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Thread: The Memorial Cup: A History

  1. #11
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    From Gregg Drinnan...1929

    1929 MEMORIAL CUP
    Elmwood Millionaires vs. Toronto Marlboros
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens)


    The Elmwood Millionaires, a Winnipeg-based team, came awfully close to not making it to the Memorial Cup.
    They met the Kenora Thistles in the two-game, total-goal western playoff series and were forced into overtime in the second game.
    The Thistles brought a one-goal edge to the Winnipeg Amphitheatre and maintained that into the third period of the second game.
    But ???? Burridge scored late in the third period for Elmwood to give the Millionaires a 2-1 victory in regulation time and force overtime.
    Elmwood won it when substitute forward Billy Kendall, a speedster, scored at 7:30 of extra time in front of more than 6,500 fans.
    That victory moved Elmwood into an Abbott Cup final against the Calgary Canadian-Falcons.
    Game 1, played on March 20 in the Winnipeg Amphitheatre, ended in a 1-1 draw.
    Calgary held a 3-1 lead midway through the third period of Game 2 and seemed home free. But it wasn't to be.
    The Millionaires, with Kendall scoring twice, struck for the game's last three goals to post a 4-3 victory and advance to the Memorial Cup final.
    In the east, the Ottawa Shamrocks opened with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Toronto Marlboros on March 24. One night later, in Toronto, the Marlboros outscored the
    Shamrocks 3-1, with captain Charlie Conacher scoring all three goals, to win the series 6-5.
    The Memorial Cup, a best-of-three affair, opened on March 29 at the Arena Gardens in Toronto.
    The Marlboros, coached by Frank Selke, won the opener 4-2 in overtime.
    Toronto's line of centre Eddie Convey between left-winger Harvey (Busher) Jackson and Conacher -- known as the Three Musketeers -- led the way.
    Max Hackett put Toronto on the board at 11:50 of the first period. ???? McQuade tied it at 1:20 of the second, but Convey put the Marlies out front at 18:45.
    Elmwood's ???? Gill scored the only goal of the third period to force overtime.
    And Toronto scored the only two goals of the extra period, Jackson getting them both off of perfect passes from Conacher.
    Two nights later, the Marlboros posted a 4-2 victory before 8,000 fans to sweep the series.
    The teams were tied 1-1 after the opening period, Convey scoring for Toronto, ???? Duncanson for the Millionaires.
    Conacher scored the only goal of the second period, giving Toronto a 2-1 edge going into the third.
    Conacher scored his second goal at 4:02 of the third -- the goal would stand as the Memorial Cup-winning score -- and Hackett gave Toronto a 4-1 lead at 9:21.
    Bobby Kirk, who would coach the Flin Flon Bombers to the 1957 Memorial Cup title, had Elmwood's other goal, late in the third period.

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

    NEXT: 1930 (Regina Pats vs. West Toronto Athletic Club Nationals)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:58 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan... 1930

    1930 MEMORIAL CUP
    Regina Pats vs. West Toronto Athletic Club Nationals
    at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)


    While the West Toronto Athletic Club juniors were scraping by the Ottawa Rideaus to earn Eastern Canada’s berth in the Memorial Cup final, the Regina Pats were running amuck in the West, swatting aside their opponents the way a swather knocks down wheat.

    In Toronto, the Rideaus won the first game of the East's two-game, total-goal final, 4-3. But West Toronto won the second game 3-1 on March 23 to take the series by a combined score of 6-5.

    In Winnipeg, on March 24, the Pats blanked the Elmwood Millionaires 5-0 to win that two-game, total-goal series 8-0.

    As noted sports writer Dave Dryburgh wrote in the Regina Leader: "Many records have been set by hockey teams, professional, senior, amateur and junior, and many of these same records will stand for years, but one which can probably be termed the peer of them all was set at the Amphitheatre rink when Al Ritchie's spirited band of young hockeyists, the Regina Pats, hung up another shutout over the Elmwood Millionaires.


    "Four times in as many games the Regina puckchasers have skated off the ice without a tally being registered against them in the playoffs to decide which team would represent the prairies against the best that the East could produce in junior hockey.”

    The Pats scored 14 goals in four games, while blanking the Calgary Canadians and the Millionaires in all four games.

    Furthermore, Regina goaltender Kenny Campbell went into the Memorial Cup having posted five straight shutouts.

    With West Toronto, under coach Bill Hancock, having survived a tough playoff grind and having had to ride the train to Winnipeg, site of the Dominion final, the Pats -- well-rested and on a roll -- were understandably the favorites.

    After Game 1, which was played on March 27, Dryburgh wrote: "Out of the East came a mighty junior hockey machine, West Toronto, piloted by the astute Bill Hancock, bent upon retaining the Memorial Cup, won by the flashy Toronto Marlboroughs last spring, but at the Amphitheatre Thursday night, pitted against that fiery little Regina Pat aggregation, Western champions, and the wonder team of 1930, the redmen fought a plucky but futile battle, and when the smoke of the combat had cleared away, Al Ritchie's band of speed merchants were found to be on the long end of a 3-1 score.”

    Wordy, yes. But it made the point.

    The Pats were the speedier of the two teams. The result was an offence that pressed throughout the game and a system of backchecking that foiled the easterners.

    Campbell seemed on his way to yet another shutout until Bob Gracie scored midway through the third period. By that time the Pats were out front 2-0 thanks to a second-period goal by Ken Moore and one early in the third by Clarence (Yates) Acaster. Shortly after Gracie got West Toronto on the board, Len Rae scored Regina's third goal.

    It was all over on March 29.

    Again, here's how Dryburgh started his story:

    "Forty seconds to go and the score tied; to one team a goal would mean the Dominion junior hockey championship; to the other an opportunity to force another contest before the holders of the Memorial Cup for 1930 could be decided.

    "That was the situation which faced the Regina Pats and West Toronto at the Amphitheatre rink on Saturday night in the second game of the title series. And it was a tense moment for over 5,000 spectators who jammed the ice palace to capacity.”


    And it was Moore, who had scored the first goal of the series, who became the hero.

    "Suddenly two blue-and-white clad figures emerged from the midst of a horde of players at the Regina blue line and darted toward the opposing citadel as fast as steel blades would carry them. It was (Gordon) Pettinger and Moore who had taken opportunity of this break. There was hardly a sound as they neared the defence. Pettinger slid the disc over to Moore on the right boards -- the winger seemed to skate too far into the corner but eventually took a shot which (Ronald) Geddes, the Toronto goalie, saved with his pads. Darting in after the rebound, the dusky Regina winger picked it up and slipped it across the goal mouth -- it was hardly more than a tap, and the puck stopped dead less than three feet from the goal mouth. There was nobody on hand to pick it up and it seemed for a second that the opportunity was lost -- but everyone had forgotten about Moore. Skating around the cage at top speed in order to get back in the play again, the winger grabbed the rubber that he himself had slid across the mouth of the citadel and back-handed it over the prostrate form of Geddes to make the score 3-2 and to win for the Regina Pats the junior hockey championship of Canada after one of the most sensational finishes ever seen in the puck pastime.”

    Whew!

    But wait. There's more.

    "The game was almost over, but not the excitement. Gracie, Toronto right winger, took possession of the rubber from the faceoff and wended his way toward the Regina goal, only to end up in the corner of the rink where he and Moore came to blows. In an instant every player on the ice was implicated, along with a few spectators, but, fortunately, no serious injury had been occurred to anyone when they were finally separated by police.''

    Thirty seconds into the second period, West Toronto had led this game 2-0, thanks to goals by Gracie and Norm (Dodger) Collings. But Acaster scored before the second period ended and Pettinger, a starry defenceman, tied it three minutes into the third.

