The darkest incident in CLA history descended upon lacrosse on the eve of the '57 Mann Cup. In the past, and the future, the CLA had had serious disagreements with the Ontario or BC leagues or individual clubs. Every time the CLA had backed down because the organisation's role was purely symbolic, it had no real power because, unlike the OLA and ICLL, it had no teams. The Orillia tour of the west in 1934 was the perfect example. The CLA threatened suspensions for every player involved, yet backed down hastily when Ontario and BC presented a united front against them. Likewise for Alberta's entry in the 2000 Minto Cup. The CLA huffed and puffed about making the OLA and BCJLL champs play for the Dixie Cup but, in the end, the national governing body had to give way. So long as that united front was maintained the CLA could do nothing. At the end of the '57 season there was no united front, thus the CLA refused to back down - to the eternal regret of the Peterborough Trailermen.

It all involved Peterborough native Bob Allan. Allan had left the Petes to join Nanaimo for the 1956 season. He came east with the Timbermen and defeated his former mates in the Mann Cup Final. Even though Peterborough had lost Harry Wipper and Allan both to Nanaimo - and the rules stated you could not lose two players to the same team - there was no protest made. Yet the next spring Allan decided to return to the Trailermen. The problem was that Allan had already signed to play for Nanaimo again. He rejoined the Peterborough Seniors without getting his release. No problem. In an incredibly revisionist act OLA Commissioner Ed Blair did the Trailermen a favour by ruling that Allan's initial transfer to Nanaimo had been illegal. So Allan had the okay to resume his Peterborough career. Permission granted by the OLA, however the ICLL and CLA still considered Bob Allan Nanaimo property. There would be trouble if Peterborough went west for the Mann Cup.

Naturally the defending OLA champs were expected to win a record seventh straight title. They had only three competitors, Long Branch Pontiacs, St.Catharines Athletics and Hamilton Lincoln Burners. The schedule was shortened and Peterborough waltzed to first place with a 13-5 record. Long Branch surprisingly kept pace, finishing only two points back. Both Hamilton and St.Catharines had losing records.

Bob Allan won a scoring title for the third successive year. He was the league's only 50 goal scorer and his 96 points placed him comfortably ahead of Hamilton's Jim McNulty(another former ICLL scoring champ). Bob Curtis, Ike Hildebrand and Bob Batley were Peterborough's other leading scorers. Defending scoring champ Ross Powless had another strong year with Hamilton. The Burners also picked up veteran Jerry Fitzgerald.

In the Semi Finals, Long Branch swept St.Catharines. Hamilton, on the other hand, gave the Trailermen all they could handle. Peterborough narrowly won the opener 10-9, despite a six point effort from McNulty. The next couple of games Allan went to work. His seven points helped the Petes to a 15-13 win. That was followed by a five goal effort in a 13-9 decision. Hamilton was down 3-0 but did not give up. The Trailermen were without Bob Allan for the next pair of contests and the Burners took advantage. Ray Main scored four goals and Jerry Fitzgerald had eight points in a 17-16 thriller. Next Jim McNulty had a five point night as Hamilton won 13-6. Peterborough scrambled to get Allan and Lou Nickle back in the line up for Game Six. They doubled the Burners 14-7, thanks to a nine point effort from Bob Curtis. Bob Allan chipped in with a hattrick and Nickle scored three points.

Rested Long Branch awaited the winners, however the young Pontiacs would run into a redhot Lloyd Wotton. They managed only four goals in Game One as the defending champions set the tone for the series with a seven goal victory. Allan scored four times and helped on four others. The match in Long Branch was a tight 9-8 Peterborough win. Bob Batley was high man with four counters. The Trailermen then won 13-9. The game had to be called early due to a brawl with 30 seconds remaining. As things got out of hand the lights were turned off. The result of the donneybrook was that both clubs had to post a $100 bond guaranteeing their good behavior in the next contest. They did keep it clean as Peterborough claimed another 9-8 road win. As the Trailermen headed west it appeared that Long Branch's season was over. Concluded for everyone except Florie Tomchishen, the one Pontiac picked up by the eastern champs. But looks can be deceiving. Especially when Peterborough were heading to Victoria for a showdown with the CLA, plus their own OLA commissioner!

