4th Annual Thunder Bay Kings Alumni Showcase July 13 2011

Taylor Pyatt Phoenix Coyotes

Eric Staal Carolina Hurricanes

Jordan Staal Pittsburg Penguins & Jared Staal Carolina Hurricanes

Getting Fancy in the shootout



Eric Staal

Ryan Johnson Chicago Black Hawks

Jordan Staal

July each summer in Thunder Bay is the time for the annual Thunder Bay Kings Alumni Game. The game features past Kings players, highlighted by Kings players who play in the NHL. This years game featured two 18 minute periods followed by each player shooting in a shootout. The game was won by Team Allstate (Black) over Team Hedgeye (white)11-0. Eric Staal was named the games MVP scoring once in regulation and twice in the shootout.



Lyn McIntosh The Thunder Bay Invader Sprint Racer

Lyn started racing in Tony Massaro's #87 in 1961

1962-63 Super Modified with Glen Kettering

Building the CAE sprint for 1966 debut with Lorne Hay

Lyn & Barry Kettering @ Riverview 1971. They were this close all race

Running cageless with the IMCA @ Minnesota State Fair

Lyn & crew @ Minnesota State Fair in the CAE 1972

1973 in the Nance Camper City Special

1977 @ Riverview in the Nance

The 1978 MSA Champion

The 1981 Barry Kettering Memorial @ Riverview

The last edition of the "Invader" based out of Thunder Bay

Prepping the Dirt Champ at the 1990 Hoosier 100 @ Indiana State Fairgrounds

Robbie Stanley looks on

The cars of Barry Kettering & Lyn Mcintosh on display in the

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville Iowa 2003

Seated back in the "Invader" 2003 @ NSCHoF Knoxville

Seated in Barry Kettering's #57  NSCHoF Knoxville 2003

A picture with my Sprint car hero Lyn McIntosh 

Lyn being inducted into Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Sept 24 2011

