1976 - BRAMPTON'S NEAR MISSES 

 A quarter century and running.  That's the stretch of time Brooklin has
 been in the Major League without break.  They returned to Senior A in
 1976 and have never looked back.  The smallest community to ever be
 Canadian champions(in '68 the population of Brooklin was under 2,000)
 the Redmen didn't fare so well upon their return.  They finished last
 in the five team circuit with a 7-17 record.  John Reed led them in
 scoring despite missing nine game.  He registered 74 points in 15
 games.

 Once again Owen Sound finished tied for first.  They were led by the
 league's top goal scorer Ted Greves.  Greves counted 68 markers and
 narrowly lost the scoring race by 4 points.  Pat Fallon was third best
 in the circuit.  Mike French was also a major contributor with 78
 points in only 14 games.  Officially first place went to Fergus.  It
 was the first time since their 11-1 record in 1932 that the Thistles
 had the best record in the league.  True it was an unimpressive 14-9-1
 but still good enough for top spot.  They also had the best defence.
 Larry Smeltzer returned home.  With him between the pipes the scotsmen
 surrendered less than 12 goals per game.  Smeltzer also won the James
 Murphy Trophy as league MVP.  He was the first Thistle to ever win the
 honour.  Teammate Steve Plunkett would follow in his footsteps two
 years later.  Plunkett had finally graduated from the Peterborough
 juniors but not before winning four straight Minto Cups, plus
 establishing a new OLA record with 242 career games played.  He teamed
 up with Terry Sanderson to lead the Fergus offence.  Both scored over
 80 points plus accumulated nearly as many penalty minutes.  Ironic as
 their sons would also have successful careers, without being on a first
 name basis with so many timekeepers.

 The defending champions were the sleeping giant of '76.  They only won
 11 times even though Tom Patrick graduated from the St.Catharines
 juniors to lead the Excelsiors and the league in scoring.  Brampton not
 only finished back of the top two, they also ended up 4 points behind
 Six Nations.  The Excelsiors and Braves did have the two top offences
 in the league, however they both had two of the worst defences.

 Offence mattered in the playoffs this year.  Brampton upended the North
 Stars in six games in one semi final.  The other series also went six,
 before the Thistles defence prevailed over Six Nations.  For the first
 time ever, Fergus had home advantage in the Final. Still they would
 face an Excelsior team which had been excelling ever since John
 McCauley took over as head coach in mid-season.  Home advantage
 instantly evaporated as Brampton took the opener 11-9.  The Thistles
 responded by winning on the road 13-9.  Back in Fergus, the Excelsiors
 again won a close one.  9-8 was the score.  They then became the only
 home team to win in the series thanks to an 11-10 overtime victory at
 Victoria Park Arena.  The champs wrapped the Final up in five games
 with a third road win of 13-11.  Hard luck for the Thistles as they
 were only outscored in the series 49-47.

 The Excelsiors returned to the Mann Cup, carrying a ten game losing
 streak with them.  It had been forty-four years since the club had won
 a game in the Canadian championship.  Even with home advantage they
 were heavy underdogs against the mighty Salmonbellies.  After all,
 their losing record was the worst ever for an OLA champ.  The '67
 Redmen turned a 12-12 regular season record into a championship.  Then
 surprised everyone by winning twice in the Mann Cup.  Brampton would go
 one better, giving lacrosse fans the first competitive final since
 1967.

 The opener was a tight contest.  The home team trailed by a goal on
 five different occasions.  They didn't take the lead for good until
 pick up Ted Greves scored with 12 minutes left.  They added three
 unanswered markers for a 14-10 triumph.  Chuck Medhurst scored six
 times for the losers.  He would only score five more the rest of the
 series.  WLA scoring champ Brian Tasker was lost in the first period
 when he took a shot in the eye.  Excelsiors' Gary Powless and New
 Westminster's Joe Comeau both played great games.

 Comeau was even better the next night.  The turning point in this
 defensive struggle came at the end of the second period.  Coquitlam
 pick up Dave Durante scored at the buzzer to put the Salmonbellies
 ahead 6-4.  They went on to win 10-4.  That momentum carried right into
 Game Three.  The Fishmen blasted their hosts early and led 9-3 after 40
 minutes.  At one point in the final period their lead was still a
 healthy 11-7.  Then Greves set a Mann Cup record with a 27 second hat
 trick in the final two minutes!  Poof! the lead was gone and Brampton
 took the game 12-11.

 Brian Tasker played with his sore eye the previous two matches but had
 not made a huge impact.  His turn for heroics came in Game Four.  His
 three shorthanded goals were the difference.  Salmonbelly special teams
 dominated the night.  They registered four power play and four
 shorthanded goals.  The contest was tied 2-2 early, then the visitors
 pulled in front 7-4 before coming home with a 10-6 victory.

