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Thread: The Memorial Cup: A History

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    Iconcup The Memorial Cup: A History

    with Gregg Drinnan

    Wednesday, April 9, 2008
    The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1919

    1919 MEMORIAL CUP
    Regina Patricias vs. University of Toronto Schools
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)

    The Regina Patricias, having eliminated the Winnipeg Lutherans in the Western Canadian final for the Abbott Memorial Cup on March 10, 1919, were off to the Memorial Cup.
    The Patricias won the two-game, total-goal series with Winnipeg 8-5, taking the second game 3-1 in front of 1,935 fans at the Regina Arena.
    In the meantime, the University of Toronto Schools, backstopped by goaltender Joe Sullivan, who would go on to become a well-known physician and senator, were wrapping up the Eastern Canadian championship, whipping the visiting Montreal Melvilles 8-2 in a sudden-death game on March 17.
    (Sullivan's son Frank would have a lengthy minor league career, and would get into six NHL games over the 1949-50 and 1952-53 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and one each with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1954-55 and 1955-56 and Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 1950s. Frank's son Peter would be a key member of three WHA championship Winnipeg Jets teams and would play two seasons with the Jets after they were admitted to the NHL.)
    And so it was that the 1919 Memorial Cup, a two-game, total-goal affair, was scheduled for Toronto, with games on March 19 and 22 at Arena Gardens on Mutual Street.
    W.J. Finlay, sports editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, reported prior to the first game: “Toronto fans are greatly worked up over their juniors and they are just a little afraid that their favorites are going to get beaten.
    “However, it looks like a great game and, in our opinion, should be in doubt right to the finish.”
    It was anything but in doubt as the U of T opened with a 14-3 victory, causing Finlay to write: "Travelling at a dizzy pace from start to finish and uncorking team play that was revelation to the western fans, the University of Toronto Schools nifty young hockey machine cantered through the Regina Patricians in such a commanding style that they not only swamped the westerners 14-3 but outclassed them from stem to stern ...”
    Toronto, coached by Frank Carroll, a noted coach in his time, led 2-0 after the first period and 7-2 after the second.
    As Finlay noted: "The Toronto outfit has the six-man hockey system as used by the professionals down to a science and they have the ability to make use of the system to perfection. Coached by Frank Carroll, the noted Toronto professional pilot, the boys have developed team play that was really pretty to watch.”
    Forwards Don Jeffreys and Jack Aggett scored six goals each for Toronto, with defenceman Dunc Munroe adding the other two. Regina got goals from two wingers — Laudas Dutkowski, who was known as Duke and who, late in his life, dropped the ‘k’ from his surname, and S. Conrad — and defenceman M.A. Wingham.
    It's worth noting that the game was an hour and 15 minutes late in starting, as The Canadian Press reported, "to allow the fans to greet the 4th C.M.R., the first Toronto unit to come home in a body.”
    The Canadian Press also reported: "It was not known tonight whether the Patricias would default the second game on Saturday night. It is a moral certainty that they cannot pull down the lead.”
    Give the Patricias credit — they showed up for the second game on March 22. This time Toronto posted a 15-5 victory to win the series by a combined score of 29-8.
    "Though the score was trebled on them the Pats played much better hockey than they did on the opening night and the score is no indication of the play,” wrote Finlay.
    Getting glowing reviews was Mordecai Brown, the Regina goaltender who it was said was only 16 years of age.
    Toronto, which led 8-4 and 10-4 at the period breaks, got five goals from Steve Greey, four from Munroe, and three each from Jeffreys and Aggett.
    For the record, the Memorial Cup-winning goal was Toronto's ninth one in the opening game. It came from Aggett early in the third period.
    It's also worth noting that Lou Marsh, a noted sports writer with the Toronto Star, officiated both games, while Finlay — yes, the same Free Press sports editor — teamed with Marsh for the second game.
    As Finlay's report noted: "Two sporting scribes, Billy Finlay of the Free Press, Winnipeg, and Lou Marsh, of the Toronto Star, handled the game, which was very clean.“
    # 8-9-11-22 ALWAYS REMEMBERED

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1920

    1920 MEMORIAL CUP
    Selkirk Juniors vs. Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)


    The Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers squared off against the Selkirk Juniors, starring Joe Simpson, in the two-game, total-goal Memorial Cup final.

    Games were played on March 23 and 25 in Toronto.
    This was a high-powered Toronto Canoe Club team. Coached by Ron Carroll, the Canoe Club was captained by Billy Burch, who would go on to play in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Americans and Hamilton Tigers.
    Also on the Toronto roster were goaltender Roy Worters (Pittsburgh Pirates, the Americans and the Montreal Canadiens); the immortal Lionel (Big Train) Conacher (the Americans, the Pirates, Montreal Maroons and Chicago); and, Wilfred White (the Philadelphia Quakers, the Pirates and the Americans).

    En route to playing Selkirk, the Paddlers — paced by a line featuring Burch between White and Francis McCurry — had posted some impressive victories.
    They lost 6-5 to the Stratford Midgets, a team that featured Howie Morenz, but then roared back with a 10-2 victory to win the two-game, total-goal affair, 15-8.

