I got my 2003 ECAC Media Guide in the mail today. It's excellent, and in typing the box scores of the Cornell ECAC title games into TBRW, I learned a truly fun fact.
Q: Who was the referee for Cornell's first two ECAC championship game victories (1967 and 1968)?
A: None other than Bill Cleary.
Did Cleary also do the 1970 NCAA championship game?
Giles Threadgold did the 1970 game.
Greg
TBRW's stats for this past year have Cam and Chris Abbott with the same scoring lines. I know they are twins and all but you would think one could tell their numbers apart. ;-)
Thanks, Greg. Threadgold was the rare good ref, IMHO.
Giles had some legendary set tos with Harkness over the years. The story goes that one confrontation after a game when Harkness was at RPI in the referree's locker room (which was also the band room) ended up with Threadgold in the bass drum.
Threadgold along with Pierre Belanger were the only two refs I can remember with any panache in they way they called a game. Now they're all pretty much from the same style
The Abbotts are now fixed. Er, you know what I mean. Good catch, Rob, thanks.
So that was it, Threadgold was on the Cornell payroll. ;-) IMHO,Threadgold was by the far the worst ref of his era. He was definitely persona non grata in Troy.
Quoteursaminor wrote:
IMHO,Threadgold was by the far the worst ref of his era.
Deservedly humble, I'd say.
Post Edited (05-10-03 19:48)
From long ago through the '70's, the system was two referees (no linesmen) with the referees also doing the lines. Bill Cleary, IMHO, was the worst - he clearly seemed to hate Cornell. In the '67 championship game he called two phantom majors on Cornell in the 3rd period, trying to get BU back in the game. There was certainly resentment of Cornell from other ECAC opponents, particularly the Boston area teams who had a built-in source of local talent, about Cornell using imported players from Canada. By the way, Threadgold was the other ref in that '67 game. Threadgold was generally considered as by far the best of that era by the Faithful. He'd climb up on the boards to avoid the puck, and alway skated hard, which is really important when you're also calling the lines. We were always happy to get him as a ref because we'd get a well-called game and a fair shake. By the way, Threadgold and Len Ceglarki were teammates on BC's 1949 championship team - and Ceglarski was the Clarkson coach in the '70 championship game which Threadgold refereed.
Post Edited (05-11-03 16:32)
Thanks, Jeff. Posts like Jeff's are one of the best things about forums like eLynah!