The battle lines were drawn early: the CLA would not allow the Trailermen to use Bob Allan. Technically they were correct that Allan had signed to play for Nanaimo, therefore he could not play for Peterborough. Yet the hypocrisy was tough to stomach. Besides Nanaimo breaking the rules the previous year, St.Catharines players were all over BC, including Jim Bradshaw - Victoria's top scorer. Had the Athletics ever been compensated for this loss of talent? Of course they hadn't! Still the west stood by their belief that Peterborough native Bob Allan was Nanaimo property.

The news was all over Victoria, heightening interest in the Final. Over 3,000 fans turned out for the opening match. Unfortunately for them there was much going on behind the scenes as game time drew near. Peterborough planned to play the game with Allan and fight about it after. If they lost the opening contest there wouldn't even be a protest, thus everyone might be able to settle down and play lacrosse. So long as the Trailermen held their ground, past and future history suggested that the CLA would back down. They couldn't have a Dominion championship with four forfeited games!

What followed did not have to happen. Unluckily it did. Ed Blair intervened. He met with Peterborough team manager Bob Curtin and President Max Kaye. He was not representing anyone but himself but he led the Trailermen officials to believe he was presenting a threat on behalf of the CLA. That was exactly what he did, threatened to have the Peterborough players banned from ALL sports if they played with Bob Allan. What Blair's motives were are unfathomable. As OLA Commissioner he was suppose to be acting on behalf of the eastern champs. Had he done his job the CLA would have backed down and the Peterborough/Victoria series would have taken place as it should have. Instead he sent the Peterborough officials into a panic - over a threat he could not back up. Kaye and Curtin losing their heads was the next key to this disaster. Common sense dictated that the CLA couldn't ban lacrosse players from other sports. As for being banned from lacrosse, that possibility had not worried anyone prior to the Blair threat. In fairness to the Peterborough officials, Ed Blair was suppose to be their ally, representing their interests throughout the entire controversy. His threat indicated that the OLA had decided to abandon Peterborough. Consequently the panic.

The next decision sealed Peterborough's fate. The Trailermen were a proud team which truly believed they had a right to use Bob Allan. They had the moral high ground, therefore they were not going to back down. However the threat of an all sports ban if they played with Allan spooked them. The only way to get around that was to not play at all. Thus Curtin and Kaye instructed the players not to play. It was the worst decision they could have made! After a 45 minute delay the game was forfeited to Victoria.

It was hard to believe the two sides couldn't have sat down and sorted through the misunderstanding caused by the Blair threat. Unfortunately Peterborough had gone too far by not taking the floor for Game One. The CLA could not back down now. Their response was truly vindictive.

The Peterborough team was kicked out of its hotel and had to get home at its own expense because their return plane tickets had been confiscated. On top of that, each player - except for Florie Tomchishen - was suspended from the game for five years. Tomchishen would still get to play for the Mann Cup because the CLA flew out Long Branch to replace the Trailermen. They were destroyed by Victoria in four straight - outscored 51-23!

There was one great lacrosse series in 1957 and it involved Peterborough. The Junior U.E.W.'s had finished first and met defending OLA champion Brampton in the league final. The result was a memorable series. Peterborough won at home 14-9, thanks to hattricks from Larry Ferguson, Paul Parnell and Pete Heffernan. They were defeated in Brampton 13-5 as Bob Pulford scored three times. Dan Quinlan missed the second game with a broken nose but he returned to score twice in the next contest. The UEW's won 16-12. The Excelsiors evened the series with a 9-6 win. Bert Naylor and Gord Thompson each potted a pair of goals. The home teams continued to win. Ron Jay scored four times in a 14-9 victory. Brampton rsponded with a 14-8 triumph as four different players scored twice. The stage was set for a seventh game in Peterborough. A crowd of 1,200 filled the Civic Arena. It was a tight nailbiter to the end. Bob Pulford bulged the twine three times, Larry Ferguson and Ron Jay counted deuces, plus Wayne and Gord Thompson fired in a pair each. Gord Thompson's two goals were the most important. With the home side leading 8-7, Thompson tied the contest with 8:46 remaining on a shorthanded effort. Five minutes later he scored the winner.

