1952 - PETERBOROUGH'S SWEET REPEAT 

As if they needed it, the Timbermen had a secret weapon for the '52
season.  Throughout the year they consumed 48 cans of honey.  A spoonful
before the game and at halftime to give the players extra energy.  The
idea was Eric Mason's(Curly's father).  I suspect he was a beekeeper. 
Nevertheless honey may have been the difference because Peterborough
barely defended its league title.

Of a more tangible nature, the Petes picked up Six Nations' great Ross
Powless and Lou Nickle, a graduate of the Minto Cup winning Mimico
Mountaineers.  Brampton's Al Garbutt also joined late in the summer as
the Excelsiors had dropped out of the league.  On the downside, the
Timbermen lost Arn Dugan to the West, plus Jerry Fitzgerald missed the
playoffs to join the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Another club just as active at importing talent was Toronto West Yorks. 
They signed Don McPhail and John Hewitt away from Mimico.  They also had
St.Catharines veterans Stu Scott and Ken Croft on their roster.  Nick
Ferri moved over from Brampton.  Plus the Yorks added three graduates
from the St.Catharines Junior dynasty: Leo Teatro, Jim and Joe McNulty. 
To round out their squad was a terrific young netminder named Gordie
Johnston(I have him as Gordie but official western records list him as
Geordie).

Peterborough successfully defended their regular season title with a
23-7 record.  Russ Slater, Jack Mason and Don Ashbee all made the top
ten in scoring but the Timbermen did not have a single fifty goal
scorer.  Mimico followed with 20 victories.  Fred Sandford led the
league with 64 goals and Ken Dixon placed fourth in his final season. 
Toronto also had a winning record with a 17-13 mark.  Teatro and Jim
McNulty were their top gunners.  Hamilton boasted league scoring champ
Jack Dorney, however the Tigers lost as many as they won.  Owen Sound
returned to grab fifth place with 12 wins.  They had eight players back
from the Mann Cup crew, however their goaltending was up in the air most
of the season.  They eventually settled on Bill Taylor but he was no
Moon Wotton.  The Athletics fell to a disasterous 11-19 record.  It
wasn't a bad year for St.Catharines lacrosse, just the A's.  Four Garden
City boys would win the Mann Cup and nine would compete in the OLA
Final.  Fergus placed last, though they had a pair of top ten scorers in
Bob Dobbie and Don Gear.

The 1-6, 2-5, 3-4 format was used in the playoffs for the final time. 
Peterborough humbled the Double Blues in four games.  Yet their one loss
was quite embarrassing.  After winning the series opener 16-8, the
Timbermen travelled to the Haig Bowl and were blasted 16-5!  Al Frick
led with a hattrick and seven points.  Jim McMahon also scored a trio
and five points.  The Mann Cup holders only won Game Three 12-9.  Max
Woolley bedeviled them with a seven point effort.  The series ended with
a 15-9 triumph for the Petes.

The West Yorks advanced to the Semi Final after a convincing performance
against Hamilton.  They started on August 29th with an 18-10 victory. 
Frank Facto next scored five goals in a 12-6 win.  The Tigers took their
only game 9-6, thanks to the heroics of Doug Favell and a pair of goals
each from Merv McKenzie and George Masters.  The series concluded with a
15-7 Toronto triumph.  Nick Ferri scored four times as Don McPhail and
Leo Teatro each potted hattricks.

Owen Sound and Mimico squared off one last time - another tremendous
series.  The Mounties went ahead early.  A tight 11-9 win up north gave
them a 2-0 advantage.  Denny Peterson scored four goals and Ralph
Gowland three more.  The Crescents came back.  A 14-13 thriller at the
Drummond Bowl kept them alive.  Back home the Sounders got a four goal
effort from John Lumley and a trio from Don McWhirter enroute to an
18-11 victory.  The finale in Mimico was anti-climatic.  Red Hartley
held Owen Sound to five goals as the home side ran in sixteen!  Fred
Sandford was high man with four markers.

Lacrosse's version of a Subway Series - though there was no subway
running from Mimico to Weston - featured in the OLA Semi Final.  Funny
enough, a month later the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers would
meet in baseball's first Subway Series.  Ontario's version was a
disappointment.  Toronto bounced Mimico out of the playoffs in three
straight.  The margin of victory grew each contest.  After a 14-11 win,
the West Yorks won by scores of 17-10 and 21-11.

That placed the underdog Toronto crew up against the powerful defending
champions.  They looked out of place initially.  The opener was all
Lloyd Wotton.  He shutdown the Yorks' offence as Peterborough breezed to
a 13-5 win.  Al Garbutt bulged the twine three times and Ike Hildebrand
counted four points.  In Weston, the Timbermen turned on the offence. 
21-13 was the result.  Five goal games from Hildebrand and Harry Wipper.
 Russ Slater added a quartet.  At least Toronto's offence came to life. 
Bill Timpson scored four times and Ken Croft had a seven point night. 
Back at the Miller Bowl, the Yorks sent a warning shot across the bow. 
A stunning 10-8 victory sent the Pete supporters home shellshocked, 
Deuces from Croft, Jim McNulty and Jack Kapasky out shone Slater's
hattrick.  The Mann Cup holders quickly regrouped.  They won a tight 9-7
battle in Weston to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.  Another hattrick
for Slater.  Everyone expected the series to be wrapped up in
Peterborough, yet Toronto again won on the road!  They doubled the
hometown boys 10-5.  McNulty's hattrick marked a turning point in the
series.  yet he got extra support from his mates.  Two goal efforts by
Kapasky and Croft, a three assist game for Leo Teatro, plus stellar
goalkeeping by Gordie Johnston humbled the Timbermen.  The Yorks went
one better by finally winning at home.  A narrow 8-7 win as a number of
players chipped in with a two or three point evening(Stu Scott, John
Hewitt, McNulty, Timpson, Don McPhail and Nick Ferri).  Suddenly the
Final was knotted 3-3 and Peterborough would have to fall back on home
advantage to save them.  That plus extra spoonfuls of honey!

The deciding game turned into a marathon.  On the strength of Teatro's
three goals Toronto took a 9-7 lead to halftime.  Player/Coach Bob
Thorpe must have gazed skyward for divine intervention.  The Lacrosse
Gods smiled on him and his Timbermen.  The clouds rolled in the rain
began to fall.  It continued long enough to have the contest postponed
and rescheduled to be played in its entirety the following night.  Thus
the Yorks two goal advantage evaporated.  As well, the visitors would
have to make the long trek back to Peterborough the next night. 
Advantage had shifted back to the Mann Cup holders and they made it
count.  Great playmaking work from Nip O'Hearn and Curly Mason would
sink Toronto's cause in the rematch.  O'Hearn set up five goals and
Mason four as the Petes took the finale 12-8.

This year Peterborough hosted Vancouver in the Mann Cup.  Once again the
ICLL champs had come from a mediocre third place standing to win the
West.  This time they did not drive the Timbermen through seven hard
games.  It was the first best of seven final to end in less than seven
contests.  In fact, it was as short as possible, four straight.  The
first match was an absolute catastrophie for the travel weary
westerners.  They beat Lloyd Wotton only once.  9-1 was the score. 
Vancouver found themselves the next couple of nights, only to lose
nailbiting 8-7 and 9-8 games.  Game Four was a 15-6 romp for the
Timbermen.  Defensive specialist Lou Nickle became the first OLA runner
to claim the Mike Kelly Award.  He contributed 4 goals and 3 assists in
the series.  Another great two way player, Don Ashbee, was tops with 11
points.  Dootch Vitarelli and Russ Slater both led with 6 goals.