RI HOCKEY LEGACY

​Down East Hockey

Picture
Picture
​In February 1932 an entirely different brand of hockey was played at the R.I. Auditorium when the Bucksport Pointers and the Skowhegan Yokels showed fans how "Down East Hockey" was played. The game, similar to "shinny", was best characterized as a "free-for-all". The players had no skates, uniforms or penalties and rules to encumber themselves with. This version of hockey had a puck in play from the moment it was dropped on the ice until it was shot into the net. The players were clad in the most approved lumberjack fashion (players carried home-made hickory sticks and carpet bags and wore hip boots instead of skates). Four 20-minute periods were staged providing enough action for a Roman holiday. The teams brought their own officials and their own band with them. They took their places on the team and in the band with nonchalance. Sometimes instead of a puck the Maine brigade used a painted golf ball loaded with lead to prevent it from taking wings and souring up into the audience. While the scoring was freer than in regulation hockey, a team rarely tallied more than eight or nine times. There were no penalties, no rules, no off-sides, no out-of-bounds and no time outs. The official was not permitted to interrupt the game. His only function seemed to be being pushed around by the players when he got in their way. It was a proud boast of the "Down Easters" that nobody paid attention to the referee. Six men played on a side during hostilities with the play so rough and rugged that it was necessary for each team to carry 15 or more substitutes at all times.
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  • Home
  • Schoolboy
    • 1900s
    • 1910s
    • 1920s
    • 1930s
    • 1940s
    • 1950s
    • 1960s
    • 1970s
    • 1980s
    • 1990s
    • New England Championships
    • All-State >
      • All-State Teams
      • All-State Photos
    • Journal Honor Roll
    • Divisions
  • Schoolboy Stories I
    • Opening Night
    • Schoolboy Polo to Hockey
    • Battle of School Leagues
    • Flying Frenchmen
    • Flying Green Thunderbolt
    • Packed House
    • All Stars at the Garden
    • Big Night for Cougar
    • One, Two, Three Punch
    • Mighty Blue Wave
    • Maroon Between the Pipes
    • Premèire Femelle
    • Arlington Here We Come
  • Schoolboy Stories II
    • New England OT Thrillers
    • Doubleheader at the Park
    • Bay State Battle
    • California Dreamin'
    • Bienvenue a R.I. Montréal
    • Third Time's A Charm
    • The Kids Called Her Coach
    • Dueling Opinions
    • And The Winner Is ...
    • Eight Ways to Sunday
    • Not One But Two!
  • Sr Amateur Teams
    • Providence Hockey Club
    • Richard J. Dennis Post
    • Canadian Club of Rhode Island
    • East Side Hockey Club
    • Providence Club
    • Flying Frenchmen of Woonsocket
    • Rhode Island Marquettes
    • Club Marquette of Woonsocket
    • Sandager Club
    • Dunnes of Cranston
    • P & Q of Woonsocket
    • Providence Chicks
    • Eastern Olympics
    • Cranston Hockey Club
  • Se Amateur Leagues
    • Industrial Hockey League
    • Blackstone Valley Amateur Hockey League
    • Rhode Island Amateur Hockey League
    • Rhode Island Amateur Hockey Association
    • Inter-City Amateur Hockey League
    • CYO Senior Hockey League
    • Rhode Island Senior Hockey League
    • Rhode Island Amateur Hockey Assoc.
    • Rhode Island Amateur Hockey League
    • Old Colony Hockey League
    • Massachusetts Hockey League
  • RI Scarlets
    • RI Amateur Hockey Club
    • RI Scarlets 1930s
    • RI Scarlets 1940s
    • RI Scarlets 1950s
    • RI Scarlets 1960s
  • Did You Know? I
    • Hooray For Hollywood
    • Maryland, My Maryland
    • Across the Pond
    • Goodbye Detroit Hello Prague
    • Fisticuffs in Stockholm
    • The Diamond to the Blueline
    • Little Rhody on the Reds
    • First Dominicans on Ice
    • Brown Finally Plays Harvard
    • Amateurs at the Auditorium
    • Can You Spare a Goalie?
    • In The Army Now
    • Mademoiselles Play Too
  • Did You Know? II
    • East Side Skating Club
    • USA versus RI
    • Down East Hockey
    • Olympic Tune-up
    • Title Quest
    • Anthony's Skating Rink
    • Scout's Honor
    • Putting on the Stripes
    • The Under Card
    • The Great Outdoors
    • Kid to the Rescue
    • The Pride of Chambly Basin
    • The Sharpshooter
  • Junior Hockey
    • Providence Jr Hockey League
    • Jr Amateur Hockey League
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    • Roger Williams College
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  • Origins
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    • NHL
    • AHL
    • IHL
    • EHL
    • CHL
  • Dick Ernst Articles
  • Contact