1943 - COMBINES SECOND AND FINAL YEAR
Mimico-Brampton suffered a couple of off season losses as Ken Dixon and
Don McPhail joined the Army. No problem. The defending champs simply
added Bill Isaacs. The Six Nations' star had been made homeless when
Hamilton folded operations. The Combines played out of Mimico, while
the Army Bullets became the Brampton team. The Bullets also added Jack
McMahon from St.Catharines along with two youngsters Bob Thorpe and Jim
McMahon. Other players the Army team attracted were: Bun
White(Huntsville) Tom White(Orillia) Shine Bovin(Oshawa) and Don
Campbell(Etobicoke).
It was a four team league with the Regular Season championship going to
the Cup holders. The Combines placed first with a 17-7 mark. They also
had the best defence, surrendering 268 goals. St.Catharines followed
closely with a 14-10 record. Next came the Army at 13-11. They had the
highest scoring unit averaging 15 goals per game. Bringing up the rear
was Toronto Lakeshore with only 4 wins.
Ken Dixon was a big reason why the Bullets had such a high powered
offence. He ran away with top scoring honours thanks to 67 goals and
108 points. Bun White also chipped in 65 tallies, plus Don Campbell and
Jack McMahon made the top ten as well. The Combines had also acquired
Bill Brunskill. He tied Dixon with 67 goals but only counted 17
assists.
St.Catharines had hopes of regaining their OLA crown but those hopes
were dashed quickly. They had the luxury of drawing fourth place
Toronto, the trouble was that they couldn't beat the Lakeshores! On
September 9th, Toronto started the best of three semi final with a 7-5
win. Gordon Gair scored a hattrick and Yorky Jordan added a pair.
Jordan had not played during the regular season. Bucko MacDonald and
Ernie Curran also scored, while Frank Bain picked up an assist. All
three were appearing in their second games of the season. That's a
quartet of ex-Terriers who all knew how to win. They won again two
nights later, a 12-1 Toronto victory. Tom Love scored 4 times, Joe
Murphy added 5 assists and two more former Orillia players Vern Steggall
and Fred Smith added single goals. Red Hartley's shutout was broken by
a trio of Madsens - Madsen from Madsen and Madsen. To be exact: Carl
from Frank and Tom. The Athletics' final goal of the year.
The defending champs also won their first round series two straight.
The second triumph needed double overtime. Combines broke loose in the
second extra period to win 20-12. That ended the Army Bullets one and
only campaign.
In the final the Lakeshores would equal their regular season win total
by taking their third and fourth playoff victories. They started with a
disasterous 20-7 loss. A pair of wins by 11-5 and 11-9 scores had them
tied 2 games each. In the latter triumph, Toronto was without Bain,
Curran and MacDonald. Led by Isaacs and Brunskill, Mimico-Brampton
finished strongest. They doubled Toronto 14-7, then concluded the
series with an 25-8 rout! Isaacs led all playoff scorers with 15 goals
and 30 points. Brunskill's 17 goals were also best.
Maple Leaf Gardens was the site of the Eastern Canadian Championship. A
two game total goals series. The Combines added Ken Dixon and Norm
Worthy from St.Catharines. Due to war service, they went into the
series without Bill Arthurs, Sid Prosser and Moe Thompson. The first
game was on October 2nd and the defending champs blasted Lachine RCAF
20-6. Dixon led with 6 goals and 8 points. Brunskill scored 4 times,
with hattricks to Isaacs and Worthy. With a 14 goal advantage the
second contest was virtually meaningless. Mimico-Brampton won again, a
much more competitive 15-13 result. Bert Large replaced Fred Harrison
in goal. Jack Graham and Jim Mulliss sat out for the game. Isaacs led
with 6 points as Worthy added 5. Brunskill and Lachine's Pat Egan were
top goalgetters with 4 each.
The Mann Cup Final commenced in New Westminster on Saturday, October
9th. The hero of the previous Mann Cup Bert Large got the start in goal.
This in spite of the fact that Fred Harrison had been the starter all
year long. Large dueled with Ed Johnstone in a defensive first half.
He turned aside 13 of 16 shots before being knocked out of the series in
the second quarter with a severely twisted knee. Fred Harrison returned
to goal and was the star of game one. The Salmonbellies outshot the
Combines 50-33 but that wasn't good enough. The Cup holders trailed 3-2
at the half then scored 6 times in the third quarter to turn the match
around. They held on for a 10-9 victory.
The holiday weekend ended with a Monday night contest. The Fishmen
would even the series by winning a game with suffocating defence. There
were a grand total of only 38 shots on the night. Johnstone barely
worked up a sweat as he was tested only 14 times. Combines beat him
twice early to win the opening quarter. New Westminster exploded with a
5 goal second to take charge. The Combine siege guns of Isaacs, Dixon
and Brunskill were checked into the floor. Salmonbellies went on to
double the easterners 10-5.
After that the complexion of the final changed. It began in the second
quarter of the third game and doomed the defending champs.
Mimico-Brampton won the opening fifteen minutes 3-2. Then New
Westminster threw caution to the wind. They hit the floor on the fly
and turned on their offence. They moved the ball around like a phoney
quarter on the attack and the Combines couldn't keep up. The home side
were ahead 9-7 by halftime and extended their lead to 13-7. The
titleholders managed only one shot on goal in the third quarter! Their
drawers were really dragging! New Westminster went on to claim a 17-9
win. Jim Douglas had recovered from the flu and played for the first
time in the series, scoring twice. Five others also counted a deuce,
while Arnold Ferguson led with a trio. Dixon and Isaacs managed
hattricks for the losers.
The final match on the second Saturday was the exact opposite of the
opener. Both goaltenders were outclassed. Ed Johnstone was pulled
early after being beaten four times on five shots. Walt Lee settled
matters and surrendered only three more the rest of the way. Again the
Salmonbellies were too good. They put 22 shots past Harrison to
conclude the series in convincing fashion. Bill Wilkes led with five
markers and Douglas added three more. Brunskill scored three times for
the Combines. This marked the end of the Mimico-Brampton arrangement.
