Ice Hockey

When it comes to hockey, especially Greenfield High School hockey, few in Franklin County have the knowledge of its history than Recorder sportswriter Mark Durant. A 1988 graduate of GHS, Durant has followed Green Wave hockey for many years. In 2000, an innocent phone call from a parent prompted him to undertake the arduous task of researching the history of GHS hockey - more specifically, who the program's all-time leading scorer was.

"Tom Suchanek (former GHS athletic director) received a call from a parent asking who the school's all-time leading scorer was," Durant explained. "Suchanek wasn't sure because he didn't have any records, and suggested calling me. When the parent called me and posed the same question, he seemed pretty sure that his son could be the all-time leading scorer. I knew his family recently moved here and their history of GHS hockey was limited, so I assured him that his son didn't have the record after mentioning several names of past stars.

"However, after I hung up the phone, I realized that I still didn't know who the all-time leading scorer was, only those who had surpassed 100 career points since 1990," added Durant. "So I felt it was in my best interest to find out, so I could answer the question with 100 percent confidence."

Durant's first stop was The Recorder archives. Though he found most of his information there, he made subsequent trips to the University of Massachusetts library and Springfield Newspapers archive room to compile the most comprehensive GHS all-time scoring list available. He then wrote a story detailing the all-time leading scorers.

But, like so many things already posted on this site, people may have forgotten about it until now.

I have to admit, when it comes to hockey, I am a novice. I never covered a high school game, nor have I written many stories. But, four years ago, I did pen an article for The Recorder's Quabbin Valley Voices that gave me new insight to another school's hockey history. Although there was no indoor rink and World War II helped in the demise of the program, believe it or not, Athol had a strong rink program in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

That story, along with information on the new Turners Falls co-operative program through the research efforts of myself, Durant and others, will also appear on these pages.