1936 - NORTH SHORE INDIANS COME EAST
Burlington and Hamilton merged for this campaign making them a force to
truly challenge Orillia. The move put Bill Isaacs in Tiger colours for
the first time. He would easily become their greatest scorer ever. The
defending champs were coping with several losses, yet they remained
strong. Bill MacArthur was an amateur again and Terriers starting
goaltender. Even at the age of 45 he still had his incredible
wanderlust. Through all his playing days Ol' Bill had never come close
to a Canadian championship. This would be his chance. Another Toronto
native on the team was defenceman Piper Bain. The 27 year old joined
Orillia in April. Another defender was Lorne 'Hank' Munro. He was in
his last season with Terriers before jumping to New Westminster. A
second Brantford resident on the club was Shipwreck Kelly. He was no
stranger to the Mann Cup and looking for another trip. Overall the
imports were numerous: 23 year old defenceman Don Willson from Bradford,
29 year old centreman Dick Walsh from Inglewood and 22 year old wing
player George Snowden from Huntsville. Most notable of all were the two
new additions straight from St.Catharines juniors. Picking up rover
Jack 'Wandy' McMahon was a simple matter. Joe Cheevers was not.
Cheevers had agreed to play with Oshawa. The Motor City was back in
Senior Lacrosse for one final time. With reinstated amateurs Kelly
Degray and Charlie Barron they hoped to make a good impression.
Cheevers was a key grab which slipped through their fingers. He had
signed on the dotted line but after an exhibition game in Orillia,
Cheevers was persuaded to switch teams. Really disreputable stuff, yet
Terriers got away with it. The O.L.A. did punish Cheevers by suspending
him half the season, however he was playing for Orillia by playoff time,
which is what counts. As for Oshawa, they did not win a game nor did
they complete the schedule. Record wise they were credited with a 0-28
mark. More of a black eye on the O.L.A. then Oshawa.
Orillia did have local talent. The Curran brothers, Bill and Ernie,
were prominent. Ernie Botting was the youngest team member. Substitute
Andrew Tudhope the oldest runner. The 44 year old had been playing for
Terriers all the way back to 1910. Another sub was Ken Pethick.
Originally from Seaforth, he was an Orillia resident and had been with
the squad since 1930.
League scoring honours went to Fergus' Rusty White. His 79 point effort
was 13 better than Mimico's Joe Murphy and 20 ahead of Brampton's Bill
Anthony. The Excelsior only played 12 out of a 28 game schedule. The
season ended in disgrace for Brampton as they quit midway through. They
were contending for top spot in Group One when the suspension of Mooney
Gibson was announced the first week of August. In an earlier game
Gibson had attacked referee Hank Gowdy. In protest, Excelsiors quit the
league, defaulted their final games and fell to fourth place.
Hamilton-Burlington Combines tied with St.Catharines for Group One
honours, both at 16-12. The tie break was held on August 24th and
Athletics won 17-11. Pung Morton's six goals made the difference.
Fergus took third in the division at 14-14, even with Brampton.
Excelsiors were no longer around for a tie break.
There was a first place tie in Group Two as well. Mimico and Orillia
both recorded 21-7 marks. Mountaineers took the tie break. Toronto
Marlboros were next at 10-18, then came poor Oshawa. Toronto's schedule
lasted only two more games. Terriers defeated them 15-7 and 11-8. Joe
Cheevers was 3 & 1 in both matches. The titleholders then turned their
attention to the Mounties. They began the best of three series with a
15-5 rout. Seventeen year old Orillia junior Arnold 'Onions' Smith was
called up and he scored four points. Mimico extended their season by
winning 10-8, thanks, in part, to Ross Gimblett's hattrick. Fred
Harrison shone in goal, delighting the Maple Leaf Gardens crowd of
3,500. The finale was all Terriers. A 13-2 slaughter with Wandy
McMahon scoring five goals. Over 4,000 fans packed the Orillia Arena.
It was still a close 5-2 game at three quarter time. A Cheevers goal
opened the floodgates. Harrison stopped him in close but, in attempting
to pass the ball, the goalie let it slip out of the crease. Cheevers
grabbed it behind the net, dashed in front and scored. Mimico claimed
that he was in the crease but the goal was allowed. Seven more followed
as the Mounties' season closed.
Combines also took the long way in winning Group One. Fergus was little
trouble, wins of 16-8 and 18-4. Fat Young led with seven goals in the
series. Combines got a rude shock when they next travelled to
St.Catharines. The Double Blues beat them 21-9! Veteran Irv Lounsbury
had eight points, while Tom 'Tank' Teather and Bill Fitzgerald Jr. both
added three markers. It was different in Burlington, an 18-11 win for
the home side. Young scored five goals and Alex McPherson chipped in
five points. Morton was top man with six points, in a losing cause.
The deciding match also went to Combines. They doubled St.Catharines
14-7.
The final commenced on September 7th. Four scores from Bill Isaacs gave
Combines an upset 11-6 win. It was a clean game, with the only penalty
going to Ernie Curran for striking a Burlington spectator. Wandy
McMahon was contained by the checking of Jerry Johnson. Orillia
responded with great defence. They surrendered only four goals in each
of the remaining two contests. First came a 14-4 win. It was over
early as Orillia won the opening half 9-0. MacArthur's shutout was
broken when Bill Isaacs set up brother Lance. A deceiving 9-4 win
followed. It was played at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of 4,000 fans.
The titleholders only led the orange and black Combines 4-3 after 45
minutes. The final quarter started with Lyman Jackson tying it.
