DAYTON, Ohio - Did you know the Dayton Gems were the first adult hockey team in North America to make helmets mandatory for their players, long before the NHL adopted them in 1979? Also, the Gems uniform and logo is on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario. When the Logo was devoloped, other IHL teams referrred to its design when choosing one for their teams.

The current home of the Gems is Hara Arena, the birthplace of the original Gems of the old International Hockey League who began play in October 1964. The arena was built strictly for hockey and holds 5,500 fans.

On June 25, 1964, a press conference was scheduled in Dayton to announce that the IHL would be locating a team in the city and play games at Hara. When out of town ownership fell through, the league approached Dayton area sports promoter Ed "Lefty" McFadden to head the new franchise. McFadden was successful in raising and built an ownership group that consisted of twenty-five stockholders.

1964-65 Dayton Gems

On August 1, 1964, Dayton joined Ft. Wayne Ind., DesMoines, Iowa, Toledo Ohio, Muskegon, Mich., and Pt. Huron, Mich. as members of the six-team IHL. In mid September 1964, six weeks before the first game was played, "Gems" was chosen to be the name of the team. Gems was submitted in a "name the team" contest. The "Gem City" was the City of Dayton's primary nickname at the time. The name stemmed from descriptions of the City's geography, likening it to a "Gem".

In its 14 years, the original Gems won three IHL regular season championships and three IHL Turner Cup championships. The team was very sucessful on the ice and fans flocked to the arena for each game. After the 1976-77 season, the team announced the suspension of operations as a poor Dayton economy and an unusually harsh winter contributed to an excessive financial loss.

The Gems returned back to the IHL for the 1979-80 season, but finished last in the league and folded in the off-season.

In the spring of 2009, the modern incarnation of the Gems was born. The team finished their first season with a 25-46-5 record, finishing last in the league.

Despite thier poor showing on the ice and a mid-season ownership change, the Gems' new ownership group hopes to attract fans back with aggressive advertising, marketing and a recent agreement to televise up to twenty regular season home games per season over the next two years. 

In June, the Gems, along with the Fort Wayne Komets, Quad Cities Mallards, Bloomington Priaire Thunder and the expansion Evansville Icemen joined the Central Hockey League.

Goalie Derek MacIntyre and Defenseman Nathan Oke battle a Fort Wayne Komets player

In July, Brain Gratz was hired as the new head coach and the team re-signed seven players from last years roster including Greg Labenski, Nathan Oke, Matt Szypura, Derek McIntyre, Matt Smyth, Tim Hartung and Corey Couturier. In Addition, three new players were signed, including goaltender Guillaume Piche, defenseman Paul Ferraro and center Kyle Bochek. 

The 2010-11 season promises to be an exciting one for Gems organization. Fans will get to see new teams at Hara in the Evansville IceMen, Odessa Jackalopes, Colorado Eagles, Arizona SunDogs, Missouri Mavericks, Wichita Thunder and the defending CHL champion Rapid City Rush.

The Gems will open the season with a four-game home stand beginning on Saturday, October 16th when the host the Evansville Icemen.

Contact the author at chris.smith@prohockeynews.com

Photo Credits:Top/International Hockey League; Bottom/John Rothwell