    The Paddlers hammered the Quebec-champion Loyola College of Montreal 16-4, and beat the Fort William Beavers 16-1.
    Prior to journeying east, the Selkirks, who were also known as the Fishermen or Fishtown lads, spent some time touring western Canada, using exhibition games — including two victories over the Eskimos in Edmonton — as tuneups for the Memorial Cup games.
    This tour almost turned tragic, as reported by a March 15 dispatch from Calgary:
    "Members of the Selkirk hockey team who have been on a tour as far as Victoria, B.C., returned to Calgary today and will remain until early Thursday morning (March 17) when they leave to play the Vics at Regina that night. En route here the Fishtown boys were delayed 22 hours, due to a snow slide at Sicamous. While there, Crutchie Morrison and Hammy Gillespie hired a skiff and had a narrow escape from drowning. When about 150 yards from shore, one of the oars slipped and the boat overturned. The hockey stars plunged into the ice-cold water where they remained for 10 minutes before being rescued.”

    Prior to that game in Regina against the Victorias — it was played on March 18 — the Regina Leader reported: "Those who stayed away from last night's match should make it a point to see the Selkirk team in action for they will be assured of witnessing one of the classiest teams in the west. Joe Simpson has played here before and his corkscrew rushes are always worth seeing.”

    The Selkirk roster for that March 18 game in Regina: Wall (goal), Gillespie and Joe Simpson (defence), Jocko Anderson (rover), Harry (Pee Wee) Oliver (centre), Ernie Anderson (left wing), Crutchie Morrison (right wing). Subs: Mitchell and Brandow.
    The Selkirks lost that game, 5-3, and then began the trek home and, ultimately, to Toronto where they opened against the Paddlers on March 23.

    Here's how Winnipeg Free Press sporting editor W.J. (Billy) Finlay began his report:

    "After putting up a game battle for two periods, in which they displayed a lot of class against superior odds, Stan Kennedy's Selkirks faded badly in the final session, and were forced to submit to a 10-1 beating at the hands of Dick Carroll's hand-picked Canoe Club stars in the first game for the junior hockey championship of Canada.”

    In front of about 3,000 fans, the Paddlers led 2-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks.

    "Starting off badly, when they appeared to be affected by stage fright,” Finlay reported, "the Fishtown lads finally caught themselves and were unlucky to be two goals down on the first session, and when they came back and outplayed their heavier and older opponents though outscored 1-0 in the second session, the 3,000 fans began to take notice, and cheered them loudly for their plucky work. But they had shot their bolt in their strenuous efforts in the second session, as they were badly outplayed in the final spasm, when the locals ran in six goals, mostly by fast combination play, in which the scorer worked in on top of the net.”

    As for the Canoe Club, Finlay wrote that Burch was especially sharp. "Burch, at centre, is a long, rangy boy, who is a wonderful backchecker and a wonder in carrying the puck,” Finlay wrote.

    But Finlay pointed out that the Paddlers weren't too popular in the east.
    "They are very unpopular here,'' he reported, "owing to the fact that they were picked up from different parts of the country and molded into one strong aggregation, and have such a big advantage over all the Ontario teams that they have killed interest in junior hockey.”

    The Canoe Club wrapped up the Memorial Cup on March 25 with a 5-4 victory in a game that was described as listless.
    "The canoeists showed little interest in the game,” according to one report, "and the handful of spectators expressed disappointment in the comparatively small score.”

    NEXT: 1921 (Winnipeg Falcons vs. Stratford Midgets)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:47 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1921

    1921 MEMORIAL CUP
    Winnipeg Falcons vs. Stratford Midgets
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)


    The Regina Victorias, or Vics as everyone called them, left for Winnipeg on March 14.

    Having dropped the Calgary Beavers 11-6 in a two-game, total-goal series, the Vics were on their way to meet the Winnipeg Falcons of manager/coach Connie Neal.
    The first game of the Regina-Winnipeg series was played March 15.
    "Displaying remarkable form against a team that outweighed them in every position the Winnipeg Falcons, defenders of the Abbott Cup, emblematic of the junior championship of Western Canada, took the Regina Victorias into camp by a 5-3 score,” reported the Regina Leader.

    The Falcons led 2-0 and 3-2 by periods.
    Two nights later, on March 17, the Falcons wrapped it up, posting a 3-1 victory to win the series, 8-4.
    That victory sent the Falcons on against the Fort William YMCA in the Western Canadian final.
    The Falcons featured players like defenceman Harry Neil, who would later coach the Winnipeg Monarchs to the 1932, 1935 and 1937 Memorial Cup finals, winning the latter two titles. Another player, Art Somers, was a Falcons substitute who would go on to play seven seasons in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers.

    The Falcons won the first game in Fort William 9-3 on March 20.
    "The match was played in slush that interfered with the speed of both teams,” read one report.

    One night later, the Falcons wrapped it up with an 11-4 victory, giving them the series by an aggregate of 20-7.
    While the Falcons were dominating the west, the Stratford Midgets, featuring Howie Morenz, were romping to the eastern title, an honor they wrapped up on March 19 by beating Lower Canada College, the Quebec champions, 13-5 in a sudden-death game.
    And so it was on to Toronto for the Falcons, a team that had been formed from the Young Men's Lutheran Club of the Icelandic Lutheran Church, the forerunner of junior hockey in Manitoba.
    The Falcons came through, too, although not without surviving a real scare.

