1957 - THE ALLAN FIASCO 


The darkest incident in CLA history descended upon lacrosse on the eve
of the '57 Mann Cup.  In the past, and the future, the CLA had had
serious disagreements with the Ontario or BC leagues or individual
clubs.  Every time the CLA had backed down because the organisation's
role was purely symbolic, it had no real power because, unlike the OLA
and ICLL, it had no teams.  The Orillia tour of the west in 1934 was the
perfect example.  The CLA threatened suspensions for every player
involved, yet backed down hastily when Ontario and BC presented a united
front against them.  Likewise for Alberta's entry in the 2000 Minto Cup.
 The CLA huffed and puffed about making the OLA and BCJLL champs play
for the Dixie Cup but, in the end, the national governing body had to
give way.  So long as that united front was maintained the CLA could do
nothing.  At the end of the '57 season there was no united front, thus
the CLA refused to back down - to the eternal regret of the Peterborough
Trailermen.

It all involved Peterborough native Bob Allan.  Allan had left the Petes
to join Nanaimo for the 1956 season.  He came east with the Timbermen
and defeated his former mates in the Mann Cup Final.  Even though
Peterborough had lost Harry Wipper and Allan both to Nanaimo - and the
rules stated you could not lose two players to the same team - there was
no protest made.  Yet the next spring Allan decided to return to the
Trailermen.  The problem was that Allan had already signed to play for
Nanaimo again.  He rejoined the Peterborough Seniors without getting his
release.  No problem.  In an incredibly revisionist act OLA Commissioner
Ed Blair did the Trailermen a favour by ruling that Allan's initial
transfer to Nanaimo had been illegal.  So Allan had the okay to resume
his Peterborough career.  Permission granted by the OLA, however the
ICLL and CLA still considered Bob Allan Nanaimo property.  There would
be trouble if Peterborough went west for the Mann Cup.

Naturally the defending OLA champs were expected to win a record seventh
straight title.  They had only three competitors, Long Branch Pontiacs,
St.Catharines Athletics and Hamilton Lincoln Burners.  The schedule was
shortened and Peterborough waltzed to first place with a 13-5 record. 
Long Branch surprisingly kept pace, finishing only two points back. 
Both Hamilton and St.Catharines had losing records.

Bob Allan won a scoring title for the third successive year.  He was the
league's only 50 goal scorer and his 96 points placed him comfortably
ahead of Hamilton's Jim McNulty(another former ICLL scoring champ).  Bob
Curtis, Ike Hildebrand and Bob Batley were Peterborough's other leading
scorers.  Defending scoring champ Ross Powless had another strong year
with Hamilton.  The Burners also picked up veteran Jerry Fitzgerald.

In the Semi Finals, Long Branch swept St.Catharines.  Hamilton, on the
other hand, gave the Trailermen all they could handle.  Peterborough
narrowly won the opener 10-9, despite a six point effort from McNulty. 
The next couple of games Allan went to work.  His seven points helped
the Petes to a 15-13 win.  That was followed by a five goal effort in a
13-9 decision.  Hamilton was down 3-0 but did not give up.  The
Trailermen were without Bob Allan for the next pair of contests and the
Burners took advantage.  Ray Main scored four goals and Jerry Fitzgerald
had eight points in a 17-16 thriller.  Next Jim McNulty had a five point
night as Hamilton won 13-6.  Peterborough scrambled to get Allan and Lou
Nickle back in the line up for Game Six.  They doubled the Burners 14-7,
thanks to a nine point effort from Bob Curtis.  Bob Allan chipped in
with a hattrick and Nickle scored three points.

Rested Long Branch awaited the winners, however the young Pontiacs would
run into a redhot Lloyd Wotton.  They managed only four goals in Game
One as the defending champions set the tone for the series with a seven
goal victory.  Allan scored four times and helped on four others.  The
match in Long Branch was a tight 9-8 Peterborough win.  Bob Batley was
high man with four counters.  The Trailermen then won 13-9.   The game
had to be called early due to a brawl with 30 seconds remaining.  As
things got out of hand the lights were turned off.  The result of the
donneybrook was that both clubs had to post a $100 bond guaranteeing
their good behavior in the next contest.  They did keep it clean as
Peterborough claimed another 9-8 road win.  As the Trailermen headed
west it appeared that Long Branch's season was over.  Concluded for
everyone except Florie Tomchishen, the one Pontiac picked up by the
eastern champs.  But looks can be deceiving.  Especially when
Peterborough were heading to Victoria for a showdown with the CLA, plus
their own OLA commissioner!

