Head Coaches of the CHL's Wichita Wind

The Wichita Wind were a franchise in the Central Hockey League that existed from 1963 to 1984. The Wind played for just three seasons, 1980-81 to 1982-83 and had a different coach in each season.

Garnet ‘Ace’ Bailey

Sadly, Bailey left the world too soon as he was on board one of the flights that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. 1980-81 was the only time Garnet coached at the pro level. He also appeared in one game as a player for Wichita.

The Wind had by far the best year of their short life in 1980-81, at least when it came to the post season. Wichita finished sixth in the nine team league with 67 points over the 80 game schedule. However, of the nine teams, two folded mid-season and all seven remaining teams qualified for the playoffs. The Wind beat the Indianapolis Checkers in the opening round and the Dallas Black Hawks in the semi-finals before losing to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in the Adams Cup finals. Wichita took the highly favoured Golden Eagles to the full seven game limit.

With Wichita being an affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, there were some notable future Oilers on the team, including Andy Moog, Dave Semenko and Charlie Huddy. Also in the lineup was Walt Poddubny, a first year pro at the time that would go on to have a 40 goal season with the New York Rangers in 1986-87.

Bailey played nearly 600 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1968-69 and 1977-78 with the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals. He was a scout for the Los Angeles Kings at the time of his death.

John Muckler

Eastern Hockey League legend John Muckler coached the Wind to their best regular season record in 1981-82. The team finished first in the five team South Division and third overall in the nine team league. After sweeping the Nashville South Stars in the opening round, the Wind were in turn swept by the Indianapolis Checkers in the following series. The team once again had Moog, Poddubny and Huddy in the lineup.

Muckler played pro in the EHL from 1955-56 to 1962-63. As a head coach, he won a championship in the EHL with the Long Island Ducks in 1964-65. He coached an Adams Cup winning team in the CHL, as well, as his Dallas Black Hawks captured the championship in 1978-79. In the NHL, he was head coach of the Edmonton Oilers as they won the Stanley Cup in 1989-90.

Andy Laing

The lesser known of these three hockey people, Laing coached Wichita in 1982-83 with the Wind finishing last in the six team league and out of the post season. He had coached hockey since 1974-75 and 1982-83 was his last year on record. Andy coached the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League from 1977-78 to 1980-81 and was the head coach of the Fort Worth Texans during the 1981-82 CHL season.

CHL in Wichita, Kansas

A league named the Central Hockey League returned for the 1992-93 season with several of the same cities involved from the CHL the Wind competed in. The Wichita Thunder were a charter team in the new league and are still currently active today.

 

Well Known Coaches of the 1963-64 CPHL

1963-64 was the first year of the Central Professional Hockey League, a minor pro league that existed from 1963-64 to 1983-84. The league changed its name to the Central Hockey League in 1968-69 but is not related to the current CHL. The coaches of the five teams were all established hockey men who are still mostly well known today.

In 1963-64, the league consisted of five teams with each playing a 72 game schedule. The Omaha Knights finished first overall with 97 points, 17 better than the second place St. Paul Rangers. The Knights and Rangers met in the playoff finals with Omaha coming out victorious in five games. St. Paul took the first game of the series 2-1 before the Knights won four straight by scores of 11-0, 3-0, 7-4 and 6-2.

The league’s scoring leader was Alain Caron of the St. Louis Braves with 77 goals and 125 points. A young Phil Esposito was in his second year of professional hockey and split the season between the Chicago Black Hawks and the St. Louis Braves. Despite playing just 43 games, Esposito finished sixth in the league with 80 points.

Scotty Bowman – Omaha Knights

The Omaha Knights had two head coaches during the 1963-64 CPHL season. Scotty Bowman coached the team’s first eight games before heading to Montreal to coach a minor league team there. The Knights went a perfect 8-0 under Bowman. Scotty went on to coach in the National Hockey League from 1967-68 to 2001-02 with the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. He won nine Stanley Cup championships, five with Montreal, one with Pittsburgh and three with Detroit.

Bill McCreary – Omaha Knights

Bill McCreary stepped in after Bowman left town. He acted as a player / head coach and it was his only year coaching with Omaha. McCreary coached three partial NHL seasons in the early 1970’s with the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and California Seals. Bill was a veteran of 309 NHL regular season games between 1954-55 and 1970-71 with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues.