    The series opened on March 24 with the Falcons posting a 9-2 victory. You would have thought it was in the bag.
    It wasn't.
    On March 27, Stratford, with Morenz scoring three times, roared to a 7-2 victory. But that wasn't quite enough and the Falcons won 11-9 on total goals.

    "From the commencement of the game, the Midgets forced the pace,” read one report. "By close back-checking and heavy body-checking they stopped the rushes of the speedy westerners and bit by bit backed them into defensive tactics. At the end of the second period they had worn them to a shadow of the team which won in such an outstanding fashion Thursday night. In the third period, the Falcons got four shots on Ruston, while the Midgets bombarded the Falcons' net minutes at a time. All they could get past Comfort was three.

    "(Wally) Fridfinnson, Somers and (Sam) McCallum were much in the limelight for the Falcons, though the bulk of the glory should go to (Freddie) Comfort. For Stratford, (Frank) Carson, Roth and Richards played excellent hockey, the former turning in one of the finest games of his career and being in a very large measure responsible for the great showing of Stratford.“

    NEXT: 1922 (Regina Patricias vs. Fort William War Veterans)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:49 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1922

    1922 MEMORIAL CUP
    Regina Patricias vs. Fort William War Veterans
    at Winnipeg (the Auditorium)


    On March 15, 1922, the Regina Leader reported: "For style and class the famed Vancouver Millionaires had nothing on the Regina Patricias as they left for Winnipeg last night where on Thursday and Saturday they battle the Manitoba champions in a pair of games for the Abbott Cup. All told, there were 13 in the party, but this jinx number did not bother the athletes one iota.”

    Coached by Graham Reid, the Patricias lost the opener of the two-game, total-goal series 4-1 to the University of Manitoba.

    Things looked bleak for the Patricias but two nights later, on March 18, they played one for the ages.

    Going into the game three goals down, the Patricias tied the series. They led 3-0 after three periods and then struck for two overtime goals, by Harry Naismith and Sylvester (Sil) Acaster, to win the series 6-4.

    Naismith and Acaster played on a line centred by Howie Milne, who would in time become one of the best-known hockey figures on the Prairies. He would also become well known on western gridirons.

    The Patricias stayed in Winnipeg where they played the Fort William War Veterans -- they had ousted the Toronto-based Aura Lees in the Eastern final -- in a two-game, total-goal series for the Memorial Cup.
    The series opened on March 20 with Fort William posting a 5-4 victory. Fort William led 3-1 after the first period but trailed 4-3 going into the third after Acaster struck for three consecutive goals to end the second.
    But Clark Whyte, a speedy winger, provided Fort William with the victory by scoring the tying and winning goals, his second and third of the game. Walter Adams and Fred Thornes also scored for the winners, while Naismith had Regina's other goal.

    Regina actually thought it had scored a tying goal late in the third period. The goal umpire ruled the puck had entered the Fort William goal; however, the referee overruled him. In hindsight, that would turn into a huge ruling.
    Two nights later, the War Veterans played the Patricias to a 3-3 draw. That was enough to give Fort William an 8-7 series victory.
    The Leader reported: "It was one of the most heartbreaking finishes ever seen in a cup final. The Thunder Bay champions had a difficult time holding the Westerners to an even break for two-thirds of the way ... Though the Fort Williams were returned the victors they were not the better team tonight. They did not look nearly so good as in the first combat.''

    Whyte, again, proved Regina's undoing as he scored all three of his club's goals. Acaster scored twice for Regina, with Naismith getting the other.
    In the end it was a second-period goal by Whyte that stood up as the Memorial Cup-winning score. It gave Fort William a 3-2 lead in the game (8-6 in the series) but turned into the winner a few minutes later when Naismith scored to tie the game 3-3.

    "Regina went down to defeat with colors flying,'' reported The Leader. "There was a big demonstration at the finish, the Forts being carried off the ice.”

    NEXT: 1923 (University of Manitoba Bisons vs. Kitchener Greenshirts)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:50 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1923

    1923 MEMORIAL CUP
    University of Manitoba Bisons vs. Kitchener Greenshirts
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)


    The 1923 Memorial Cup would be contested between the University of Manitoba Bisons and Kitchener Greenshirts.

    But before it came to that there was an incident on the Prairies that would throw fuel on the rivalry between Saskatoon and Regina.
    It's a rivalry that is long and bitter, and one that encompasses all of life, from sports to politics to entertainment.
    In the spring of 1923, the Regina Pats and Saskatoon juniors met in the Saskatchewan junior final. Saskatoon emerged victorious -- the teams played to a 2-2 tie on Feb. 27; Saskatoon won 2-1 on March 1.
    But hold your horses -- a protest was filed.
    And, on March 5, 1923, a decision was handed down.
    As reported by the Regina Leader: "When the Pats' protest was discussed at the meeting of the committee, it was found that the Saskatoon team had never been properly organized. It was neither affiliated nor registered with the provincial body, and three of the players, Wilson, Phillips and Sillers, have played with the University team in the northern division of the senior league. Wilson, Saskatoon Phoenix files showed, has played five senior games this winter, and Phillips three.

    "The protest was sustained by a unanimous vote, even C.H. Bolton, of Saskatoon, voting against his own club.”