    That set the stage for Moore, a 19-year-old right winger who was a product of the Regina minor hockey system and who weighed 130 pounds.

    NEXT: 1931 (Elmwood Millionaires vs. Ottawa Primroses)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:59 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1931

    1931 MEMORIAL CUP
    Elmwood Millionaires vs. Ottawa Primroses
    at Toronto (Arena Gardens) and Ottawa (Auditorium)


    The defending-champion Regina Pats were the favourites again as the series to decide the Abbott Cup and the West's berth in the Memorial Cup series opened on March 18 at the Amphitheatre in Winnipeg.

    Again, the Pats were up against the Elmwood Millionaires in the two-game, total-goal affair.

    The experts were of the opinion that this Pats team was "even a greater club than that which swept through all opposition to win the Dominion championship last year.”

    The previous season, the Pats went up against Elmwood having shut out the Calgary Canadians in back-to-back games. And the Pats proceeded to shut out Elmwood in two straight games.

    This time, Regina rode a six-game shutout streak into Winnipeg. That's right -- the Pats hadn't given up a goal in six straight playoff games.

    And this series started the way the 1930 one ended -- goaltender Kenny Campbell and the Pats blanked the Millionaires 1-0 on a goal by left-winger Ralph Redding.

    "Halfway through the second period,” reported the Regina Leader, "Redding tore half the length of the ice and planted a beauty behind (Art) Rice-Jones. That one tally made the Pats favorites to win the series.”

    It wasn't to be, however.

    The March 21 Leader ran this headline: Fighting Elmwoods Eliminate Pats in Epic Hockey Match.

    And epic it was.

    "The fighting Millionaires humbled Regina's widely famed Pats, defeating them 4-2 in a dramatic 20-minute overtime struggle,” reported The Leader.

    Regina's Art Dowie opened the scoring early in the third period. But Elmwood led 2-1 after the third on goals by Bill McKenzie and George Brown, the latter scoring at 18:15 of the third to tie the total-goal series, 2-2.

    That sent the teams into overtime -- two 10-minute periods played in their entirety.

    Redding scored at 1:40 of the first extra session, only to have Kitson Massey answer for Elmwood at 9:45. And then, at 3:25 of the second overtime, Bert (Spunk) Duncanson scored what turned into the winning goal.

    Elmwood won the series 4-3 on goals and advanced to meet the Ottawa Primroses in the Memorial Cup final, which opened March 23 in Toronto. The Primroses had split two games with the Niagara Falls Cataracts, winning 4-0 and losing 2-1, to win the Eastern final 5-2.

    Game 1 of the best-of-three final, played before more than 5,000 fans, was won 2-0 by the Primroses, who were representing a city that had never had a Memorial Cup winner.

    The first goal, late in the first period, came courtesy of the Cowley brothers, Bill and Dan. They broke away, with Bill passing to Dan, who bounced a shot off one of Rice-Jones' skates and into the net.

    Bill Cowley upped the lead to 2-0 some 15 minutes into the third period, ripping a shot off Rice-Jones' pads and into the goal.

    According to one report: "Bill MacKenzie, fast travelling Elmwood defence star, was the pick of the western champions and his work savored of senior calibre. (Duke) McDonald, at centre, showed bundles of ability.”

    The second game, played March 25, went to Elmwood by a 2-1 count and forced a third and deciding game on March 27.

    Elmwood is reported to have held a wide edge in play in the first two games "but again the close checking of the gallant Ottawa band in their defensive zone prevented the Millionaires from carrying their flashing thrusts right to the goalmouth.

    "The contest was not brilliant but the close score and frequent penalties kept the fans in constant excitement.”


    Duncanson opened the scoring at 3:10 of the first period. Bill Cowley tied it just over three minutes later. And after a scoreless second period it remained for Brown to net the winner for Elmwood.

    "Brown picked up the disc after (Gordie) McKenzie had lost it and snapped a low shot in behind (Rick) Perley,” The Leader’s report read.

    Having played the first two games in Toronto, the teams headed to Ottawa for the third and final game. This one would be played in the Ottawa Auditorium.

    Elmwood wasn't too fussy about suddenly moving to Ottawa, but its management said the game was transferred by the authorities and the team was prepared to make the best of it.

    Which is exactly what it did in blanking the Primroses 3-0 before 9,000 fans, the largest crowd ever to watch a game in Ottawa to that point.

    "The Winnipeg Elmwoods, a battling band of sturdy youths with skating speed galore, are enthroned today as Canada's junior hockey monarchs,” began one report. "They won the title by handing the Ottawa Primroses a 3-0 defeat that left no doubt as to their superiority.”
    McDonald got what turned into the Memorial Cup-winning goal when he took a pass from MacKenzie and rifled it home midway in the second period.

    MacKenzie made it 2-0 before the close of the second, and Massey rounded out the scoring halfway through the third.

    The game was delayed at times in the third period by unruly fans who chose to throw vegetables, crumpled newspapers and eggs onto the ice.

    Elmwood's victory meant that the Memorial Cup had been won by the west seven times in the past 13 seasons.

    NEXT: 1932 (Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 05:59 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan... 1932

    1932 MEMORIAL CUP
    Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves
    at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)