That would be the final junior game for all the Peterborough kids. With the Senior club suspended, the entire team moved up for the next season. With Peterborough out of Junior the coast was clear for Brampton to run off three consecutive Canadian championship seasons. Ed Blair's threat was having an effect on all levels of lacrosse. The bitterness of the entire Allan episode would countinue to haunt the game, even having an effect on the 1961 Minto Cup!

* I would like to thank Don Barrie for his research into this incident. It was his Peterborough Examiner column which enlightened us all.

One wonders if Commissioner Ed Blair had seen enough Peterborough championships and wanted to end the dynasty at all costs. If that was his goal his actions in Victoria the previous September succeeded perfectly. Peterborough fielded a team for the '58 season, however with all their Senior players suspended from lacrosse for five years the team was made up of Junior players. Hardly the recipe for a successful title defence. Peterborough's provincial dominance was about to end.

The kids gave a good account of themselves. Larry Ferguson won the scoring championship, Cy Coombes and Paul Parnell both scored over 30 goals and Dan Quinlan had a 45 point season. The Petes even made the playoffs by grabbing fourth spot with a 9-14 record.

The league had grown to six teams with the return of Brampton and Mimico. The Excelsiors had a strong, young club. They placed second with a 17-5 record. Bill Castator was the leader of a very balanced attack. Other notable marksmen were: Revis Bennett, Bill Wanless, Clarke Pulford and Jack Madgett. Mimico's final attempt at Senior lacrosse had them floundering at the bottom of the league with only three victories. The didn't have a single scorer make the top twenty. On their last visit to Peterborough they were beaten 14-6. Prior to the game a minute's silence was held was the recent passing of Lou Vitarelli. Vitarelli had played Senior prior to the Mann Cup winning years and had coached the Peterborough Juniors in the early fifties.

One other change to the circuit was St.Catharines' move out of the Garden City. They headed down the road to Welland, becoming the Crowland-Switsons. Ironically they had more local St.Catharines talent then the A's had had. Nip O'Hearn came home, plus none of the '57 Athletics jumped ship. The Switsons rolled to first place with a 19-2 record. Don Baker finished runner up for the scoring championship. Skip Teal, Doug Smith, O'Hearn, Ron Roy, Ted Howe and veteran Jim McMahon all made the top ten scorers.

Long Branch Monarchs placed a disappointing third with 11 wins and 10 losses. Larry Ruse was their best player with 41 goals and 58 points. Florie Tomchishen was next with 21 goals and 21 assists.

Hamilton Lincoln Burners last season of Senior lacrosse was not too successful. They missed the playoffs and won only seven games. They had imported more talent but it still wasn't enough to keep the franchise from failing. Ross Powless was again one of the league's leading playmakers. His 35 assists were second only to Nip O'Hearn. Scoring the majority of Hamilton's goals were Willie Logan, Jim McNulty and Tony D'Amico.

The regular season concluded without finishing the schedule. Bad weather cancelled many games and prevented some from being replayed.

The playoffs went according to form. Welland defeated Long Branch 4 games to 2 and Brampton dispatched the defending champs in five games. Larry Ferguson missed the entire series with an injury. In the OLA Final, the Switsons swept the Excelsiors four straight. They took the first game 11-9. Hattricks for Doug Smith, Skip Teal and Joe McNulty. 12-8 was the seond game result. The third contest was a 16-4 rout. Jim McMahon scored six goals. Welland nipped Brampton 10-9 in the concluding match. Harvey Madgett was top playoff scorer with 11 goals and 21 points. Clarke Pulford scored 19 points.