    Saskatoon counter-protested, claiming two Regina players, Howie Milne and Harry Naismith, were too old. But proof of age was offered and the protest was thrown out.
    Needless to say, this news was not taken quietly in Saskatoon.
    "Regina won't get away with its latest, that of disqualifying the Saskatoon Junior Hockey Club, which action cost the locals the Saskatchewan championship,” read an editorial in the Saskatoon Star. "Records at Division 1, of the SAHA headquarters, showed that these three players were properly registered and transferred as junior players and that only neglect on the part of Murray Thomson, of Moose Jaw, retiring secretary of the SAHA, allowed the protest committee to be misinformed and the arbitrary action taken ...

    "The action of the Regina members of the protest committee in allowing the Pats' complaint to be upheld deserves severe censure.”

    To which The Leader responded: "The Saskatoon Star doesn't think very much of Regina. To be more specific, the Saskatoon Star doesn't think very much.”

    The decision, however, had been made and it was final. The Pats went on to meet the Calgary Canadians in a Western Canadian playoff series.
    On March 7, Regina, playing at home in Exhibition Stadium, won the first game 3-1 over a Calgary team that had been in Saskatoon preparing to play there. The Canadians went virtually from the Regina train station to the Stadium for the game.
    That same night, in Toronto, the University of Toronto and Kitchener played to a 3-3 tie in the first game of a home-and-home battle for the OHA's junior title. Kitchener led 3-1 until Sandy Somerville scored twice within 10 seconds during the last minute of the third period.
    Kitchener would win that series at home three nights later.
    The next night, in Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba, coached by Hal Moulden and captained by Murray Murdoch, qualified for the Abbott Cup final with an 8-1 victory over Brandon.
    In Regina on March 9, Calgary roared back to defeat the Pats 6-2 and win the total-goal series 7-5. Calgary got a big game out of future Hockey Hall of Famer Herbie Lewis, who figured in four goals, scoring one and setting up three others.
    Calgary traveled on to Winnipeg to meet the University of Manitoba.
    On March 12, in the Amphitheatre, the university team won 5-4, the same night that Kitchener edged Iroquois Falls 3-2 in a one-game eastern Canadian semifinal.
    According to one report from Toronto: "Near the close of the game, Dewar, Iroquois Falls defenceman, charged Maurice Schnarr and was given a match foul. Later he hit inspector Bond of the Toronto police force and was taken to the police station.”

    Kitchener would later whip Montreal A.A.A. 10-4 in a sudden-death game to advance to the Memorial Cup final.
    The University of Manitoba won the Abbott Cup on March 14, thanks to a 5-3 victory over Calgary. That gave the university boys a 10-7 advantage in the series.
    And so it was on to Fort William to meet the Cubs, with the winners to meet Kitchener for the Memorial Cup.
    The Cubs and Manitoba played to a 3-3 tie on March 18 in a physical game. "Clark Whyte, captain and star right winger of the Cubs, was laid out twice,” according to one report.

    On March 19, Manitoba posted a 6-1 victory, winning the series 9-4.
    The Memorial Cup opened in Toronto on March 22 with Manitoba, showing what was called "superior speed, and courage, uncanny checking and resourcefulness,” whipping Kitchener 7-3 in Game 1. The referee was Lionel Conacher.

    The teams were tied 2-2 after one period, but the varsity boys banged in five straight goals in the second period to put it away.
    Murdoch scored four straight second-period goals for Manitoba, with singles coming from Blake Watson, Nip Johnson and Jack Mitchell. Babe Siebert, Maurice Schnarr and W. Schnarr replied for Kitchener.
    Four nights later, Manitoba wrapped up the Memorial Cup with a second consecutive 7-3 victory that gave it the round by a 14-6 aggregate. Murdoch's last goal in the first game, with 2:30 left in the second period, was the Cup-winning score.
    "The westerners were superior in all departments and Siebert was the only Kitchener player to hold his opponents in check,” read one report.

    Albert Charles (Babe) Siebert would go on to play in the NHL with the Montreal Maroons, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. His life would come to an untimely end when he drowned on Aug. 25, 1939.
    "In Murdoch, the University of Manitoba has one of the best players in the amateur ranks. He has ability to star in senior company next year,” stated one report.

    Murdoch followed up his four-goal opening game by scoring five times and setting up another in Game 2. All told, he scored nine of Manitoba's 14 goals in the two games.
    Watson and Mitchell also scored for the winners. Molson, W. Schnarr and Gross replied for Kitchener.

    NEXT: 1924 (Calgary Canadians vs. Owen Sound Greys)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:51 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1924

    1924 MEMORIAL CUP
    Calgary Canadians vs. Owen Sound Greys
    at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)


    The Regina Pats -- formerly the Patricias, they now were commonly referred to as the Pats -- headed for Winnipeg on March 14. The duration of their stay was unknown at the time.
    After lengthy negotiations, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association had ordered the Pats to Winnipeg. There, they would play the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers, the Manitoba champions, on March 18 and 20.
    The winner of that series would play the Alberta-champion Calgary Canadians for the Abbott Cup on March 22 and 24.
    And that winner would stay in Winnipeg to meet the Eastern Canadian champion in the Memorial Cup's two-game, total-goal final, March 26 and 28.
    Regina opened with a 2-0 victory over the Tammany Tigers on third-period goals by Sil Acaster and Ken Doherty. But press reports credited the play of Regina defencemen Johnny Gottselig and Jack Gilhooley, along with goaltender Jack Cunning, who was described as "the elongated custodian.”

