1925 - WESTON'S RECORD FOURTH TITLE
Brampton Excelsiors had won three straight O.L.A. crowns before the war
and Young Torontos had matched them during the war years. In 1925
Weston went one better. In a six team league their chief threat was
once again Brampton. Excelsiors tied them for first place with a 14-6
record. The other four clubs finished well back. Defensive minded
St.Simon's placed third with 10 wins and 9 losses. Orangeville were
9-11 in their final year in Senior. The high flying Dufferins had five
top ten scorers: Toots White, Clyde Gordon, Andy Hawkins, Roy
Cruickshank and Rod Anderson. Irish-Canadians finished 8-11, while
Toronto Maitlands ended up last at 3-15. Lionel Conacher joined the
Irish and teamed with Art Pim to give them a respectable run. Without
the Big Train, Maitlands had the worst offence in the league.
It was the final season for Conacher. An individual superstar, he was
a force in every game. Yet Irish-Canadians, like all his clubs,
disappointed. In six years none of the Big Train's teams ever made the
playoffs. Some of Conacher's 1925 heroics included five goals against
Brampton(June 13th) four points versus Orangeville(July 8th) and four
goals against Maitlands(August 8th). If only he had played in every
game! Conacher spent the rest of the decade occupied with other
sports. He did find time to referee some lacrosse games. His gutted
stick would remain in retirement until the professional box league of
1931.
With the schedule expanded to twenty games, O.L.A. fans were treated to
an exciting scoring race. Toots White and Norm Zimmer dueled the
entire summer. White led by one goal in August. Zimmer, however,
finished red hot as Brampton's #13 became the league's first 50 goal
scorer.
Weston and Brampton met in the Final. The series had a listless start
but Pete Machell and Jack Worthy picked things up with second quarter
goals. The Suburbanites evened matters as Bill and Harry Coulter both
beat John Campbell with long shots. Jerry Kendall put Excelisors up
3-2. Then Zimmer was knocked out of the contest with a knee injury.
That proved to be the turning point as the rudderless Brampton offence
floundered over the last 40 minutes. Weston scored five unanswered
goals for a 7-3 win. The casualties continued: Ted Reeve received a
three inch cut over his eye, courtesy of Bob Stephenson, and Ty Silk
broke his thumb, yet continued to play.
Over 4,000 attended the rematch in Brampton. A second quarter "free
for all" was started by Jim Burton and Coulter. Police had to resort
to using their batons to end it. That was the only trouble in the
game. There was a fourth quarter fight but it was in the grandstand.
The players paused to watch it. Goaltender Walker Wilson and defender
Bill Coulter were the visitor's game stars. They stopped the shooters,
intercepted passes and fed the home players on offence. Weston needed
a good defence because Brampton had ball possession for 60 minutes.
They were up 3-1 in the second frame and bombarding the Suburbanites'
goal when Weston broke away and Griffith suddenly made it 3-2.
Undaunted the home side kept coming. In the final quarter they outshot
the titleholders 10-1. George Farr and Norm Zimmer scored to put them
up 5-3, however time eventually ran out.
The previous season the Clare Levack Trophy had not been played for
because the Senior schedule ran to mid October. In 1925 it lasted
almost as long, until October 3rd, yet Hamilton and Weston did meet for
provincial bragging rights. The seniors had a catastrophic start,
losing 11-8 in Hamilton. They rebounded to shutout the Tigers 9-0.
