Hockey Fans Mourn Reggie Dunlop

The following was sent to me by an alert FanHouse reader somewhere in Western Pennsylvania. Though I can't vouch completely for its authenticity, its import to the history of 20th century hockey moved me to pass it along.

CHARLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, SEPTEMBER 27 -- Reggie "Reg" Dunlop, the one-time player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs who lifted the spirits of the battered town by leading the team to a Federal League championship in its last season, died in his sleep in a retirement community in Fort Myers, Florida.

Paul Newman

The home of Paul Newman is seen in Westport, Conn., Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. Newman, the Oscar-winning superstar who personified cool as the anti-hero of such films as "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Color of Money," followed by a second act as an activist, race car driver and popcorn impresario, has died. He was 83. Newman died Friday at his farmhouse near Westport following a long battle with cancer, according to publicist Jeff Sanderson. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)

(FILES) -- A file photo taken on September 17, 2001 shows US actor Paul Newman in Echouboulains during the inauguration of the Henri Tezenas du Montcel centre, part of the L'Envol association, a European medical institution for children suffering from severe illnesses. Newman died at the age of 83 on September 26, 2008 after losing his battle against cancer. Newman retired in 2006 after a 50-year career in acting. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

** FILE **In this 1978 file photo, actor and U.N. ambassador to disarmament Paul Newman is seen. Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Color of Money," has died, a spokeswoman said Saturday. He was 83. Newman died Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, of cancer, spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic said. (AP Photo)

** FILE **Actor Paul Newman and his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, appear with their daughters Lissy, left, and Clea, right, on the TV show "The Wild Places," December 2, 1974. Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Color of Money," has died, a spokeswoman said Saturday. He was 83. Newman died Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, of cancer, spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic said. (AP Photo)

"Time catches up to us all, but I guess never figured it would catch up to Reggie," said former Chiefs winger Ned Braden from his home in Malibu, California, where he's established a career as a movie producer. "I guess I could tell you that Reg taught me a lot about life, but it sure as heck wasn't anything I'd want to pass on to anyone," Braden said in between stifled laughs.

Believed to be a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Dunlop enjoyed a more or less undistinguished career in minor league hockey in the Northeast and Midwestern U.S. for the better part of three decades without getting an opportunity to play in the NHL. But he finally found something of a home, if only for a brief while, after joining the Chiefs at the end of the 1974 season. Winning fans with his gritty play on the ice and his reputation as a charming con man and womanizer off of it, Dunlop was eventually named player coach of the moribund franchise for the 1975-76 season.

Once again, success eluded Dunlop, as the Chiefs meandered through the better part of a season and a half playing uninspired hockey, until rather unexpectedly, the team's fortune's changed on the ice even as the luck of its hometown went bad. In the Spring of 1977, only days after US Steel announced that the mill that had employed the people of Charlestown for the better part of five decades would close forever, the Chiefs went on a run that would end in the team's only championship in the last year of its existence, an event chronicled in the popular hockey documentary, Slap Shot.

It wasn't long afterwards that ownership, acknowledging the Chiefs could not survive without the mill, announced that the team would fold as well at the end of the season. But keyed by the acquisition of Jeff, Steve and Jack Hanson, collectively known as the Hanson Brothers, from the since defunct Iron League, the Chiefs cut a path of destruction through the rest of the Federal League for the remainder of the season.

Rising from the bottom of the standings to qualify for the playoffs with a style of play that was descibed at the time by The Hockey News as "borderline homicidal," the Chiefs literally fought their way to the league Finals against the Syracuse Bulldogs, where the Chiefs won the deciding game by forfeit in the aftermath of mid-game riot keyed by an impromptu striptease by Braden.

As planned, the team folded at the end of the season, as Dunlop announced he had been hired as head coach of the Minnesota Nighthawks. But for some reason, the job in Minnesota never materialized, and Dunlop spent the rest of his career bouncing between obscure minor league posts and odd hockey jobs before finally settling in Florida with longtime companion, Anita McCambridge.

Dunlop is survived by his estranged wife, Francine, of Glen Cove, New York. Though they had not been together since that last season in Charlestown, they never divorced.

Our condolences to Mr. Newman's friends and family. Hockey fans everywhere owe him a debt we can never repay.

Sports Deaths in 2008

Paul Newman, Sept. 26: Actor and race car driver Paul Newman passes away at the age of 83. Newman formed the Newman/Haas racing team and also was part of the team that won the 24-hour Daytona endurance race in 1995.

Ron Galella, WIre Image

Mickey Vernon, Sept. 24: The seven-time All-Star and two-time AL batting champ, pictured here in 1946 with Dom DiMaggio, left, and Ted Williams, right, passed away one week after suffering a stroke.

Dick Lynch, Sept. 24: The former Giants star was the team's radio analyst from 1968 until last season.

NFL Photos, Getty Images

Wally Hilgenberg, Sept. 23: The former NFL linebacker was a key member of the Vikings' defense in the 1970s that helped lead Minnesota to four Super Bowl appearances.

Ned Harkness, Sept. 19: A three-time NCAA hockey championship coach, and one-time coach of the Detroit Red Wings, Harkness died on his 89th birthday from the after-effects of a stroke.

Rensselaer

Sherrill Headrick, Sept. 10: The former Chiefs linebacker, who was nicknamed "Psycho" by his teammates for his aggressive play and personality, passed away following a battle with cancer.

Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

Evan Tanner, Sept. 8: The former UFC middleweight champion, seen here in 2006, went missing in a California desert and was found dead by the Imperial County Sheriff Department. He was only 37.

Zuma Press

Don Haskins, Sept. 7: The legendary coach helped break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western.

Earl Richardson, Getty Images

Dick Enderle, Sept. 5: An eight-year NFL vet, Enderle was found unconscious next to an exercise machine in his apartment, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Frank Rippon, NFL/WireImage

Tommy Bolt, Sept. 3: The 1958 U.S. Open champion, Bolt was nicknamed "Terrible Tempered Tommy" for his on-course outbursts, that often included slamming clubs to the ground.

John M. Burgess, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images