    Regina wrapped it up two nights later, beating the Tigers 7-2 to win the round 9-2.
    "Cunning played brilliantly in goal for the westerners and was largely responsible for holding the Bengals in check,” reported the Regina Leader.

    Gottselig scored Regina's first three goals. Acaster and Eric Pettinger added two each. Winnipeg's goals came from Bun Stephenson and ???? Davis.

    Prior to meeting Calgary in the western final, the Pats came up with a surprise -- they brought in the man known across the prairies as the Silver Fox.
    As reported in The Leader of March 22, 1924: "When the Regina Pats step on the ice at Winnipeg tonight ... they will be taking their orders from Al Ritchie, the skipper who directed them in their final dash for provincial honors. Following continued requests from the players who have implicit faith in Ritchie's powers as a strategist, Al left for the 'Peg last night and will take over the reins this afternoon.”

    There wasn't any mention of who had been coaching the Pats. But Ritchie would stay behind the bench for years to come.
    However, in this instance, Ritchie's presence wasn't enough.

    The Pats played strong defensively in beating Calgary 4-2 in the opener. But the series ended in protestations two nights later as Calgary won the game 5-2 and the series 7-6 thanks to an overtime goal by Johnny Loucks.

    Of the protest, The Leader reported: "The Saskatchewan team is lodging its protest on the first goal scored by Calgary in the opening session. Herbie Lewis shoved a pass from behind the Regina net to (Vic) Ripley. Just as Ripley grabbed the puck, referee Bill Noble rang his bell. Ripley lifted the puck from the blue line and scored. Noble allowed the goal and it appears as if Regina has good grounds for its protest.”

    Regina, of course, would lose the protest and Calgary went on to meet the Owen Sound Greys in the Memorial Cup final at the Amphitheatre in Winnipeg.
    The Greys had split a two-game series with Kenora, winning the first 11-7 and losing the second 5-4, but won it all 15-12 on goals.
    Scoring three times on rebounds, Owen Sound led 1-0 and 3-2 at the period breaks en route to a 5-3 first-game victory over Calgary on March 26.

    Mel (Butch) Keeling and Ralph (Cooney) Weiland scored two goals each for the Greys, with George Elliott getting the single. Lewis, with two, and Ripley scored for Calgary.

    Reports indicated that both teams gave it their all: "The players were pretty well ***ged and the last few minutes brought one scramble after the other.”

    When the second game, on March 28, ended in a 2-2 tie, Owen Sound went home with the Memorial Cup, victors by a 7-5 two-game score. It was not a popular victory.
    "No team escaped with a championship after being so badly outplayed as the easterners did,” read the game report. "For 50 minutes of the 60 they were behind their own centre, battling desperately to stave off the attacks of the western lads, and they succeeded though outclassed and outplayed.”

    A lot of the credit for the championship was given to Hedley Smith, the Greys' 16-year-old goalkeeper. “This young lad staved off what looked like certain defeat by his marvelous stops,'' read one report.

    It doesn't seem that shots on goal were counted during the game, but one report credited Smith with 24 stops in the third period alone.

    Calgary was most disappointed, and claimed to have scored two goals which officials wouldn't allow.
    Weiland gave Owen Sound a 1-0 first-period lead, before Irving Frew and Lewis sent Calgary into the third with a 2-1 lead.
    It remained for Elliott to score what would be the Memorial Cup-winning goal some five minutes into the third period. The winner was a heartbreaker -- Elliott centred the puck from a corner and it went in off one of Loucks' skates.

    NEXT: 1925 (Regina Pats vs. Aura Lee)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:52 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1925

    1925 MEMORIAL CUP
    Regina Pats vs. Aura Lee
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)


    By the spring of 1925, the CAHA had decided to do away with the two-game, total-goal system. Instead, the CAHA ruled, the champions of East and West would meet in a best-of-three series.
    That first series featured the Regina Pats and Aura Lee in the Toronto Arena Gardens.
    Al Ritchie, the Pats' manager and coach, reported three of his players weren't up to par -- forward Sil Acaster was sporting a bandage to protect a head wound suffered in the last game of the western final against Fort William, forward Ike Morrison and defenceman Ken Doraty were fighting colds.

    It was important that Morrison be healthy -- his assignment was to check Aura Lee sniper Johnny McPherson, a 19-year-old right winger, whose 17-year-old brother, Shrimp, centred his line.
    Aura Lee was without defenceman Yip Foster, who suffered two cut tendons in a leg during the Eastern final against the Owen Sound Greys. Foster, at the age of 17, was already being referred to as "the coming all-round Canadian athlete, succeeding Lionel Conacher.”

    William Marsden, the Aura Lee manager, said he was looking for a tough series.
    "They're a clean-cut crowd of athletes, officered by good sportsmen,” he said after watching the Pats practice. "I look for a strenuous series. Their defence is what impresses me; they seem to have an edge on us in that department.”

    "I like the solid, chunky build of the Pats,” said W.W. Davidson, an executive member of the Ontario Hockey Association. "Aura Lee figures the Pats can't use their body, but I have a feeling that every man out there can show the eastern champs something in that respect.”

    Of interest was that Aura Lee did not include one right-handed shot on its roster.
    Game 1, on March 23, was played before about 3,000 fans. The teams were scoreless through two periods before Acaster scored at 4:05 of the third period. It appeared Regina had it wrapped up, but, according to the Regina Leader, Johnny McPherson "dribbled a mean shot at (goaltender Jack) Cunning. The rubber bounced and jumbled over his feet.”