    The 1932 Memorial Cup championship is perhaps best remembered because of the participation of Hector (Toe) Blake.
    A star with the Sudbury Cub Wolves of 1931-32, Blake would go on to a memorable career, as a player and coach, with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens.
    But winning the 1932 Memorial Cup was no easy task; in fact, it was in doubt right down to the final moments.
    The 1932 final would feature the Cub Wolves against the Winnipeg Monarchs.
    The Monarchs were coached by Harry Neil and Fred (Steamer) Maxwell. Neil had played for the Winnipeg Falcons, a team that beat the Stratford Midgets to win the 1921 Memorial Cup. Maxwell was a familiar face in junior hockey circles and had even done a fair amount of refereeing.
    The Monarchs featured the likes of defenceman Robert (Pinkie) Davie, who would play with the NHL's Boston Bruins before he became a well-known and well-liked recreation director in Manitoba; captain Norm Yellowlees; goaltender Art Rice-Jones; forward George Brown; and, defenceman Cam Shewan, who would play for the 1935 world champion Winnipeg Monarchs and later become the city's fire chief.
    Four of the Monarchs -- the line of Yellowlees, Brown and Archie Creighton, along with Rice-Jones -- played with the 1931 Memorial Cup-winning Elmwood Millionaires.
    The Cub Wolves were coached by Sam Rothschild. Born in 1899, Rothschild played on the 1925-26 Stanley Cup-champion Montreal Maroons. He also played with the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Americans before he suffered a career-ending knee injury.
    Besides Blake, who would coach the Habs to eight Stanley Cups, Cub Wolves like Max Bennett, Adelard LaFrance Jr., and Dalton J. (Nakina) Smith went on to play in the NHL.
    That this season was something special was never more evident than in mid-March when the Monarchs played the home-town Saskatoon Wesleys. At least 4,000 people were expected in the 3,400-seat Saskatoon Arena for Game 1. The series was to conclude in Winnipeg, thus the hockey fever in Saskatoon.
    The Wesleys posted a 1-0 victory in Game 1, handing the Monarchs their first loss of the season (game reports did not indicate how many games the Monarchs had played to that point). Clint Smith, a future Hockey Hall of Famer, scored the game's only goal just four minutes into the first period.
    The series moved to Winnipeg for the second and final game on March 28. The Monarchs, who went into the game down a goal, rebounded for a 3-1 victory to win the series, 3-2. Shewan's goal with 1:45 left in the third period put the series on ice for the Monarchs and sent them on against the Cub Wolves.
    On March 21, Sudbury defeated the home-town Ottawa Shamrocks 3-2 to win the two-game, total-goal series 5-2 and advance against the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association Winged Wheelers -- they were known as the Montreal A.A.A. Winged Wheelers -- in the eastern Canada junior final.
    The first game of the eastern final was played on March 25 in Montreal with the teams settling for a 1-1 tie.
    One report had the Cub Wolves "famed speed crashing on the rocks of a rugged and powerful Montreal A.A.A. defence.”
    That series continued in Toronto on March 28 before more than 11,000 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.
    "A fighting young band of hockeyists, Sudbury Wolves are today headed for Winnipeg in quest of the Memorial Cup and Dominion hockey championship laurels,” read the report in the Regina Leader-Post.
    The Cub Wolves won the second game 3-0 -- Anthony (Ant) Healey got the shutout -- to take the series, 4-1. The final game, according to the report, was "a terrific struggle -- an epic of puck chasing and a classic of roaring hockey.”
    All of which set the stage for the Memorial Cup, which would be played in the Amphitheatre in Winnipeg.
    It was a best-of-three series and the Monarchs were the favorites. As one report put it: "Outweighed 10 pounds a man, the Wolves plan to upset the Monarchs with the speed and cohesive perfection of their attack.”
    The series opened on March 31 with the Monarchs skating to a 4-3 victory.
    "It took all the defence power the Monarchs possessed to stave off the Wolves, and all the 6,000 fans who saw them do it are wondering if they can repeat (in Game 2),” one report read.
    Sudbury led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by LaFrance.
    But Winnipeg scored three second-period goals to take command -- Johnny Templeton, Yellowlees and Brown pulling the trigger.
    LaFrance scored again early in the third but Davie put it away six minutes into the third.
    "Because they won't be slowed up, the Wolves are an even money choice with bettors to even the series,” stated one report prior to Game 2.
    And even the series they did.
    Sudbury posted a 2-1 victory on April 2, losing a 1-0 lead late in the third period and winning it in overtime on another goal by LaFrance.
    After a scoreless first period, Sudbury took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Gordon Grant. But with less than three minutes left in the third period, Shewan got through the Wolves defence to pick up his own rebound and score the tying goal.
    That set the stage for LaFrance to score the winner at 2:20 of overtime.
    The game was highlighted by a brawl in the middle of the second period.
    Here's what happened, according to one writer:
    "Rough for a period and a half, the game settled down to a drama of straight hockey after a wild free-for-all in the second stanza. George Brown, 180-pound Monarch left winger, and Adelard LaFrance came to blows and started a general fist fight in which every player on both squads, with the exception of goaltenders, took part.
    "LaFrance's stick cut Brown across the face as the two fought for the puck at centre ice. Brown pulled off his gloves and went after the Sudbury forward with his fists. Without delay their teammates dropped sticks and took sides, picked opponents and started to throw punches. It was several minutes before police quelled the player riot.”
    Sudbury was without defenceman Bob McInnes and Smith. McInnes had injured an arm in the first game; Smith left Game 2 early in the first period after a bone-jarring check from Davie. Smith was left with a sore face thanks to a sprained jaw.
    Smith was well enough to play in the third and deciding game on April 4.
    And he scored the game- and Memorial Cup-winning goal as the Wolves, behind Healey's goaltending, posted a 1-0 victory.
    "The Wolves from Sudbury, crafty beyond their years and dead game as they come, sit proudly atop the junior hockey world today,” read the story in the Regina Leader-Post. "Nakina Smith, slight Sudbury centre, who went back into action after being knocked out in the second game, placed a neat shot past Art Rice-Jones in the Winnipeg cage to climax the first Wolf raid. He picked up Adelard LaFrance's pass at the Monarch defence, swept around ‘Pinkie' Davie and drove the score shot from a few feet out.
    "Ant Healey played a remarkable game for the rest of the night.”
    It should be pointed out that Blake, a star throughout the season, was a substitute player in all three games of the final series.
    And how did the folks of Sudbury handle all of this?
    According to one report: "There was a hot time in the hometown when word was flashed from Winnipeg that Sudbury had triumphed ... Scenes reminiscent of Armistice Day were enacted as the entire populace thronged into the downtown section to shout acclaim to the courageous little hockey band.
    "Even undertakers' hearses bore emblems of rejoicing.”

    NEXT: 1933 (Regina Pats vs. Newmarket Redmen)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:00 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan... 1933

    1933 MEMORIAL CUP
    Regina Pats vs. Newmarket Redmen
    at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)


    For the fourth time in eight years Regina would be represented in the Memorial Cup final, Al Ritchie's Pats having won the Abbott Cup in a thrilling three-game series with the Brandon Native Sons.
    The first two games were ties before Regina won the series with a 2-1 victory on March 30 before a soldout crowd of 5,025 fans at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre. (Howie Milne, former Regina junior star player and coach, was one of the referees used in this series.)
    Meanwhile, in the East, the Newmarket Reds and Montreal Royals played to a 2-2 tie in front of 11,000 fans at the Montreal Forum. Two nights later, in front of 8,000 fans in Toronto, Newmarket won the two-game, total-goal series with a 1-0 victory on centre Normie Mann's goal on a long shot early in the second period.
    Coach Bill Hancock's Redmen went into the best-of-three Memorial Cup final in Toronto without left-winger Howie Peterson, who had suffered a knee injury against Montreal. And defenceman Gar Preston would see limited duty because of a shoulder injury.
    Game 1, played on April 5 before 8,250 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens, was won 2-1 by Newmarket.
    Willis Entwistle, writing in the Regina Leader-Post, called it a "thrilling struggle.”
    Newmarket goaltender Randall Forder received rave reviews for his work in the opener, especially in the second and third periods when the Pats owned a wide territorial edge.
    Mann opened the scoring early in the first period when he beat Regina goaltender Jimmy Franks (who wore a blazing red cap) from the blue line.
    Regis (Pep) Kelly scored early in the second to up Newmarket's lead to 2-0 before Reg Strong counted Regina's lone goal about seven minutes later.
    Ritchie, writing in The Leader-Post, had this to say: "Newmarket has the fastest junior hockey team I have seen for many a year. They skate like the old 1925 Pats ... just like lightning.”
    Entwistle wrote: "Comparisons are odious but, at first glance, the present Pats are hardly as electrical as their predecessors. They are, however, a hard-working, smooth combination and should fare much better in the second game.“
    There were almost 8,000 fans in the Gardens for Game 2 on April 7 and they watched the Redmen win the Memorial Cup with a 2-1 overtime victory (they played 30 minutes of extra time).
    Again, Mann opened the scoring, this time batting in his own rebound in the last minute of the opening period.
    Les Cunningham tied it on a solo effort late in the second period.
    The winner came with less than two minutes left in the third 10-minute overtime period when Don Wilson scored a power-play goal with Regina defenceman Moose Stinson and centre Murray Armstrong -- he would later coach the Pats -- in the penalty box.
    After which the stuff hit the fan.
    Here's Entwistle's description: "The only untoward incident was at the close of the second game when one or two players adopted an ugly attitude after Newmarket had triumphed following 30 minutes of overtime. However, what looked like an ugly scramble was really nothing more than a few players throwing their arms around some of their comrades who appeared less able to control their feelings.
    "The teams were soon rushed to their dressing rooms although someone, not a player, hit referee Johnny Mitchell in the face. Mitchell was a little exasperating. The penalties tell their own tale -- 13 Regina, 8 Newmarket.”
    In the Toronto Star, the respected Lou Marsh wrote: "Al Ritchie, force Majeur de Sport in the west, is through with amateur sport -- sick and disgusted after his team's defeat last night.”
    Marsh quoted Ritchie as blaming Mitchell for being "gypped” and adding that his players could hardly be blamed for "losing their tempers.”
    "I never saw a more partisan official in my life,” Ritchie said. "He gave us penalties we did not deserve and let Newmarket get away with things for which they should have been punished.”
    Marsh also wrote: "There is no excuse for any player attacking an official and Kerr as instigator is about sure to be asked to be paraded on the official carpet: He may get a suspension.”
    Mitchell suffered a cut lip in the scuffle. Alex (Curly) Kerr, the Pats' captain, was hit with a suspension. He had been penalized three times by Mitchell during the second game.
    In fact, four of the Pats -- Kerr, Franks, Cunningham and Bill Cairns -- were immediately suspended by the CAHA.
    A week after returning home, Ritchie was still seething.
    "Kerr certainly did not hit Mitchell,” Ritchie said. "It was a well known hockey player that did the damage. As far as Jimmy Franks, Cunningham and Cairns being implicated, that is a joke. The true facts will all come out through time.”
    Asked if he still felt "gypped“, Ritchie said: "Certainly. And that is no losers' squawk. I have taken beatings before, many of them. Just to show you what I mean, Chief Justice J.T. Brown of Regina and Joe Caulder, now of Toronto, saw the game. They were disgusted by the officiating of Mitchell ... Lester Patrick and his New York Rangers openly stated they had never seen anything like it in their lives before. Nor had Dick Irvin (Sr.).”
    Finally, on May 25, the CAHA made its long-awaited announcement.
    Kerr, who now had used up his junior eligibility, was suspended until Feb. 1, 1934. By the time the suspension was announced he had joined the Prince Albert Mintos, a senior team. He would miss six weeks of the 1933-34 season.
    Cunningham, Franks and Cairns were given warnings.

