The Clinton Comets went 57-5-10 in 1967-68
The village team won five Eastern Hockey League playoff titles and sent Eddie Giacomin on to the Hall of Fame.
By Priya Nadler
The Clinton Comets started in 1927-28 as the Clinton Hockey Club. Ed Stanley founded the team and managed it. He recruited high school players and paid for their equipment and road trips. The nickname Comets came in 1949.
The team played mostly at Clinton Arena from 1949 to 1973. In 1933-34 it played the Hershey Bears for the National Amateur Championship at Madison Square Garden.
From 1954 to 1973, the Comets played in the Eastern Hockey League and dominated for ten of their nineteen seasons. Coach Pat Kelly went 315-208-64 over eight seasons, and in 1967-68 the team finished 57-5-10. The Comets won the EHL playoffs in 1958-59, 1963-64, 1967-68, 1968-69 and 1969-70.
When the team moved its games to the Utica Memorial Auditorium, it became the Mohawk Valley Comets of the North American Hockey League.
Its alumni include Hall of Fame goaltender Eddie Giacomin of the New York Rangers and NHL players Benny Woit and Pete Babando.