Robe Esche, owner of the Utica Comets, recalled his boyhood heroes, the Clinton Comets.
Those professional skaters in the Clinton Arena inspired him to work hard and make it to the NHL, Esche said. When he brought professional hockey back to Utica, he named his team in honor of those Clinton ice trailblazers.
Last Saturday Esche took another step to immortalize the Clinton Comets. A life-size statue of four of them - Jack Kane, Borden Smith, Dave Armstrong and Pierre Prevost - was unveiled in front of the Adirondack Bank Center where the Utica team plays.