    NEXT: 1934 (Edmonton Athletics vs. Toronto St. Michael's
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:02 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan... 1934

    1934 MEMORIAL CUP
    Edmonton Athletics vs. Toronto St. Michael's Majors
    at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)


    It was on March 21 when hockey fans who were paying attention must have known that the St. Michael's Majors out of Toronto were destiny's darlings for this season.
    It was that night in Toronto when the boys from St. Michael's, the Irish Catholic school, opened a playoff series with the Ottawa Shamrocks.
    Despite the Shamrocks being referred to as "one of the most tenacious checking teams” St. Mike's had little trouble skating to an 8-2 victory. Nick Metz, a Saskatchewan lad, pumped in three goals for the winners.
    St. Michael's then posted a 9-3 victory in Ottawa to win the series, 17-5.
    St. Mike's featured the likes of Bobby Bauer, Reg Hamilton, Art Jackson, Regis (Pep) Kelly, Metz, Don Wilson, Mickey Drouillard, Jack Hamilton and goaltender Harvey Teno. Kelly and Wilson had come over from the Newmarket Redmen, the 1933 Memorial Cup champions.
    The Toronto team was coached by Dr. W.J. (Jerry) LaFlamme, a dentist who had quite a hockey history. He had refereed in the NHL in the 1920s. That was after he had played defence on the Allan Cup winners from St. Michael's in 1909-10 and captained the Allan Cup-winning Dentals of Toronto in 1916-17.
    St. Mike's would ultimately advance to the eastern final against the Charlottetown Abegweits, who took a two-game, total-goal series from the Montreal Cranes, 12-5.
    The eastern final, played in Toronto, was a blowout.
    St. Mike's opened with a 12-2 victory.
    "The Toronto team, called the greatest aggregation of junior puck chasers gathered together in a decade, smothered Charlottetown,” The Canadian Press reported of Game 1, played on March 27.
    Game 2 was no better, as St. Mike's romped 7-2 to take the round, 19-4. The Majors were without Drouillard, who centred the second line. He had suffered a charley horse in Game 1.
    Meanwhile, out west, it was to be the season of the Edmonton Athletic Club (known as the Athletics), featuring captain Dan Carrigan, brothers MacNeil and Matthew Colville, and Bill Carse.
    Edmonton got rid of Trail 10-0 and 7-0, and then sidelined the Saskatoon Wesleys 10-5 (winning 6-0 and losing 5-4). It's of interest that the Wesleys, a first-year junior team, were managed by Charlie McCool, who had been a good friend of war hero Lyman (Hick) Abbott after whom the Abbott Cup is named.
    Included in the Saskatoon lineup: Doug Bentley, Peter Leswick and Mel Hill, who would go on to earn the nickname ‘Sudden Death' during his NHL days with the Boston Bruins, Brooklyn Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs. Bentley played with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers; Leswick would play with the Bruins and New York Americans.
    While Edmonton was rolling along, the Port Arthur West Ends -- they were known as the Westies -- beat the Kenora Thistles 9-8 (they tied 5-5 at Port Arthur and the Westies won 4-3 at Winnipeg, with Sammy Gigliotti scoring the winner halfway through the third period).
    Kenora was coached by Sandy Sanderson and featured defenceman Walter (Babe) Pratt -- he had three goals and two assists in the 5-5 tie -- and forward Jake Milford. Years later, Milford would be at the forefront of the European invasion when, as the general manager of the Brandon Wheat Kings, he brought in Juha Widing, a stylish centre, from Finland.
    The western final was all Edmonton, however. Played entirely in Winnipeg, Edmonton won 7-3 -- Carse scored three times -- and 4-0, with Fred Layetzke earning the shutout with a 47-save effort before "a handful of fans who braved a March drizzle.”
    The Memorial Cup final, a best-of-three affair, opened April 3 at the Amphitheatre on Whitehall Avenue in Winnipeg.
    "Four hundred curious railbirds watched the Toronto Irish go through their paces for nearly an hour at the Amphitheatre rink, and there was scarcely a spectator who was not visibly impressed with the skill and hockey ability of the easterners,” reported The Canadian Press after watching a workout.
    "Not having a spare goalie along,” continued the report, "St. Michael's invited ‘Turk' Broda, net custodian of the Winnipeg Monarchs, to guard one cage. After being blazed at from all sides during the practice, ‘Turk' seemed inclined to pick St. Mike's for two straight victories.”
    St. Mike's opened with a 5-0 victory over the Athletics.
    "The smooth-skating, sharpshooting Irish from the Queen City downed the western champions with a torrid attack in the second period but in the first and third periods the Edmontonians put up a better attack,” reported The Canadian Press.
    Kelly opened the scoring halfway through the first period, scoring on a backhand. Kelly would close the scoring early in the third period.
    In between, however, is where St. Mike's won it, thanks to three power-play goals. Johnny Acheson, with two, and Jackson scored the goals.
    There was one interesting incident in the second period. As CP reported: "With Bill Carse and Gordon Watt in the penalty box, Neil Colville grabbed the puck at centre ice in a brilliant effort to give Edmonton their first goal. Nick Metz gave chase. They bumped and Colville went through with only Harvey Teno in the St. Mike net to beat. Metz tore after him and threw his stick to stop the goal.
    "Both went down. Metz was chased for 10 minutes and Colville drew a minor for the scuffle on the ice. Peanuts were pitched onto the ice as the fans roared and the game had to be called while the ice was swept.”
    More than 4,500 fans showed up for Game 2 on April 5. And what a game they saw.
    It would end with St. Mike's winning its first Memorial Cup championship (the school would win three more), thanks to a 6-4 victory. But it wasn't decided until after 20 minutes of overtime.
    "The husky lads who wear the double blue of St. Michael's college in Toronto are the kings of junior hockey in Canada,” wrote Sam G. Ross, a staff writer for The Canadian Press. “The boys from the Alberta capital never quit trying, and they matched the hockey skill of the easterners all through the 80 minutes of hockey that left every player nearly exhausted.”
    Kelly scored twice for St. Mike's, as he was on the Memorial Cup-winning side for the second straight season. Acheson, Metz, Drouillard and Jackson also scored.
    The Colville brothers each scored once for Edmonton, as did Carse and Andy Maloney.
    Maloney's goal with 30 seconds left in the third period tied the score 4-4 and forced the overtime.
    "Jackson took Acheson's pass in the second overtime period to give St. Mike's all they needed for victory,” reported Ross in describing the winning goal. "Kelly made the victory certain when he rapped in St. Mike's sixth goal with only half a minute of the overtime to play.”
    The victory by St. Mike's left the east and west with eight victories apiece in Memorial Cup competition.