Fred Shero – St. Paul Rangers

Fred Shero did not win a CPHL championship with the St. Paul Rangers in 1963-64 but did go on to win championships in the IHL, AHL, CHL and NHL. Fred was head coach in the National Hockey League from 1971-72 to 1980-81 with the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. He was the first ever recipient of the Jack Adams Award in 1973-74 as the NHL’s coach of the year.  He played 145 regular season NHL games between 1947-48 and 1949-50, all with the Rangers.

Harry Sinden – Minneapolis Bruins

Harry Sinden of the Minneapolis Bruins was another CPHL player / head coach. He played for Minneapolis for the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. Sinden is most famous for his head coaching job with the Boston Bruins between 1966-67 and 1969-70. He led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship in 1969-70, with the help of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Sinden also returned for interim stints behind the Boston bench in 1979-80 and 1984-85.

Walter ‘Gus’ Kyle – St. Louis Braves

Walter ‘Gus’ Kyle was in his last year of coaching with the 1963-64 St. Louis Braves. In 1958-59, he coached the Calgary Stampeders to a WHL championship. Kyle played 203 games in the NHL between 1949-50 and 1951-52 with the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.

Tony Leswick – Indianapolis Capitols / Cincinnati Wings

Tony Leswick had the dubious job of coaching the Indianapolis Capitols in 1963-64. After an explosion wrecked their arena just nine games into the season, the Capitals moved east to Cincinnati for the remainder of the season and were known as the Cincinnati Wings. The team won just 12 of their 72 games and finished dead last in the league. Leswick played 740 regular season games in the NHL between 1945-46 and 1957-58 with the Rangers, Red Wings and Black Hawks. He scored the winning goal in overtime of game seven of the 1953-54 Stanley Cup finals to give Detroit the victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

 

Wichita Thunder Retired Numbers

The Wichita Thunder were one of six charter teams that formed the Central Hockey League for the 1992-93 season. The Thunder and the Tulsa Oilers are the only two of the six that remain untouched today. Along the way, the Thunder have retired the jersey numbers of five players.

Ron Handy - 9

Ron Handy played with Wichita from 1992-93 to 1994-95 and helped the team to Ray Miron President’s Cup championships in 93-94 and 94-95. In his second season with the club, his 109 points placed him fourth in the CHL. The Thunder have retired number 9 in his honour.

Handy was a third round pick of the New York Islanders at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, 57^th overall. He played a total of 14 games in the NHL with the Islanders and St. Louis Blues. His junior career was stellar, playing in the Ontario Hockey League from 1980-81 to 1982-83 with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Kingston Canadians. His 148 points with Kingston in his final season placed him second in the league, behind only Doug Gilmour of the Cornwall Royals and his 177 points.

Jason Duda - 11

Jason Duda played for Wichita from 1996-97 to 2009-10. For the Thunder, he has the most games played, goals, assists and points in team history. On the CHL all-time list, Duda is placed third for goals, assists and points and second overall for games played. In 2004-05, he led the league with 96 points and was awarded the Joe Burton Award. Jason is the assistant coach of the 2012-13 Wichita Thunder. The team retired number 11 in his honour.

Rob Weingartner - 15

Rob Weingartner played with the Thunder in their first four years of existence, 1992-93 to 1995-96. In 1994-95, he placed fifth in the CHL with 274 penalty minutes. A few years later, with the Louisiana IceGators, he placed eighth in the ECHL with 334 PIM. Ron Handy was also with Louisiana that season and led the league in assists. Weingartner was head coach of the Thunder for part of the 2007-08 season. His number 15 is retired by Wichita.

Robert Desjardins - 35

Robert Desjardins was CHL rookie of the year in 1992-93. The following season, Desjardins was honoured with the Bill Levins Trophy as the most valuable player in the CHL. Those were Robert’s only two years of professional hockey. He had been MVP before. In 1986-87, he won the Michel Briere Memorial Trophy as MVP in the QMJHL. He was also OUA MVP with Concordia University in 1990-91. Number 35 is retired by the Thunder in honour of Robert.

Travis Clayton - 38

Travis Clayton played with the Thunder from 1997-98 to 2007-08 and played 880 regular season games in the Central Hockey League. Over his CHL, he totalled 983 points. The Thunder have retired number 38 in his honour.