In Sprint Car Racing, Lyn McIntosh overcame many obstacles regularly travelling hundred’s of miles weekly, to not only be competitive against higher financed teams, but a winner, and Champion in Sprint cars ,and well respected as a racer.
As a youngster Lyn McIntosh caught the taste for racing, watching the Lakehead Stock Car Club races ,and the visiting IMCA Sprint Cars during the 1950’s at the CLE. He got his taste for speed behind the wheel of a “soapbox” push cart ,catching the attention of Master Cleaners ,who became his sponsor. Lyn became a visitor to the garages of Barry Kettering and Master Cleaners drivers Wes Inkster and Jerry Whitaker. Lyn went on to pit for Louis Tocheri and Tony Massaro with his best friend Lorne Hay ,who looked after both racers cars. When Tony Massaro quit driving in 1961,Lyn was persistent in convincing Tony to let him take the wheel of Tony’s #87,which he would race the balance of the ‘61 season. Lyn was a quick learner getting up to speed quickly ,and made his way to victory lane before season’s end.
In '62,Lyn would then team up with Glen Kettering to run the #62 Super Modified ,which later burned in a fire in Glen's garage in August of 1962. With assistance from Ken Taylor ,a benefit at the race track and a benefit social held by the Ladies Auxiliary ,and they were back up and running. Lyn would race south of the border regularly in Superior WI, Rice Lake WI in Super Modified’s and other tracks in the upper Minnesota/Wisconsin area. He run the #62 again in 1963,running the CLE and south of the border.
When the Super Modified class was discontinued ,and regular season racing at the CLE closed in 1964 Lyn built a CAE Sprint Car with Lorne Hay sporting #5. The car was built over a two year period as funds allowed ,ready for the track for the 1966 season. Lyn would continue to do most of his racing in the USA ,racing at home only in the fall championships ,the final races held at the CLE Fairgrounds.
Lyn raced in big IMCA shows in the area ,about 10-15 of the full IMCA season ,racing without a roll cage. When there were no IMCA races in the area ,Lyn would bolt the roll cage on and run with the Super Modified’s at Twin Cities Motor /NorthStar Speedway in the Twin Cities, Cedar Lake Speedway in Wisconsin ,Princeton MN ,as well as out to Fargo and Grand Forks N.Dakota. Lyn would race the CAE until 1973 when he would team with Bill Brower of the Twin Cities racing a Nance chassis and changing his number to #25,after the 1973 season Lyn would team up with Pat Slivinski and Murray Robinson of Thunder Bay as partners of the MRS race team.
In 1973 Lyn was a regular competitor in the Midwest Sprint Association, with Northstar Speedway as its regular Sunday night race date ,MSA ran races across Minnesota ,Wisconsin ,North Dakota ,Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. At the annual IMCA races at the Minnesota State Fair ,Lyn in his upright sprint car ,ran one of his greatest races of his career finishing second to Jerry Hansen who won in an SCCA Formula race car which was designed specially for pavement racing.
He would run the Nance until 1978 when they purchased a Stanton chassis with the name Thunder Bay Invader emblazened on the hood and would have the most successful year of his career. Lyn would win the Midwest Sprint Association North Division ,and overall Championship. Lyn won the Russ Laursen Classic in Superior Wisconsin, the Dave Skari Memorial in Fargo,North Dakota and narrowly missed winning the Barry Kettering Memorial at Riverview in their hometown to Jerry Richert by 1 point. Lyn would also win the Russ Laursen Classic a second time in 1979.
At the end of the 1979 season North Star Speedway closed leaving the Midwest Sprint Association without a home and the club folded as well after an abbreviated 1980 season.
Lyn raced in area World of Outlaws races in the Midwest USA, at tracks in Sioux Fall SD ,Fargo ND ,Fairmont MN ,Lincoln NB ,and would haul his sprint car 650 miles each way ,to race weekly at the “Sprint Car Capitol of the World” ,the legendary Knoxville Speedway in Knoxville, Iowa in 1980. The fans appreciated his efforts and Lyn was popular with the Knoxville fans. During the Knoxville Nationals of 1980 Lyn would suffer the most gruelling crash of his career. After healing up ,Lyn was back racing in 1981,and after a hard crash in Fargo North Dakota a new 1981 Stanton was purchased. In a World of Outlaws race at Fargo Lyn had to run the "B" Main and proceeded to blow away the competition which included several World of Outlaws regulars. One person would watch that race and after the races came up to Lyn and said he was one hell of a racer ,that he made moves out there he couldn't think of and he wanted to meet him ,this guy’s name was Steve Kinser, voted the greatest sprint car racer of all time.
Lyn and his partners put on the promoter hat .hosting the Barry Kettering Memorial in 1980 & 81 at Riverview Raceways when track officials chose not to run it. Lyn stated “Barry had given too much to the sport for him to be forgotten” so they chose to host it themselves. Ironic as it seems ,using the same point system as Knoxville uses for the Nationals Lyn would finally win the race he so badly wanted to win in 1981,the Barry Kettering Memorial by one point over Bob Hopp. In 1978 he missed winning it by one point to Jerry Richert ,using the same point system.
Lyn would again race weekly at Knoxville in 1982 and in 1983 would move to Jamestown ,Indiana and race sprints in All Star Circuit of Champions ,and World of Outlaws shows in the area until 1985,son AJ would also start racing sprints as well but would only spend a couple years behind the wheel. In 1986 Lyn still in partnership with Pat Slivinski and Murray Robinson purchased a McPherson Dirt Champ car to campaign with USAC. Lyn raced the car until finally hanging up his helmet in July 1990. Lyn ,though retiring as a driver ,remained active in USAC as a Dirt Champ car owner with his partners. Lyn would go to work for Patrick Racing from 1997 to 2002 in the CART “Indy Car” series ,and worked as a spotter during Indy car races. Patrick Racing was a premier competitor on Indy cars ,having won the Indianapolis 500 twice. Lyn continues working on the Indy Racing circuit today as a Track Rep for XTRAC ,the exclusive suppliers of rear end assemblies in INDY Car Racing.

Lyn McIntosh was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Sept 24 2011

Lyn McIntosh Canadian National Ski Team Coach

With the Canadian National Ski Team

With future "Crazy Canuck" Dave Irwin

The Canadian Womens National Ski Team

The Canadian Womens National Ski Team

Canadian National Ski Team enroute to training in South America

The Canadian National Ski Team plays hockey. Recognize anyone?



