1981 - THE BATTLE OF DURHAM 


 It was an interesting junior season.  In Etobicoke, Adam Oates rose to
 stardom by eclipsing the record for points in one game.  He scored 29
 against Kitchener.  Oates also went on to win the scoring title and the
 first of his three Most Valuable Player awards.  In Whitby, a good,
 young squad had its season blow up in its face.  Minto Cup winning
 coach Jim Hinkson ended his two year run with the Builders
 disasterously.  Meanwhile, Peterborough flirted with perfection only to
 have one team spoil everything.  That team, Oshawa, had as newsworthy a
 season as any.  Jim Bishop returned to the club.  The legendary coach
 had comeback in 1977-78 but that team had been too young to make much
 of an impact.  The '81 side was expected to be an experienced one,
 until Bishop returned.  Not caring for his authoritarian style,
 Scarborough natives Jayde Gibbs and Mike McKee refused to play.  Both
 sat out more than half the regular season.  The lost games eventually
 cost Gibbs first spot in career Junior A scoring, while McKee had his
 consecutive 100 goal seasons streak ended.  The Gaels stumbled through
 much of the season until General Manager Bob Duignan cut the Gordian
 Knot and fired Bishop.  Before replacement Peter Vipond could be
 brought in, both Gibbs and McKee had returned to the line up.
 Ironically Vipond had captained Bishop's last Minto Cup winner.  His
 style was much more relaxed.  He immediately reduced practices from two
 hours to ninety minutes and won the loyalty of all his chargers.
 During the playoffs he would often cancel practices to allow his
 players to be fresh for the upcoming games. The Gaels struggled to a
 losing record but the playoffs would be different.

 Early July did much to determine the post-season results.  Peterborough
 rolled into Oshawa still unbeaten and pondering the idea of choosing
 the Green Gaels as a first round opponent.  That was until they
 narrowly escaped with a one goal win.  A couple of night's later Oshawa
 was blown out at Iroquois Park.  The Builders ripped the Gaels' zone
 defence to shreds.  After the game Fred Upshaw Sr. predicted that
 Whitby would pick Oshawa for a Quarter Final opponent.  For six years
 Durham Region lacrosse fans had waited in vain for a playoff matchup.
 The gate for such a series would be of Minto Cup size.  Sure enough the
 second place Builders did choose to play fifth place Oshawa.  To call
 it a bad decision was an understatement.

 The Gael's headed into the playoffs with their starting goaltender Ken
 Passfield injured.  They picked up Scarborough's Henry Bennett.  This
 would be Little Hank's one moment of fame.  With Bennett in goal and
 the zone defence abandoned Oshawa surprised Whitby by winning the first
 three games of the series.  The third game blow out climaxed with a
 bench clearing brawl.  Andy Perroni had been run into the boards and
 injured earlier in the contest, thus Whitby's frustration exploded
 towards the end.  While Wayne Crawford was in the stands battling Gaels
 fans and the police were filing into the arena and the players were
 fighting with each other, Whitby netminder Rob McLean stood in the
 middle of the floor as if he was waiting for a bus.  Finally an Oshawa
 player charged towards him but instead of exchanging punches they
 hugged like long lost brothers!  There the pair stood chatting with
 their arms around each other, while everyone else around them was
 trying to kill each other.  Apparently they had met at a party on the
 weekend.  Not all people in Oshawa and Whitby hated each other.

 The series ended in five games.  Nothing went right for the defending
 champions.  In the last contest they scored nine first period goals,
 yet still lost 19-15.

 The James Gang wisely passed on Oshawa in the Semi Final.  They swept
 fourth place Brampton instead.  Their invincibility at home would be
 key in the Final.  They clearly outclassed the Gaels all four games at
 the Memorial Centre.  The three contests in Oshawa were much more
 interesting.  Peterborough's 29-0 record was spoiled in Game Two.  The
 home side eventually won a seesaw battle 15-11.  The fourth match also
 went the Green Gaels way, as did the sixth, in overtime.  A crowd of
 over 3,000 attended the finale.  An estimated 2/3's of them made the
 trip up from Oshawa.  Fred Upshaw Jr. gave them the first goal of the
 match.  After that Peterborough's defence easily dominated.  It was the
 Gaels eighteenth playoff game and they'd run out of upsets.

 Peterborough went on to host and sweep Burnaby for their first Minto
 Cup win in six years.

 The Excelsiors and Salmonbellies were up to their old tricks again.
 Brampton placed third in an expanded Major League while New Westminster
 finished fourth in the WLA.  Yet, when September came around the two
 met for the Mann Cup again.

 Owen Sound returned to Sr.A and Scarborough joined them.  The North
 Stars grabed the fourth and final playoff spot with a 13-11 record.
 Mike McMillan led them with 52 goals.  He finished runner up to J.J.
 Johnston in goals and points.  Scarborough wallowed in the basement
 their initial season.  They were respectable and won eight times.

 The Excelsiors' record had improved to 13-10-1.  The defending champs
 once again faced Brooklin to begin the playoffs.  They defeated the
 Redmen in six games.  At the same time Owen Sound upset the first place
 Lakers in six games.  For the third time Brampton and Owen Sound met in
 the Final.  In '75 the North Stars had been swept.  In '77 they had
 managed one win.  This time around they were victorious twice.  Still
 not good enough to win the Ontario crown.

 Out west, New Westminster won only ten regular season games, while
 losing thirteen and tying once.  Hardly championship material.  The
 playoffs were completely different.  The Salmonbellies stormed to
 another championship by winning eight out of nine games.  They next
 extended that run to twelve out of thirteen games by sweeping the
 Excelsiors in the Mann Cup Final.  They outscored Brampton 61-33 over
 the four games.  Jim Weller led Brampton and topped the series with
 nine goals.  The high point men were all on New Westminster: Wayne
 Goss(21) Dave Durante(17) Derek Dickson(14).

 Thus, for the second year in a row, a team with a losing record had
 rebounded to win the Canadian championship.  This had never happened
 before in the history of the Mann Cup.  Yet it would happen once more
 in two years time.