    NEXT: 1935 (Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:03 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan... 1935

    1935 MEMORIAL CUP
    Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves
    at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)


    The Sudbury Cub Wolves, Memorial Cup champions in 1932, were back in the final in 1935.
    So, too, were the Winnipeg Monarchs, the team the Cub Wolves defeated in the 1932 final.
    They would meet in a best-of-three final in the Winnipeg Amphitheatre, just like they had in 1932 when the Monarchs won the opener but then lost the next two games.
    This time around, Sudbury featured the likes of defenceman Charles (Chuck) Shannon, who would play in the NHL with the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans; and, forwards Wilbert Carl (Dutch) Hiller (New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens) and Don (The Count) Grosso (Detroit, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston).
    The Sudbury defence was sparked by a pair of players who were quite big for those days. Shannon, only 18, weighed 195 pounds, while Roy Swanson, 19, weighed 175.
    Coach Max Silverman -- he had been the manager in 1932 -- went with 19-year-old Dave Kemp as his goaltender.
    Sudbury, which went into the Memorial Cup final without a playoff loss, averaged 18 years of age and 160 pounds.
    In Winnipeg's lineup were the likes of captain Pete Belanger, who played on a Monarchs' forward unit that featured Romeo Martel and Paul Rheault and was known as the Flying Frenchmen, Wilf Field (Montreal Canadiens, Chicago, and the Brooklyn and New York Americans), and Joe Krol (Brooklyn and the New York Rangers). The goaltender was Paul Gauthier.
    Winnipeg was coached by former player Harry Neil and was managed by Bill Webber.
    The Sudbury bunch wasn't favored to come out of the east. It had been expected that the Ottawa Rideaus would survive there.
    But it didn't happen.
    Ottawa had trampled the Moncton Red Indians 11-3 and 13-5 to move into the eastern final. At the same time, Ottawa was sidelining the Verdun, Que., Maple Leafs, 9-4 and 11-7.
    The Cub Wolves met Sudbury in a best-of-three eastern final series that opened on March 30 in Toronto.
    Sudbury surprised everyone by whipping Ottawa 3-0 in the opener, and then put it away with a 7-4 victory on April 1 in Ottawa before more than 6,000 fans.
    "The mighty Sudbury Cub Wolves, who have in a systematic fashion bowled over all former opposition, finally overcame the last obstacle in eastern Canada,” reported The Canadian Press. "The youngsters from northern Ontario never left a doubt with Ottawa fans as to their superiority. Time and again the Cub Wolves went up three men abreast and the Rideau defence had to give way.”
    In the west, the Saskatoon Wesleys made a move as they defeated the Vancouver King Georges 7-0 and 4-2, and then dumped the Edmonton Canadians, 6-2 and 4-0.
    At the same time, Winnipeg was hammering the Fort William Maroons 8-0 and 6-2 to advance against the Wesleys in a series played in its entirety in the Winnipeg Amphitheatre. Winnipeg won the first game of the best-of-three western final, 5-4, lost the second 5-3 and wrapped it up with a 3-2 victory. Each game was played before about 4,500 fans.
    Saskatoon came awfully close -- awfully close -- to winning against the Monarchs.
    The opener, played in Winnipeg on April 2, was decided in the last two minutes of the third period. Saskatoon actually led 4-3 when Bill Clubb was penalized for pulling down a Winnipegger on a breakaway. With Clubb in the box, Johnny (Ike) Prokaski tied it with 1:34 to play and Krol, a speedy left winger, won it with just two seconds left on the clock.
    Two nights later, the Wesleys' Pete Leswick scored two shorthanded goals as Saskatoon erased a 2-0 first-period deficit en route to a 5-3 victory that evened the series at 1-1.
    The Monarchs led 3-1 midway through the second period only to have Saskatoon tie it before the period ended and score the only two goals of the third.
    The western final ended on April 6 when Belanger, a speedy centre, scored the game-winner at 11:01 of the third period with Rheault in the penalty box to give the Monarchs a 3-2 victory.
    The Memorial Cup final opened on April 9, with the Monarchs posting a 7-6 victory before more than 4,500 fans.
    "Thirteen times the red light flashed on as the high-scoring band of youngsters traveled at full clip and sought goals and still more goals,” reported Herbert A. Honey of The Canadian Press.
    Winnipeg led 3-1 after the first period and 6-5 after the second. In fact, Sudbury never led in this game as the scores went like this, always with Winnipeg in the lead: 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4, 6-5, 7-5, 7-6.
    When it was over, Winnipeg had three goals from Krol, two from Burr Keenan, and singles from Rheault and Field. Sudbury goals came from Shannon (2), Jock Smith, Art Stuart, Grosso and Len Webster.
    "A game fighting band, the sturdy Winnipeg boys were given only an outside chance against the highly favored Wolves,” Honey wrote. "A little more finish to Sudbury's sweeping attack in the waning minutes of the final period might have reversed the score.”
    The Wolves finished well in Game 2, played on April 11 in front of more than 4,000 fans.
    Stuart, a sleek left winger, scored four times to lead Sudbury to a 7-2 victory that wasn't as lopsided as first glance would seem to indicate.
    "A quick-thinking, puck-following pack of Cub Wolves from Sudbury concocted hockey magic,” reported The Canadian Press.
    Sudbury led 2-1 after one period and 3-2 after two. Winnipeg trailed only 4-2 as the third period wound down. But Sudbury put it away with three goals in the last two minutes 30 seconds.
    Hiller, with two, and Grosso also scored for Sudbury. Keenan and Krol replied for Winnipeg.
    "Monarch fans were dissatisfied with referees Alex Irvin, of Winnipeg, and Harry Shouldice, of Ottawa,” reported The Canadian Press. "They showed their displeasure at frequent minor penalties meted out to the Manitobans by showering peanuts and programs on to the ice. Play was halted several times in order to clear the ice.”
    There were 15 penalties handed out, with Winnipeg taking seven of them.
    When it was over, Silverman was crying the blues. Or, was he just playing a game?
    As CP reported: "A keen-eyed bunch of Sudbury Wolves insist podgy (sic) Max Silverman looks better in a brown fedora than a black bowler and so the coach of the eastern junior champions will wear it into battle Saturday night against Winnipeg Monarchs.
    "Wolves lost the first tilt 7-6, and that night he wore his ‘christie' -- in fact one fan threatened to pull it over his ears when he halted play to argue with the referee.
    "Wolves won (Game 2) 7-2 while Silverman bellowed orders from the bench under a natty felt that matched his coat. It's plain as a pikestaff Max will be fedora-topped Saturday night.”
    "The boys hit their stride,” exclaimed Silverman when Game 2 was all over. "We'll outskate and outsmart those westerners Saturday night the same way.”
    Then Silverman started the mind games. Referring to the penalties in Game 2, he said: "What's the matter? Can't they take it? It was the worst display of poor sportsmanship I've seen.”
    In the Winnipeg dressing room, Neil wouldn't stand for any criticism of Shouldice, the referee known as ‘Hap' who would also become a fine CFL official.
    "He's a square referee who calls 'em as he sees 'em,” Neil stated.
    Irvin and Shouldice were the referees for Game 3, too. It was played on April 13 before more than 4,500 fans.
    "The mantle of dominion junior hockey supremacy today was draped around the slim shoulders of Winnipeg Monarchs,” wrote Honey. "A flying band of skating youth, the western champions joined a host of amateur hockey greats by defeating Sudbury Cub Wolves 4-1 in the third and deciding game of the Memorial Cup final series ...
    "Harry Neil's brigade, with the artistry of master swordsmen, parried a slower but more rugged eastern offensive with spectacular netminding and lightning raids to bring Canadian supremacy to the west.”
    Keenan scored three times for Winnipeg, two of them set up by Prokaski, who scored the Monarchs' other goal. Keenan's second goal, at 8:33 of the second period, would go into the books as the Memorial Cup-winner.
    Stuart scored for Sudbury, but by the time he found the range, midway through the third period, it was 4-0.
    If Keenan was one star, Gauthier was the other.
    As Honey wrote: "Gauthier put the Indian sign on Chuck Shannon, Bill Hiller and other high-scoring eastern sharpshooters with an amazing display of net wizardry.”

