Johnstown Sports

These r my personal fave 5:

Now, this list would be different if I was able to witness all 22 years of Chiefs hockey, but I've only gone to games for 11 years since I was born in '93, so most players are of somewhat recent years. I'm only going off of players I've seen. These are all players who every time they took the ice, my eyes automatically shifted to them.

1. Randy Rowe- You cannot go wrong with Randy, he gave it his all & was terrific during his time here w/ his blue-collar work ethic and he was one of the best to ever wear the "C" for us.

2. Jean Desrochers- I feel he is the best centerman that I personally saw play for the Chiefs. He loved playing in Johnstown & put up great numbers every year.

3. Jason Spence- Great penalty killer & always a huge favorite of mine w/ his style of play. He is also one of my favorite fighters I've ever seen.

4. Jeff Sullivan- Chiefs all-time penalty minute leader & one great fighter. What else can I say? The only Chiefs player to have his own bobblehead.

5. Dominic Forget- Only played here 2 years, but they were two GREAT years. He brought great speed to the game and he brought me to the edge of my seat every time he had the puck.

BONUS: Favorite Coach of All-Time: Mine is w/o a doubt none other than Scott Allen. Loved the way he told it how it was & got the best out of his players no matter what. The Peoria playoff series guarantee also was one of my favorite Chiefs' moments of all-time.

_________________

My Personal Top 15: Like chiefsfan188 I am only 16 years old and only remeber from 1994 and on.

1. Pierre-Luc Courchesne: One of the best defenseman Johnstown has ever seen. Spent 3 years in Johnstown scoring 40 goals and 61 assists. Had a cannon of a shot.

2. Brent Bilodeau: One of my favorites and one of the most recognizable Chiefs ever. Spent the later parts of his career here, becoming one of the best captains of all time in the ECHL.

3. Randy Rowe: A nice guy and talent hockey player. Won me over the first time I saw him play. Before coming to Johnstown, he was a scoring machine in Peoria. Injuries plagued him in Johnstown but still led the Chiefs to 2 playoff appearances in the 4 years he was here.

4. Ian Manzano: Remember Him? Not a real scorer but was could set up a goal or two. Try 45 in the 4 years he was a Chief.

5. Jean Desrochers: Another recognizable Hockey player in Johnstown who stayed here for 4 years. Talented scorer and nice guy, very approachable. Had a career year in 2007-2008 with 25 goals and 28 assists.

6. Petr Pohl: The best pure goal scorer Johnstown has seen since Bruce Coles. Was a wizard with the puck, especially in the shootout. Scored 31 goals and 43 assists. Pohl was in Johnstown only 1 season but he brought dynamic speed and skill especially on a line with Blair Yaworski and Todd Griffith.

7. Frederic Deschenes: The best goalie I have heard of. Unfortunately, I do not remember ever seeing Freddie in action but from his stats I put him in the top 10.

8. Dmitri Tarabrin: Set the record for most games played and a proven goal scorer. Used his size to his advantage ever time, could even bring down enforcers bigger then him. Came here in an absolute steal from Wheeling. Wheeling ended up getting Jon Sorg.

9. Jeff Sullivan: The another face Johnstown will never forget. One of, if not the best defenseman ever to wear a Chiefs jersey. Could fight like no other and all-time penalty minute leader.

10. Jason Spence: Heart and Soul of the community and the team. Retired as a Chief after stints in Las Vegas and Youngstown. Gritty style of play won over blue-collar fans.

11. Mike Sgroi: Who can ever forget Mike? Brought instant toughness to a team who needed it. Had career year in goals with 25 goals. Popular for one season, unfortunately the honeymoon went sour and Chief fans became tired of him. Sgroi will remain as one of the most bizarre and tough players in Chiefs history.

12. Dominic Forget: Great player, talented and could just score. Left Johnstown after two years with 49 goals.

13. Arturs Irbe: Brought a wealth of experience to Johnstown. Sent here as a punishment, Irbe played very well and loved his time here despite his years in the NHL. Brought media attention and help the Chiefs to their best season ever.

14. Steve Hildenbrand: Spent 3 years in Johnstown and was one of my favorite players to watch. Scored 50 goals in his three years. However, he was a locker room cancer and was shipped out to Pee Dee for the bust that was Brian Collins.

15 Chad Cavanagh: One of the best centers in Johnstown history and ever popular with the fans, Cavy spent just two years in J-town but lit the lamp in those two years with 26 goals. Could fight as well.