Once again the OLA cause was lost in the Mann Cup without Peterborough to represent the province. Welland was no match for the New Westminster Salmonbellies. The Fishmen made it twelve consecutive victories for the ICLL with four impressive road wins. Only in Game Two did the Switsons challenge. After Justin Howe had been blasted from the Welland goal in the 20-7 opener, the Switsons hastily rushed Gordie Johnston into the net. Johnston had only just returned east and not played a single game in the OLA. Yet eastern hopes rested on him and he gave a spectacular performance. He held the Salmonbellies to seven goals in a 7-4 loss. New Westminster solved Johnston by the next match and ran away with a 17-6 win. Welland turned to Jack Timlock for the finale but he also could not stop the westerners. The Fishmen won going away 14-6.

Skip MacKay led all scorers with 22 points. Ken Oddy was top goalgetter with 11. Les Norman began his sensational Mann Cup career by holding Welland to 5.75 goals per game. Skip Teal was best for the Switsons with 5 goals and 9 points. No one else on the OLA champs averaged more than a point a game.

With Ed Blair gone as Senior Commissioner, the past wrong inflicted upon Peterborough lacrosse was corrected. The five year suspensions were dropped and all members of the '57 Trailermen were allowed back into the game. The CLA quietly accepted this decision and lacrosse returned to normal. Which naturally meant another Senior championship for Peterborough!

Bob Allan came back to win yet another scoring championship - his fourth straight! Bob Curtis and Lou Nickle were also top ten scorers, along with second year star Larry Ferguson. Lloyd Wotton returned to goal but had to share the duty with Pat Baker. Wotton started 15 games, winning 11 and surrendering 113 goals, for a goals against average of 7.5. Baker saw action in 8 contests, winning 6 and giving up 83 goals, for an average of 10.38. It was a unique situation to have the great Moon sharing work with the soon to be great Pat Baker. It was a moment when two eras overlapped and Peterborough fans had the opportunity to watch two of the best netminders all time in action.

Other returnees from exile included: Bob Batley, Carl Brioux, Frank Farley, Jack Mason and Jerry O'Reilly. The club was now known as the Mercurys. After splitting their opening two games against Brampton, Peterborough ran off a 10 game winning streak. They coasted to first place with a 17-6 record, the only team with a winning record in the league.

The defending champions spent their second and final season in Welland. Ron Roy had another great year. He led the league with 52 goals and finished runner up for scoring honours. Newcomer Dave Hall also impressed as he placed tenth in the scoring race. Doug Smith did not. Four games into the season he battled with both referees during a match against Long Branch. Smith was suspended for the remainder of the year. Without their perennial leading scorer the Switsons struggled through an 11-11 season.

Long Branch and Brampton made up the bottom half of the league. The Monarchs finished 10-14, while the Excelsiors ended up last with 8 wins and 15 losses. Florie Tomchishen led the lakeshore crew in scoring with 33 goals and 52 points. Brampton had three top ten scorers: Clarke Pulford, Bert Russell and Jack Madgett.

The Mercurys saved their best for last. They did lose one Semi Final game to Long Branch. The Monarchs scored 14 goals in that one victory but only 17 in four defeats. Brampton upset Welland in six games to reach the Final. Peterborough swept them four straight, outscoring them 48-19. Lloyd Wotton played every playoff game. His post season goals against average was 5.56!

Long Branch Monarchs found a new home to begin the season. They moved down the lakeshore a short distance to an arena by the Credit River which looked more like a big barn . Thus the Port Credit Sailors were born. Like the Welland Switsons, they would have immediate success. In fact Port Credit lacrosse fans would quickly be spoiled. First they would host a Mann Cup Final, then the next year the Minto Cup would come to town.

It was still a four team Senior League. Brampton and Peterborough were back, Long Branch had moved to Port Credit and Welland had returned to St.Catharines. It wasn't a very offensive league. Teams averaged under ten goals per game for only the third time in OLA Box history. The 1960 season was the lowest scoring since 1932. Port Credit was the only club to average over ten goals per game - 241 in 24 games! Peterborough had the only faltering defence as they surrendered an astronomical 11.82 goals per outing! Pat Baker was slow to fill Lloyd Wotton's shoes.

Port Credit Memorial Arena drew a crowd of 1,000 for its first game. The Sailors defeated Brampton 10-6. At a later date an exhibition game was held which raised $700 for a crippled childrens fund. Port Credit beat Long Branch 12-7.