Lyn was inducted into Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Sept 24 2011

Lyn McIntosh started skiing around the age of ten and represented the Lake Superior Ski Division in the Canadian Junior Championships three times. Lyn then made his mark in skiing as a Coach, Lyn was a Ski Coach for the Lake Superior Ski Division in Thunder Bay from 1966 to 1968. Member’s of the ski team included Dave Irwin and John Ritchie. Dave Irwin, would be the second Canadian to win a Men’s World Cup Downhill race, and one of the legendary “Crazy Canucks” men’s ski team with John Ritchie later becoming the Coach of the “Crazy Canucks”.
While the title was that of “Coach”, the role as coach was much more than just coaching the young skier’s. Dave Irwin tells of Lyn’s contribution to skiing.
“Lyn was the first to develop a system for the ski team, focusing on the “team” concept where when one won, the team won, with all working in that direction. He says that concept, for him contributed to the creation of “The Crazy Canucks”. Lyn as coach, was responsible for virtually everything the team needed, organizing, budgets, etc. When the team travelled to competition’s, Lyn was “dad” to Irwin and the other skier’s making sure they had what they needed to compete.” He says that “ Lyn translated his sprint racing experience from the dirt track to the ski hill” and he found that to be quite brilliant. Irwin in closing said of Lyn McIntosh,” He was one of the coaches that set him in the right direction in his career and was very influential on his career. Lyn taught him how to be part of a team, made sure they had what they needed, organized it and made it work! Also that, Lyn never got the credit he deserved, nor did he seek it either, he really created something in Thunder Bay, and “Mac was the man in Thunder Bay!”
From 1969 to 1972 Lyn would move up as a Coach of Canada’s Women’s Can Am Ski Team, this circuit later was renamed the Nor Am. The Can-Am team was to the National Ski Team what the American Hockey League is to the NHL. The series consisted of around fourty ski races across North America a season, with the travel being done almost exclusively by automobile. Pontiac provided station wagons for the team’s travel, with it being traded in every 5000 miles, one winter Lyn used up four of the station wagons in travel on the tour.
In 1969 Lyn started off with a squad largely depleted with many of the top skier’s being taken on to the World Cup team leaving a thin talent pool. In the beginning the team struggled against the USA, but a strong platform was set to develop the new talent on the team. By the end of Lyn’s tenure with the Can-Am team, a strong foundation had been set with the Canadian skier’s, led by Betsy Clifford they began to dominate the circuit in 1972-73.
In 1969 Lyn would leave a real legacy in Canadian Downhill Skiing being one of the five founding members of the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation. CSCF was/is responsible for establishing coaching standard’s for Canadian Ski coaches, with the goal of producing the best ski racer’s in the world. This goal was reached in the mid 1970’s with the success of both the men and women’s ski team’s winning on the World Cup Ski Circuit. The CSCF has become an organization of approximately 5500 members, providing 4 levels of coach certification, technical seminars, and professional development opportunities.
In 1972-73 Lyn was Assistant Program Director with Canada’s National Ski Team participating in, setting ski team policy, selecting the ski team’s, guiding the team through training in South America and Europe, and helping develop the program that led to the “Crazy Canucks“.
In 1973 to 1976 Lyn McIntosh was the Coach of Canada’s Woman’s National Ski Team. Success at the highest level was achieved in 1974 with Betsy Clifford’s World Championship Gold Medal at St Moritz ,and in 1976, at the Innsbrook Austria Olympic Games, with Kathy Kreiner winning the Gold Medal in the Women’s Giant Slalom, under Lyn’s coaching. Following the Olympics Lyn and the National Ski Team met with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa.
Kathy Kreiner say’s that Lyn “really gave you the feeling he knew what he was talking about, and had a level of trust with him that she never had with other coaches. Lyn also, “ knew the mind of an athlete, had a great awareness of the athlete’s need for attention or the need to be alone to focus.” He was “ very caring with you as a person, more than just as an athlete which gave you the environment to thrive as a young athlete.” Kathy also echoes Dave Irwin in Lyn’s ability to connect his experience on the race track with skiing ” which she also felt was brilliant.
After spending upwards of nine months away from home and his family each year, at the end of the 1976 ski season Lyn retired from the National Ski Team and accepted an offer from Bill Irwin of Loch Lomond ski hill to operate the ski shop and the hill’s ski school. Though retired from the National Ski Team, Lyn stayed very involved in competitive skiing as a Tech Delegate in the International Ski Federation from 1976 to 1982 . As a Tech Delegate Lyn would be responsible to oversee all FIS regulations at the competition, with the final decision on all matters concerning the running of the event, and was the sole official with the power to cancel the event if deemed necessary. In this role he would also act as a liason between and race organizer’s , and competitor’s, assuming this role in many races in Europe and the USA ,as delegates cannot come from the host country.