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CHAPTER NINE - SEGMENT IV: The Winter Rebellion (Hockey & Basketball, 1972)
HOBIE BARRELL - THE MILLION-DOLLAR DEFECTION
Hobie Barrell closed out the 1971–72 campaign playing the best all-around hockey of his life. At 31, the Detroit Motors superstar wasn’t just the league’s deadliest scorer - he had become its most complete player, finishing with 60 assists and 113 points.
Then Ottawa called.
The upstart Continental Hockey League wanted legitimacy.
Hobie was legitimacy.
They offered him a staggering five-year, one-million-dollar contract - the biggest in hockey history. Ottawa wasn’t just a payday for Hobie; it was home. He had learned the game there while his father Fred worked at the U.S. embassy, quietly waging Cold War battles with the Soviets.
But Hobie had one demand:
“I’m not signing unless Benny signs too.”
The CHL agreed.
In that moment, the CHL stopped being a curiosity.
It became a revolution.
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BENNY BARRELL - THE PROTECTOR FINDS HIS PURPOSE
At 35, Benny Barrell knew the truth: his best hockey was behind him.
Detroit had traded him. Calgary didn’t feel like home. His role was shrinking.
But where Hobie went, Benny followed.
Always.
He had been Hobie’s shield since childhood. The tough, loyal brother with Joe Barrell’s fists and Fred Barrell’s instincts. Hobie might be the superstar, but Benny made the ice a safer place for him to shine.
The CHL contract wasn’t just a raise.
It was a rebirth.
Ottawa embraced him. He rediscovered meaning. And on a quiet November night in the ByWard Market, Benny met the woman who would someday be his wife - a schoolteacher who thought his crooked grin and bruised knuckles were “weirdly charming.”
Ottawa didn’t just bring him back to Hobie.
It brought him forward into a new life.
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JACK POLLACK - THE PRINCE OF THE BIGSBY GARDENS
Jack Pollack’s 1971–72 season in San Francisco was a disaster.
Demotions. Inconsistent minutes. Visible frustration.
His father Quentin had warned him:
“You can play bad. You can’t mope. Moping gets you benched. Then it gets you traded.”
Jack moped anyway.
Then, in May 1972, the legendary Badger Rigney stepped into the Pollacks’ home.
Rigney had the rights to resurrect a historic franchise:
the New York Eagles, reborn in the CHL.
He wanted Quentin to coach.
He wanted players Quentin trusted.
“Who do you want?” Rigney asked.
“My sons.”
The CHL didn’t honor NAHC contracts. Jack was free.
By autumn, Jack skated onto the ice at the aging Bigsby Gardens, wearing a New York Eagles sweater and feeling a crowd buzzing with curiosity and rebellion.
Under Quentin’s guidance, he rediscovered his game.
The scoring returned.
The swagger returned.
The temper never left.
Jack Pollack was exactly what the CHL needed:
A hero when necessary.
A villain when helpful.
He didn’t care which.
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BILLY POLLACK - THE HEIR SHARPENING HIS BLADE
Billy Pollack, just sixteen, already looked the part of a future star.
His 1971–72 season with Saint John in the CAHA turned heads.
His 1972–73 season confirmed it.
Quentin and Aggie Pollack didn’t talk about whether Billy would join the CHL.
Only when.
Billy would turn eighteen in early 1974 - the minimum age even the rebellion-minded CHL wouldn’t break. When that day came, he would join New York alongside Quentin and Jack.
Until then, he sharpened himself in Saint John.
Billy wasn’t just the future of the Eagles.
He was the weapon they were saving for later.
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STEVE BARRELL - THE PROFESSOR’S FINAL SEASON
While hockey waged its civil war, Steve Barrell’s winter was quieter, steadier - and far more introspective.
At 36, his body was nearly done.
His minutes were limited.
His burst was gone.
What remained was the thing his mother Gladys always insisted was his greatest gift:
“Stevie sees the whole court before anyone else knows where they’re standing.”
By 1972, Steve had become a player-coach in all but title for the Louisville Spirits. He mentored younger guards, advised Coach Robinson, and spent more time teaching than scoring.
He almost retired after the 1971–72 season.
Then his brother Mike came home from Vietnam - wounded inside but home, finally home.
With the family steady again, Steve chose one more campaign in 1972–73. Then, feeling he had a little left, he chose to stay on for a definitive final season, going out on his own terms. 1973-74 was both coda and, he hoped, the entry into coaching.
One last year to teach.
One last year to lead.
One last year to exit the game on his terms.
He was technically still a player.
But everyone in Louisville knew the truth:
Steve Barrell was becoming Coach Barrell.
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