It was a winning year for coach Elmer Lee and his Sailors. They took first place with a 17-7 record, the only team with a winning record. St.Catharines followed at 10-11-1, Brampton 11-13 and Peterborough a distant 7-14-1. The Athletics grabbed second on the strength of winning one 4 point game against the Mercurys. Yes Peterborough actually finished in last place! How quickly the mighty had fallen. The team was virtually unchanged from the previous year. They were without Bob Allan(who played only one game) however Ike Hildebrand replaced him and was a top ten scorer as usual. Lou Nickle had jumped ship to Port Credit. The key difference: no Lloyd Wotton. Pat Baker was a very good goaltender but with Moon gone the Mercurys lost that decade old psychological edge. Baker in Peterborough and Bob McCready with the Whitby Juniors, at that time, would lead lacrosse netminding into the modern era. Baker scored 1 goal and picked up 13 assists in his first year as undisputed starter. Wotton didn't even have 13 career assists to his name - though he did score a goal once!

There were some great shooters in the league but none managed to score 50 goals. The closest were Ron Roy and Brian Aherne(43) Florie Tomchishen(42) and Larry Ferguson(40). Roy was also top playmaker with 27 assists and edged Tomchishen for the scoring title by 5 points. It was a young league as few players' Senior careers extended back to the 1940s. Ike Hildebrand was one of the exceptions. After sitting out two seasons he was back as fresh as ever. Bob Thorpe was the other oldtimer. He returned to Double Blue for a handful of games.

Once again everyone made the playoffs! The Excelsiors were looking for another Semi Final upset and started by winning in Port Credit. The Sailors answered by doubling Brampton 12-6. Dave 'Porky' Russell was even better the next night as he held the Excelsiors to two goals. Only Gord Thompson and Jack Madgett beat him as Port Credit won 6-2. Wayne Thompson scored four goals in Game Four, yet Brampton still lost 8-6. The Maroons did win once more. Wayne Thompson scored three more and Bill Wanless also had a hattrick in an 8-5 victory. The Sailors ended the series with a narrow 8-7 triumph.

For the first time in ten years Peterborough lost an OLA playoff series with all their senior players dressed. St.Catharines earned the honour and dispatched them in five games. The opener was an offensive treat. The A's won 16-7 as Ron Roy scored seven times and Larry Ferguson blasted five in. The next evening Bob Curtis' five goal effort helped the Mercurys to their lone win, 14-11. Back home the Double Blues again shot the lights out. They outscored Peterborough 17-6, Jim McNulty leading with five markers. St.Catharines grabbed a strangle hold on the series with a 14-8 win. Six point nights from Gary Carr and McNulty for the winners. Jack Timlock starred in the finale, a convincing 11-3 victory.

The Athletics went into the Final without Jim McNulty, away in Charlotte, North Carolina. They would miss him as Porky Russell was at his best. Three goals were all the visitors could manage on August 30th. Larry Ruse and Paul Henderson both scored a pair and that was enough. The Sailors added a few more to register a 7-3 victory. St.Catharines doubled their total at home, thanks to a four goal game from Roy. Brian Aherne matched that effort, plus Ruse and George Kapasky contributed hattricks. Port Credit took it 11-6. Another 11-6 game gave the Sailors a commanding 3-0 lead. The Double Blues finally solved Russell by Game Four. They won 12-6 as Dave Hall scored five points. Porky was back on form for the last contest. Aherne's four goals were sufficient as Port Credit won 8-3.

Next came the daunting task of facing the ICLL champion. Port Credit got a nice break when third place Nanaimo Labatts, with their 15-14 record, upset 20-10 Vancouver in six games. It wasn't really that big a break for Porky Russell. He would have to face two of the west's top scorers, 70 goal man Jack Bionda and 41 goalgetter Skip MacKay. Nanaimo also had four time Mann Cup winner Don Ashbee and three timer Arn Dugan. Not to forget veteran Archie Browning, who had played more senior games than half the Sailor line up combined! The Labatts came east with ten Canadian champions in their lineup. To meet them was Port Credit's lone former winner Lou Nickle. And just to make a sure thing safe, Nanaimo picked up Les Norman to back up Fred Fulla. With three consecutive sweeps and sixteen straight wins in the books, western fans can be forgiven for packing brooms.