 New Westminster had another strong second period the next game.  They
 chased Powless from goal, to be replaced by pick up Larry Smeltzer, and
 took a 9-5 lead into the last period.  Yet again that Greves fellow
 popped up.  His third and fourth goals of the evening tied the match at
 10-10.  Tom Patrick won it with a breakaway winner in the final two
 minutes.

 Three come from behind wins had served the Excelsiors well.  Playing
 with the lead would be their undoing in Game Six.  A Dave Wilfong
 hattrick kept the Salmonbellies in a 10-10 tie after two periods.  Bram
 Wilfong missed an opportunity to put Brampton ahead 11-8 late in the
 second.  The westerners took advantage by winning the third period 5-2
 and the game 15-12.

 Now you couldn't have a seven game Mann Cup without some controversy
 and behind the scenes bickering.  This year it was over the schedule.
 The Salmonbellies wanted Game Seven the next evening, making three
 games in three nights.  The CLA ruled against them because they did not
 want to go head to head with the Canada Cup hockey game on television.
 Thus a day of rest allowed the clubs to prepare for one of the most
 unforgettable games ever.

 Victoria Park Arena was overflowing for the contest.  It was so crowded
 and so hot that a sweaty floor would play a role in the contest.  The
 game had to be delayed a half hour during the second period because
 conditions got so bad.  The floor was no worse than the home team's
 start.  The Fishmen were all over them early, winning the opening
 period 6-1.  Yet the Excelsiors had one more miraculous comeback in
 them.  They reversed the score the next period and tied the match 7-7
 heading home.  But Brampton were never able to get ahead. Coach
 McCauley lamented after, "If we ever took the lead once, I believe we
 would have been all right.  But we never did take the lead." In a tight
 final session Dave Wilfong's second on the night put the Fishmen ahead.
  Chuck Williams tied it midway through.  Bob Tasker scored the winner
 at the 12:26 mark.  Up 9-8, New Westminster played defence the last 7
 1/2 minutes.  Brian Robinson did beat Comeau at one point.  However the
 referee had already called play, though no one heard his whistle over
 the crowd noise.

 Triumphant Joe Comeau had concluded his career in style.  Not only was
 he sensational in goal but he also contributed 9 assists in the series.
  That took his career total to 23, second only to Buff McCready.

 Immediately after the victory Salmonbelly coach Bob Babcock said, "They
 played like they weren't suppose to play - they were suppose to be
 underdogs but they didn't play as underdogs as far as I could see."
 Small consolation for John McCauley who believed that, "Twenty years
 from now they'll remember who won the Mann Cup in '76 but they won't
 remember who the finalist was."  Wrong.  We do remember the amazing
 Brampton Excelsiors of 1976.

 The Junior League was the most wide open in sometime.  Four clubs made
 furious challenges for the championship.  Whitby had quickly developed
 into a contender and were narrowly beaten by Bramalea in a seven game
 semi final.  Mississauga had the best offence, most exciting club and
 the lethal Chandler-Gemmell combination.  Rob Gemmell won the '76
 scoring title and had over 100 assists.  What the Chiefs lacked was
 defence.  It cost them in a heartbreaking seventh game loss to
 Peterborough.  It was the third year in a row the Gray-Munros had
 eliminated the Mississauga squad.  Yet the titleholders days were
 numbered.  They were upset by Bramalea in a six game final.

 As in 1962, Excelsiors again met Victoria for the Minto Cup.
 Controversy dominated even before the series began.  It was customary
 for the B.C. representative to pick up players to give them a chance
 against the stronger Ontario clubs.  The eastern champs had rarely
 added players since 1965 and Peterborough had gone with their own
 players the past two years.  It was understood Bramalea would do the
 same, however the Excelsiors had other ideas.  They came west with
 Oshawa star Stan Cockerton.  The westerners insisted that Cockerton
 could not play, yet the OLA titleholders were determined to dress him.
 Was junior lacrosse about to have its own Bob Allan fiasco?  Not
 likely.  No one in BC wanted to fly out the four time defending champs
 to replace the inexperienced Excelsiors.  So Victoria gave in and
 Cockerton was allowed to play.  The Green Gael was in the twilight of
 an illustrious career.  At the time, he sat fifth in OLA Junior A
 career scoring and would pass Gaylord Powless in his final game.  Proof
 that small players can be stars in lacrosse.  In four games against
 Victoria he scored 12 goals and 8 assists.  Yet Bramalea lost every
 game.  Doubtless Cockerton came as close as anybody on a losing team to
 winning the McConaghy.  The trophy went to Kevin Alexander, another
 superstar wrapping up his junior career.