Right-winger Bruce Crowder was born in Essex, Ontario, Canada on March 25, 1957 and played two seasons with his hometown Essex 73's and three years at the University of New Hampshire before making his professional debut.

 

Though he was a late round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, he never played for them. After two years with the Flyers farm club in Maine, Crowder signed a free agent contract with the Boston Bruins on September 28th 1981.

 

Crowder spent just 15 games in the minors in 1981-82, with the rest of his time spent in Beantown with the Bruins, a team that also employed his younger brother, Keith.

 

In 63 games he scored 16 goals and 27 points as a rookie and contributed another 8 points in 11 playoff games. His second season was even more impressive as Crowder upped his goal totals to 21 and points to 40. However his third year with Boston was a disappointment. He scored just 6 goals and 20 points. As a result of his diminishing returns the Bruins made Crowder available in the 1984 Waiver Draft and he was claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

With the Penguins Crowder played 26 games but couldn't get his offensive production back online. With just 11 points in the 1984-85 season, Crowder left the game of hockey.

 

Crowder wasn't away from the ice for long, however. Crowder joined the coaching staff of the University of Maine in 1986 and stayed with the club til 1990. Crowder then moved on to Lowell as an assistant and he soon graduated to the Head Coach position. After a decorated stay with the school that saw him win Coach of the Year honours, Crowder accepted the Head Coaching post at Northeastern.

Keith Crowder was born in Essex, Ontario, Canada on January 6, 1959.

 

Keith played with his hometown Essex 73's for two seasons and followed that up with three successful junior seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the OHA, Crowder was chosen by the Boston Bruins 57th overall in the third round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft.

 

The Petes were a powerhouse club during those days and had advanced to the Memorial Cup finals in 1978 where they lost 7-4 to the defending champion New Westminster Bruins of the WHL. However, the Petes once again represented the OHA in 1979 and scored an exciting 2-1 overtime victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings to take the championship.

 

Before beginning his NHL career, Crowder became a professional with the WHA during the 1978-79 season, when he played in five games for the Birmingham Bulls and was tagged as one of the "Baby Bulls" along with other under-agers Mike Gartner, Craig Hartsburgh, Rick Vaive, and Rob Ramage.

 

In 1979-80, Crowder failed to make the Bruins, so he was sent to the minors for a year of development. He appeared with the Grand Rapids Owls of the IHL and the Binghamton Dusters of the AHL.

 

In 1980-81, Crowder cracked the Boston Bruins' lineup, dressing for 47 games, scoring 13 goals and 25 points while generating 172 minutes in penalties. His play earned him a regular spot in the Bruins' lineup the following season. In 71 games, he had 23 goals and 44 points. Crowder's best offensive season came in 1985-86, when he scored 38 goals and 46 assists for 84 points in 77 games. The rugged style of play continued to play a major role in his game as he spent 177 minutes in the box. The 1988 playoffs saw the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup finals, which was the closest Crowder came to winning a championship. The Bruins were ousted in four-straight games by the Edmonton Oilers, who claimed their fourth Cup in five years.

 

Crowder's nine-year association with the Boston Bruins ended after the 1988-89 season. He signed a contract with the Los Angeles Kings in 1989-90, which was his last season in the NHL. In 662 NHL games, Crowder scored 223 goals and 494 points.

 

Once retired, Keith and his family returned home to Essex and now owns several Tim Hortons' restaurants in the Essex County area.

Mark Miller grew in Essex, Ontario, Canada. He rose up from being a hockey player from a small town to playing for the Michigan Wolverines and later being drafted into the NHL.

 

Mark’s ancestors came from England to the New World and settled in Ontario, Canada. Mark was born on June 23rd, 1956 and grew up playing hockey and baseball.

 

His father died when he was 14 years old and had to grow up with only one parent. This pushed him to become the better person and hockey player. Him and his one sister and one brother grew up with their mom and helped support her until it was time to leave for college, along the way playing for the local Essex 73’s and the Windsor Spitfires.

 

Mark got into the University of Michigan and played hockey there all of his years. His senior year he was the captain. Mark made such an impression on his school and teammates that he was inducted into the Michigan Hockey Hall of Fame.

 

Instead of leaving and trying to make it to the NHL early like some players today, Mark stayed at Michigan all 4 years and got his diploma with a Masters in History.

 

Mark was drafted by the New York Rangers of the NHL and Calgary ofthenewly formed World Hockey Association. In fact, he played for the Edmonton Oilers on the same team as great players such as Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.

 

After his career in hockey, Mark became and insurance broker at Marsh & McLennan in Detroit, Michigan. He married Kary McCormick and they started a family in 1987 which includes three sons.

 

After working in Detroit for a number of years, he took a transfer to Milwaukee, Wisconsin office where he worked and became CEO after 7 years. He now works back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, closer to home working for The Hylant Group as a V.P.

 

Mark continues to support the Essex 73’s when he can. He’s played in alumni hockey games, as well as their annual golf tournament.

As a youngster growing up in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada Warren Rychel found himself in the hands of NHL defenseman Pat Stapleton? But not for reasons related to hockey.

 

Rychel used to hang out with his buddy, future NHLer Mike Stapleton, Pat's son. During the harvest on the farm, the two were climbing around above a large conical funnel used to channel grain into storage. While the men were on a coffee break across the street, young Rychel fell into the funnel and became lodged at the bottom with grain 'sclosing off his breathing passages. A yell for help brought Pat Stapleton and company who saved Rychel's life by forming a human chain suspended upside down. Stapleton extended his arms just far enough to wrestle Rychel free from the smothering grain.

 

Rychel survived to eventually have his day, like the Stapletons, in the NHL. But the path was long and winding in nature.

