1967 - PETERBOROUGH'S NEXT DYNASTY GOES POOF! 


The Mann Cup champions looked poised to put together a string of titles.
With Pat Baker, they had the best goaltender in the game.  Veteran
leadership from Bob Allan, Cy Coombes and Larry Ferguson was in place. 
They had great youngsters like John Davis, Bill Armour and Jim Paterson.
Plus one of the best two way players in the game Ken Ruttan.  The Don
Byes, as they were now called, looked set to at least win another Mann
Cup.

Regular season play did nothing to diminish their chances.  They
finished in first place with a 17-4-3 record.  Granted three of those
victories came in overtime - Peterborough played eight! - however they
still finished thirteen points ahead of second place Brooklin.  The Don
Byes also had four of the league's top six scorers(Davis, Paterson,
Ruttan and Coombes).  The Davis brothers swept the top two spots again. 
John repeated as scoring champion - the first to do so since Bill
Brunskill in 1944-45.

Then it all fell apart.  Peterborough played third place Brampton in the
semi finals.  That meant a seventh must win game because the Excelsiors
of the sixties only played seven game series.  The previous seven
playoff series Brampton had been in had all gone the distance.  It was
practically guaranteed that the Don Byes would have to go seven.  They
did and lost that deciding contest.

To squash all Peterborough hopes, professional lacrosse came in 1968-69
and the town once again lost it's Senior club.  They did have a team in
the pro league both years and John Davis won two more scoring
championships for Peterborough, however the Mann Cup dynasty was long
gone.

The Senior Circuit was back down to four clubs, meaning each made the
playoffs.  Brooklin drew fourth place Toronto.  The Maple Leafs had
started the year at the Gardens but were playing out of Port Credit by
the end of the season. Buff McCready had returned to Ontario County and
was ready to win another OLA championship.  He led the Redmen to a 10-8
opening game victory.  Toronto rebounded at home to win 14-8.  Brooklin
jumped ahead again thanks to a 15-8 romp.  They ran George Stephens out
of the Maple Leaf goal in two periods.  Stephens returned for a big
fourth game overtime triumph.  Ron MacNeil scored twice in the extra
period as Toronto won 9-8.  They then went one better by winning in
Brooklin, in overtime again!  Paul Henderson scored the winner, a 9-7
victory.  McCready bailed his Redmen mates out with a stellar
performance in Game Six.  He held the Leafs to four goals over two
periods then shut them out the final twenty minutes.  The clubs entered
the last frame tied at four.  Glen Lotton scored once and set up another
as Brooklin won 6-4.  The series was decided by one shot during the
seventh game.  In the second period, George Stephens was injured by a
shot hitting him in the throat.  He recovered enough to remain in net,
however he was unnerved by the blow.  The Redmen took advantage and ran
away with a 12-3 victory.

The Peterborough/Brampton series was odd.  Even though the Don Byes had
home advantage the series opened in Brampton.  Peterborough hosted Games
Two, Four, Five and Seven.  It was also unusual because the losing team
outscored the winner 63-46!

The series commenced with three blow outs.  Brampton doubled
Peterborough 12-6.  The Petes came back with wins of 14-6 and 15-6. 
Then things settled into a defensive struggle, very dangerous for the
high flying Don Byes.  John Jefferson shut their offence down as the
Excelsiors tied the series with a 6-5 win.  Brian Aherne scored the
deciding goal with five minutes remaining.  In the fifth game
Peterborough outshot Brampton 41-22.  John Davis scored five times as
the Don Byes won 13-4.  Over 1,700 fans packed Brampton's Memorial Arena
for Game Six.  Shots once again favoured the Petes but only by a 33-32
edge.  Jefferson outdueled Pat Baker in a 5-4 Excelsior victory. 
Peterborough paid dearly for a slow start in the deciding match. 
Brampton were up 6-2 halfway through and would never relinquish their
lead.  Jim Paterson cut it to 7-6 with four minutes left.  There was
over two minutes still on the clock when Bob Allan started pulling his
goaltender.  The extra attacker would not be enough.  The Excelsiors
held on to their 7-6 advantage.


For the fourth consecutive year Brooklin and Brampton met in the
playoffs and for the fourth time they would play seven games.  The
Championship Final commenced at the end of August.  Buff McCready was
the star in the opener.  He held the Excelsiors to 4 goals, while
Brooklin doubled that total with 8.  In Brampton, the home team turned
the tables with an impressive 11-5 win.  Don Arthurs scored five times.