The Mann Cup's greatest upset ever began with Russell outduelling Fulla in a 10-9 nailbiter. Nanaimo had received it's wake up call. They got an even bigger jolt when they lost the second match 12-11! By Game Three the Labatts meant business. They led 12-8 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. A stunning twenty minutes followed as the Sailors outscored them 9-1 to win 17-13! Invincible Les Norman was called to work in relief of an ailing Fred Fulla for Game Four. Norman extended his perfect Mann Cup record to 9-0 as the westerners bounced back with an 11-5 win. Could the OLA be instore for the ultimate embarrassment, blowing a 3-0 lead? Not this year. Larry Ruse solved Norman by scoring three second half goals as Port Credit took the fifth game 9-7. Poor Archie Browning! He'd seen Favell, Wotton and now Russell. In his final Mann Cup appearance he had been beaten for the fifth time. He'd retire with only one championship, way back in 1947.

It was no surprise Porky Russell was named series MVP. In five games he stopped 154 shots, over 30 a night! Skip MacKay led the series with 10 goals and 19 points. Jack Bionda had 8 and 17 points. Don Ashbee also chipped in with 8 goals. Overall Nanaimo outscored the new champions 53-51. No one on Port Credit finished more than 13 points. Larry Ruse led them with 10 goals. Brian Aherne and George Kapasky followed with 8 each. Florie Tomchishen added 7. Of course statistics are for losers - as the Sailors proved.

After two last place seasons in the Junior ranks Whitby went about turning things around in 1960. With sponsorship from Red Wing Orchards, Coach Bev Groves signed last year juniors Terry Davis(from Peterborough) and Bob 'Buff' McCready(from St.Catharines). McCready was already a seasoned veteran with a wanderlust. A couple of years earlier he had started in goal for Cornwall, a team which played a series of exhibition games against OLA Senior opponents.

The Red Wings went from last to first, though their record of 13-6-1 was one of the worst of any pennant winner in OLA Jr.A history. The problem was winning on the road. Neither Whitby, nor any of its rivals, could do so with consistency. In the Semi Finals fourteen games were played and the home side won every one! St.Catharines and Long Branch both fell one game short. The final series had a sixth game shocker when the Red Wings won in Brampton, taking the series 4 games to 2.

With only one victory in six post season games, the future did not look bright for the west coast bound Ontario champions. Indeed Whitby fell to New Westminster 4 games to 1. The Salmonbellies took the first game 16-10. Doug Wallsmith led them with four goals and an assist. Terry Davis scored four times for Whitby and Bryan Gibson had a hattrick. Buff McCready helped on two markers. The Red Wings lone win was a 15-9 contest. Gibson and Wally Thorne scored three and Mike Gates had a trio for the losers. The remaining matches were New Westminster victories of 12-5, 8-4 and 11-7. Gates counted five points in Game Three, a goal in the fourth encounter and two goals in the finale.

This was the year lacrosse abandoned Peterborough, however Peterborough did not abandon lacrosse. The Senior club folded thus players like Larry Ferguson and Bob Batley headed down the road to Brooklin and joined their new Senior franchise. The Junior Petes also left town, relocating to the east. Thus the first Hastings Legionaires club entered Jr.A play. It was an all Peterborough side, however they would be based in Hastings for the next seven years.

The Legionaires wasted no time making history. They finished second to Brampton during regular season play but produced the greatest comeback ever in Jr.A.. Brampton won the first three games in the League Final by scores of 8-2, 12-10 and 10-9. Then the Legionaires fought back with victories of 9-6, 7-6 and 9-5. For the seventh game in Brampton they were at their very best, winning 11-5! The first and only time a team has come from three games down in league history!

Hastings odyssey was far from complete. Being an odd numbered year they should have hosted the Minto Cup, however Port Credit had been chosen as the site for the series. Despite strenuous appeals to have the series moved to Peterborough the CLA would not budge. Thus the final was played in front of small crowds. The most fanatical supporters of Peterborough lacrosse thought the CLA was still out to get Peterborough. Such fanatics would soon be joined by less biased fans as the CLA was about to pull something out of its hat - and it wasn't a rabbit!