 

The family moved to Tecumseh, Ontario and Warren excelled more at baseball than he did at hockey. Warrenwas a catcher with Tecumseh Minor Baseball, and had a cannon for an arm. He played his minor hockey out of St. Clair Beach arena, and around the age of Midget, started to show potential.

 

He had a one-year stop in Essex, playing with the 73's in 1983-84, then was drafted in the 11th round by the Sudbury Wolves. His junior career was marked by travel. During his three years in the OHL, he skated for Sudbury, Guelph, Ottawa, and Kitchener. Warren was known throughout the OHL as a fierce competitor, scrappyand an overall great team player.

 

Although never selected in the NHL draft, Rychel did sign as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks' organization. The move sparked the beginning of a lengthy stay in hockey's equivalent of the boondocks. He patiently put in stints with Peoria, Saginaw, Chicago, Indianapolis, Moncton, and Kalamazoo while his NHL rights were passed to Winnipeg and then to Minnesota.

 

In 1992-93, however, he caught his first big-league break. Wayne Gretzky and the L.A. Kings were in need of a grinding forward that matched Rychel's profile. They signed him as a free agent and set him loose on the league as a take-no-prisoners pugilist who fought often and remembered to play enough hockey to look respectable.

 

After several seasons of stability, Rychel's rights began to move again in 1995. In February of that year, he was traded to the Washington Capitals who flipped him to the Leafs. He put in 29 games in Blue and White and was then sold to Colorado where he would win a Stanley Cup playing with the likes of JoeSakic and Patrick Roy. He played one season with the Avalanche and then landed in Anaheim with the Mighty Ducks. There, Rychel played parts of two seasons in his usual physical mode and was then returned to the Avalanche where he rounded out his career in 1998.

 

Warren scouted for the Pheonix Coyotes of the NHL and eventually was part of a group that included Bob Boughner and Peter Dobrich who purchased the Windsor Spitfires.

 

Warren took over the General Manager duties of the club and within three years, the Spitfires were regarded as the best team in all of junior hockey, winning league titles and Memorial Cups in 2008 and 2009.

 

Today, Warren, his high school sweetheart and wife Denise, and their children live in Tecumseh, Ontario. Oldest son Kerby was a first-round selection of the BarrieColts in 2010, and plays for the Windsor Spitfires.

 

Warren is always helping the Essex 73's out on ocassion, providing Spitfires' merchandise and prizes for their annual golf tournament, and playing sometimes, too.

Goaltender David Gagnon was born October 31, 1967 and is a product of Essex Minor Hockey Association. He played 1 1/2 years with the Essex 73's, helping them to the All-Ontario Semi Finals in 1985-86.

 

He played with the Windsor Bulldogs of the Western Junior B hockey league the following year, before receiving a hockey scholarship at Colgate.

 

He played in the NCAA for three years and was the ECAC Player of the Year in 1990, and a finalist in the NCAA hockey championships.

 

The Detroit Red Wings signed Dave to a free-agent contract in the summer of 1990 and it was that year when he played his only two NHL games.

 

He continued to play pro hockey for another eleven years in the minors, mostly in the ECHL where he was twice named the league's playoff MVP in 1991, and again in 1994. He last played with the Roanoke Express of that league in 1999-00.

 

Since his retirement, Dave has lived in Michigan with the exception of a couple yearswhere he lived in Essex. Heis married with children and owns a publishing company in Shelby Township, Michigan, USA.

Dan O'Halloran was born the oldest son of three on March 25, 1964 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in Essex, Ontario.

 

Dan was an above average hockey player throughout his minor hockey days in Essex, and even played for the hometown Essex 73's in 1981-82, scoring 8 goals and 23 assists for 31 points in 36 games.

 

He was also a referee by this time and made the decision to trade his hockey stick in for a whistle, full-time, in 1982. Dan has often saidthat he made this decision based onthe simple fact that he believed he could make more money taking the puck outof the net rather than putting it into the net.

 

Great decision!

 

After paying his dues in the OHA, OHL, IHL and AHL, Dan was hired by the NHL and after just a few years was one of the selected referees who officiated the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. Since then, he has been selected numerous times.

 

He was also selected among 13 other NHL referees, to officiate the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In fact, he was a referee in the men's Gold Medal game between Canada and USA. He can be seen in many pictures and video signalling Sydney Crosby's game-winning goal in overtime.

 

Dan resides in the US and tries to get back to Essex to visit his parents and family, and participate in Essex 73's events, when possible. He was a guest speaker at the Essex 73's 2010 home coming.

Colton Fretter was born March 12, 1982 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and played his minor hockey in his hometown of Harrow, Ontario.

 

Colton was considered one of the best hockey players to come out of the Harrow minor system, often compared to Dave Crowther and Tom Abbott the way in which he controlled the game.

 

Colton made a stop in Essex in 2000 and led the 73's in scoring.

 

Fretter played hockey at Michigan State University. Following his first year with the Spartans, he was drafted 230th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers.

He began his professional career by playing with the Gwinnett Gladiators of the East Coast Hockey League where he played in the 2006-2007 ECHL All-Star game. He was also named ECHL rookie of the year despite missing some games due to injury.

 

During 2007-2008 season, he split time between three teams: Gwinnett, and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the Chicago Wolves, both of the AHL.

 

Fretter signed a two-way deal with the Buffalo Sabres on August 4, 2008 and was assigned to affiliate, the Portland Pirates, of the AHL. He played in a career high 80 games with the Pirates, scoring 40 points.

 

On August 3, 2009, Fretter signed a one-year contract with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL.

 

After spending the 2010–11 season in Italy with the Bolzano-Bozen Foxes on May 20, 2011, Fretter signed a one-year contract with German DEL team, Iserlohn Roosters.