1960 - PORT CREDIT ARENA OPENS 


Long Branch Monarchs found a new home to begin the season.  They moved
down the lakeshore a short distance to an arena by the Credit River
which looked more like a big barn .  Thus the Port Credit Sailors were
born.  Like the Welland Switsons, they would have immediate success.  In
fact Port Credit lacrosse fans would quickly be spoiled.  First they
would host a Mann Cup Final, then the next year the Minto Cup would come
to town.

It was still a four team Senior League.  Brampton and Peterborough were
back, Long Branch had moved to Port Credit and Welland had returned to
St.Catharines.  It wasn't a very offensive league.  Teams averaged under
ten goals per game for only the third time in OLA Box history.  The 1960
season was the lowest scoring since 1932.  Port Credit was the only club
to average over ten goals per game - 241 in 24 games!  Peterborough had
the only faltering defence as they surrendered an astronomical 11.82
goals per outing!  Pat Baker was slow to fill Lloyd Wotton's shoes.

Port Credit Memorial Arena drew a crowd of 1,000 for its first game.
The Sailors defeated Brampton 10-6.  At a later date an exhibition game
was held which raised $700 for a crippled childrens fund.  Port Credit
beat Long Branch 12-7.

It was a winning year for coach Elmer Lee and his Sailors.  They took
first place with a 17-7 record, the only team with a winning record.
St.Catharines followed at 10-11-1, Brampton 11-13 and Peterborough a
distant 7-14-1.  The Athletics grabbed second on the strength of winning
one 4 point game against the Mercurys.  Yes Peterborough actually
finished in last place!  How quickly the mighty had fallen.  The team
was virtually unchanged from the previous year.  They were without Bob
Allan(who played only one game) however Ike Hildebrand replaced him and
was a top ten scorer as usual.  Lou Nickle had jumped ship to Port
Credit.  The key difference: no Lloyd Wotton.  Pat Baker was a very good
goaltender but with Moon gone the Mercurys lost that decade old
psychological edge.  Baker in Peterborough and Bob McCready with the
Whitby Juniors, at that time, would lead lacrosse netminding into the
modern era.  Baker scored 1 goal and picked up 13 assists in his first
year as undisputed starter.  Wotton didn't even have 13 career assists
to his name - though he did score a goal once!

There were some great shooters in the league but none managed to score
50 goals.  The closest were Ron Roy and Brian Aherne(43) Florie
Tomchishen(42) and Larry Ferguson(40).  Roy was also top playmaker with
27 assists and edged Tomchishen for the scoring title by 5 points.  It
was a young league as few players' Senior careers extended back to the
1940s.  Ike Hildebrand was one of the exceptions.  After sitting out two
seasons he was back as fresh as ever.  Bob Thorpe was the other
oldtimer.  He returned to Double Blue for a handful of games.

Once again everyone made the playoffs!  The Excelsiors were looking for
another Semi Final upset and started by winning in Port Credit.  The
Sailors answered by doubling Brampton 12-6.  Dave 'Porky' Russell was
even better the next night as he held the Excelsiors to two goals.  Only
Gord Thompson and Jack Madgett beat him as Port Credit won 6-2.  Wayne
Thompson scored four goals in Game Four, yet Brampton still lost 8-6.
The Maroons did win once more.  Wayne Thompson scored three more and
Bill Wanless also had a hattrick in an 8-5 victory.  The Sailors ended
the series with a narrow 8-7 triumph.



For the first time in ten years Peterborough lost an OLA playoff series
with all their senior players dressed.  St.Catharines earned the honour
and dispatched them in five games.  The opener was an offensive treat.
The A's won 16-7 as Ron Roy scored seven times and Larry Ferguson
blasted five in.  The next evening Bob Curtis' five goal effort helped
the Mercurys to their lone win, 14-11.  Back home the Double Blues again
shot the lights out.  They outscored Peterborough 17-6, Jim McNulty
leading with five markers.  St.Catharines grabbed a strangle hold on the
series with a 14-8 win.  Six point nights from Gary Carr and McNulty for
the winners.  Jack Timlock starred in the finale, a convincing 11-3
victory.