The last neutral site Minto Cup began as any Dominion championship should. Burnaby won the opener 13-11, then Hastings rebounded to win the second contest 11-10. Burnaby scored the tying goal at the buzzer but the referee ruled the ball had entered the net too late. The westerners appealed the decision. Brampton pick up John McCauley was outstanding with six points for the second straight night. For the third game, Saturday night, Grant Heffernan scored four times as the Legionaires won again. The next night Ken Ruttan and Whitby pick up John Davis scored hattricks as Hastings took a 3-1 series lead. Thus by Tuesday evening the Peterborough kids made the long trip back to Port Credit knowing they could win the Canadian championship that night. They got quite a surprise to arrive at the arena and discover that the CLA had overruled the referee's decision at the end of Game Two, awarded Burnaby the goal and declared the game an 11-11 tie! The first and only tie in Minto Cup play since the field era. By the end of the night the series was even at 2-2-1 as the Lakers won Game Five. Temporarily stunned but undaunted, the Legionaries responded like true champions. Jim Vilneff scored five points as Hastings won Wednesday's match. On Friday they clinched the championship as Fergus pick up Gary Landoni scored twice and Dave Drummond had three points. Hastings 4 Burnaby 2 and 1 tie.

In Senior, Peterborough was replaced by Niagara Falls Scobies and Brooklin Hillcrests. Niagara Falls did not work out. Their one year in the league saw them win only three times and give up more than twice as many goals as they scored. On the otherhand, Brooklin was a great success. Rookie Terry Davis won the scoring championship, Brooklin finished fourth with a 10-14 record and they gave a good account of themselves in the Semi Finals by battling Brampton for seven games. It was defensive lacrosse at its best as both teams managed to score 10 goals in a game only once. Brampton took the last game 9-5.

The league continued to be as defensive as ever as only Port Credit and St.Catharines averaged over ten goals per game. Junior lacrosse was just breaking out of its offensive slump, thanks in part to John Davis setting a rookie record with 92 goals. John also won the scoring championship, on a team that missed the playoffs! Thus the Davis brothers swept the Jr.A and Sr.A scoring races, something that had never been done before. To compare Junior to Senior, Davis' 92 goals were almost twice what anyone in Senior scored, though both leagues played 24 game schedules. Gary Moore led Senior with 47 goals, followed closely by Terry Davis and Larry Ruse both with 46.

Port Credit finished in first place and met third place St.Catharines to start the playoffs. Their six game series was the shortest of the OLA post season. The last game went to double overtime before Lou Nickle beat Buff McCready. Russell and McCready surrendered only fifteen goals in 74 minutes.

The defensive struggles continued in the final. The Sailors took the opener 7-6. Larry Ruse scored the winner with seven minutes remaining. Brampton won at home 8-7 as Bob 'Duke' Savage outdueled Dave 'Porky' Russell. Jim Thompson got one period of work in the final and it was a disaster for Brampton. He surrendered nine goals as Elmer Lee's crew won 11-4. That was the only time in the series Port Credit scored more than seven goals in a game. Brampton leveled the series with a 7-6 victory. Bruce Wanless broke the tie with over five minutes left. Game Five was ultra defensive until late in the second period. Port Credit took advantage of a Wanless penalty and scored two power play goals. That extended their lead to 4-1 and broke the game wide open. The Sailors won it 7-3. The Mann Cup holders were looking good in Game Six as well. They won the opening period 3-1. Brampton battled back to tie it and grabbed their first lead with a Bill Castator goal late in the second. They exploded for seven more in the third and won going away 13-7. That was the only time in the series Brampton scored more than eight goals in a game. The goaltending duel was back on for Game Seven. Duke Savage was solid but Porky Russell blinked during the second period. Brampton ran three goals past him to grab a 5-1 lead. Port Credit fought back and cut the lead to 6-4 with six minutes remaining. Gord Thompson scored two minutes later to clinch the win. It was Brampton's first championship since 1931!

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