Chicago Cougars - Peter Pan Incident

Peter Pan Incident

The Cougars made the playoffs only once, in 1974. The initial series versus New England passed without incident, but the next series would be difficult in more ways than one: the International Amphitheatre had booked a production of Peter Pan, featuring former Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby in the title role, and the Amphitheatre would not be available for the playoffs. Though the team did negotiate for use of Chicago Stadium, the home of the rival Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL, no dates were available due to the Black Hawks being involved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team briefly considered playing the matches at the Cleveland Arena before deciding to go to a suburban shopping center, Randhurst, where there was a public skating rink called the Randhurst Twin Ice Arena. Though the arena could only hold 2000 spectators, the team played its three home matches of the series in Randhurst.

When the Cougars won their series versus Toronto, the Peter Pan show had moved on, and the Amphitheatre should have been available. However, for reasons still unclear, the staff had melted the ice surface. Worse, the Amphitheatre had a portable ice surface, and the copper pipes used to chill the ice were being uncovered and dismantled for the offseason. There was no choice but to return to Randhurst. The Cougars never quite recovered from the public relations disaster; one sports reporter had quipped, "The Cougars were beaten by the greatest lightweight of them all — Peter Pan."