For five decades, the RI Auditorium at 1111 North Main Street in Providence was the epicenter of RI hockey and home of the revered RI Reds. Throughout the mid 20th century, dozens of youngsters who grew up in proximity to the Arena, as it was called, became known as “rink rats”. Most hung around doing [...]
The story of the birth of the RI Auditorium and that of the Providence (RI) Reds began nearly 100 years ago with local businessman and hockey enthusiast Hubert C. Milot. Born in New Bedford, Hubert’s family moved to Providence, where he was educated at LaSalle Academy. He attended university at St. Mary’s College in Montreal. [...]
If you have spent any time in Rhode Island hockey rinks over the past 90 years, there is a really good chance that you’ve watched a member of the Gaffney family either playing or behind the bench coaching. The Gaffney hockey players have spanned four generations of Rhode Island high school hockey, starting with Charlie [...]
In 1926, the opening of the new RI Auditorium and the state’s first indoor ice surface heralded a bright new era for RI hockey. Until then, hockey in the Ocean State was played on frozen ponds and rivers, subject to the whims of the weather. Now, indoor artificial ice generated an explosion of interest in [...]
Former Hope High School hockey great Tommy “Woody” Woodcock was the original medical trainer of the NHL’s St Louis Blues. He worked for the club for its first 16 seasons. A 3-time All-Stater at Hope, he came from a highly-accomplished hockey family that included brothers Eddie and Rollie. Tom enjoyed a brief pro career in [...]
In 1965, following what can only be described as an embarrassing showing by the US hockey team at the 1964 Games, New England took what many believe was one of the first real steps in drawing up the successful blueprint we have today for developing the best talent and teams to compete on the world [...]
John Zifcak was the eldest of Phillip and Frances Zifcak's sons. With ten siblings to help take care of, he didn't have a lot of time for sports, but was athletic enough to join the Rhode Island State Police where he had distinguished career, retiring as a Lieutenant specializing in arson investigation and then being [...]
The Gaudreaus are unique among Rhode Island’s prominent hockey families. Theirs is the only family tree that includes a father who was an Olympian and a son who was an NHL player. The patriarch, Robert Gaudreau Sr., skated for the United States in the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France, after a brilliant career at Brown [...]
Four years before the outbreak of World War I, Phillip Zifcak emigrated from the Slovakian region of the teetering Austro-Hungarian Empire. His wife to be, Frances, followed two years later. They met working in a textile mill in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, married, and soon welcomed the first of 13 children. Phillip and Frances moved to neighboring [...]
Considering that we are the smallest state in the nation, Rhode Island has developed and contributed an incredible number of on- and off-ice talents to the game of hockey. None are more noteworthy than the host of coaches we have developed. The current crop of those head coaches is showcased in the May issue of [...]