    NEXT: 1936 (Saskatoon Wesleys vs. West Toronto Nationals)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:04 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan... 1936

    1936 MEMORIAL CUP
    Saskatoon Wesleys vs. West Toronto Nationals
    at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)


    On the way to the Memorial Cup final, the West Toronto Nationals did some heavy damage, including a 16-4 rout of the visiting Quebec Aces on March 31 in an eastern semifinal game.
    The series was never played to a conclusion. Two nights later in Quebec City, West Toronto was leading 6-4 about three-quarters of the way through an overtime period when a free-for-all resulted in the game being ended.
    West Toronto then bounced the Pembroke Little Lumber Kings to qualify for the final.
    Out West, coach Hobb Wilson's Saskatoon Wesleys played the Winnipeg-Elmwood Maple Leafs in a best-of-three series for the Abbott Cup and a spot in the Memorial Cup final.
    Playing in Winnipeg, Saskatoon won the opener 4-2 on April 2 and then took the series with a 4-2 overtime victory before 5,000 fans on April 4.
    Wilson was quoted as saying: "I think our team is just as good as any western outfit in the past years. We have a big, fast team and we're going to try awfully hard to take the mug back west.”
    The best-of-three Memorial Cup series opened on April 10 in Toronto with the Nationals, "a smooth-working, powerful band of youngsters,'' according to The Canadian Press, skating to a 5-1 victory over Saskatoon in front of 4,500 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.
    "Wesleys, not as polished as the eastern Canada titlists, lacked finish around the net,” CP reported. "Many times, especially in a thrilling last period, the speedy Saskatchewan youngsters had no one to beat but Red Hall in the Nationals' nets. Their shots were either inches wide or blocked by the sorrel-top.”
    Hall, who was also known as Torchy, had spent the previous summer tending goal for the Orillia Terriers, the Canadian senior lacrosse champions.
    Toronto defenceman Bobby Laurent opened the scoring 41 seconds into the first period, only to have the Wesleys' captain, Paul Kowel, tie it less than a minute later.
    But after that it was all Toronto, which got two goals each from Robert (Red) Heron and Carl Gamble. Left-winger Roy Conacher, a member of one of hockey's most famous families, earned an assist on one of Gamble's goals.
    More from CP on Game 1: "It was one of the greatest junior battles here in several years. Both clubs backchecked fiercely but the eastern titlists' plays showed more finish when they barged past the heavy Wesley rearguards. The Saskatchewan huskies seemed to find difficulty in controlling the puck.”
    It ended three nights later, on April 13, with West Toronto posting a 4-2 victory and winning its first Memorial Cup, one more than the Wesleys.
    "Fighting fiercely all the way, Wesleys outplayed the Nationals through most of the hard-fought struggle and a crowd of 3,500 -- disappointingly small for a Dominion final -- will not soon forget the western huskies' dazzling attack,” reported CP. "Most of the spectators were solidly behind the Saskatoon lads.”
    Saskatoon's Frank Dotten got his side on the board first with the opening period's lone goal.
    Jack (Bucky) Crawford tied it for Toronto and the teams headed for the third period tied at 1-1.
    Laurent and Johnny (Peanuts) O'Flaherty put Toronto out front 3-1, before Dotten narrowed the deficit to one at 3-2. It remained for Conacher to score the final goal of the series.
    O'Flaherty's goal, at 14:02 of the third, stood up as the one that won the Memorial Cup.
    The Nationals were coached by Clarence (Hap) Day, with Harold Ballard as manager.

    NEXT: 1937 (Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Copper Cliff Redmen)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:04 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1937

    1937 MEMORIAL CUP
    Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Copper Cliff Redmen
    at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)


    The year was 1918 and the First World War was drawing to a close.
    Two Saskatchewan athletes -- Lyman (Hick) Abbott and Charlie McCool -- were good friends who were eagerly awaiting war's end. But before the end came there were battles to be fought.
    Abbott lost his life in one of those battles; McCool lost an arm in another.
    Shortly after the war's conclusion, the Abbott Memorial Cup, in memory of Hick Abbott, was put into play. It would go to the winner of the western Canadian junior hockey championship.
    In the 1930s, McCool found himself as the manager of the Saskatoon Wesleys. They won the Abbott Cup in 1936 and were back to defend it in 1937.
    The Wesleys, coached by Dunc Farmer and featuring goaltender Charlie Rayner and centre Sid Abel, defeated the Edmonton Rangers, 4-0 and 5-1, and then got past the Trail Smoke Eaters, 5-0 and 5-1.
    Meanwhile, coach Harry Neil's Winnipeg Monarchs capped off a stretch of nine games in 15 days by ousting Port Arthur, 8-2 and 8-0.
    That set up a best-of-three western final between Winnipeg and Saskatoon, with all games played at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre.
    The Monarchs would prevail, winning the opener 5-2 (Winnipeg's Remi Vandaele tied the score 2-2 on a penalty shot), losing the second game 6-5 on an overtime goal by Eddie Martinson, and then taking the series with a 6-1 victory.
    At least three players off that Winnipeg team -- captain Alf Pike, Pete Langelle and Johnny McCreedy -- would play in the NHL. Pike and McCreedy were on the Monarchs' top line, along with Dick Kowcinak. Also on this team was left-winger Paul Rheault, a star on the 1935 Memorial Cup-champion Monarchs. Rheault would suffer a cut thigh in the second game of the western final, however, and his impact was negligent afterwards.
    In the meantime, the Copper Cliff Redmen were headed for a date with the Ottawa Rideaus in the eastern final.
    The Redmen defeated Timmins 5-3 and 11-2 to win the Copeland Cup as champions of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. They then ousted St. Michael's College of Toronto, 5-2 and 8-2, and the Montreal Victorias, 4-1 and 10-4.
    The Rideaus advanced to the eastern final by dumping Amherst, N.S., 5-4 and 7-5.
    Copper Cliff made quick work of the Rideaus, however, hammering them 12-3 and 12-1. At that point, the Redmen had outscored their playoff opponents, 67-19.
    The Redmen, coached by Max Silverman, featured goaltender Mel Albright and players like Jack (John) Shewchuk, Robert (Red) Hamill and Pat McReavy. Copper Cliff's big line featured McReavy, Hamill and Roy Heximer -- they totalled 21 points in the 12-1 victory over Ottawa.
    The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association announced that all games in what was now a best-of-five Memorial Cup final would be played at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, and that the referees would be Clarence Campbell of Edmonton and Cecil (Babe) Dye of Toronto.
    "I don't know much about the eastern junior teams,” said Neil, whose club entered the final with an overall record of 25-5-3. "But I believe we have a good chance.”