They next grabbed control of the series with an 8-5 win in Brooklin.
Control did not last for long.  The Redmen scored three power play
goals enroute to a 5-3 win, knotting the series 2-2.  In Game Five they
tripled Brampton 9-3.  Elmer Tran potted a trio.  Two crucial second
period plays decided the next contest.  First, Terry Davis scored to
apparently give the Red Shirts a 7-5 lead.  The goal was disallowed
because Davis was proven to be using an illegal stick.  Second, the ever
wandering Bob McCready finally got caught out of his crease, gifting
Arthurs an easy goal.  Those breaks, plus a Brian Aherne hattrick,
powered the Excelsiors to an 8-7 win.  The deciding match started fast. 
Davis scored with a legal stick 19 seconds in.  He would add two more
later on.  By the end of the opening period Brooklin led 5-0.  They
carried that lead all the way to claim a 9-6 victory.  It was the fifth
successive year Brampton was eliminated in a seventh game.

Brooklin were back in British Columbia and determined not to blow
another 3-1 series lead.  They started well and surprised a crowd of
3,400 by taking the first game 9-8.  Buff McCready set up two goals with
rushes up the floor.  Elmer Tran scored three times on three shots. 
Vancouver Carlings turned things around the next night by shaking up
their power play.  John Cervi was moved to the point and he was
motivated to produce a four assist/five point game.  The Vancouver power
play went 3/5, compared to the Redmen's effort of 1/6.  The result was a
9-5 Carlings victory.  Coach Jack McKinnon was crowing after the game.
"We were running tonight and when we're running their aren't many clubs
that can beat us." Buff McCready was still running but he paid for his
wanderlust. He took a stiff check from Pete Black late in the contest,
suffering a cut elbow.

The Brew Boys were really running in Game Three.  They blew McCready out
of goal with eight first period markers.  The Brooklin netminder retired
to rest his elbow.  Vancouver kept pouring it on and ran the score up to
19-5.  The Redmen's top line, including Elmer Tran, John and Terry
Davis, was on the floor for twelve Carlings' goals!  No chance of
Brooklin blowing a 3-1 lead now.  Yet they were soon down 3-1.  Coach
Fred Whalley did his best to stem the tide.  He broke up the top line
and dressed Mike Gray for defence.  Still Whalley had to watch
helplessly as his Redmen took thirty minutes in penalties compared to
Vancouver's eighteen.  The Carlings' redhot power play kept pouring in
the goals - ten in two games!  Bill Robinson and Gary Stevens scored
hattricks as the Brew Boys won 13-4.  It looked bad for the Ontario
champs, however they were not about to give up.  225 pound defenceman
Bob Hanna warned, "it takes four games to win a series and it's a long
way from over.  We'll be back Wednesday and we'll be a lot tougher."

Fred Whalley had one more Ace up his sleeve.  For Game Five he unveiled
a zone defence which stopped the Vancouver offence in its tracks.  The
penalty minutes were more even - Redmen 26 Carlings 23.  Buff McCready
came up with 21 saves.  And Peterborough pick up John Davis broke loose
with five goals.  Brooklin won handily 11-4.  Brampton Gemeral Manager
Herb Armstrong was impressed: "Brooklin played the whole game the way
they played the first period in the eastern final against us."

Vancouver responded with a fast start to Game Six.  They won the opening
period 3-1.  With the luxury of a lead, the Carlings resorted to
stalling tactics to counter Brooklin's zone defence.  This was the last
year before the thirty second shot clock was introduced to the game. 
Even without a shot clock, ragging the ball had always been illegal in
lacrosse.  The normal procedure was for the referee to take possession
away from the offending team and award it to their opposition.  This did
not happen in Game Six.  The two officials - including Whitey
Severson(no favourite of Redmen fans) - watched Vancouver play catch
much of the scoreless second period.  The stalling was so bad the crowd
booed the home team.  A Sid Warick power play goal thirty seconds into
the final period extended the lead to 4-1.  At that point Vancouver felt
safe enough to start abandoning the stall.  John Cervi scored on the
power play at the 13 minute mark.  Down 5-1 Brooklin was forced to give
up the zone and play more aggressively on defence.  They had left it too
late.  With four minutes remaining Buff McCready raced down the floor
and set up John Davis for a goal.  That made it 5-3 but was the last
score of the series.  Coach McKinnon defended his tactics: "We used it
earlier than we intended because of injuries." Nevertheless, the
conclusion to this series would prompt a change in the rules
transforming the modern game.

The Green Gaels lost only four games enroute to another Minto Cup
championship.  Again New Westminster defeated them twice but not before
losing the first three games in the series.  In his final year, Gaylord
Powless led the league in regular season and playoff scoring, plus had
twice as many points as any other player in the Minto Final.  He became
the second junior to claim the offensive double.  Back in 1964, John
Davis led the league in the regular season and playoffs.  Powless also
topped the career Minto Cup scoring list with 53 assists and 97 points. 
His 44 goals were one better than Davis' mark, however Jim Higgs would
pass both two years later with 47.