1964 - BROOKLIN BREAKTHROUGH 


The village of Brooklin won its first Ontario championship this year.
Admittedly most of the talent was imported from Oshawa, Peterborough or
Whitby, still it was a great accomplishment for a community of less than
2,000 people.  In the Canadian Championship they would face the city of
Vancouver...only in lacrosse!

Peterborough returned to the Senior Circuit and took away some of the
Merchants talent.  Cy Coombes headed home to become player/coach.  Larry
Ferguson joined him.  Yet Brooklin did hang on to Grant Heffernan, Ken
Ruttan and, most importantly, Pat Baker.  The Speedy Erns(yes that was
the Petes' new nickname) had to settle for Russ Dunn in goal.  Current
Laker owner Ted Higgins saw two periods of action in relief and actually
beat Port Credit.  Plus Lloyd Wotton returned to goal one last time.  He
was the same superstitious Moon.  He would not allow anyone to
photograph him before a game.  Also he always stepped into his pants
right foot first.  In his solo start, Wotton filled in for thirteen
minutes against Brampton and only surrendered two goals before giving
way to the late arriving Dunn.

The Merchants finished in first place with an 18-6 record, followed
closely by Brampton at 15-9.  Led by goaltender Baker, Brooklin had the
best defence in the league, giving up only 197 goals.

The Excelsiors scored a league leading 271 goals.  They were led by

scoring champ Don Arthurs, the only Brampton player to make the top

ten.  For the first time in five years the league had a fifty goal
scorer.  Straight out of Junior, Arthurs counted 70 goals and 44
assists. Only one other player came close to 50 goals.  Brooklin's

Glen Lotton fell one shy at 49.  He finished third in the scoring race,
just ahead of his playmaking teammate Grant Heffernan.  With 52 assists
Heffernan became only the seventh player to count over 50 in one season
and the first to do so since Ross Powless back in 1956.

St.Catharines was also in the hunt with 14 wins.  They were followed by
Peterborough at 10-14.  Reknown goalscorer Cy Coombes finished second in
the scoring race and second in playmaking with 49 assits.  Port Credit
and Huntsville both missed the playoffs with eight and seven wins
respectively.  The Sailors had lost Bob Hanna as the big guy jumped ship
to join the Merchants.  Huntsville was led by Minto Cup winner Tom
Conlin and Fergus junior star John Roberts.

The previous year, Brooklin had won the Regular Season

championship for the first time, then bombed out in the opening playoff
round.  The Merchants came from 3-1 down only to lose the seventh game
at home to Port Credit.  Against the defending champions the Red Shirts
won three out of the first four, including a key 6-5 overtime contest.
St.Catharines came back.  Wins of 8-7 and 5-3 forced the series to its
limit.  The deciding match was a 10-9 thriller.  Heffernan's deuce,
including a shorthanded marker, saved Brooklin.

It was no picnic for the Excelsiors either as they dueled Peterborough
for seven games.  The home team won every single game convincingly.

The series opener was the closest of the bunch.  The Excelsiors won
14-11.  Gord Thompson scored three goals and Larry Ferguson had a
quartet for the Erns.  Peterborough followed with a 15-10 victory.  Thus
the competitors went back and forth.  Brampton 11-6, Peterborough 13-9,
Brampton 13-7 and Peterborough 12-9.  Wayne Platt took over in the Petes
goal starting in Game Three.  Jim Thompson went all the way for the
Excelsiors.  The sixth game in Peterborough drew just under 2,000 fans.
Brampton ended the series by doubling the Speedy Erns 16-8.  They won
the first period 6-1 and never looked back.  Ferguson had four goals and
two assists for the losers.

This was the year Ontario lacrosse fans were treated to twenty-one
playoff games in three series.  The League Final would also go the
distance.  After an opening victory, the Merchants ended Brampton's
dominance at home.  It took them over 80 minutes to defeat the
Excelsiors though!  Glen Lotton tied the contest with 44 seconds left in
the third period. A ten minute overtime could not decide the game.  11
minutes and 48 seconds of sudden death lacrosse would also be necessary.
 Eventually Elmer Tran ended the second longest game in OLA history,
11-10 Brooklin. Back home they went up three games by doubling the
Excelsiors 12-4.

Next came the Excelsior comeback.  Brampton looked to be in control
during the fourth game but nearly lost it to a late Brooklin rally.
Down 7-4, the Merchants scored two power play goals, then Glen Lotton
tied it with a shorthanded marker in the final two minutes.  Twelve
seconds later, Junior call up John McCauley notched the winner.  He
added another with 38 seconds left.  In Game Five the Excelsiors finally
won a road playoff game.  A five goal second period put them in position
for the upset.  With the contest knotted 5-5, John Spicer scored the
winner with less then three minutes remaining in the third period.  It
came on a neat passing play from Bruce Wanless.  The next match was
another 6-5 win.  The Brampton power play decided this one.  They scored
three times, while giving up two shorthanded.  Ken Ruttan had a hattrick
for Brooklin but it wasn't enough.  Bruce Castator counted the deciding
goal, with the manadvantage, midway through the third period.

