1944 - A MOST CONTENTIOUS MANN CUP
Both the Mountaineers and Excelsiors returned to the league. Burlington
Braves also joined, from Intermediate, giving the circuit five teams.
It was not a happy year for the bay area newcomers. They won only twice
in sixteen games to finish last. Player/Coach Bill Isaacs resigned by
mid July and was replaced by Jerry Johnson. Isaacs missed numerous
games and failed to make the top ten scorers.
With the split of the Combines, Bill Brunskill went to Brampton and won
the scoring championship. Harry Graham was another Excelsior top ten
scorer. Mimico grabbed Scoop Hayes, the league's top playmaker, and
George Masters, tenth in scoring. The Mountaineers also picked up Ken
Dixon but he did not play enough to defend his scoring title. Toronto's
Gordon Gair and St.Catharines' Roy Morton were the only two to challenge
Brunskill. Both veterans fell 11 points short.
The Athletics returned to the top of the league with 12 wins, one more
than Toronto Lakeshores. Brampton won 8 times and Mimico only 5. The
Excelsiors should have faced the Double Blues in the Semi Final but they
quit the league before the end of the season. Burlington replaced them.
A poor replacement as St.Catharines crushed them by scores of 23-10,
17-9 and 33-10. Roy Morton and Doug Cove scored five goals each in the
first game, then Morton missed the next two routs. Bob Thorpe played
his first game of the season in the finale and scored four goals and
eight points. The A's also got four goal efforts from Norm McDonald and
Carl Madsen. The other series was an upset. Mimico bounced Toronto
from the post-season in four games. The Mounties took the last contest
13-5 as George Masters scored six times.
That September Lieutenant Cecil Jackson was killed during frontline duty
in Italy. The former Thistle and Tiger had enlisted as a private in
1941, then gone overseas the next year.
Before the Final could take place, Brampton popped up again. They
decided they wanted back into competition and they were allowed back
after they had paid a $100 fine. St.Catharines were given the option of
a bye, which they declined. Thus Mimico went straight to the Final as
the A's and Excelsiors met in a best of seven series.
St.Catharines had to get by without their captain Carl Madsen. Ali Baba
Gus had pulled ligaments in his right knee and was lost for the season.
Actually the injury would mark the end of his great career.
The series commenced on September 14th and the Double Blues routed rusty
Brampton 22-13. Frank Madsen scored five times, while Bob Thorpe and
Doug Cove added four each. Bill Brunskill wasn't rusty. He scored five
times in a losing cause. The next match was a 19-12 win for the A's.
Five more goals for Cove and Norm McDonald chipped in with four. Bill
Arthurs counted four markers for Brampton. The Excelsiors did get back
into the series with an upset 15-11 victory. Four goals each from
Brunskill and Tubby Scherzel. By the fourth game both offences looked
tired. That plus rain from the second quarter on made for a sloppy
contest. The Athletics doubled the Excelsiors 6-3. Bill Mackie and
Arthurs were the only multiple goal scorers with a pair each. The last
match was the fifth in nine days. Brampton faded away early as
St.Catharines bombed them 26-10. Bill 'Ham' Nelson led with three goals
and eight points. Five goal scorers included: McDonald, Thorpe and
Morton. Bill Brunskill produced one last hattrick, as did Tom White.
Mimico hit the floor after a fortnight's layoff and managed to beat Bill
Whitaker only three times. St.Catharines won 11-3. Both Norm McDonald
and Frank Madsen continued to play the best lacrosse of their careers.
They had three goals each. In Mimico, the Mounties got on track with a
13-9 triumph. A seven goal, nine point effort from George Masters! The
Double Blues passing must have been off that night because they scored
nine unassisted goals. The underdogs took the third match 7-6 as
Masters poured in four more. Scoop Hayes was also strong with a goal
and three assists. Both Madsen and McDonald had three points in the
following 10-6 win. Ham Nelson also contributed a hattrick. Matters
had reached a crisis for the Mountaineers. Coach Jack McDonald had not
played competitively since the mid thirties, yet he donned his pads for
the fifth contest and set up a goal. Mimico scored 10 times in the game
as Ken Dixon finally broke loose with a trio. Dixon had missed the
opening three matches and only scored a single tally his first game
back. Al Doyle also produced a five point effort. It wasn't enough.
St.Catharines scored 16 times to take a 3-2 series lead. Scoring was
very balanced, however Bill Mackie's four markers and Roy Morton's
triple loomed large. The sixth and final game was the tightest of them
all. Coach McDonald has a pair to lead Mimico as they kept it close
until the end. Bill Nelson's third marker with 14 minutes left gave the
A's a two goal cushion. Ken Dixon got it back with 3 minutes remaining
but that was as close as the Mounties got. St.Catharines held on for a
9-8 victory and the OLA championship.
The Salmonbellies were Toronto bound. They confirmed their supremacy of
western Canada by crushing Winnipeg 20-4. The team stayed at the Queen
City's most luxurious hotel, the Royal York. They bunked four or five
to a room. Heady days for the CLA to give their BC champs the best.
Andy Paull remembered the North Shore Indians Toronto stay in 1936. He
had to duck hotel officials while sending collect wires west. This after
the Indians had travelled across Canada living off of dried salmon and
nothing else! Dan McKenzie came to the rescue by providing $1000 out of
his own pocket. Since then CLA fortunes had improved greatly. McKenzie
was even paid back the money owed.
