Unless one liked to see plenty of goals. In that case it was a most frustrating year. In both major leagues the offences played second fiddle to the goaltenders and defences. It wasn't as bad as 1959, when Junior teams averaged less than 8 goals per game, however the Jr.A League has never again been as low scoring as it was in '62. The Fergus Thistles were twice shutout. Long Branch's Brian Cuddy did it on May 28th. Eleven days later Brampton's Gary Drysdale also blanked them.

Sr.A shooters also struggled. Despite a 24 game schedule there were no 50 goal scorers for the third consecutive season. In fact Gary Moore was the only player to reach the 40 plateau - even he did not average two goals per game! Moore became the first Athletic to win the scoring championship in twenty years and the last ever. He also did it on a last place team, the first to lead the league since Jack Gair tied Bill Isaacs in 1942. 1963 would be an even worse year for the offences in Senior. Yet 1962 was the lowest scoring season since the mid 1930s!

The OLA champs also did nothing to offend their western counterparts. Brampton clubs won both Jr.A and Sr.A but were brushed aside by the BC boys. It would be fourteen years before the west again swept the Canadian championships. Sure enough 1976 was the next time Brampton won both provincial titles.

For the first time since 1940 the Senior League was identical to the previous year. The same four teams returned to play another 24 game schedule. That only goes to show how unstable the OLA Senior League had been. Of course it had always been unstable. The same four teams would be back again the next season - a record three straight! Only on one other occasion would that be accomplished(1981-83). The rest of the OLA Senior League's history was ninety years of teams coming or going or the schedule changing or the playoff format - absolutely nothing for the Ontario lacrosse fan to depend upon!

Brampton ran away with first place as they won nineteen games. They scored 242 goals, making them the only side to average ten per game. They succeeded with defence and great depth. Only Wayne Thompson and Bert Naylor were among the league's scoring leaders and neither averaged two points per game.

Brooklin was much improved and enjoyed their first winning season with thirteen victories. They added Cy Coombes and Bob Curtis, plus picked up Lou Nickle from Port Credit. Scoring champ Terry Davis made the jump to Nanaimo and the ICLL. Glen Lotton finished runner up in the scoring race and Larry Ferguson was right behind him. Bob Batley and Coombes also made the top ten. The Hillcrests big offensive star was goaltender Pat Baker. In 34 regular season and playoff games, Baker scored once and racked up 31 assists.

Port Credit slipped to a 10-14 record. They lost Leo Teatro in mid season with a seven game suspension for throwing a ball at a referee. Florie Tomchishen led them in scoring, though Brian Aherne was their big gun in the playoffs.

St.Catharines slipped to last place with six wins and three times as many losses. Supporting Moore was Pete Berge with a 32 goal 52 point season.

For the third consecutive year Brampton and Port Credit met in the playoffs. Their Semi Final series lasted six games. With wins of 11-8 and 8-7, the Sailors were competitive. Brampton closed out the series with victories of 7-5 and 6-5 as netminder Jim Thompson dominated.

In the other series, Brooklin dispatched St.Catharines in five games. The key was a fourth game 9-8 overtime win for the Hillcrests. They doubled the Athletics 12-6 at home to eliminate them.

The champions successfully defended their OLA title in the final. After a 9-7 loss, Brooklin won their only game 8-4. Brampton took the next three contests by socres of: 13-5, 7-4 and 6-4.

Brampton picked up goaltender Pat Baker for the Mann Cup, along with his teammates Glen Lotton and Ken 'Red' Crawford. Florie Tomchishen was also added. Baker saw the bulk of the work against New Westminster. Still nothing could save the Ontario champions. New Westminster O'Keefes were led by Les Norman. Norman recorded the only ever ICLL shutout when he blanked Victoria 23-0 in a game that year. New West also had Peterborough imports Paul Parnell and Bob Allan. Jack Bionda joined them midway through the season and was also available for the Dominion championship. They won a thrilling seven game final over the Mann Cup holders from Vancouver. The deciding game was played at the hostile Kerrisdale Arena. The O'Keefes prevailed 13-9. After such a hard earned victory they headed east determined not to suffer the same fate as the Nanaimo Labatts. The result was yet another sweep for the ICLL. As in 1958, New Westminster won on the road in four straight - the only teams to ever accomplish such a feat. Bionda was described as a man playing amongst boys. He scored sixteen points and took home the Mike Kelly Award. Bob Dobbie led Brampton with only nine points.

This marked the peak of BC dominance. They had won seven Mann Cups in eight years - 29 victories and only 6 defeats! There were more Mann Cups to come, however the OLA champs would be much more competitive. The Minto Cup win was the West's seventh title in fifteen years. They would not win again until 1971 and would need special rules in their favour just to barely take that series. Ontario was about to claim complete control of Junior lacrosse and, with the exception of the odd break, they would own it for the next four decades.

