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.

 

John Muckler and His 3 Championships

John Muckler coached in professional hockey from 1960 to 2000 so the odds were for him winning a championship or two behind the bench. Actually, Muckler led three teams to playoff championships in three different professional leagues.

John played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association for three years from 1951-52 to 1953-54 with the Windsor Spitfires and Galt Black Hawks. His pro playing career consisted of eight years in the Eastern Hockey League with the Charlotte Clippers, New York Rovers and Long Island Ducks. With the Ducks, he was player/head coach from 1960-61 to 1962-63.

As a coach, Muckler found himself behind benches in the EHL, CHL, NHL and AHL. At the highest level, he coached the Minnesota North Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. Of course, most notable are his years in Edmonton.

Long Island Ducks - EHL

His first championship came in 1964-65 while coaching the Long Island Ducks in the EHL. The team finished the regular season second in the North Division, 17 points behind the division leading Clinton Comets. The Ducks were third overall with the Nashville Dixie Flyers finished first with 108 points.

Long Island faced the Jersey Devils in the opening round and won 3-1. In the semi-finals, they upset the Clinton Comets four games to two. In the finals, they played giant-killer once again, taking down the Dixie Flyers in just five games.

Dallas Black Hawks - CHL

Well over a decade later, Muckler won his second championship, this time in the Central Hockey League. His Dallas Black Hawks finished second in the six team league behind the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. Salt Lake finished with 101 points while the Black Hawks were eight behind with 93. Dallas used eight different goaltenders during the regular season, including Gary Bromley, Eddie Mio, Dunc Wilson and Curt Ridley. They had the most goals for and were the most penalized team in the CHL.

Dallas met the Kansas City Red Wings in the opening round and swept the Detroit affiliate in four games. In the finals, they met up with the Golden Eagles and lost just one game to take the championship.

Edmonton Oilers - NHL

Yet another decade and more passed before John’s third championship. In 1989-90, he was behind the bench for the Mark Messier led Edmonton Oilers. Messier finished second in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with former teammate Wayne Gretzky. Mark had 129 points while Gretzky had 142 with the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oilers finished second in the Smythe Division with 90 points, nine behind the first place Calgary Flames. In the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Winnipeg Jets gave Edmonton a scare, going up 3-1 in the series. The Oilers roared back with three straight to advance. The next round was a four game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. In the semi-finals, Edmonton found themselves in trouble again, down 2-1 to the Chicago Black Hawks before again winning three straight to take the series. The Oilers took the Boston Bruins in five games in the finals to capture the Stanley Cup.