1975 - FOUR STRAIGHT 

 Peterborough juniors changed their nickname from P.C.O.'s to
 Gray-Munros but it made no difference.  They still won their fourth
 consecutive Minto Cup.  Again they were simply too good.  Western
 import Dan Green set league high marks for assists, 150, and points,
 205.  Yet the powerful Petes did lose 5 regular season games, plus
 playoff defeats to Mississauga and the newcomers from Whitby.  They
 even dropped one Minto Cup contest to Burnaby.  Unlike the P.C.O.'s,
 perhaps the Gray-Munros might be had?

 Senior A in Ontario was the most competitive it had been in years.
 Brampton returned to the Major League.  They finished 15-9, good enough
 for a first place tie with Owen Sound.  The Excelsiors were led by
 league leading goal scorer Brian Robinson.  His chief support came from
 Bob Haw and Barry Richardson.  Robinson narrowly lost the scoring race
 by three points.  Owen Sound's Norm Hope registered 99 assists - tied
 for third highest in league history - enroute to an 135 point season.
 North Stars' Pat Fallon finished third in the league.

 The other three clubs all had losing records.  Six Nations grabbed
 third place with an 11-13 record.  Fergus followed with 10 wins.  In
 their final year, Brantford Warriors won only nine times and missed the
 playoffs.

 Brampton defeated Six Nations in a six game semi final.  Meanwhile Owen
 Sound ended the Thistles' season in five games.  The top two clubs
 appeared to be evenly matched.  Not only did they have identical
 records, during the season one had scored 371 goals while the other
 scored 370.  Yet the final series would be all Brampton.  They won
 every game.  The Excelsiors ended a five series losing streak in the
 OLA Final - four of those losses in seven games!  It was their first
 championship since 1962.

 The Mann Cup would be a best of three affair.  Brampton got a break by
 avoiding the defending champion Salmonbellies.  Led by Wayne Goss and
 Paul Parnell, New Westminster finished first in the WLA, only to be
 upset by third place Vancouver in the semi final.  The Burrards then
 defeated Victoria in the western final, making everyone forget their
 14-10 regular season record.

 Don Hamilton faced the Excelsiors in Game One.  This was the same Don
 Hamilton who had shutout Brampton in a game 14 years earlier.  On this
 occasion he struggled.  The surprising Bramptonites took Vancouver to
 overtime.  The Burrards pulled out the win thanks to a power play goal
 by Gord Frederickson.  After that 11-10 defeat, the Excelsiors were
 clearly deflated.  Hamilton held them to 8 markers in Game Two.
 Vancouver scored 16 times for the easy win and the championship.  Ron
 Pinder led with six goals in the contests.  Frederickson and Rico
 Bellusci contributed four each.

 With the conclusion of the season came the end of yet another
 professional lacrosse league.  The result was the end of many playing
 careers.  The OLA had forgiven such players in 1968-69, yet many of the
 same players displayed their lack of loyalty to the organisation by
 leaving a second time in 1974.  They would not be given another chance
 to come back home.  The OLA slapped five year suspensions on every
 player who had participated in the second pro league.  These
 suspensions were lifted after two years, however all the veteran
 players had already retired.  Arguably many would have retired anyway.
 The ones who chose not to retire still had the option of playing in the
 WLA.  Ron McNeil, J.J. Johnston, Ivan Thompson and Brian Evans did
 exactly that.  Each made a significant impact out west.  Johnston even
 came east for the '76 Mann Cup.  Thus it was quite a bold move by the
 OLA.  Their Major League had been deprived of its best talent for two
 years running, yet this action was still taken, essentially locking
 those players out for good.  On principle the OLA made its stand that
 it would no longer tolerate its players running off to renegade leagues
 every five years.  And there would be no more summer professional
 lacrosse leagues.  It was a controversial move, virtually sacrificing
 the next two Mann Cups in order to make a point.  A similar action
 today would be for the Major League to demand that none of its players
 be paid, thus sending many superstars into the arms of the WLA.  But we
 all know better than to expect anyone to do anything based on principle
 in the 21st century.

 Behind the scenes there was talk of an ulterior motive.  Many believed
 the suspensions were instituted to prevent the Major League from being
 flooded with Peterborough players.  The junior Petes had won four
 straight Minto Cups and five consecutive Ontario crowns, most of them
 with great ease.  The last thing Senior lacrosse wanted was for the
 Lakers to dominate their league.  Three of the top ten scorers(J.J.
 Johnston, John Grant and Jan Magee) in the last pro league were
 Peterborough boys.  There were many others in the league, plus
 outstanding juniors about to graduate to Senior.  Teams like Owen Sound
 and Fergus would have had slim hopes against a Peterborough powerhouse
 in '76.  Besides, Brampton and Brooklin remembered how they'd gotten
 the short end of the stick when the Major League was created in 1973
 and their teams were bumped down to Senior B.  None of the current
 Major teams were eager to see a return of the Lakers.  Even if it meant
 sending the second best team to the Mann Cup in '76 and '77.  For
 Peterborough would remain out of Senior lacrosse until the suspensions
 were lifted.  Then they would return in 1978 and promptly win a Mann
 Cup.