    The Pats won it 2-1 on Frank Ingram's goal just 37 seconds into overtime.

    Norman B. Albert reported to The Leader that "(Dick) Gossett, the Aura Lee defence player, really scored it against his own team. He turned Ingram's sharp pass out into the Toronto goal and from then on the Pats, aided by Cunning's uncanny ability to outguess the Toronto snipers and barrels of obvious luck, held on until the final gong brought victory to the plucky westerners.”

    "We ought to get better Wednesday night,” Ritchie said, a huge smile plastered across his face.

    One story out of Regina had the staff of the local Ford Motors plant collecting $200 "against a similar sum raised by the staff of the head office of the firm in Toronto. And the local men, all ardent boosters for the Pats, aren't losing any sleep over the chance of dropping the coin.”

    The Pats won it all on March 25 when they downed Aura Lee 5-2 in a game marred by a second-period brawl.
    Aura Lee led 1-0 when Reg McIlwaine was penalized for tripping Acaster. With McIlwaine in the penalty box, the Pats scored twice and never looked back. Although the game was later tied 2-2, the Pats dominated.

    "The game was the fastest and most brilliant junior exhibition played in Toronto this season,” Albert reported.
    The donnybrook started when Shrimp McPherson and Doraty began fighting and "before it was over every player on both teams including the subs was out on the ice standing toe to toe exchanging blows.

    "The police finally went into the affair and when it was all over Shrimp McPherson and Doraty were in the penalty box, having a good laugh and apologizing to each other.”

    The play-by-play, which in those days often made its way into the local newspapers, put it like this:

    "Listen, there have been donnybrooks in professional and amateur hockey, but never anything like that which fell as a thunderbolt. Disgraceful is no word for it. Shrimp McPherson and Doraty got into a jam in front of the Regina goal and started punching one another. Then there was a general mixup that had the bloody battle of Bull Run walloped to a fizzle. Man for man, the teams picked one another and set to punching away their facial expressions.
    "Just when it was pretty near over, Billy Gibson, the sub Aura Lee netminder, jumped over the boards and put Acaster down with a punch from behind. The melee started all over again. Three Aura Lee players made an onset on Acaster, though the western star knocked a couple down. There were eight different groups of battlers lying on the ice and then six policemen jumped onto the sheet.
    "Big Jack Cunning, handicapped by his pads, stood up and traded punch for punch with any man that wanted to come at him. McPherson and Doraty, the two principals, drew major fouls for their share. The fight left both teams nervous and excited.“

    Regina got two goals from Doraty and singles from Jack Cranstoun, Morrison and Acaster. Johnny McPherson and Alec Parks scored for Aura Lee.
    The Memorial Cup winner? It came from Cranstoun, breaking a 2-2 tie at 16:01 of the second period.

    NEXT: 1926 (Calgary Canadians vs. Queen's University Queens)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:54 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1926

    1926 MEMORIAL CUP
    Calgary Canadians vs. Queen's University Queens
    at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)


    The Calgary Canadians were back again in 1926, but they just made it, beating the home-town Winnipeg Tammany Tigers 3-2 on Paul Thompson's overtime goal to take the two-game, total-goal affair, 6-5.

    In the meantime, the visiting Queen's University Queen's from Kingston were tying 3-3 and winning 2-1 to take the Eastern final 5-4 over Fort William.

    Spirits ran high in the second game and umpire Harold Mitchell, according to one report, "had to be escorted under police protection to the YMCA with the crowd pelting him with ice and snowballs. Later, he was taken out of the building through an entrance in the rear of the basement and escorted to his hotel.”

    Yes, even back then it was the fault of the officials.

    As the report further noted: "The local fans were of the opinion that (Mitchell) had given the Fort William boys the worst of the penalties and had allowed the visitors to hold and trip without penalizing them.”

    Mitchell was back on the ice on March 23 in Winnipeg as Queen's scored a 4-2 victory over Calgary in the first game of the Dominion final for the Memorial Cup -- a series that was once again a best-of-three affair.

    Thompson was reportedly the best man on the ice, but Calgary "passed up numerous opportunities to score and found an almost insurmountable barrier in Taughter in the Kingston nets.”

    Queen’s got first-period goals from Carl Voss and ???? Reid, with George McTeer replying for Calgary. ???? McPherson scored two second-period goals, giving the Kingston side a 4-1 lead. Thompson got Calgary's final goal in the third period. (Voss would go on to play for eight different NHL teams -- the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Eagles, New York Americans, Montreal Maroons and Chicago Blackhawks.)

    As for Mitchell, well . . .

    "Harold Mitchell of Toronto and Steamer Maxwell of Winnipeg handled the game and the former came in for the crowd's disapproval on several occasions for his strict interpretation of the rules,” read one report. "The fans, however, were probably more influenced by the reputation which had preceded him from Fort William than by his lack of fairness in tonight's game. A little less bell-ringing would no doubt have speeded up the game considerably.”

    The Canadians won 3-2 on March 25 to force the first sudden-death game for the Memorial Cup.

    "Kingston evened the score a few minutes from the close of the game, but Gordon Savage, the brilliant Calgary defenceman, skated clear through for the winning counter,” read a report.

