On the crisp night of Wednesday, December 1, 1926, the legendary Madison Square Garden Promoter Tex Rickard dropped the first puck at the center ice in the Eastern States Coliseum.

This was the first professional hockey game to be played in Greater Springfield with a capacity crowd of 5000 wide-eyed fans peering intensely at the action, with only a few fully understanding what the game was about. The Canadian-American Hockey League made its debut with Boston, Providence, Quebec and Springfield as its members. [Note: New Haven was also a charter member of the CAHL]

The Indians lost the first historic game 3-1, but it didn't matter; the fans fell in love with the sport and hockey's future seemed assured in Springfield.

Those glorious "warriors", of coach Frank Caroll, players, Abby Cox, Frank Maracle, Sparky Vail, Deacon Waite, Art Chapman, Scotty Cawkell, Laurie Scott and company, assured us great heritage in hockey by going on to win the Fontaine Cup, the greatest achievement, for two straight seasons.

The New York Rangers of the National Hockey League, operating out of the old Madison Square Garden, needed a farm base, so for several reasons Springfield was a natural choice, the Coliseum was a first class sports arena when few cities could afford such luxuries; location was in the proximity of a rapidly growing city, Springfield; and large segments of French-Canadian settlers in the area led the Ranger Management to believe that they would form a solid base of support to the sport which has a Canadian origin.

Why was Springfield named the "Indians?" Some people might tell you it was because the Original club had a real Indian, Frank (Buddy) Maracle, on the roster. Others insist it was because this was once prime Indian Territory and that fact led to the selection of the name.

Abby Cox, the goaltender of that first vintage of Indians, recalls that those two factors may have had some bearing on the name, but that perhaps the overriding reason was that Springfield was then the home of the internationally famous Indian Motorcycle Co., and since Springfield and the Indian cycle were synonymous at the time, naming the hockey club the "Indians" was the natural thing to do.

After two lean years, the Indians added their third Fontaine Cup when a squad led by Earl Seibert (now of Agawam), Gordie Grant, Dick Benson, Ott Heller, Gene Carrigan and others first won the Can-AM title and went on to beat the Boston Bruin Cubs for the playoff championship.

During this playoff, the Indians had to strive through a record contest on the night of March 27, 1931, the longest game ever to be played in professional hockey up to that date. The bitterly waged contest at the Coliseum lasted three full regulation periods and five "sudden death" overtime periods for a total of 160 minutes of tense action.

Crowds of 8000 fans witnessed some of the home games in those days, the laxness of fire laws allowed people to stand in the main aisles around the rink seats and others squeezed in wherever possible.

Two years later in 1933, unexpected disaster struck when the Rangers decided to pull the franchise out of Springfield, but the Indians were back in the Coliseum for the 1935-36 season when J. Lucien Garneau, a colorful French-Canadian, transferred his Quebec City Club to Springfield.

Garneau's team included such players as the French Line of Ad LaFrance, Jacques Toupin and Marcel Raymond; among others who performed were Cliff McBride, Hub Wilson, Benny Grant and Ted Saunders.

Since there were no more Canadian teams in the league, the circuit In 1936-37 became the American Hockey League. The next year the franchise failed, not because of a lack of fan support, but rather Garneau's lack of business experience. [Note: although this implies that the franchise folded, it did not]

At the start of the 1939-40 season, Eddie Shore, then in the high point of his playing career took over the franchise at an estimated cash outlay of $20,000 and proceeded to turn the team into one of the most successful operations in professional hockey.

The former Boston Bruin Hall of Famer played defense, owned, managed and coached the Indians until World War II broke out and the franchise had to be suspended for the duration of the war. [Note: Eddie Shore moved his players to Buffalo during this hiatus]

The Indians were back at the Coliseum for the 1946-47 season, and Eddie's Indians reached their high and low points, but whatever, hockey was seldom dull while Eddie Shore held the reins.

In the summer of 1951, Shore moved the Indians to Syracuse and renamed the club the Warriors in a realignment of the American Hockey League. While in Syracuse, Eddie also operated a club in Springfield for two years in the Eastern League and one season in the Quebec League.

The Indians returned once again in the 1953-54 season and American Hockey League action was back at the Coliseum, with such stars as Ross Lowe, Don Simmons, Buddy Boone, Harry Pidhirny and Jimmy Anderson.

Shore remained an independent operator until 1957 when his Indians joined forces with the Boston Bruins in a working agreement and George (Punch) Imlach served as the general-manager and coach.

The union lasted one season, but in the 1959-60 campaign Shore obtained a working agreement with the New York Rangers and Springfield soon entered into its golden era, winning three straight AHL and Calder Cup titles with a lineup which included such stars as Ken Schinkel, Floyd Smith, Bob McCord Ted Harris, Harry Pidhirny, Bruce Cline, Jim Anderson, Bill Sweeney, Noel Price, Marcel Paille, Brian Kilrea and many others.

The Indians' fortunes were mostly down after that until they reached rock bottom In the 1966-67 season when two wildcat strikes rocked the hockey world as the players walked out on the owner.

Although peace was restored for the balance of the season, Eddie sold his players to the Los Angeles Kings that summer and then leased the franchise and Coliseum rights to the new West Coast NHL expansion team thus assuring Springfield would remain in the AHL for several years to come.

Under the Los Angeles management, the Springfield club was renamed the Kings by the new owner, Jack Kent Cooke. The Springfield Kings captured the Calder Cup championship in the 1970-71 season, under Coach Johnny Wilson, and enjoyed considerable fan support while the team remained at the Coliseum through the 1971-72 season.

Professional hockey then moved into the Civic Center in downtown Springfield at the start of the 1972-73 season, but a combination of inept hockey teams, inadequate free parking facilities, and the cold and staid atmosphere of the new arena seemingly took its toll on fan interest.

During the 1974-75 campaign, Cooke and Shore modified their agreement and the parent organization pulled out, leaving Eddie to finish out the season. The old hockey genius responded in typical Eddie Shore fashion by taking over the club, renaming it the Indians, and then going on to win Springfield's fifth Calder Cup title.

But the strain of his years in the game were beginning to tell on Eddie -- he was past 75 and his health was failing -- so he decided to sell out to local ownership and the Indians were back at the Coliseum for the start of the 1976-77 season.

George Leary, the managing general partner and chief executive officer of the organization, experienced a lean year in the first season of operation but in the second, the Indians were contenders for first place right through to the end of the season.

It's been a long time since that historic night in 1926 and Springfield fans everywhere are hoping that they celebrate their fifty-second birthday on a winning note.

[I'd love to give credit to whoever wrote this fine piece, but there was no byline in the program. If you know who wrote this article, please let me know.]