Both teams were allowed to pick up six players. New Westminster took
advantage by adding such talent as Richmond's 50 goal scorer Roy Pinder
and from Vancouver John Cavallin, John Dale, Harry Buchanan and
goaltender Walt Lee. St.Catharines declinded to begin the series with
any imports. Their list of six included: Al Doyle, Scoop Hayes, George
Masters and Al McLean from Mimico, plus Joe Murphy from Lakeshores and
Bill Arthurs from Brampton. The A's announced that none would see
action unless the Salmonbellies were too strong.
Game One took place on the Saturday of the Thanksgiving long weekend.
The Double Blues dominated the loose balls and waltzed to an easy 17-10
victory. The Monday night game started out the same way. After the
opening quarter the tide turned. New Westminster took control as they
owned 90% of the loose balls. Led by pint size firebrand Ike
Hildebrand, playmaker Pete Meehan and goalie Walt Lee they won the
contest 13-4. With no rest(a Mann Cup first) the squads did battle
Tuesday evening in the best game of the series. It wasn't decided until
Doug Cove scored with 20 seconds left. 11-10 St.Catharines.
Then the off floor antics commenced. Game Four of the series was
scheduled for St.Catharines. The CLA were glad of it as the Maple Leaf
Gardens crowds had been as small as rental cost of the arena had been
large. They were losing money and happy to get out of town. Unluckily
they had made a pre-series oversight. They had neglected to inform the
Salmonbellies that St.Catharines had an outdoor bowl with a dirt floor.
Fishman coach Jack Wood refused to make the trip. He pointed to the
constitution which clearly stated that the Final must be played indoors.
A committee of five arranged to meet with the Salmonbelly executives
Wednesday - for an arm twisting session. New Westminster stood firm to
their position. The Athletics likewise got their backs up and insisted
the game be played as scheduled on Thursday night. By Thursday all of
Ontario had turned against the Salmonbellies, who were seen to be trying
to twist the CLA around their finger, as they had always done. Mimico
Mountaineers offered blankets for the New West players to wrap their
jewels in if it was a cold night. The blankets were not needed as the
game was cancelled. Friday morning St.Catharines notified CLA President
E.E. Barnes that they would play Game Four Saturday night in Toronto.
The Double Blues were only upset by Wood's comment that St.Catharines
fans threw pebbles or rocks at opposition goaltenders. Game Five was
scheduled for Monday in Hamilton.
The fourth match went to overtime. Tied at 8-8, the Fishmen took charge
in the ten minute fifth period to win 11-8. Goals by Bill Dickinson,
John Cavallin and Pete Meehan starved off elimination. Lacrosse
septuagenarian Fred Waghorne described it as the best lacrosse he'd seen
in years. Bill Wilkes was the game's lone casaulty. He took a ball in
the eye, forcing him to see an specialist the next day. He was not
cleared to play in the deciding contest.
After two great games, the stage was set for a terrific finale. Sure
enough, controversy again marred proceedings. St.Catharines was given
permission to bring in some of their extra players for the last game.
To go one step further, George Masters was away on naval duty, thus the
A's were allowed to replace him with Bill Isaacs. This decision was
made despite the rule book stating clearly that a list of players had to
be submitted before the start of the series and no other players were
eligible to be picked up. Money was the motivator behind this incorrect
ruling. The four games to date had attracted a disasterously low 14,000
fans. The final match was to be played in Hamilton and what better way
to secure a big crowd then to allow the Athletics to use the Tigers'
greatest player. Salmonbelly manager Grumpy Spring was not happy with
the decision to allow new blood. He was quoted as saying, "Six fresh
men, eh? That's just swell. I guess Wood and I will have to strip for
our side."
The Monday game was a well played, hard fought contest. It was even
late in the third quarter when Bill Whitaker fired a ball skyward and
smashed a light. A 22 minute delay followed. For the last stretch of
the match St.Catharines went with two lines of six. That plus the play
of Isaacs, Arthurs and Hayes was the difference. They won the game and
the cup by an 11-9 score. Bill Isaacs led them with 2 goals and 1
assist. Bill Arthurs added a pair of goals. Scoop Hayes contributed
two assists. While the fourth addition Al Doyle chipped in with a two
minute penalty. Hey! fair is fair. Roy Pinder scored 6 goals and 11
points in the series, while John Dale had 6 points and Walt Lee played
every minute of the final four games.
A Mann Cup game at the Hamilton Arena was a novel affair. One
adjustment spectators needed to make was that there was no fence above
the boards. Consequently the ball was always flying out of play. On
one occasion a woman was hit in the eye. The other fans were better at
ducking. The game in Hamilton also drew interest outside lacrosse
circles. Foster Hewitt made himself at home in the press box to do the
radio broadcast. Neither Rex Stimers or Norm Marshall, who had been
covering the series, liked that. Stimers was the voice of the A's and
notorious for his phantom broadcasts of games. He often called road
games from a St.Catharines studio, making up the play by play as he went
along. During the third quarter delay to fix the light, much time was
wasted trying to find a ladder. The one they eventually found Hewitt
had used to climb up to the press box. Which makes one wonder if they
put it back after. Possibly a Marshall/Stimers conspiracy to get back
at the interloper? It would have been a curious thing to see Foster
Hewitt marooned in the press box long after the fifth game had
concluded.
