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After winning the B division of the Chesapeake Hockey League, the players voted to move up to the tougher A division of the CHL for the 71-72 season. The divisions were actually once again renamed East and West, but players continued to call them A and B because all of the stronger teams were in the East. The rivalry with Gallaudet College would continue as they shifted to the stronger division also. The National Brewers were about to create additional new rivalries with the Jr. Clippers and the newly sponsored Orchard Mercurys. Sam Mattingly retired from playing to concentrate on the Brewers coaching job and the 2 youth hockey teams that he was also coaching at the same time. A brewery challenge was issued by the Ballantine Brewers of Newark, New Jersey. The Ballantine Beer sponsored club played in the Ironbound Arena in Newark. In January, the National Brewers took to the road for a spirited game between two Brewers clubs. This was the first National Brewers game to be played outside of the local area. In addition, it was the first real non league in the team’s history. This was due to be a transitional year as now every game was against a tough opponent. Regular practices began to get scheduled as ice time permitted and 2 long time Brewers were about to make their CHL debut during the season. For the fourth game of the season, the team added Steve Wirth on defense, who would go on to a long Brewers career. Wirth’s toughness and puck carrying ability were sorely needed. The club was sitting with a record of 1 win and 4 losses when, the second new face arrived from the American Hockey League’s Baltimore Clippers.
Randy Mattingly…”A friend of mine told me that he was buddies with Jim Bartlett, recently retired from an amazing career in the AHL and with 3 seasons in the original six NHL also. I asked my friend to talk to ‘Black Bart’ to see if he might be interested in playing hockey with the Brewers. To me, it seemed to be a possibility, because Bart was working for our sponsor, the National Brewing Company. One question led to another and then a meeting was set up with Stu Hyatt, Sam Mattingly, Jim Bartlett and their wives. Bart had received an amateur reinstatement in October to play in the International Hockey League with the Columbus Golden Seals. He was now back in Baltimore and was receptive to playing in the CHL”.
Jim Bartlett’s first game with the Brewers was on December 12, 1971 in a Sunday night game against the Orchard Mercurys. It did not however, work out very well. After playing left wing as a pro player, he was playing center for the Brewers. This would allow him to move freely with the puck. The Mercurys, however, had a good strategy set up and they shadowed him to deny him the puck.
Dave Mattingly...”Bart noticed that the entire Brewers team was a bit ‘in awe’ of having a famous professional player on the bench and ice with them and said something that night in frustration. It sounded like, “as soon as you f---ing guys start treating me like one of the rest of yous, we will start playing like a team”.
It would take 2 games for Bart to become ‘one of us’. The shadowing plan worked well for the Merc’s, as they won by a 4-0 score. After two games of watching Bartlett unable to receive passes at center, coach Sam Mattingly shifted him to defense. This was during the days of Bobby Orr and if Jim Bartlett could play defense, no one would be able to shadow him. Plus, he could carry the puck when an opening occurred. This change in position would ultimately put the team over the top, but the players around Bartlett needed to improve first.
‘Black Bart’ scored a memorable goal in a January game at the Coliseum against a top notch Diamond Reo goalie. On an odd man rush, Bartlett broke around the left defenseman and seeing that the goalie had the side angle well covered, leaned to his left, looked to the five hole, then spun a wrist shot that started off going wide to the left of the goal. However, Bartlett’s spin took over and the puck dropped to the right as it went just inside the post and into the goal. The goalie was incensed because he knew that he had the angle covered properly. He became very animated and soon was tossed from the game by the referee. It was just another magical example of the great talent of JB.
Late in the Brewers season, when the AHL Baltimore Clippers needed scoring help, they turned to Bartlett and he returned to the professional ranks. In his last Brewers game, he helped to lead a romp over Gallaudet College. A few days later, he was back in the American Hockey League and scored a hat trick in his first game. He went on to score a total of 8 goals in the last 11 games of the regular season and his 10 game stint with the Brewers allowed him to be in shape for his return to the Clippers. Meanwhile, the Brewers finished 8-11-1 in fourth place in the CHL, trailing the Jr. Clippers, Orchard Mercurys and Navy, a US Naval Academy club team. Fifth place went to Diamond Reo with Gallaudet College finishing last in the East division. The scoring was led by Jeff Carlson, based in the area with the US Army, Jim Bartlett and Barry Brownlee. Key new Brewers included Danny Maskell and Bob Dempsey. A new team formed in the West division, was the Columbia Pioneers, who finished in last place. Several years later, they changed their name to the Columbia Flyers and would become another great rival for the Brewers.
   
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