Shortly after, Dick Walsh grabbed a high rebound off the backboards and
beat Bob Rohmer to put Terriers ahead for good. George Snowden
followed, thanks to a beautiful pass from McMahon. Snowden scored again
from close range to make it 7-4. That spurt gave Orillia another
championship.
Four more wins advanced Terriers to the Mann Cup Final. More than 1,700
turned out in Cornwall to see the Mann Cup holders double the home side
14-7. The second game in Orillia was a disaster. Terriers won 30-8!
They next topped Montreal Canadien 10-4 at home. The rematch in
Montreal drew 5,000 spectators. The frenchmen scored the first three
goals but gave up the next six. Orillia went on to a 12-4 win. With
less than two minutes to play a disagreement between Coco Blanchard and
Joe Cheevers sparked a massive brawl. Pete Jotkus joined in as did
Wandy McMahon...followed by everyone else! The four protagonists each
received 20 minute penalties.
Next came the real challenge: the colourful and highly popular North
Shore Indians. They swept New Westminster three straight to win the
Inter City Lacrosse League(I.C.L.L.). They were no kinder in Winnipeg,
routing the locals by scores of 16-5 and 19-5. The ghosts of 1932 had
been exorcised. Thus they arrived in the east prepared to do something
no B.C. club had done since the Salmonbellies of 1908, win!
The strength of Andy Paull's team began in goal. Henry Baker was only
168 lbs but he could be a miracle worker when it came to blocking shots.
He had several brothers on the team. Most notable was the crafty fox
Ray Baker. The 37 year old had been with New Westminster during their
Mann Cup loss in '33. Stan Joseph also had national final experience.
The hard hitting defenceman had come east in '34 with Salmonbellies.
The other Joseph was Chief Moses, a furious checker who played rover.
The club also had two Smiths. Heavyweight Russell 'Beef' Smith was well
over 200 lbs. Brother Hubie was a 155 lb speedster. The team roster
was split between Squamish and Six Nations. Ontario was represented by
several stars. Stan Bomberry was in his second year with the team. He
was rated one of the best defencemen in the game and had one of the
hardest shots. He played along side Cec Van Every, a six foot giant and
former professional. Stan's brother Oscar Bomberry was one of the
highest scorers in the western league. Another from the Mohawk tribe
was Jack Squire. Not only was he the fastest man in the game but he was
also a great stickhandler, plus he was considered the cleanest player in
the Intercity League. Jack would eventually hook up with Hamilton
Tigers.
The Indians had to adapt to the hard floor of Maple Leaf Gardens. They
were used to playing on dirt. "No worries," said Paull. He was
confident the new surface would enhance his teams great speed.
Nevertheless, Orillia were slightly favoured to defend their title.
Their first day in Toronto the North Shore club took in afternoon
theatre. Some members caught the wrestling card that evening. The
following day, they rested up for the big game.
The series commenced on October 2nd, in front of 8,000. The high flying
Indians did not disappoint. After sharing the first two goals, the
Terrier defence wobbled as North Shore concluded the quarter with five
straight. Ol' Bill did not look good on three of the scores. In
Quarter #2 Orillia checked the westerners to a stand still. Two power
play goals sparked a six goal revival. At halftime Piper Bain was
presented with the James Murphy Trophy by Charles Querrie and Mike
Kelly. The Terrier defenceman was out of the lineup with a broken
shoulder. Wandy McMahon scored the only third quarter goal to put
Orillia ahead 8-6. They would maintain that lead to win the opener
10-8.
After two days rest, the clubs met in a terribly physical game. The
Cupholders decided to pound North Shore into submission with terrific
bodychecking and lenient officiating let them get away with it. The
visitors led 5-4 when Bill Curran scored to tie it. On the play
Dominick Baker was crashed to the floor and had to be taken off on a
stretcher. While he was down, Curran took advantage to score. Much of
the crowd booed the Terriers. The Indians still hung in. They were
blessed with better footing than in Game One. Each player was wearing
newly bought, suction-soled running shoes. The goaltenders starred
throughout this encounter. MacArthur made 26 saves, while Baker stopped
23. Orillia took six out of the nine penalties in the game. On their
three power plays they were frustrated by Squamish ragging. Outstanding
stickhandling from Beef and Hubie Smith, Ray Baker and the Bomberry
boys. In the end North Shore prevailed by an 8-6 margin.
Game Three was another tight one. Orillia outshot the visitors 44-34,
while the Indians took five out of the nine penalties. Yet the
westerners led throughout much of the contest. Pint size Hubie Smith
was their best player and Ernie Curran starred for the Terriers. The
difference in this one was the final period, when the Cupholders swept
North Shore off its feet. The visitors led 8-6 with fifteen minutes
remaining. Wandy McMahon's shooting had been off but he got his second
goal four minutes into the last quarter. It was a key goal as he beat
three defenders to score it. Twenty seconds later, Butch Boettger tied
the match. Two minutes passed then Curran put on a good fake from
twenty feet out then beat Baker. He scored again 29 seconds later,
putting Orillia up 10-8. Moses Joseph kept the Indians alive by scoring
with under four minutes left. A Dominick Baker slash on Curran earned
him a penalty and set up the Terriers' final goal. A dramatic 11-9 win
- the turning point in the series.
A crowd of 10,000 gathered for what turned out to be the final game.
Butch Boettger scored 26 seconds into the contest. It was all downhill
for North Shore after that. The Indians looked tired. They lost the
opening period 3-1 and trailed by halftime 9-3. George Snowden scored
six goals, along with two assists as Orillia romped to a 20-9 win. At
the end there was a touching and heartfelt tribute to Ol' Bill MacArthur
from his teammates and the fans.