_________________
I should not, could not, and absolutely WILL NOT support Neil Smith and Greenville!

Never Forget: Johnstown Chiefs 1988-2010

For me my top 5 is simple:

1. Randy Rowe

2. Freddie Deschenes

3. Dmitri Tarabrin

4. Jason Spence

5. Jeff Sullivan

wow! i read this board daily, and have never posted. This thread though has made me think a little...any trip back on memory lane is a good trip so here we go...

1. Randy Rowe- class act, good player...better person
2. Jeff Sullivan- Defind Johnstown...blue collar hard working
3. Perry Florio- for one reason...the playoff series that he deicided the team would wear the black jersys on the road that had johnstown spelled down them...he was proud to play here.
4. Brent Biladou(forgive me for the spelling)- hard worker...great captain
5. Freddie! best goalie we have seen...except for...
6. Artus Irbe- seriously a guy gets sent down the the ECHL and shows so much class..
7. Petr Skudra- remember that feeling when we became a Penguin? Yes our players DID matter.

Im sure im missin some poeple but those guys are the first that came to mind, I, like everyone loved the first few year guys....Brock Kelly, Rick Boyd Scott Gorden...etc but still these are the guys that i will remember as players and also ambassadors for our city

Going through hockeydb, these are the names I'd pick off as my favorites. Basically, I picked the guys I remembered the most, because if I remember them, there must have been a reason for it

(in no particular order)

Jody Shelley - NHLer for a reason
Bruce Coles
Mark Green
Eric Schneider
Mike Rodriguez
Jason Spence - Chief at heart
Josh Piro - hometown hero
Sean Berkstresser
Jim McKenzie
Randy Rowe
Mike Sgroi - he added excitement
Vladimir Nemec - hustled
Dennis Purdie
Jason Jennings - played RHI, too
Carl Fleury
Lukas Smital - goals
Dmitri Tarabrin
Andrew Dale - humanitarian
Joel Irving
Jim Shepherd - ugly as sin
JF Boutin
Steve Hildenbrand - small, speedy forward
Jim Leger - small, speedy forward
David Gove - small, speedy forward
Joe Tallari - small, speedy forward
Shawn Mather
Jean Desrochers
Brandon Elliot - maybe the last fighter I cared for

Perry Florio
Bob Woods
Brent Bilodeau
Jeff Sullivan
Jakub Ficenec
Derrick Walser

Freddie Deschenes - favorite player ever?
Stan Reddick
Petr Skudra - drop kick
Mark Scally - so much fun to watch
Ryan Munce

_________________
Brian Varmecky
http://www.jtownsports.com
http://www.aaabatournament.com

I dont know how i forgot Berkstresser. Sean made it fun to watch him play. With how bad everything was this season Sean was the most consistent and constantly giving it is all. He never took a shift off and for that reason alone, makes him one of the greatest Chiefs of all time!!

Out of curiousity: How about the player u hated the most that was on a team the Chiefs played against? (any year)

It's tough to pick off the top of my mind, but I'm gonna go with Bruce Watson or Thomas Beauregard right now. I'm guessing a few people on here will say Thomas Beauregard, too.

_________________

Top 20 Most Hated players that I remember:

1. Jason Maleyko

2. Barret Ehgoetz

3. Yannick Tifu

4. Ben Gordon

5. Pascal Morency

6. Brad Bonello

7. Nick Parillo

8. Chaz Johnson

9. T.J. Reynolds

10. Bruce Watson

11. Paul Bissonnette

12. Mike Siklenka

13. Entire Reading Royals Team from 2003-2004

14. Olivier Labelle

15. Matt Syroczynski

16. David St. Germain

17. Tyler Rennette

18. Mike James

19. Brendon Hodge

20. Matt Zultek

_________________
I should not, could not, and absolutely WILL NOT support Neil Smith and Greenville!

Never Forget: Johnstown Chiefs 1988-2010

Anybody remember Mitch Molloy? Was only here for a short time, but man that guy could play (and fight). If he had stuck the year he was here (which I am too lazy to look up) I think we could have done some serious post season damage.

And we can't forget JT Tremblay. Too bad he didn't have better hands or skating ability, that dude was probably the best fighter since Dave Killer Hanson. At least in the super heavyweight division.

OK, I finally looked up on hockeydb.com the all time Chiefs player list. all 591 players that they have on record. Interesting....

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/disp ... p?tmi=6248

1. Rob Hyrtsak
2. Scott Rettew
3. Mike Rosetti
4. John Messuri
5. Bruce Coles
6. Bob Woods
7. Darren Swartz
8. Mike Marcinkiewicz
9. Bob Goulet
10.Smokey Reddick

Can you tell I have only gone to four games since Steve Carlson was fired?