Catching up with hockey legend Merkosky 30 years after banner was raised in arena

NCPR calls out Stefanik for false claims in CPAC speech

By Ken Tingley

That first night in Glens Falls is ingrained in the minds of a lot of professional hockey players.

It is born out of disappointment, out of not making the NHL team in Detroit and driving up the Northway to arrive in this “dark and dreary town” - Glenn Merkosky’s words - to start over again.

Their presence in Glens Falls was forced out of them out of failure and disappointment.

That was 1985 for Merkosky when he failed to make the Detroit Red Wings.

He became the lasting symbol of hockey in Glens Falls. And like so many of his teammates, he is still here.

It’s been nearly 30 year since they raised a banner to commemorate the hockey career of Glenn Merkosky.

If you saw Merkosky play, you are showing your age and it dawns on me there are a couple of generations of fans who have not seen his gritty ability to always be in the right place at the right time to score an important goal or deliver the key pass.

He scored 54 goals in the 1986-87 season, was twice honored with the Fred Hunt trophy as the AHL player “best exemplifying sportsmanship, determination, and dedication to hockey” while becoming the face of the Adirondack Red Wings.

It never translated into more than a cup of coffee in the National Hockey League.

After he retired, the organization raised his banner into the rafters and he became an assistant coach to Barry Melrose. He coached in juniors in Ontario for four seasons, then back in Glens Falls as head coach of the Red Wings for three seasons where his team made first-round playoff exits each year. After that, he was hired as a scout for the team.

And he stayed in Glens Falls.

Like so many other hockey players.

Merkosky went to junior high school with Peter Dineen in western Canada - who also played for Adirondack - and they both still live in Glens Falls, like so many other former hockey players.

He mentiones Greg Joly just moved south and Peter Mahovolich moved to Florida.

But Jamie Pushor, Dave Korol, Claude Legris and and Dineen are still around.

Merkosky raised four boys here.

His three oldest sons became engineers and are married. Two graduated from Clarkson College and one from the University at Buffalo. His youngest son Jack is looking to attend Arizona State in the fall.

After coaching, Merkosky became a pro scout for Detroit where he often spent 20 nights a month in a hotel room.

Along the way he divorced and remarried 18 years ago.

When Steve Yzerman took over as general manager in Detroit in 2019, the house cleaning clean left Merkosky’s without a contract.

He admits now he didn’t know what to do with himself.

He missed hockey and three of his sons were done with college, married and working on careers.

“Those days could be kind of long,” Merkosky said.

Then last year, the Adirondack Thunder announced it would field a junior team. Was there really any other choice for coach than Merkosky?

“It’s been good,” Merkosky said. “When I first saw the players in September, I told Joe Paterson (former coach of Adirondack Phantoms) that the skill level was a lot better than I thought it would be. It is three times as good as I thought it would be.”

The core of the roster is made of local players.

“We have eight players enrolled at SUNY Adirondack,” Merkosky said. “That’s sort of our niche.”

When Paterson saw the skill level, he was surprised as well, and he was soon on board as assistant coach.

The team won three times on the road last week and now has a record of 30-6-6 heading into Thursday’s playoff game at the Cool Insuring Arena. Considering the tickets are only $8, the junior hockey might be  worth checking out.

These days, you will find Merkosky back at the Cool Insuring Arena, his banner still flying up in the rafters, coaching, sharpening skates, washing jerseys and doing everything that needs to be done for a hockey team.

And he says he is having the time of his life.

NCPR: Stefanik false claims

After Rep. Elise Stefanik’s speech at CPAC last weekend, North Country Public Radio reporter Emily Russell fact-checked the content and found she had made several false claims.

While continuing her attacks on President Biden and Senate Democrats, she again blamed inflation and crimes rates on Democrats without evidence. She does that a lot.

Russell also found three false claims against the FBI and Department of Justice.

Here are the examples from Russell:

- “America is seeing Joe Biden’s corrupt DOJ and FBI fully weaponized as they label parents domestic terrorists," said Stefanik. The DOJ has never labeled parents as “domestic terrorists.”

- Stefanik continued her speech with another false claim about the DOJ and FBI, saying that "they conducted an unprecedented and illegal raid on President Trump’s home." The raid was legally authorized by a federal judge. She also pointed out that President Biden’s home was also searched.

- Stefanik also falsely claimed that the FBI “illegally paid Twitter $3 million to suppress stories, such as the Hunter Biden laptop story all for the political benefit and purpose of electing Democrats.” The FBI did pay Twitter $3.4 million, but according to USA Today, it was for records requests, not to suppress stories on the social media site. This has been reported weeks ago.

This is not normal politics. This is lying to the public.

Remember Larry Bulman

In 2001, I wrote about a rare local species - a Democrat.

Larry Bulman was a local guy with the pipefitters union who had run for supervisor in Moreau and lost.

He spent the last 15 years in Annapolis, Md. with the national union. He is hoping to retire sometime in the next couple of years and admits the best thing to happen to him was losing the Moreau election.

“I’ve met so many amazing people in this job,” Bulman said.

Bulman’s youngest son James, who had a stroke as a baby, has made great strides. He is still non-verbal but can walk and was getting ready to walk in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City next week. He turns 29 in May.

Bulman never sold his house in South Glens Falls and returns often to visit. “I miss home,” Bulman said. “But the people I got to meet around the country have been unbelievable.”

Greenwich reminder

Reminder that former Schenectady Gazette Editor Judy Patrick, Albany Times Union reporter Wendy Liberatore and I will be talking about newspapers and journalism Thursday at the Greenwich Free Library at 6:30 p.m.

I will be giving a short presentation at 6:30 to be followed by the panel discussion at 7 p.m.

It’s Oscar week

I’ve watched close to 30 movies this year in preparation for Oscar night on Sunday. I told you about my pick for the the best movie of the year on Monday - “She Said,” but here are five more but only two are nominated for Best Picture.

Best movies this year

1. She said (See Monday’s column). Rent on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

2. Argentina 1985 (Riveting political drama about Argentina’s battle to hold onto its democracy. It has a lot of relevance for Americans today. Watch on Amazon Prime.

3. Marcel the Shell (Heartwarming animated tale of Marcel and his grandmother and their passion for 60 Minutes. Don’t pass up this quirky  little film on Showtime, Amazon or Hulu.

4. The Fablemans (Steven Spielberg’s story of his upbringing and his parents strained relationship). In theaters.

5. Navalny (If you want another reason to support Ukraine, this documentary on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his attemped murder will hold your attention as he investigates his own murder, then returns to Russia and is sent to prison). View on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

6. All Quiet on the Western Front (Some of the most brutal battle scenes in cinema ever. It is relentless. Take the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan and extend it through nearly two and a half hours). Available on Netflix.