84 was the third of six season that the Atlantic Coast Hockey League existed. The teams each played a 72 game regular season schedule. The Erie Golden Blades defeated the Carolina Thunderbirds to win the championship. The players in the six team league were forgettable but four of the teams were coached by quite recognizable names.

Rick Dudley – Carolina Thunderbirds

Rick Dudley coached the Carolina Thunderbirds for four years from 1982-83. The 1983-84 Thunderbirds finished first overall and had the most goals for and least goals against. In the playoffs, Carolina beat the Mohawk Valley Stars in the first round before their defeat at the hands of the Golden Blades in the finals.

Dudley played pro from 1969-70 to 1981-82. He played 309 regular season games in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and Winnipeg Jets. He played in the World Hockey Association from 1975-76 to 1978-79, appearing in 270 games with the Cincinnati Stingers.

Rick was head coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 1989-90 to midway through the 1991-92 season. He was also interim head coach of the Florida Panthers for 40 games in 2003-04. In 1987-88, he was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy in the IHL as coach of the year, leading the Flint Spirits to the finals.

Rick Ley – Mohawk Valley Stars

Rick Ley coached the Mohawk Valley Stars to a fourth overall finish in his only year of coaching in the ACHL. As mentioned earlier, the Stars fell to the Carolina Thunderbirds in the opening round of the playoffs.

Ley was a third round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1966 and played pro hockey from 1968-69 to 1980-81. In the NHL, Rick played in 310 regular season games with the Maple Leafs and Hartford Whalers. He was a member of the New England Whalers in the WHA for the duration of the league, 1972-73 to 1978-79, playing in 478 regular season games.

Rick coached pro hockey from 1981-82 to 2005-06. In the NHL, he was head coach of the Whalers for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons and head coach of the Vancouver Canucks for 1994-95 and most of 1995-96.

Ley’s greatest coaching success came in the IHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He took the team to the finals for three straight years from 1984-85 to 1986-87, winning in 1985-86. In 1984-85, he was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy as coach of the year.

Don Luce – Pineridge Bucks

Don Luce coached part of the 1983-84 season with the Pineridge Bucks. The Bucks were a unique team that played out of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a town of just 2,500 but with an arena that sat 4,000.

Luce was a third round pick of the New York Rangers in 1966. He played pro from 1968-69 to 1981-82 with the Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs, appearing in 894 regular season games. Luce would only stand behind the bench in one other season, 1986-87 as the assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres.

Dave Hanson – Birmingham Bulls

Dave Hanson, better known as Jack Hanson from the movie Slap Shot, has the distinction of winning 67% of all the pro games he coached. Unfortunately, this result comes from winning two of three as head coach of the Birmingham Bulls in 1983-84 before the team folded.

Hanson played pro hockey from 1974-75 to 1983-84. He appeared in 103 games in the WHA with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, New England Whalers and Birmingham Bulls. He dressed for 33 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars.

Hanson is probably most famous for the two years he spent in the North American Hockey League with the Johnstown Jets. The Jets and the NAHL were the inspiration for the movie Slapshot starring Paul Newman.