    Winnipeg goaltender Zenon (Zeke) Ferley, 18, was just thrilled to be in the national final.
    "Ever since I was a little kid playing on corner lots, I dreamed of the day when I would turn aside pucks for the Western Canadian champions,” he said.

    Two days before the series was scheduled to open, Alphonse Therien, registrar and secretary-treasurer of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association, charged the Redmen with violating the "true ideals of junior eligibility” by using ineligible players.

    In a letter to the CAHA, Therien wrote:
    "We wonder if you have any new developments on the ages of the Copper Cliff players?

    "Do we have to wait until said team participates in the finals before the investigation is complete?
    "We in Quebec are in a position to satisfy anyone on our junior groups. We have made careful researches and are informed that player Shewchuk is using a different name than in Brantford, Ont. Dick Perry did not arrive up in the north in time to qualify for the residence rule.”
    The CAHA refused to hear a protest from Quebec and the series opened in amazing fashion on April 10.
    "Redmen, in a spectacular finish, drubbed the young westerners 4-3 in overtime and after the game a large crowd cheered conquerors and conquered alike,” reported The Canadian Press.
    As incredible as it may sound, Winnipeg held a 3-0 lead with less than two and a half minutes to play in the third period.
    "We were lucky to win -- it must have been heartbreaking for those Winnipeg kids,” said Silverman. "But our boys showed they had the fight -- I never saw anything like it. I know Redmen can play much better -- if Monarchs can play any better, boy, what a series this will be.”

    McCreedy scored in the first period and goals by Pike and McCreedy in the first two minutes of the third gave Winnipeg the 3-0 lead.
    Copper Cliff's comeback began when Heximer scored at 17:39 of the third. He added a second goal at 18:30 and then drew an assist when McReavy tied it at 19:16.
    The winner, from Hamill, came 4:59 into overtime.
    Still, Neil wasn't too concerned.
    "Say,” he said, "this Copper Cliff isn't in it with Portage la Prairie. And look what we did to Portage. They beat us 7-2 in the first game and then we came back to win two straight and take the series.

    "Copper Cliff will be just a pushover from now on.”

    The Monarchs, described as "courageous purple kids from Winnipeg,” evened the series on April 12, winning 6-5 after two periods of overtime before more than 8,000 fans.

    Copper Cliff led 2-0 early in the second period on two goals by Alf Webster. But Winnipeg went ahead 3-2 on goals by McCreedy, Jack Fox and Kowcinak (who would have two goals and three assists), only to have the Redmen tie it when Walter Zuke scored.

    Heximer and McCreedy traded third-period goals to force the overtime.
    The Redmen took a 5-4 lead 34 seconds into the second extra period. But Winnipeg roared back, tying it at 2:31 on Kowcinak's second goal and winning it on Fox's goal at 5:47.
    To this point, the Monarchs had yet to use two injured players -- Rheault and right-winger Jack Atcheson (bruised ankle) -- both of whom were well-known as scorers. Rheault would return to action in the third game; Atcheson would miss the entire series.
    The third game, played on April 14, was a goaltending duel between Ferley, who stopped 17 shots, and Albright, who blocked 20.
    Ferley emerged on top, however, as the Monarchs won, 2-1.
    Langelle scored the only goal of the first period, with Webster pulling the Redmen even at 7:08 of the second period.
    Pike's goal, on a one-timer off a give-and-go with Kowcinak, with four minutes left in the second period stood up as the winner.
    "Winnipeg's jubilant Monarchs crowded into a rousing, cheering dressing room,” reported The Canadian Press, "with the song and battle cry ‘We Don't Give a Damn for All the Rest of Canada.' ”

    The series ended on the afternoon of April 17 before 11,455 paying customers.
    "Climaxing one of the most spectacular junior series in history,” The Canadian Press reported, "the Winnipeggers whitewashed Copper Cliff Redmen 7-0.”

    Copper Cliff had a distinct edge in play in the first period but wasn't able to score.
    When the Monarchs erupted for three goals in the first period the writing was on the wall.
    McCreedy, a 20-year-old playing his final junior game, scored four times. His first, at 5:24 of the second period, proved to be the winner. Singles came from Vandaele, Martell and Rheault.

    "We were beaten by a better team,” Silverman said. "I can speak now and I can say these Monarchs are just about the best junior team I've seen.

    "You can take it from me we lost to a honey of a club.”

    Ferley, who stopped 25 shots for the shutout, said: "I don't know what to think or what to say.”

    It's worth noting that Langelle is one of three Winnipeg-born players to play on a Memorial Cup-winner and score the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The others: Cal Gardner and Andy Bathgate.
    Langelle scored the winner for the Leafs in the spring of 1942. Gardner, who won the Memorial Cup with the 1942-43 Winnipeg Rangers, got the Stanley Cup-winning goal in the spring of 1949. Bathgate, a member of the Memorial Cup-winning Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters in 1952, had the 1964 Stanley Cup-winner for the Leafs.
    Other prominent Memorial Cup graduates to score Stanley Cup-winning goals include: Harold (Mush) March, 1927-28 Regina Monarchs, 1933-34 Chicago Blackhawks; Lawrence (Baldy) Northcott, 1940-41 Winnipeg Rangers coach, 1934-35 Montreal Maroons; Bobby Bauer, 1933-34 St. Michael's Majors, 1940-41 Boston Bruins; Toe Blake, 1931-32 Sudbury Cub Wolves, Stanley Cup-winners for the Montreal Canadiens in 1944 and 1946; Dickie Moore, 1948-49 and 1949-50 Montreal Junior Canadiens, 1956-57 Montreal Canadiens; and, J.C. Tremblay, 1957-58 Ottawa-Hull Canadiens, 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens.

    NEXT: 1938 (St. Boniface Seals vs. Oshawa Generals)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:05 PM.

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    From Gregg Drinnan...1938

    1938 MEMORIAL CUP
    St. Boniface Seals vs. Oshawa Generals
    at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)