    Thompson and Donnie McFadyen gave Calgary a 2-0 lead with the only goals of the first period. After a scoreless second period, ???? Hartley scored twice in the third for Kingston. And, of course, Savage won it shortly thereafter for Calgary.

    The very next night, on March 26, Calgary won it all, taking a 3-0 lead and hanging on for a 3-2 victory.

    "Tonight's game was lightning fast,” one reporter wrote. "Calgary opened with a burst of speed which netted a goal in the opening session and two in the second. The Canadians completely dominated the play until Kingston put up their characteristic fighting finish in the last period. Calgary had increased their lead to three in the middle spasm and the Kingston rally only fell short of tying the count by the smallest of margins.

    "Thompson of Calgary was again the outstanding player on the ice, being responsible for two of his team's tallies.”

    Thompson scored the game's first and third goals, the latter standing up as the game- and championship-winning goal. Ronnie Martin also scored for Calgary. Hartley and Voss replied for Queen‘s.

    NEXT: 1927 (Port Arthur West End Juniors vs. Owen Sound Greys)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:55 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1927

    1927 MEMORIAL CUP
    Port Arthur West End Juniors vs. Owen Sound Greys
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)


    The Port Arthur West End Juniors’ trek to the Memorial Cup final started to get serious in mid-March, just about the time the ice in their home facility turned to slush.
    So it was ruled that the West Ends, champions of the Thunder Bay Hockey League, would journey to Winnipeg where they would meet the winner of a series between the Regina Pats and Elmwood Millionaires.
    The Pats and Millionaires were already playing in the Winnipeg Amphitheatre when the West Ends -- or Westies as their fans called them -- arrived.
    Regina beat the Millionaires 3-2 on March 14 when Harold Shaw scored with 10 seconds left in the third period, finishing off a play engineered by defenceman Jack Cranstoun.
    Regina wrapped up that series on March 16, posting a second 3-2 victory to win the series, 6-4.
    Port Arthur's roster looked like this: goaltender Andrew Spooner, 16 years of age and 125 pounds; defencemen ‘Red' Cross, 19, Norman Friday, 19, and U. Seppaia, 19; and, forwards Jack MacKay, 19, Cliff Barton, 19, team captain Edward Monohan, 18, Earl Samec, 19, Brooks Dafoe, 17, and Roger Jenkins, 16.
    While Port Arthur and Regina were preparing to meet in Winnipeg, the Owen Sound Greys won the eastern Canadian championship with a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association in a sudden-death game played March 17 in Toronto.
    Owen Sound's roster looked like this: goaltender Benny Grant, defencemen Alvin Moore and Hillis (Paddy) Paddon; and, forwards Harold (Shrimp) McDougall, Jack Markle, captain Martin Lauder, Johnny (Red) Beattie and John Grant.
    The Pats and West Ends opened in the Amphitheatre on March 18 with Regina posting a 2-1 victory on Fred Metcalfe's goal late in the third period that beat Spooner through the legs.
    Port Arthur erased the deficit on March 21, beating the Pats 4-1 to win the series 5-3.
    "Port Arthur staged a great finish and on the play fully deserved the verdict,” stated one report.

    Regina took a 1-0 lead into the second period only to have the Westies score the game's next four goals -- one of them in the second period and three in the third -- getting one each from Cross and Barton and two from Monohan.
    The Memorial Cup final, a best-of-three affair, opened on March 25 in Toronto.
    "In a thrilling, nerve-wracking game, Owen Sound Greys ... defeated Port Arthur 5-4,” according to one report. "The losers gave a rare display of courageous playing by coming from behind on three occasions to tie the score and by battling the Greys to a standstill in the closing minutes of the game, when they fought desperately to again even matters up.”

    Owen Sound's McDougall scored the only goal of the first period.
    Port Arthur tied it early in the first period on Barton's goal, only to have Paddon give the Greys the lead a few minutes later. However, McKay's goal pulled the Westies into a tie before the period ended.
    Lauder scored twice in the opening minutes of the third period to give Owen Sound a two-goal edge. But Port Arthur roared back and tied it on goals by Cross and Monohan, before Lauder won it with 4:30 to play.
    The series ended on March 28 with Owen Sound posting a 5-3 victory after 10 minutes of overtime before about 8,000 fans. The Greys outscored the Westies 3-1 in the extra session.
    "The game commenced at a burning pace which was maintained throughout the entire game,” read a report.
    The teams were tied 1-1 after one period, Owen Sound led 2-1 after two, and it was 2-2 after three.
    McDougall struck for four goals for the Greys, including two in overtime.
    Paddon had Owen Sound's other goal, the first score of overtime. Friday, Gross and Barton replied for Port Arthur.
    McDougall was credited with the Memorial Cup-winning goal at 4:45 of the overtime period. It came off the rebound of a shot by Lauder.
    The referee in both games of the final was Lou Marsh, a legendary sports writer after whom Canada's male athlete-of-the-year award is named.