The Athletics went into the Final without Jim McNulty, away in
Charlotte, North Carolina.  They would miss him as Porky Russell was at
his best.  Three goals were all the visitors could manage on August
30th.  Larry Ruse and Paul Henderson both scored a pair and that was
enough.  The Sailors added a few more to register a 7-3 victory.
St.Catharines doubled their total at home, thanks to a four goal game
from Roy.  Brian Aherne matched that effort, plus Ruse and George
Kapasky contributed hattricks.  Port Credit took it 11-6.  Another 11-6
game gave the Sailors a commanding 3-0 lead.  The Double Blues finally
solved Russell by Game Four.  They won 12-6 as Dave Hall scored five
points.  Porky was back on form for the last contest.  Aherne's four
goals were sufficient as Port Credit won 8-3.

Next came the daunting task of facing the ICLL champion.  Port Credit
got a nice break when third place Nanaimo Labatts, with their 15-14
record, upset 20-10 Vancouver in six games.  It wasn't really that big a
break for Porky Russell.  He would have to face two of the west's top
scorers, 70 goal man Jack Bionda and 41 goalgetter Skip MacKay.  Nanaimo
also had four time Mann Cup winner Don Ashbee and three timer Arn Dugan.
 Not to forget veteran Archie Browning, who had played more senior games
than half the Sailor line up combined!  The Labatts came east with ten
Canadian champions in their lineup.  To meet them was Port Credit's lone
former winner Lou Nickle.  And just to make a sure thing safe, Nanaimo
picked up Les Norman to back up Fred Fulla.  With three consecutive
sweeps and sixteen straight wins in the books, western fans can be
forgiven for packing brooms.

The Mann Cup's greatest upset ever began with Russell outduelling Fulla
in a 10-9 nailbiter.  Nanaimo had received it's wake up call.  They got
an even bigger jolt when they lost the second match 12-11!  By Game
Three the Labatts meant business.  They led 12-8 with 5 minutes left in
the third quarter.  A stunning twenty minutes followed as the Sailors
outscored them 9-1 to win 17-13!  Invincible Les Norman was called to
work in relief of an ailing Fred Fulla for Game Four.  Norman extended
his perfect Mann Cup record to 9-0 as the westerners bounced back with
an 11-5 win.  Could the OLA be instore for the ultimate embarrassment,
blowing a 3-0 lead?  Not this year.  Larry Ruse solved Norman by scoring
three second half goals as Port Credit took the fifth game 9-7.  Poor
Archie Browning!  He'd seen Favell, Wotton and now Russell.  In his
final Mann Cup appearance he had been beaten for the fifth time.  He'd
retire with only one championship, way back in 1947.

It was no surprise Porky Russell was named series MVP.  In five games he
stopped 154 shots, over 30 a night!  Skip MacKay led the series with 10
goals and 19 points.  Jack Bionda had 8 and 17 points.  Don Ashbee also
chipped in with 8 goals.  Overall Nanaimo outscored the new champions
53-51.  No one on Port Credit finished more than 13 points.  Larry Ruse
led them with 10 goals.  Brian Aherne and George Kapasky followed with 8
each.  Florie Tomchishen added 7.  Of course statistics are for losers -
as the Sailors proved.

After two last place seasons in the Junior ranks Whitby went about
turning things around in 1960.  With sponsorship from Red Wing Orchards,
Coach Bev Groves signed last year juniors Terry Davis(from Peterborough)
and Bob 'Buff' McCready(from St.Catharines).  McCready was already a
seasoned veteran with a wanderlust.  A couple of years earlier he had
started in goal for Cornwall, a team which played a series of exhibition
games against OLA Senior opponents.

The Red Wings went from last to first, though their record of 13-6-1 was
one of the worst of any pennant winner in OLA Jr.A history.  The problem
was winning on the road.  Neither Whitby, nor any of its rivals, could
do so with consistency.  In the Semi Finals fourteen games were played
and the home side won every one!  St.Catharines and Long Branch both
fell one game short.  The final series had a sixth game shocker when the
Red Wings won in Brampton, taking the series 4 games to 2.

With only one victory in six post season games, the future did not look
bright for the west coast bound Ontario champions.  Indeed Whitby fell
to New Westminster 4 games to 1.  The Salmonbellies took the first game
16-10.  Doug Wallsmith led them with four goals and an assist.  Terry
Davis scored four times for Whitby and Bryan Gibson had a hattrick.
Buff McCready helped on two markers.  The Red Wings lone win was a 15-9
contest.  Gibson and Wally Thorne scored three and Mike Gates had a trio
for the losers.  The remaining matches were New Westminster victories of
12-5, 8-4 and 11-7.  Gates counted five points in Game Three, a goal in
the fourth encounter and two goals in the finale.