    It could be argued that the two best players on the ice during the 1938 Memorial Cup were defenceman Wally Stanowski of the St. Boniface Seals and centre Billy Taylor of the Oshawa Generals.
    Stanowski was a colorful defenceman who loved to carry the puck. Taylor was a pure sniper, who would go on to rewrite the record book in the 1939 Memorial Cup final.
    In the 1940s, they would be teammates with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
    But this was 1938.
    Billy Reay was a player with St. Boniface. He would later co-coach, with Sam Pollock, the 1949-50 Montreal Junior Canadiens to a Memorial Cup title.
    Defenceman Bert Janke captained the Seals, who were coached by Mike Kryschuk. The Generals were under the guidance of Doc Rowden.
    In the west, the Edmonton Athletic Club made some early noise by eliminating the Trail Tigers, 4-2 and 8-0, and then bouncing the Saskatoon Chiefs in three games (Edmonton won the opener 7-3, lost the second game 2-0, and then won the series with a 6-3 victory).
    St. Boniface, meanwhile, took care of the Port Arthur West Ends, 4-3 and 3-2, setting up the Abbott Cup final.
    St. Boniface took the first two games, 7-3 and 8-3, lost the third 3-1 and then wrapped it up with a 6-5 victory.
    In the east, the legend of Billy The Kid was starting to build.
    Taylor, once the mascot for the NHL's Maple Leafs, was 18 years old and had led the Generals past the Toronto Marlboros and Sudbury Cub Wolves. He went into the eastern final against the Perth Blue Wings having scored 15 times in his last 12 games.
    "We should take them all right,” Taylor said of the impending series with the Blue Wings.
    Taylor had help with Oshawa's scoring, primarily from right-winger Doc Dafoe.
    Sudbury had beaten Oshawa 3-2 in the first game of an eastern semifinal. But Dafoe scored twice in a 7-1 Oshawa victory and then added three more as Oshawa won the series with a 4-2 victory.
    Perth had beaten the Halifax Canadians, 7-6 and 8-5, and the Verdun, Que., Maple Leafs, 6-4 and 5-3.
    The Generals did just what Taylor said they would, rolling past the Blue Wings 6-2 in Perth and 7-5 in Oshawa. Taylor scored three times in the first game, including two 38 seconds apart in the third period. He added two goals and two assists in a second game marred by a donnybrook involving Ottawa rink manager Clare Brunton, two policemen and some spectators.
    The Memorial Cup final, a best-of-five affair with all games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, opened on April 9. The referees were Hap Shouldice of Ottawa (he would go on to be a longtime Canadian Football League official) and Russ McBride of Winnipeg.
    Neither the Generals nor Seals had been in a Memorial Cup final.
    After Game 1, The Canadian Press reported: "It was the east's victory but the west drew the hosannas when Oshawa Generals defeated St. Boniface Seals 3-2 in the first game of the Memorial Cup junior hockey finals.
    "And most of the huzzahs that burst from the throats of the 9,500 present were evoked by whirling Wally Stanowski, Seals' 18-year-old defenceman. Even the rabid Oshawa rooters were compelled to cheer this demon speedster, whose ghost-like rushing left the fans gasping.”
    While Stanowski left folks agape -- they were comparing him to the great Eddie Shore -- Taylor was in on all of Oshawa's goals. He scored once and set up the other two, by Whipp Shortt. Centre Herb Burron scored both of the Seals' goals.
    Oshawa suffered a key loss when defenceman Dan McTavish fractured his right wrist in the first period. He was perhaps the Generals' most dependable defenceman. Ross Knipfel dropped back to fill in for McTavish.
    The beginning of Game 1 was delayed when St. Boniface protested the length of Oshawa's sticks. From one to two inches was sawed off a half-dozen sticks before the game was allowed to begin.
    After which Oshawa clamoured for new referees.
    St. Boniface manager Gil Paulley was quick to point out his club thought the officiating had been "excellent.”
    Oshawa claimed it was concerned about the presence of McBride, who had officiated at regular-season games involving the Seals.
    Yes, Shouldice and McBride were back for Game 2 on April 12 before 10,413 fans, the largest crowd ever to watch a junior game.
    This time the hero was St. Boniface goaltender Doug Webb, a first-year junior, who blanked the Generals, 4-0.
    Reay, a left winger, scored twice, with Janke and George Gordon getting the others.
    St. Boniface's speed was the big difference, and Oshawa was having problems on defence. Already without McTavish, the Generals' other top defenceman -- Ab Tonn -- was playing with what was described as a septic throat.
    Stanowski wasn't nearly as effective after being on the receiving end of a crunching body check by Red Krentz. Stanowski limped off and was left with a bruised leg.
    Ed Fitkin, who would go on to become one of the country's first TV stars on Hockey Night in Canada, wrote in The Globe and Mail:
    "Those who install the Seals as favorites for teen-age puck honors aren't basing their predictions on the score of last night's tussle but by the decisive manner in which the western champions outplayed the Generals over most of the route.
    "They're not a great team. They're not in the same hockey society as Winnipeg Monarchs because of their lack of smoothness. But they are a great hockey machine.”
    The Generals didn't pay much attention to the experts as they went out and won the third game 4-2 on April 14, the night before Good Friday.
    "Main reason for Seals downfall, however, was an eagle-eyed, nimble-footed goalie, Bob Forster,” reported The Canadian Press. "Forty-three shots were fired at him in the Oshawa net and only twice was he beaten.”
    Taylor scored twice and set up another, with Tonn and Shortt adding one goal each. Burron and Stanowski scored for St. Boniface.
    Brick Calhoun, who was put into the Oshawa lineup to replace McTavish, went down with a broken shoulder with three minutes left in the game.
    St. Boniface was without right-winger Jack Messett who was down with pneumonia.
    Before Game 4 on April 16, Shouldice and McBride were replaced by Montreal's Bill Bell and Ottawa's Jack Dugan.
    St. Boniface forced a fifth game by beating the Generals 6-4.
    The Generals outplayed the Seals for 50 minutes and actually held a 3-1 lead more than 12 minutes into the third period. Five goals in the last half of the third period propelled St. Boniface to the victory.
    The Seals got goals from Burron, Paul Couture, Hermie Gruhn, Bill McGregor, Janke and Gordon. Shortt scored twice for Oshawa, with Taylor and Dafoe adding singles. Taylor also had three assists as he again figured in all of his team's goals.
    Shortt's second goal gave Oshawa a 4-3 lead at 15:12 of the third period. But McGregor (16:28), Janke (17:40) and Gordon (19:59) gave victory to the Seals, who fired 25 third-period shots at Oshawa goaltender Bob Forster.
    "As unpredictable as any cock-fight, the series to date has supplied a full quota of thrills to the record crowds attending the games,” reported The Canadian Press prior to the fifth and deciding game.
    Another referee, the fifth of the series, was pressed into action when Bell pulled out because of a business commitment. So Game 5 on April 19 was handled by Dugan and George Bonnemere of Montreal.
    And the Seals put it away, winning 7-1 before 15,617 fans, the largest crowd to witness a hockey game -- any hockey game -- in Canada. The crowd was about 300 more than attended Game 2 of an NHL playoff series between Toronto and the Boston Bruins some three weeks earlier.
    The Seals took a 3-0 first-period lead on two goals by Reay (the second would be the Memorial Cup-winner) and one from Burron and never looked back. Oshawa scored the first goal of the second period -- by Don Daniels -- but trailed 5-1 when the period ended.
    Gruhn, with two, Janke and Burron scored for the Seals in the second and third periods.
    Taylor was smacked in the nose by an errant stick in a first-period collision with McGregor and wasn't the same afterwards. Still, he set up Daniels' goal.
    Taylor totaled four goals and seven assists in the five games, figuring in 11 of Oshawa's 12 goals.
    Still, the hockey world hadn't seen anything yet.
    The 1939 Memorial Cup championship would really belong to the flashy, cocky skater known as Billy The Kid.
    There was one interesting sidelight to the 1938 Memorial Cup final.
    After the final game, it was revealed that, as The Canadian Press reported, Stanowski had "received a bribe-letter -- which may or may not be from a crank -- suggesting he ‘lay down' “ in that last game.
    The Winnipeg Free Press reported: "A sensational development took place in the St. Boniface Seal camp when Wally Stanowski received a letter offering him $100 if he would lay down after the first period.”
    The Canadian Press report added that "Stanowski, who draws the usual $6 a day expense allowance, was unperturbed and those closest to the club preferred to believed the letter a joke.”
    The letter was typewritten but the sender "wasn't so strong on spelling,” reported The Canadian Press.
    The writer apparently promised Stanowski $100 if he would bail out with a sore leg in the first period. There was also an additional $50 in it for Reay if he "takes it easy and draws a few penalties.”
    The writer described himself as a 6-foot, 200-pounder wearing a light grey overcoat and dark brown hat.
    "They must think I'm crazy,” Stanowski said. "We'll give all we have against Oshawa and we expect to win.
    "As for the letter, well, I guess I'll frame it.”

    NEXT: 1939 (Edmonton Athletic Club Roamers vs. Oshawa Generals)
    Last edited by nivek_wahs; 06-12-2008 at 06:08 PM.

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