By Brian Handley - 6/13/1975
BOSTON-If Duffy McCarthy had been born a century earlier, you probably would find him in a covered wagon blazing a trail westward.
But, since the frontier days are gone this 20th century pioneer-type has turned to settling the pro sports fronts.
In his few short years as a professional athlete, the Boston Bolts forward has started out on the ground floor of three new sports ventures.
McCarthy’s first voyage to the new world came in the winter of 1973-74. He had been invited to the National Hockey League Detroit Red Wings’ training camp, had “a pretty good camp,” and was signed to a two-year pro contract.
His frontier days started then. Ned Harkness (Wings’ GM) called him in and asked if he’d like to play on a new team the Wings were organizing in London.
“I signed with the idea of going to Virginia of the American Hockey League,” McCarthy said, “But Doug Barclay (the coach of the London club) said he’d like to take me along to Europe. I wouldn’t have had a set position with Virginia, but he said I’d be a regular with the Lions.”
“That kind of a choice is obvious. I’d have been foolish to turn down an opportunity like that. We worked hard and I learned a lot of hockey, but we also visited every country. We saw Europe better than anybody could on a vacation – it’d cost a fortune, but all our expenses were picked up by the host country.
So, it was off to London and the Lions, the first professional hockey team in Europe for “the best experience of my life.”
McCarthy enjoyed his year with the Barnum and Barclay Circus (a nickname the players gave the troupe for its vagabond, whistle-stopping, two-month road trip that took them from London to Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands again and back to London with a side trip to Scotland, too) so much that he couldn’t wait to get home and forge right into another virgin sports enterprise.
The Mississauga, Ontario native, who now lives in Marshfield with his wife of two months, came back from a 76-game season with the Lions and got right into the first year of the National Lacrosse League.
He played for the Toronto Tomahawks last season and in 33 games the 5-9, 175-pounder scored 38 goals and 72 assists to finish 21st in the league scoring. Neither the Toronto club, nor the Rochester (New York) Griffins survived the first NLL year.
After a confusing switch, which had Long Island receiving the Tomahawks’ franchise rights and Rochester’s players and Boston receiving Rochesters’ franchise and Toronto’s players, McCarthy became a Bolt and joined his third pioneering team.
“As far as the people go, trying to make lacrosse go here and hockey go in London is similar,” McCarthy said. “The people in both instances first come out of curiosity, get the bug and pretty soon we have a following. That’s the pattern in London and it seems that way here.
“The people in London were funny. Here we were, a group of pro hockey players hoping to someday play in the NHL and they’d stand up and chant, Two, four, six, eight who do we appreciate? L-I-O-N-S, Lions.
They’d come up to us after the game and say ‘Lovely match, son,” he said in his best Downing Street accent.
“The fans over there were great. We pulled in 6,000 to an arena that only sat 8,000 and that was during hard times. They had a three-day work week in Britain then,” McCarthy said. “I just hope lacrosse makes as big a hit over here as hockey did in London.
I think we’ve got a great product and a great game. We’re up against baseball, which I think is the most boring game there is. If people come to see lacrosse and all the action, they’re bound to be sold on it.
“It’s good cheap entertainment. For my money there’s nothing better. A guy can take his date and for a couple of bucks sit up in the balcony, have a couple of beers, a few laughs and be entertained. If they’ll just come once they’ll love it.
“This is a great sport for the fans, but the people running it have got to be patient. They’re not going to make a killing over night. The league has to build credibility first and show the fans it’s solid.
That means teams can’t be moving to a different city every year just because they didn’t sell out every game. “I talked to Bruce Norris (president of the Detroit Red Wings and also chairman of the board of the NLL Long Island Tomahawks) about this a lot when I was with the Lions. His family has been in the NHL since its beginning, and he likens the two. You know, the NHL took a few years before it gained popularity. It took farsighted owners to make it go and that’s what we need,” McCarthy said.
“I hope they’re willing to gamble for a few years. I’m going to stick with it as long as I can and I’d hate to see it fail. I’ll tell you, pro sports is a gift. I could never think of a better way to live,” he said between choruses of Moon River and Barnacle Bill the Sailor during a recent bus trip from New York.
McCarthy said he’d like a chance to play pro hockey again. Originally, the Lions were a pro- motion for a new pro hockey league in Europe. The league, which was slated for last year, didn’t fathom out. As a result the Wings had more players than spots and they “paid out” McCarthy’s contract and re- leased him.
He played Senior A hockey in Ontario last winter and is also keeping an eye on the European scene. “I’ve been keeping in contact with a Dutch team,” he said.
Frontier four?
