1980 – Joseph Nolan Jr.

I am (5) out of Joe Nolan’s (7) children. My Pop played hockey (defense) for five seasons in the IHL and EHL. Joe continued his life on the ice as an on-ice officiator until the early 1980s. Myself and two of my older brothers grew up in the rinks and arenas wherever dad was reffing, and the time clock was our baby sitter. Joe’s family in the US and Canada were paramount to him. One of dad’s defining moments came when he got a call from someone in George Roy Hill’s production team asking if he would be able to appear in a cameo performance in an upcoming movie (Slap Shot), to be released within the next year (1977), and the rest is history. Once again the Nolans (all of us kids) were in two more rinks for the filming, The Utica Aud and the Syracuse War Memorial. After filming, my dad brought me and my two older brothers to the Trinkaus Manor to meet P. Newman and most of the of the cast at a luncheon. We had a brand new hockey stick with us and got the whole cast to sign it (still have it). For us, the Nolan kids growing up in Clinton was like having an extended family of hundreds of people, and the bond was HOCKEY.

– Joseph Nolan Jr.