FHL News: Year 1, Issue 1

While the league was formed during the summer of 1993, the first issue of the FHL News didn’t appear until mid-January, 1994.

A brief history.

Scott Collard (Wild Ducks), Ken Hamilton (Bluliners) and four others - Tom, Mike, Dusty and Bob - created the FHL. The rules were different. The scoring was different. There was no Internet. Everything was done manually (some things never change).

Scott and Ken are the only remaining members from the inaugural season. Scott’s first team was named “Scott’s Shooters.” Ken was the general manager of "Ken’s Kanadien Krew" (not sure how Ken got a team with the acronym of “KKK” past the FHL Board of Directors).

I was asked to join the league, but declined. The reason was a good one: I knew absolutely nothing about hockey.

A few months into the season, I volunteered to write a weekly newsletter. The information and numbers were relayed to me at the conclusion of each week. I wrote the newsletter at home, on my brand new LC III Macintosh computer.

At the time, I worked at a local newspaper. It was there - when my boss turned her head - that I cranked out copies of the FHL News.

The FHL News made its debut on January 16, 1994.

The weekly newsletter was sent to each GM every Monday, via the United States Postal Service and a 29¢ stamp.

Doing the newsletter opened my eyes to hockey. Learning more about the game with each passing week, I joined the league in the fall of 1994.

The first issue of the FHL News is posted below. It’s the only copy in existence. I’m sure the issue (still in pristine condition) would be worth a sizable chunk of money ... if more than 12 people actually knew and/or cared about the league.

Great blast from the past with those names.. I remember I came in 2nd in my hockey league that year(only 4 teams though) Surprised how few points Bure has at this point in the season.. I had him and Fedorov, but I think my other players(not goalies) were awful..

We missed the heyday of Wayne Gretzky, which was probably a good thing as I'm sure Gretzky messed up many a fantasy hockey season (GM who gets the first pick wins the Cup).

Same goes for Paul Coffey, back in the day. Imagine a team, nowadays, with a defenseman who scored 48 goals and 138 points (Coffey in 1986).

Scoring leaders during the first year of the FHL...