Late hockey corrections

The 1999 Mirror article about the film On Thin Ice, titled “Black Ice,” [November 11, 1999], which is still available online, contains a number of factual errors about hockey player Herb Carnegie.

1) The line of Herb Carnegie, Ossie Carnegie and Manny McIntyre were not “Superstars in the Quebec Senior League.” In 1948–49, the line played in the Quebec Senior Hockey League and a complete set of League statistics survives. That year Herb Carnegie finished seventh, Manny McIntyre finished eighth and Ossie Carnegie finished ninth in Sherbrooke team scoring. This is hardly the production of “superstars.”

Prior to 1948, the line played in the lesser-known Quebec Provincial Hockey League. A complete set of League statistics does not survive from this League, but the line did play as a unit in 1944–45.

2) Neither the Quebec Senior Hockey League nor the Quebec Provincial Hockey League were “one notch below the NHL” as the article states. At the time, the minor professional American Hockey League was one step below the NHL. The minor pro United States Hockey League was one step below the AHL and beginning in 1948–49, the minor pro Pacific Coast Hockey League was one step below the USHL. The senior Amateur hockey leagues that Carnegie played in were one notch below professional hockey.

3) The Carnegie-Carnegie-McIntyre line did not tear up the Quebec Senior Hockey League in their one year together. Herb Carnegie had three very exceptional years in the Quebec Provincial Hockey League, never winning the scoring title in that League but coming close. The Quebec Provincial Hockey League was the weaker of the two senior Leagues.

4) The statement, “But despite their obvious skill, none of them ever got so much as a tryout for a big-league club,” is wrong. According to his autobiography, Herb Carnegie was invited to the New York Rangers Training Camp in 1948–49.

5) The statement, “...during the 1949 season when he [Carnegie] was voted Senior League MVP for the third year in a row,” is also wrong. Herb Carnegie won three Sherbrooke team MVP awards, not league awards. The third year that Carnegie won a team MVP was in 1948–49 and his placement in team scoring, as noted above, was seventh place.

There are two additional points I would like to make.

1) While Red Storey claims that he heard Conn Smythe make the comments about turning Carnegie white, Storey never provided any information about the dates or times his conversations with Smythe took place. It is very difficult to get Smythe, Carnegie and Storey in the same place. Also Storey does not mention the story in his autobiography.

Herb Carnegie’s junior scoring statistics are available for his one year in Junior A and they show that he was a rather average scorer, finishing 37 points behind the Ontario league scoring leader in only a 14 game schedule. Certainly there was no NHL potential shown by Carnegie in Junior hockey, and hence no reason for Smythe’s alleged interest.

A different version of the story involving “a million” and “skin whitener” was also told by Carnegie.

2) While I don’t know whether the line of Carnegie-Carnegie-McIntyre scored 10 goals in a game against goalie Gerry McNeil in the one year that the four of them played in the same league. But if the line did score 10 goals in one game, then they only scored 47 goals as a line in the remaining 59 games.

And in a strange bit of irony, Gerry McNeil did win the three Quebec Senior Hockey League MVP awards (1947, 1948, 1949) that the article claims Herb Carnegie won.

It would seem that very few of the statements about Herb Carnegie were fact-checked by the makers of the documentary film and this unverified information was then passed on to the journalist in question, who passed it on to the readers of the Mirror.

I would like to thank the Mirror for setting the record straight.

» SID KNOWLES

Early Elvis warning!

I would like to bring to your attention the excitement surrounding the opening of Elvis Story starring the incredible Jamie Aaron Kelley, May 5, in Lac Leamy. He opened to rave reviews in the local newspapers in Gatineau and Ottawa. Jamie Kelley brings a magic to the show that transforms just “seeing” the show into a true “experience.” Elvis Presley comes alive before the audience’s eyes! Jamie Kelley has the voice, the moves, the charisma that was Elvis and all of this together creates a dynamite performance. Seeing the young, talented Kelley transform himself into the essence of Elvis Presley is incredible. Even his interaction with the audience is identical to that of Presley’s, down to his comments and playful manner.

In my opinion, this is a must see by someone connected with your publication, since “Elvis Story” will be at the Bell Centre in Montreal this summer. You have a new “star” in your midst and this is a very exciting time in your entertainment community. This young entertainer is being embraced by all in the “Elvis World” who are fortunate enough to experience him!

» BARBARA GARTON
American Representative, Elvis Presley Fan Club, Newcastle/Hunter, NSW, Australia

Clarification

The official release date for Ultimate, the Prince greatest hits record reviewed in last week’s issue, has been pushed back indefinitely by Warner.

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