The battle lines were drawn early: the CLA would not allow the
Trailermen to use Bob Allan.  Technically they were correct that Allan
had signed to play for Nanaimo, therefore he could not play for
Peterborough.  Yet the hypocrisy was tough to stomach.  Besides Nanaimo
breaking the rules the previous year, St.Catharines players were all
over BC, including Jim Bradshaw - Victoria's top scorer.  Had the
Athletics ever been compensated for this loss of talent?  Of course they
hadn't!  Still the west stood by their belief that Peterborough native
Bob Allan was Nanaimo property.

The news was all over Victoria, heightening interest in the Final.  Over
3,000 fans turned out for the opening match.  Unfortunately for them
there was much going on behind the scenes as game time drew near. 
Peterborough planned to play the game with Allan and fight about it
after.  If they lost the opening contest there wouldn't even be a
protest, thus everyone might be able to settle down and play lacrosse. 
So long as the Trailermen held their ground, past and future history
suggested that the CLA would back down.  They couldn't have a Dominion
championship with four forfeited games!

What followed did not have to happen.  Unluckily it did.  Ed Blair
intervened.  He met with Peterborough team manager Bob Curtin and
President Max Kaye.  He was not representing anyone but himself but he
led the Trailermen officials to believe he was presenting a threat on
behalf of the CLA.  That was exactly what he did, threatened to have the
Peterborough players banned from ALL sports if they played with Bob
Allan.  What Blair's motives were are unfathomable.  As OLA Commissioner
he was suppose to be acting on behalf of the eastern champs.  Had he
done his job the CLA would have backed down and the
Peterborough/Victoria series would have taken place as it should have. 
Instead he sent the Peterborough officials into a panic - over a threat
he could not back up.  Kaye and Curtin losing their heads was the next
key to this disaster.  Common sense dictated that the CLA couldn't ban
lacrosse players from other sports.  As for being banned from lacrosse,
that possibility had not worried anyone prior to the Blair threat.  In
fairness to the Peterborough officials, Ed Blair was suppose to be their
ally, representing their interests throughout the entire controversy. 
His threat indicated that the OLA had decided to abandon Peterborough. 
Consequently the panic.

The next decision sealed Peterborough's fate.  The Trailermen were a
proud team which truly believed they had a right to use Bob Allan.  They
had the moral high ground, therefore they were not going to back down. 
However the threat of an all sports ban if they played with Allan
spooked them.  The only way to get around that was to not play at all. 
Thus Curtin and Kaye instructed the players not to play.  It was the
worst decision they could have made!  After a 45 minute delay the game
was forfeited to Victoria.

It was hard to believe the two sides couldn't have sat down and sorted
through the misunderstanding caused by the Blair threat.  Unfortunately
Peterborough had gone too far by not taking the floor for Game One.  The
CLA could not back down now.  Their response was truly vindictive.

The Peterborough team was kicked out of its hotel and had to get home at
its own expense because their return plane tickets had been confiscated.
 On top of that, each player - except for Florie Tomchishen - was
suspended from the game for five years.  Tomchishen would still get to
play for the Mann Cup because the CLA flew out Long Branch to replace
the Trailermen.  They were destroyed by Victoria in four straight -
outscored 51-23!

There was one great lacrosse series in 1957 and it involved
Peterborough.  The Junior U.E.W.'s had finished first and met defending
OLA champion Brampton in the league final.  The result was a memorable
series.  Peterborough won at home 14-9, thanks to hattricks from Larry
Ferguson, Paul Parnell and Pete Heffernan.  They were defeated in
Brampton 13-5 as Bob Pulford scored three times.  Dan Quinlan missed the
second game with a broken nose but he returned to score twice in the
next contest.  The UEW's won 16-12.  The Excelsiors evened the series
with a 9-6 win.  Bert Naylor and Gord Thompson each potted a pair of
goals.  The home teams continued to win.  Ron Jay scored four times in a
14-9 victory.  Brampton rsponded with a 14-8 triumph as four different
players scored twice.  The stage was set for a seventh game in
Peterborough.  A crowd of 1,200 filled the Civic Arena.  It was a tight
nailbiter to the end.  Bob Pulford bulged the twine three times, Larry
Ferguson and Ron Jay counted deuces, plus Wayne and Gord Thompson fired
in a pair each.  Gord Thompson's two goals were the most important. 
With the home side leading 8-7, Thompson tied the contest with 8:46
remaining on a shorthanded effort.  Five minutes later he scored the
winner.

That would be the final junior game for all the Peterborough kids.  With
the Senior club suspended, the entire team moved up for the next season.
 With Peterborough out of Junior the coast was clear for Brampton to run
off three consecutive Canadian championship seasons.  Ed Blair's threat
was having an effect on all levels of lacrosse.  The bitterness of the
entire Allan episode would countinue to haunt the game, even having an
effect on the 1961 Minto Cup!


* I would like to thank Don Barrie for his research into this incident. 
It was his Peterborough Examiner column which enlightened us all.