Lee Jones considers himself lucky to have played and coached for the Essex 73’s.
He is on a committee tasked with selecting former players worthy of being on a Wall Of Honour, created to celebrate the team’s 50 years.
“We’ve had a lot of fun talking about it. Some stories get told and everything else but it’s been a great honor being part of it,” says Jones.
Out of 850 possible names, a list of the Top 100 was created and released earlier this week. Of that list, 73 are in consideration to be on the Wall Of Honour. On March 11, the committee will whittle that down to 35 and release the final names on March 16.
Dave Anthony, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer is on the list. So are former players like Bruce and Keith Crowder, Warren Rychel, Dan O’Hallaran, RJ Hotts, Will Stadder, Len Chittle and Anthony Iaquinta, who are honored to be nominated.
“Having the opportunity to play there and having the opportunity to witness how they go about their business has been beneficial for me both as a coach right now and a player back then. Thankful I had that opportunity and I continue to grow because of it,” he says.
Picking the nominees was no easy task. A point system was set to avoid bias and took into consideration many things including team service, individual and team achievements,
“And then we added the heart and soul,” says former player and committee member Joe Garon. “We had to add some type of rank in there for that coz you don’t have to be the most skillful player on the ice to still be one of the best players that maybe came through the system.”
“One thing good about Joe and Mike Quinlan, they broke this down us other four with numbers because it’s such a different era which made it a little easier to get to guys we needed to get to,” says Jones.
The wall is going to be set up next to the team’s trophy case outside of the arena. An induction ceremony is planned for the weekend of August 26th featuring alumni games and other events.
“There’ll be all kinds of stuff going on throughout the season as well. We’ll be paying tribute to some of these individuals from the last 50 years,” adds Garon.