1963 - JIM BISHOP RETURNS TO JUNIOR 


1963 - JIM BISHOP RETURNS TO JUNIOR

The Green Gaels continued their tour of the province and landed in
Oshawa.  Regardless of where the team was based Jim Bishop could draw
talent from all over.  He had started in Oakville, in 1953, and posted a
winning record immediately.  The club finished fourth and fell to the
defending Minto Cup champions in the Semi Finals.  Denny McIntosh was
Bishop's star player.  The next two seasons were spent in Newmarket.  A
pair of first place finishes as McIntosh was joined by such talented
youngsters as Don Baker, Bill Davenport, Hugh Devine, Charlie Ludlow,
Jack Madgett, Ralph McCormick and Clarke Pulford.  Both years the Gaels
faltered in the Final, losing seven game series to Long Branch.  The
next experiment was in Mimico and a disasterous last place finish.
Bishop headed north and the Huntsville Green Gaels were born in 1957.
By that time only Devine remained from the great Newmarket teams.  The
result was another losing season, only 3 wins and 15 losses.  Like
Napoleon retreating from Moscow, Jim Bishop fled to the minors to start
from scratch all over again.

While Bishop revitalised small town lacrosse, turning Huntsville into a
provincial power at the minor level as he coached as many as five teams
a year, far to the south Ontario County was embracing the game again.
Since the glory years of the Oshawa Generals at the end of the field
era, the only county lacrosse had been the Brooklin Intermediates.  The
County Town of Whitby joined Junior to replace Peterborough in 1958.  A
1-17 record plus a playoff sweep was the best they could do.  Whitby did
have some talent, namely Olympian Brian Gibson and Glen Lotton.  In '59
they finished 3-21 and missed the playoffs.  By that time Terry Davis
had joined from Peterborough.  The next year came the Whitby Red Wings
Minto Cup run as they ended Brampton's three year reign.  By 1961 the
Red Wings had added the greatest Junior of them all, John Davis, but
they fell to sixth place and dropped out of Jr.A at the end of the
season.

Thus it was up to Jim Bishop to pick up the pieces in 1963.  He moved
his sporting goods store to Oshawa, took a job at CKLB Radio and
returned the Green Gaels to Jr.A.  Huntsville products Tom Conlin and
David Lough joined Bishop from Brampton, plus John Davis returned to
Ontario County after a year in Hastings.  The result was a strong 17-7
record, tied for second place.  This time the Gaels would not falter in
the playoffs.  Unlike the Newmarket teams, the Oshawa squad had a 16
year old goaltender named Merv Marshall who would not allow his team to
lose.  There would be no choke in the OLA Finals.  Bishop's Boys went
through the league post season with a 10-2 record, both losses coming in
Brampton.  That earned them the right to host the Minto Cup, facing the
defending champion Victoria Shamrocks.

Oshawa won the opening game at the Whitby Arena 10-7.  Conlin scored
three times and Lough picked up four points.  The home side won the next
contest 11-4.  Davis was high man with a hattrick.  The Shamrocks fought
back with wins in the next two matches.  They took a 10-9 game in spite
of five goals and two assists from Brampton pick up John McCauley.
Victoria then overcame a four goal effort by John Davis to win 9-6.  In
the end they could not overcome the netminding of Marshall.  Davis
scored five points, Alderwood pickup Wally Hutzel four more and Larry
Ireland added a hattrick as the Gaels won 12-6.  An 11-6 victory
followed as McCauley scored three times and Tom Conlin had four points.
For the first time the Jim McConaghy Trophy was presented to the series
MVP.  Merv Marshall became the inaugral winner.

Seventeen years work had finally been rewarded as Jim Bishop had won the
Minto Cup.  He was only beginning.  Of far greater importance was the
influence this success and the ones to follow would have on the game.
Ontario County lacrosse had finally been established and Durham Region
lacrosse would come to dominate the game.  Had Bishop not moved down
from Huntsville there might not have been Minto Cup winners in Oshawa
and Whitby, or Mann Cup winners in Brooklin.  Bishop's greatest legacy
would be the number of his players who would go on to coaching success.
Jim Hinkson('80 Minto Cup) John McCauley('80 Mann Cup) Peter Vipond('84
Minto, 5 Mann Cups) Neil Armstrong('85 Minto) David Lough('98 & '00
Mintos) and Derek Keenan(Toronto Beaches).  Not to forget championship
assistant coach Elmer Tran or the influence Bishop had on the legendary
Bob Hanna.  The move to Oshawa was one of the most important lacrosse
events of the past forty years!

On the senior front, the Brooklin Merchants were already banging at the
Mann Cup door.  Glen Lotton and Cy Coombes swept the top two scoring
positions as Brooklin finished in first place with a 15-9 record.
St.Catharines were right behind them at 14-9.  The A's had top scorers
Jim McNulty, Gary Moore, Doug Smith and Gerry Cheevers(future NHL
goaltender).  Port Credit and Brampton both had losing seasons.

Alas the Merchants failed to profit from their regular season success
and went bankrupt in the playoffs.  Brooklin began well, with a 10-6
home victory.  Port Credit responded with a 7-5 win.  Then they took
control of the series with a 7-6 road triumph.  A 9-6 win followed
giving the Sailors a commanding 3-1 lead.  Brooklin came back with a
14-3 win followed by a convincing 13-6 victory in Port Credit.  Yet
Porky Russell silenced the Merchant shooters in the crucial seventh
game.  Port Credit won it 5-3.

The other series also looked like an upset as last place Brampton
grabbed a 3-1 lead on St.Catharines.  The Athletics stormed back with
three consecutive victories.  They immediately extended their winning
streak to seven games as they swept the Sailors in the league final.
The first Senior championship for St.Catharines since 1946.  It would be
their last ever!

The Double Blues were hardly expected to win the Mann Cup on the west
coast.  In fact they were not even expected to win a game.  Vancouver
Carlings had finished first in the ICLL with a 22-7-1 record.  Their top
scorers were Gord Gimple, Sid Warick and Bill Barbour, plus they had
first team all star goaltender Merv Schweitzer and all star defencemen
Bill Chisholm and Wayne Pecknold.  In the playoffs they defeated New
Westminster four games to two.

They greeted the eastern champs by winning the first three games.
St.Catharines then surprised every one by taking Games Four and Five.
Vancouver coach Alec McKay claimed that the Athletics were trying to
maim his players.  St.Catharines player/coach Jim McNulty replied, "If
they don't like the wood, they should get out of the game."  Yet penalty
minutes hardly reflected brutal behavior on the part of the visitors.
In the series the Brew Boys racked up 156 minutes compared to the A's
94!  Chalk it up to gamesmanship on the part of McKay.  His whining
ceased the moment Vancouver won the sixth game 12-6.

Gord Gimple was series leading scorer with thirteen goals and nineteen
points.  He also took home the Mike Kelly Award.  John Cervi also had
nineteen points and Wayne Pecknold popped in ten goals.  Gary Moore led
the A's with ten goals and fifteen points.  Jr.A addition Doug Favell
Jr.(the future NHLer) scored six points in five games.  Pat Baker was
picked up from Brooklin and split goaltending duty with Bob McCready.
He had five assists in three games.  Previously no netminder had scored
more than two points in a Mann Cup series.