1979 - THE YEAR OF NO GOALTENDERS 


 When speaking of the '79 Junior season, a fan once joked that it was
 the year of no goaltenders!  Ironically, Shawn Quinlan, one of the best
 between the pipes, debuted for Peterborough.  The other clubs were not
 so fortunate.  Poor Windsor received a 40-10 beating in Oshawa.  Jayde
 Gibbs scored a record 19 points in that game.  Three nights later,
 Gibbs counted 21 points in Kitchener.

 It was an unlucky year for Whitby's Cam Devine.  He tied Gibbs with an
 incredible 247 points in 28 games.  He lost the scoring crown with 19
 less goals.  Devine had already lost the '77 title in similar fashion
 when George Chandler scored 41 more goals.  Another high mark for the
 league was Mike McKee's 115 goals.  His quick stick on the awesome
 Green Gael power play was unstoppable.

 Overall, it was an outrageous year.  Kelly Mitchell joined Gibbs and
 Devine with over 200 points.  Oshawa had five players score 75 goals or
 more.  The Gaels also averaged more than 20 goals per game.  On the
 other hand, Kitchener surrendered 20 goals per game and won only once
 in 24 tries.

 As Oshawa and Whitby tied for first, Durham lacrosse fans drooled at
 the idea of a playoff showdown.  It never materialized.  Peterborough
 upset things by sweeping Whitby in the Quarter Final round.  The
 Centurians(yes Peterborough had a new nickname! thanks to Century 21
 sponsorship) had finished only one win behind the top two squads but
 were greatly overshadowed by the Gaels' and Builders' offences.  Next
 Oshawa nearly fell flat on their face.  They opened the Semi Finals
 with a 19-5 rout over Elora.  After that the determined Mohawks gave
 the Gaels all they could handle.  Five tough games followed, including
 two narrow home wins for Oshawa, before they finally prevailed in six
 games.

 The final was a classic match of contrasts.  The hard running, high
 scoring Green Gaels versus the tough defensive, sometimes dirty Petes.
 Another view saw the battle between team oriented Peterborough, with
 three solid lines, and an Oshawa club with five superstars and the
 other players tagging along behind.  With the games being played at the
 Children's and Kinsmen Arenas, the settings were the worst imaginable
 for such a classic series.

 In the opening game the Gaels prevailed in overtime 15-14.
 Peterborough responded with a confident second game victory.  Their
 effort in the next contest could only be described as irresponsible.
 With a second period penalty blitz, including Wayne Batley spearing Gi
 Goulding and a teammate running Jayde Gibbs feet first into the boards,
 the Oshawa power play blew the visitors out of the building.  The final
 result was a 16-4 rout.  Back home, the Centurians were run off the
 floor in an 18-10 loss.  It appeared the Gaels had avenged three
 consecutive playoff losses to their rivals.  Yet three would soon
 become four as Mark Vitarelli regrouped his troops.  In Game Five, the
 running game disappeared and Peterborough paced themselves to a 10-5
 victory.  Bob Hanna's Gaels came back strong the next night and
 positioned themselves to win the championship.  They led by a goal late
 and with a power play could have put the game away.  Instead the Petes
 scored twice shorthanded and the series was tied 3-3.  Interest
 climaxed as the deciding match was moved to Iroquois Park Arena in
 Whitby.  The Centurians jumped in front early, smothered the Gaels
 running attack, and led all the way to a 10-8 win.

 Ontario lost the Minto Cup this season.  Even though it was the OLA's
 turn to host the championship, the CLA arranged a three teams Final
 with the deciding match being televised on the CBC.  Thus Junior A
 lacrosse moved into the new era of three team round robin
 championships.  The format would be used again in 1983, 1984, 1986,
 1987, 1988 and 1990.  In such cases as '79, '84 and '86 it could be
 argued that the best team did not win.  Such was the legacy of the
 round robin tournament.  Since 1991 the Minto Cup has returned to the
 best of seven format and there has never been any question as to who
 the best teams have been.

 So the '79 championship was hosted by Calgary.  Peterborough was joined
 by the Cup holders from Burnaby and an Alberta All-Star team.  The
 Centurians finished comfortably in first place.  Yet when they met
 Burnaby on a Saturday afternoon all went wrong.  The Cablevision
 claimed their third consecutive Minto Cup win thanks to an 8-6 victory
 in the one game final.

 OLA Major had a small but competitive league in 1979.  Only four teams
 entered in Senior A(Peterborough, Brampton, Brooklin and Ohsweken) and
 last place Ohsweken won only one game.  The other three fought it out
 at the top.  The Red Oaks finished first, three points ahead of the
 Redmen and five up on the Excelsiors.  Peterborough's J.J. Johnston won
 his first scoring title, by a mere two points over Brampton's Bob
 Burke.  That pair, plus Johnston's teammate Jim Wasson were the
 league's only 50 goal scorers.  Again Johnston was marginally better
 than Burke.

 After a double round robin competition Brooklin was eliminated from the
 playoffs.  They lost three out of their four games despite scoring more
 goals than they gave up.  The youthful Redmen were on the verge of
 contending but not there yet.  That left a Peterborough/Brampton final.
 It was the first time the two clubs had met in the Final since the
 dramatic seven game series of 1966.  Once again Peterborough prevailed.
 On this occasion the Red Oaks only needed five games.

 For the trip west, the champs added only two players.  Brampton star
 Tom Patrick was an expected selection.  The second choice was
 surprising.  Oshawa Green Gael teenager Derek Keenan was picked.
 Keenan had finished fourth in Jr.A scoring with 189 points.  Yet he was
 chosen league MVP over more flashy players such as Gibbs, Devine,
 Mitchell, McKee or Ken Colley.  The Red Oaks also recognised Keenan's
 better all around game.  With his size he would not be out of place in
 Senior.  Keenan would contribute a goal and three assists in four
 games.

 The eastern champs had their hands full in Victoria.  The Shamrocks
 finished first in the competitive WLA then lost only twice in the
 playoffs.  Two losses would be their grand total for the post season.
 Peterborough was unable to defeat them in four games.  Huntsville's
 Ivan Thompson led the series with 31 points.  Fresh from two Minto Cup
 triumphs, Dan Wilson added a Mann Cup win to his resume.  He set up 18
 goals in the Final.  Bob Cool and Kevin Alexander were the top snipers
 with 11 and 8 goals respectively.  Larry Smeltzer starred in goal, plus
 added three assists to his career Mann Cup total.  He wrapped up his
 career with 25, one shy of Bob McCready's record.