1937 - THE DEATH OF LANCE ISAACS
In spite of a competitive league, this season will only be remembered
for one event. Not the opening of the Rose Bowl. Though on July 1st it
was opened at Roselea Park and the Excelsiors performed in front of a
near capacity crowd of 2,700. The one event people would talk about for
years to come also involved Brampton. That much darker event was the
tragic death of Lance Isaacs.
The Isaacs brothers had joined Toronto Marlboros for the '37 campaign.
They were the team's two leading lights. The game which was to be
Lance's last was played at Maple Leaf Gardens. Isaacs was injured
seconds before the halftime break. He received a blow over the heart
which caused the rupture of the coronary vessel. Lance struggled to the
bench and went straight to the dressing room. His teammates soon joined
him as Issacs was checked out by the trainer. Lance was heard to groan
then dropped into the arms of the trainer. Bill rushed to his brother
and, seeing that he was dead, fainted. The game was called off and the
spectators received their money back. Brampton asked the O.L.A. to
award the game to Toronto. Marlboros were leading 7-5 as Lance had
scored the last goal, his 20th of the year. Isaacs had played with his
brother, first at Haldimand, then Burlington in Intermediate, before
making the jump to Senior in 1935. In August a Provincial Inquiry ruled
that no one was at fault for Isaacs' death.
This year Bill Anthony did not have his bid for a scoring title derailed
by his team. Brampton lasted the entire season and Anthony led the
league with 71 goals and 89 points, both league records. Gordon Gair
was 13 points back, followed by league leading playmaker Rusty White
with 32 assists. Despite missing five games due to his brother's death,
Bill Isaacs still made the Top Ten. He placed seventh with 65 points.
But 48 goals left him two shy of his third straight 50 goal season. In
fact Isaacs would score more than 50 in five out of six years. Even
better, he would win his second scoring championship in 1938, the first
of five consecutive titles. A record which would survive over fifty
years.
A new playoff format was introduced as the top six out of seven teams
made the playoffs, with first place playing sixth, second meeting fifth
and third pairing up against fourth. Mimico took top honours with an
18-6 record, equalled by second place Orillia. St.Catharines was next
at 13-11, then came Toronto(12-12) Brampton(11-13) and Fergus(9-15).
Brantford missed out due to their 3 win season.
The opening round was short and decisive. Mimico, Orillia and
St.Catharines each won two straight to advance. The Mountaineers had
the option of playing the Athletics or taking a bye. They chose to wait
for the final, leaving the defending champs and Double Blues to duel.
The best of three series commenced with a stunning 18-8 victory for the
youthful A's. Bill Fitzgerald scored five goals and Pung Morton added
four to shock the titleholders. The Terriers recovered to win 14-8 as
eight different players scored. The third game was much closer. Once
again Orillia's depth prevailed. Nine different goal scorers in a 12-9
victory. They went on to defend their title by beating Mimico three
games to one. They were all very tight wins. First was an 11-10
victory as Dick Walsh set up three goals. Next came a wild 17-14
shootout. Norman Gair fired in four markers, while Duke Harrison had
his second straight hattrick, not good enough. Joe Cheevers scored four
times for the winners. The finale was an even wilder 20-17 match.
Defensive specialist Vern Steggall stepped up with a five goal effort.
Mann Cup play began with an 11-10 loss to Cornwall! The Cupholders put
that setback behind them and won the next two games by scores of 17-6
and 25-6. Ernie Curran scored seven times in the last game. Montreal
Canadians were next beaten two straight. The Eastern Canadian Champions
began their trip west in Elmwood. They won 23-8, another seven goal
game for Curran. Next to fall were the Calgary Rangers, 23-8.
This brought Orillia to Queen's Park, to face a New Westminster club
with five former Terriers: Pete Anthony, Ed Downey, Hank Munro, Bill
Wilkes and Bill Wilson. Note that none of those players were Orillia
natives.
The Terriers were treated like visiting royalty as they arrived in the
Royal City. They were strong favourites to win their fourth straight
Mann Cup. A great dynasty at the height of its power! Little did
anyone realise that the dynasty was about to end with a tremendous
crash.
The series opened on October 8th, in front of 5,000 fans. New
Westminster survived some late penalties to hang on for an 11-9 win. It
was the ex-Terriers who did the damage. Tiny Bramptonite Pete Anthony
shutdown the Orillia shooters, Bill Wilson and Ed Downey both scored a
pair and Hank Munro topped all scorers with six points.
Queen's Park Arena was deemed too small, thus the series moved to the
larger Vancouver Forum for Game Two. The easterners took advantage of
the larger floor to lead throughout much of the contest. At the
mid-point of the fourth quarter they were up 10-9. Then the roof fell
in. Wilson tied it, the first of six straight goals as the
Salmonbellies won going away 15-10. Remarkable finish because the
Fishmen only used nine players the entire game!
The third and final game was a 19-12 western rout. A western rout with
eastern flavouring. Of New Westminster's 45 goals scored in the series,
37 came from the sticks of Ontario boys! Nevertheless, the
Salmonbellies had won their first Mann Cup of the box era. It was like
1908 all over again as the Royal City fans celebrated with a huge
downtown bonfire. There was nothing eastern about these fanatics and it
was their support which had made this championship possible.
For Orillia it was indeed over. Ol' Bill MacArthur retired. Yorky
Jordan, the hired gun of the '37 campaign, departed for small town
Fergus. Joe Cheevers and Wandy McMahon returned to St.Catharines. How
quickly the worm was to turn.
