Peter Pan Incident

The Peter Pan Incident was the incident involving the Amphitheatre, the Chicago Cougars and the Peter Pan show.

Cause
The Chicago Cougars made the playoffs only once in 1974. The initial series versus New England passed without incident, but the next two series would be difficult in more ways than one.

The International Amphitheatre was unavailable for the second round because it had booked a production of "Peter Pan" which featured former Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby in the title role.

Even though the team did negotiate for use of Chicago Stadium (the home of the rival Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL, it was unavailable because the Black Hawks were playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Cougars briefly considered playing the matches at the Cleveland Arena before deciding to go to a public skating rink, the Randhurst Twin Ice Arena (which is adjacent to Mount Prospect's Randhurst Mall). Even though the arena could only hold 2000 spectators, the team played its three home matches of the series in Randhurst.

When the Cougars won their series versus Toronto, the "Peter Pan" show had moved on, and the Amphitheatre should have been available; however, the Amphitheatre had a portable ice surface and for reasons that were never stated, the Amphitheatre staff had uncovered & dismantled the copper pipes that were used to chill the ice for the offseason.

The "Peter Pan" show could not be moved to Chicago Coliseum because the Chicago Bulls were playing there. Staff suggested the show would move to a school; however the schools were closed. There was no choice but to return to Randhurst for the finals.

The Cougars never quite recovered from the public relations disaster; one sports reporter had quipped: "The Cougars were beaten by the greatest lightweight of them all — Peter Pan."