The deciding contest was a remarkable see-saw battle.  Don Arthurs led
the visitors with four goals, as Grant Heffernan countered with a five
point game for the home side.  It was Brampton's turn to jump ahead 3-0.
That lead was cut to 4-3 by the end of the first period.  They extended
their advantage to 6-3, however three unanswered goals by Brooklin
turned the match around.  The period ended at 6-6 and the Merchants went
on to outscore the Excelsiors 4-1 in the third.  10-7 Brooklin, it's
first OLA Senior A championship.


The Mann Cup commenced at the Whitby Arena on September 12th.  Castrol
Oils had inked a four year deal to sponsor the Mann and Minto Cup
finals.  This dispells that rumour that the Long Branch Castrolites Jr.A
club was supported by friends of the Cuban Communist Party.


Vancouver Carlings represented the ICLL.  They led the opening game 7-5
early in the third quarter but only beat Pat Baker once more.  The
Merchants fought back for a 10-8 victory.  Pick ups Bob
Allan(Peterborough) and Ron Roy(St.Catharines) both scored hattricks.
Brooklin was soon up two games.  They led the second contest 6-5 at the
half, then scored three unanswered third quarter goals to pull away.
The final result was 11-7.  Another pick up, Larry Ferguson, led with
three goals.  Allan and Roy both bulged the twine twice.  Carlings'
coach Alex McKay praised the work of Pat Baker.  He also complained
about the narrowness of the Whitby Arena floor.  Fortunately for the
Brew Boys, the arena would not be available for Game Three, thus the
series would move to Peterborough's Civic Arena for one night.

With the chance to stretch their legs, the Carlings took advantage.
Actually it was the defence and netminding of Norm Nestman which won
them the 9-5 contest.  Brooklin was minus captain Glen Lotton, out with
a pulled groin.  The Merchants led 2-0 early but were down 4-2 by the
thirty minute mark.  The Brew Boys extended their run to nine
consecutive goals.  Back in the safe confines of Whitby, Brooklin went
up 3-1.  Lotton was back, however Grant Heffernan missed the game with a
bruised hip.  Vancouver took the opening quarter 4-1.  The Merchants
beat Nestman six times in the second and led 7-6 at the half.  They went
on to a 14-10 triumph.  Lotton scored four times.  Brooklin's other ten
goals were all scored by pick ups - Jack Madgett(3) Roy(2) Allan(2) Cy
Coombes(2) Ferguson(1).

Now the Carlings had to win in Whitby!  Whitby Town Council was not
expecting them to ever win in the County Town.  During their meeting
Alderman Bob Attersley(former Whitby Dunlop) moved that the town's anti
noise law be waived for the Brooklin celebration.  The request was
seconded by Alderman Tom Edwards and passed.  The gauntlet had been
passed.  Could the Brew Boys keep Whitby quiet?

It was time for heros to step forward and 215 pounder Fred Usselman did
so for Vancouver.  He beat Pat Baker six times in the fourth game.  The
Red Shirts led 5-4 in the second quarter when Usselman scored three
times in 2 1/2 minutes.  That gave the Carlings a lead they would not
relinquish.  They won 13-10.  John Cervi contributed six points in
support and Alex Carey had a hattrick.  Eight out of Brooklin's ten
goals were scored by pick ups.  Merchant Manager Art Morton was
unconcerned by the loss.  "I told you we'd take them in six," was his
response to reporters.

Game Six proved to be one of the greatest games in Mann Cup history.  No
question the finish will never be matched.  Vancouver led 9-7 early in
the fourth quarter.  A Brooklin spurt put them ahead 10-9 midway
through.  The Carlings responded with three goals in three minutes.
First Cervi set up Carey to tie it.  Next Usselman made it 11-10.  Nine
seconds later it was 12-10 as Cervi helped Carey again.  That appeared
to be the end of it as the clock wound into the last minute.  With 28
seconds remaining Glen Lotton gave the home side hope.  Seven seconds
later Bob Allan tied the contest 12-12!  The Brew Boys struck back
immediately.  Gord Gimple blasted a shot past Baker with twelve seconds
left.  Yet the Merchants were not done.  They won the ensuing draw and
Ron Roy was sent in alone. Norm Nestman robbed him with two seconds on
the clock.  13-12 Vancouver.

A crowd of 1,860 attended the final game.  It was all Brooklin early.
They built a 4-0 lead before Vancouver could even get a shot on goal.
The visitors first chance came late in the quarter.  Bill Chisholm
scored after taking a perfect pass from Pete Black.  From that point on
the Carlings whittled away at the lead.  They cut the margin to 4-3 by
halftime.  Chisholm tied it in the third period, then the Brew Boys ran
in four more to take control.  They went on to win the game 10-5.  Bob
Allan finished the series with nine points more than any other player.
He was named MVP.  It was the first time an eastern player on the losing
team had won the Kelly Award.

Jim Bishop again had the best junior team in Canada.  With Oshawa's John
Davis setting records for assists, 93, and points, 184, the Gaels rolled
to another title.  Davis won the scoring race by an incredible 63
points!  In the Minto Cup, New Westminster were competitive but only
able to win once.  Davis led the series with 23 points, while Ken
Thompson's 13 goals were best.  Sentimental favourite Gaylord Powless
took home the McConaghy.