1906 - THE BIG LEAGUE
The C.L.A. Senior League took a year off as Toronto and Tecumsehs both
defected to the N.L.U.. Charles Querrie's indians went with mostly
local talent. The one exception was Harry Murton. The former Thistle
had led Elora Rocks to provincial junior honours back in 1903. James
Murphy had brought Torontos back into Senior lacrosse the previous year
and now he made a triumphant return to the eastern circuit. The
disgrace of 1897 had been forgotten. Murphy stocked his team with
St.Catharines talent, signing Pete Barnett, George Kalls and Charles
Lowe. From Brantford he added Bill Hamburg and Bill Taylor. Kalls
would tear up the east with a record setting 28 goals.
The mighty Shamrocks would suffer an extraordinary decline from first
to last. Their goaltending, which had been weak the previous season,
was woeful. They went through four netminders without any success. The
rest of the squad remained intact, with one notable exception. Harry
Hoobin appeared in only two games. The irish called up promising
juniors like Frank Hogan and George Roberts. They could not halt the
slide. The key was close losses. Shamrocks lost four 1 goal games,
plus another pair by 2 goals. That and the fact that the veterans had
become spoiled by success doomed the '06 campaign. Seventh place with
a 3-8-1 record.
It was a disappointing summer for all Montreal sides. Montreal A.A.A.,
Nationals and Shamrocks all finished in the bottom three positions.
The Winged Wheels did contend to the end. Albert Dade powered their
offence with 24 goals. Henry Scott chipped in 17. The frenchmen
struggled to a 4-7-1 record. Oncle Lamoureux had a great year and led
the club with 11 goals and 21 points. 'Happy' L'Heureux did not. He
played in only half his team's games. An off year for the ironman.
The season could not have finished more dramatically. At the start of
September Ottawa and Cornwall led with 6-4 records, followed by:
M.A.A.A.(5-4) Toronto(6-5) and Tecumsehs(5-5). On the 1st, Toronto
completed its schedule with a 6-5 win over the irish. Both Lowe and
Kalls scored two, in response to Jack Brennan's hattrick. Meanwhile
the Colts and Triple A's dueled in the game of the year. M.A.A.A. were
coming off a 6-3 loss to Capitals and Cornwall had fallen 8-3 to
Nationals. Thus it was a must win game for both squads. Fred Degan
led Colts with three, however Henry Scott scored his fourth in overtime
to give Montreal a 6-5 lead. With 2 minutes remaining, goalkeeper
Eduoard 'Newsy' Lalonde raced the length of the field to tally the
tying marker. The contest ended 6-6.
On the 8th, Cornwall let down badly and were hammered 11-1 by
Tecumsehs. Cover point Fred Graydon was a surprise star scoring a
trio, along with Archie Adamson. The win kept the indians slim hopes
alive. Up in Montreal, 10,000 fans watched the Winged Wheels grab
first place. They routed Capitals 9-1! Albert Dade scored five.
Suddenly Ottawa and Cornwall had dropped to five losses. Like
Tecumsehs, the best they could do was tie Toronto. At least Colts
still controlled their own destiny. They had a replay with M.A.A.A.
and could bring them back to five losses. The other three had to pray
for the Triple A's to falter.
On the 15th, the new leaders did exactly that. They stumbled against
Nationals, losing 3-2. Joe Cattarinich set up two of the frenchmen's
goals. The smallest man on the field Dare Devil Gauthier also has two
assists. He sparked the winning score with a fearless charge through
the midfield. Ottawa did not falter. They got goals from five
different players as they humbled Shamrocks 5-1. That tied Capitals
with Toronto, both at 7-5. The Winged Wheels loss guaranteed the pair
a tie for the pennant. But would it be a three way or four way tie?
The final Saturday had three contenders, all 6-5, desperate for a win.
Tecumsehs earned their place by beating Nationals 8-5. Murton led with
four goals and Graydon produced another hattrick. That gave him eight
goals on the year. An unheard of total for a cover point. The other
match was a replay of the Cornwall-M.A.A.A. tie. In the rain in front
of a small crowd, Fred Degan scored a last minute goal to give Colts a
5-4 victory.
A four way tie! Their records were modest but these were four of the
strongest clubs in the country. Ottawa had the best defensive team.
The return of Bouse Hutton helped greatly. He tended goal every single
minute throughout the entire year. Newsy Lalonde saw action in all but
20 minutes for Cornwall. The Colts statistics were not so hot. They
scored 62 goals but surrendered 75. Reddy McMillan led their offence
with 16 markers. Tecumsehs had the premier offence. Playmakers
Charles Querrie and Neil Felker led the way. Querrie was scoring
champion while Felker led the league with 21 assists. The goalscorers
were Lawson Whitehead(with 21) Harry Murton(17) and Archie Adamson(16).
Bun Clarke starred in goal, never missing a game. Perfect attendance
record for Toronto's Cox Regan as well. On offence George Kalls
carried the Queen City boys with better than a third of their goals.
A pair of two game semi-finals would be followed by a two game final.
Total goals would decide each series. The match-ups were determined by
geography as the Toronto sides met and the two eastern Ontario squads
went head to head. At stake was not just the N.L.U. Pennant. With the
Shamrocks' demise their crown, the Minto Cup, would also go to the
champion.
The playoffs were anti climatic. In the first round, Ottawa and
Tecumsehs each built up insurmountable first game leads. Bouse Hutton
shutout Cornwall 7-0. Horace Gaul, John Powers and Billy Starrs all
counted a brace. At Rosedale Field, the indians topped Toronto 6-1.
Felker scored three points. The next week Colts won 2-1, not nearly
enough to save themselves. Toronto threw everything they had at
Tecumsehs and managed a 6-6 draw. Don Cameron's three points gave them
hope. Whitehead's hattrick took it away. Once again it was too
little, too late.
The final was no more suspenceful. Ottawa disappointed 8,000 Tecumseh
fans by winning 4-1 at Rosedale. Bones Allen's deuce helped them to
the comfortable win. Powers also contributed two points. Heading home
with a three goal lead the pennant appeared to be in the bag. It was.
At Lansdowne Park, in front of 5,000, Capitals ran wild. Gaul's five
goal effort was supported by Powers' hattrick and Starrs' pair.
Adamson and Harry Pickering replied in the indians 10-2 loss. The only
real fight they showed was during the third quarter brawl.
