Johnstown Jets

Johnstown Jets
Johnstown Jets
City	Johnstown, Pennsylvania
League	EAHL 1950–53; IHL 1953–55; EHL, 1955–73; NAHL 1973–77
Operated	1950–1977
Home arena	Cambria County War Memorial Arena
Championships
Regular season titles	EHL (4) (1950–51, 1951–52, 1959–60, 1963–64)
Division titles	EHL (4) (1950–51, 1951–52, 1959–60, 1963–64); NAHL (1) (1975–76)
Playoff championships	EHL (5) (1951–52, 1952–53, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62); NAHL (1); (1974–75)

The Johnstown Jets were a professional ice hockey team from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Jets were founded in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for the 1950–51 season, playing at the newly constructed Cambria County War Memorial Arena. The Jets won consecutive EHL championships in 1951–52 and 1952–53.

When the EAHL suspended operations in 1953, the Jets transferred to the International Hockey League, where they played two seasons. Johnstown were Turner Cup finalists in 1953–54, losing 4 games to 2, to the Cincinnati Mohawks.

In 1955, the Jets joined the Eastern Hockey League (a league founded from the EAHL), and won three consecutive EHL championships in 1959–60, 1960–61 and 1961–62. Johnstown remained in the league until its demise in 1973.

The Jets then joined the new North American Hockey League in 1973. Dick Roberge coached Johnstown to the Lockhart Cup championship 1974–75, defeating the Broome Dusters. That season's playoff run included the Carlson brothers, Jeff, Jack and Steve, who became the basis for the Hanson Brothers in the movie Slap Shot. Jeff and Steve Carlson portrayed their fictional selves in the movie, while former Jet Dave Hanson portrayed Jack. The Jets played four seasons total in the NAHL before the league folded in 1977. The team itself folded in the offseason, when the Johnstown flood of 1977 damaged the arena's ice making equipment.

Johnstown was later represented by the Johnstown Wings (later Red Wings) from 1978-80. The Red Wings folded after two seasons, but hockey returned to Johnstown in 1988 with the Johnstown Chiefs, which named itself after the Jets' fictional counterpart from Slap Shot.

Season-by-season results

Season	League	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Winning %	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
1950–51	EAHL	54	26	25	3	55	0.509	195	194	1st, EAHL
1951–52	EAHL	65	39	21	5	83	0.638	264	186	1st, EAHL
1952–53	EAHL	60	28	29	3	59	0.492	226	244	2nd, EAHL
1953–54	IHL	65	35	27	3	73	0.562	254	221	3rd, IHL
1954–55	IHL	60	25	34	1	51	0.425	188	215	5th, IHL
1955–56	EHL	64	32	32	0	64	0.500	312	298	4th, EHL
1956–57	EHL	64	31	33	0	62	0.484	320	290	4th, EHL
1957–58	EHL	64	31	30	3	65	0.508	228	225	4th, EHL
1958–59	EHL	64	33	28	3	69	0.539	252	223	2nd, EHL
1959–60	EHL	64	45	18	1	91	0.711	255	176	1st, South
1960–61	EHL	64	40	22	2	82	0.641	273	215	2nd, South
1961–62	EHL	68	41	26	1	83	0.610	296	255	2nd, North
1962–63	EHL	68	34	31	3	71	0.522	254	309	3rd, North
1963–64	EHL	72	41	26	5	87	0.604	297	245	1st, North
1964–65	EHL	72	41	31	0	82	0.569	330	294	3rd, North
1965–66	EHL	72	39	31	2	80	0.556	303	267	3rd, North
1966–67	EHL	72	34	36	2	70	0.486	267	290	3rd, North
1967–68	EHL	72	38	25	9	85	0.590	386	273	3rd, North
1968–69	EHL	72	42	23	7	91	0.632	358	230	2nd, North
1969–70	EHL	74	27	33	14	68	0.459	318	344	3rd, North
1970–71	EHL	74	30	29	15	75	0.507	273	297	3rd, North
1971–72	EHL	75	33	28	14	80	0.533	290	269	2nd, North
1972–73	EHL	76	36	28	12	84	0.553	283	255	2nd, North
1973–74	NAHL	74	32	38	4	68	0.459	265	303	5th, NAHL
1974–75	NAHL	74	38	32	4	80	0.541	274	255	4th, NAHL
1975–76	NAHL	74	47	25	2	96	0.649	346	257	1st, West
1976–77	NAHL	73	22	49	2	46	0.315	253	334	7th, NAHL

NHL alumni

List of Johnstown Jets who played in the National Hockey League, 46 in total.

References

External links

Johnstown Jets - www.officialgamepuck.com
Old-time hockey indeed - Jets history
How the Johnstown Jets were turned into the Charlestown Chiefs
EHL standings and statistics
IHL standings and statistics
NAHL standings and statistics