PATERSON AND NEELY TO BE INDUCTED TO ADIRONDACK HOCKEY HALL OF FAME

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Flames announced today plans to induct Joe Paterson and Doug Neely as this year’s class into the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame, located in the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Hall of Fame inductions will occur on March 15, during the Adirondack Flames’ home game against the Binghamton Senators at 5:00 p.m. The Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to professional hockey and the growth of hockey in the Adirondack region.

Past inductees into the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame include legendary coach Bill Dineen, the Adirondack Red Wings leading scorer Glenn Merkosky and Adirondack’s leading scorer in six seasons of UHL play, Hugo Belanger. A full list is available at the Glens Falls Civic Center and will be available on adirondackflames.com prior to the ceremony. Fans voted for their favorite candidate this past week, to make up one-fifth of the total vote. The remaining votes came from a four person Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame committee, comprised of committee chairman Doug Burch, former trainer and Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame member Doug Casey, former Daily Gazette sports writer Mike Kane and Saratogian sportswriter Paul Post.

Paterson received nearly 42% of the over 600 fan votes cast, the highest total of all nominees and received enough votes from the committee to be the included in the class of 2015. Paterson spent parts of nine seasons with Adirondack professional hockey, including four as a player and five as a coach. Paterson played 169 games with the Adirondack Red Wings from 1980-1984, in addition to 11 playoff games. Paterson amassed 25 points (9-16-25) over 39 games played during the Red Wings 1981-82 Calder Cup campaign and had 128 points (59-69-128) in his Red Wings regular season career. Paterson also spent three seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Red Wings from 1992-1995 and two seasons as Head Coach of the Adirondack Phantoms from 2010-2012. Paterson went 62-51-12 as head coach of the Phantoms, for a .540 winning percentage. Paterson is the only Phantoms’ Head Coach with a winning percentage over .500. Paterson is currently a scout with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL and currently resides in the Glens Falls area.

Doug Neely was added to this year’s Hall of Fame class as a unanimous selection from the committee as a Builder of the game of hockey in the Glens Falls area. Neely has served as an off-ice official for the past 36 seasons through five professional hockey teams at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Neely, who has served as the Chief Off-Ice Official for much of his tenure, was honored by his fellow off-ice officials on April 13, 2014 during an Adirondack Phantoms home game for his 35th year of service to hockey in the area. Neely is currently in his final season of professional hockey work. He is a retired school teacher, who will enjoy his time off with his wife, Judy.

The induction ceremony will occur during the first intermission of the Flames-Senators matchup. The inductees will be honored on the ice by the Flames, with the plaques joining the current members of the Hall of Fame in the Civic Center’s lobby. There will also be a pre-game reception in the Davidson Brothers Flames pub, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Admission to the pre-game reception will be $10 for the general public and will include comments from Paterson and Neely, in addition to appearances from current Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame members, along with complimentary hors-devours and a cash bar.

Packages to include both a ticket to the game and admission to the pre-game ceremony are also available for $25. Both can be purchased at the Flames team offices beginning on Wednesday, March 4. Tickets to the March 15 home game, as well as all 10 remaining Adirondack Flames home games, are available at the Glens Falls Civic Center Box Office, by visiting adirondackflames.com or by calling 518-480-3355, x1.