Johnstown Chiefs
| Johnstown Chiefs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Johnstown, Pennsylvania |
| League | ECHL |
| Operated | 1987–2010 |
| Home arena | Cambria County War Memorial Arena |
| Colors | Black, gold, white |
| Franchise history | |
| 1987–2010 | Johnstown Chiefs |
| 2010–2015 | Greenville Road Warriors |
| 2015–present | Greenville Swamp Rabbits |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | None |
| Division Championships | None |
| Conference Championships | None |
| Kelly Cups | None |
The Johnstown Chiefs were a minor league ice hockey team located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that played in the ECHL. The team was founded in 1987 in the All-American Hockey League, and moved to the East Coast Hockey League (now "ECHL") when that league was formed. The Chiefs lasted for 22 years in Johnstown, and was the last of the founding ECHL teams playing under its original name and in its original city. The Chiefs relocated to Greenville, South Carolina following the completion of the 2010 season.
The owners originally wanted to name the team the Jets in honor of a team that had played in Johnstown from 1950 to 1977, mostly in the Eastern Hockey League. However, the old Jets' former owners still held the trademark for the name and refused to allow the new team to use it. Fortunately, they had a second choice. A contest was held by the owners, allowing the people of Johnstown to vote for the new team name. The cult hockey movie Slap Shot had been filmed in Johnstown, and featured a minor league team called the Charlestown Chiefs. The fans readily jumped on the tie-in, and the Johnstown Chiefs were born.
The Chiefs played their home games in the historic 3,745 seat Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, where most of the hockey scenes in the movie Slap Shot were filmed. Despite popular belief, the Chiefs uniforms colors (black, gold, and white) were not chosen because of the local fans' connection to the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. Shortly after the emergency lease had been approved by the Cambria County War Memorial, head coach Joe Selenski traveled to Canada to find the team uniforms and called War Memorial Marketing Director Dennis Grenell at 3:00 AM to tell him that the only uniforms he could find were black and gold (similar to the Bruins' uniforms of the 1970s), but he didn't have enough money to buy them. Grennell agreed to pay for the uniforms using his own credit card. Coincidentally, the Chiefs' first minor league affiliation would be with the Boston Bruins.
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