    NEXT: 1928 (Regina Monarchs vs. Ottawa Gunners)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:56 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1928

    1928 MEMORIAL CUP
    Regina Monarchs vs. Ottawa Gunners
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens and Varsity Arena)


    The city of Regina, known throughout the Dominion for its Pats, sent another team down the Memorial Cup trail in the spring of 1928.
    This team was the Monarchs -- formed from the ashes of two junior teams, the Pats and Falcons -- and it was coached by Howie Milne, who had starred as a player with the Pats in the 1922 Memorial Cup playoffs.
    "Kid overconfidence has whipped some of eastern Canada's best amateur hockey clubs,” reported the Regina Leader from Toronto on March 20. "Will the same trick play havoc with the Western Monarchs? Eastern fandom has placed the Regina Monarchs as decided champions but they don't overlook the fact that the Ottawa Gunners, their opponents, whipped the Marlboros of Toronto who, up to last Friday night, were acclaimed the wonder team of the East.”

    Later on the report noted: "Wisenheimers who patronize Toronto's battling icy emporium night after night assure themselves Monarchs will down the Ottawa Gunners.

    "Eight thousand fans are expected to witness the Monarchs in battle against Ottawa, the latter being backed by special train from the Capital City. All Toronto is pulling for the boys from the West, successors to the Regina Pats, Canadian junior champions of 1925, who ended a sensational conquest by manly ability in the icy arena fighting with Aura Lee in old British fashion with bared hands.”

    Another report noted: "Lithe, speedy and effective, the Gunners whipped Toronto Marlboros and the Queen City can hardly yet realize it.”

    The Leader also announced: "The Morning Leader will megaphone a detailed account from the Leader office. It will come direct from the Toronto Arena, ringside as it were, and fans who choose to nibble the odd peanut and smoke the odd cigaret outside the building will be rewarded with a complete description of the play.“

    On March 22, the morning after Game 1, The Leader didn't hold back.

    "The Regina Monarchs will be the next junior hockey champions of Canada,” it started its report. "Before the largest crowd that has attended a hockey match in Toronto this season, the Saskatchewan boys won the first of the titular games by defeating the Ottawa Gunners 4-3.
    "Regina won because they kept their heads under a vicious onslaught of deliberate dirty work, stayed on the ice and showed a little more experience than their heavier Ottawa opponents.“

    The hero on this night was Regina winger Harold (Mush) March, who scored all four of his team's goals.
    "His speedy, brilliant hockey earned him rounds and rounds of applause from the great crowd,” went the report. "As the game wore on, Mush's every appearance with the puck was the signal for applause.”

    Ottawa got its first goal from defenceman ???? Armstrong and its last two from Syd Howe, a sub on this Gunners team but a player who would go on to play in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Eagles, Philadelphia Quakers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.
    The Monarchs led 1-0 after the first period, 2-1 after the second and stretched it to 4-1 in the third before Howe scored twice in the period's last three minutes.
    Despite the optimism shown by The Leader, the Monarchs weren't able to sweep the Gunners.

    Goals by ???? Quinn and Tommy McInenly gave the Gunners a 2-1 victory on March 23. March continued his streak as he scored Regina's goal early in the second period, meaning he had accounted for all of the Monarchs' goals to this point in the series.
    "A salient factor on the night's play was the strict attention that the eastern artillery men paid to Harold March, the right wing speedster from the prairies,” reported The Leader. "March was checked so closely and rigorously that it took everything he had to hold his own.

    "A new star arose on the night's play. It was Syd Howe, the Ottawa substitute, who even overshone the western sensation in the last period. Resting up for the first two periods while March was burning up his stamina, Howe, time after time, passed the Regina front line with his neat stickhandling.”

    The second game was played in front of a full house of 4,500 fans at Varsity Arena, which had a smaller ice surface than Arena Gardens, home to Games 1 and 3, and this "was another factor contributing to Regina's downfall.”

    There was some controversy as the third period ended as Regina claimed it had scored. But the goal judge ruled that there were so many players in the goal area that he couldn't see whether the puck crossed the goal line.
    However, The Leader noted: "Maddened by the fact that the referees and goal-umpire refused to allow the goal in the last few moments of this hectic game, the Monarchs confidently expect to win the championship.”

    This time, The Leader called it right.

    On March 27, the morning paper began its line story, written by Norman Albert, like this:
    "Oh you Western speed hounds.
    "Dust off a niche in Regina's most palatial ballroom because the Memorial Trophy, emblematic of the junior hockey championship of Canada, again goes West.
    "Regina Monarchs, pride of the West, routed the Ottawa Gunners by the score of 7-1 in the third and deciding contest, settling the issue.”

    March scored the game's first goal, the only goal of the first period, giving him Regina's first six goals in the series. He would score one other goal in this game, giving him seven of the Monarchs' 12 goals.
    Harold Shaw made it 2-0 early in the second period with what would prove to be the Memorial Cup-winning goal.
    Len Dowie, with two, Swede Williamson and Charles (Chuck) Farrow also scored for Regina. Armstrong replied for Ottawa with a second-period goal that cut the deficit to 2-1 but that was as close as the Gunners would get in front of around 9,000 fans who enjoyed the action inside the Arena Gardens while it poured rain outside.

    "The Monarchs livened up the play and when the scrappy Gunners wanted to draw them into a donnybrook in the last stanza, the prairie lads from the Golden West just laughed at them, outspeeded them and outmanoeuvred them, and went in to ring an unmerciful whipping on the Capital City artillerymen,” wrote Albert.

    (NOTE: If you know the missing first names, e-mail gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca.)

    NEXT: 1929 (Elmwood Millionaires vs. Toronto Marlboros)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:57 PM.

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