1963 - JIM BISHOP RETURNS TO JUNIOR

The Green Gaels continued their tour of the province and landed in Oshawa. Regardless of where the team was based Jim Bishop could draw talent from all over. He had started in Oakville, in 1953, and posted a winning record immediately. The club finished fourth and fell to the defending Minto Cup champions in the Semi Finals. Denny McIntosh was Bishop's star player. The next two seasons were spent in Newmarket. A pair of first place finishes as McIntosh was joined by such talented youngsters as Don Baker, Bill Davenport, Hugh Devine, Charlie Ludlow, Jack Madgett, Ralph McCormick and Clarke Pulford. Both years the Gaels faltered in the Final, losing seven game series to Long Branch. The next experiment was in Mimico and a disasterous last place finish. Bishop headed north and the Huntsville Green Gaels were born in 1957. By that time only Devine remained from the great Newmarket teams. The result was another losing season, only 3 wins and 15 losses. Like Napoleon retreating from Moscow, Jim Bishop fled to the minors to start from scratch all over again.

While Bishop revitalised small town lacrosse, turning Huntsville into a provincial power at the minor level as he coached as many as five teams a year, far to the south Ontario County was embracing the game again. Since the glory years of the Oshawa Generals at the end of the field era, the only county lacrosse had been the Brooklin Intermediates. The County Town of Whitby joined Junior to replace Peterborough in 1958. A 1-17 record plus a playoff sweep was the best they could do. Whitby did have some talent, namely Olympian Brian Gibson and Glen Lotton. In '59 they finished 3-21 and missed the playoffs. By that time Terry Davis had joined from Peterborough. The next year came the Whitby Red Wings Minto Cup run as they ended Brampton's three year reign. By 1961 the Red Wings had added the greatest Junior of them all, John Davis, but they fell to sixth place and dropped out of Jr.A at the end of the season.

Thus it was up to Jim Bishop to pick up the pieces in 1963. He moved his sporting goods store to Oshawa, took a job at CKLB Radio and returned the Green Gaels to Jr.A. Huntsville products Tom Conlin and David Lough joined Bishop from Brampton, plus John Davis returned to Ontario County after a year in Hastings. The result was a strong 17-7 record, tied for second place. This time the Gaels would not falter in the playoffs. Unlike the Newmarket teams, the Oshawa squad had a 16 year old goaltender named Merv Marshall who would not allow his team to lose. There would be no choke in the OLA Finals. Bishop's Boys went through the league post season with a 10-2 record, both losses coming in Brampton. That earned them the right to host the Minto Cup, facing the defending champion Victoria Shamrocks.

Oshawa won the opening game at the Whitby Arena 10-7. Conlin scored three times and Lough picked up four points. The home side won the next contest 11-4. Davis was high man with a hattrick. The Shamrocks fought back with wins in the next two matches. They took a 10-9 game in spite of five goals and two assists from Brampton pick up John McCauley. Victoria then overcame a four goal effort by John Davis to win 9-6. In the end they could not overcome the netminding of Marshall. Davis scored five points, Alderwood pickup Wally Hutzel four more and Larry Ireland added a hattrick as the Gaels won 12-6. An 11-6 victory followed as McCauley scored three times and Tom Conlin had four points. For the first time the Jim McConaghy Trophy was presented to the series MVP. Merv Marshall became the inaugral winner.

Seventeen years work had finally been rewarded as Jim Bishop had won the Minto Cup. He was only beginning. Of far greater importance was the influence this success and the ones to follow would have on the game. Ontario County lacrosse had finally been established and Durham Region lacrosse would come to dominate the game. Had Bishop not moved down from Huntsville there might not have been Minto Cup winners in Oshawa and Whitby, or Mann Cup winners in Brooklin. Bishop's greatest legacy would be the number of his players who would go on to coaching success. Jim Hinkson('80 Minto Cup) John McCauley('80 Mann Cup) Peter Vipond('84 Minto, 5 Mann Cups) Neil Armstrong('85 Minto) David Lough('98 & '00 Mintos) and Derek Keenan(Toronto Beaches). Not to forget championship assistant coach Elmer Tran or the influence Bishop had on the legendary Bob Hanna. The move to Oshawa was one of the most important lacrosse events of the past forty years!

On the senior front, the Brooklin Merchants were already banging at the Mann Cup door. Glen Lotton and Cy Coombes swept the top two scoring positions as Brooklin finished in first place with a 15-9 record. St.Catharines were right behind them at 14-9. The A's had top scorers Jim McNulty, Gary Moore, Doug Smith and Gerry Cheevers(future NHL goaltender). Port Credit and Brampton both had losing seasons.

Alas the Merchants failed to profit from their regular season success and went bankrupt in the playoffs. Brooklin began well, with a 10-6 home victory. Port Credit responded with a 7-5 win. Then they took control of the series with a 7-6 road triumph. A 9-6 win followed giving the Sailors a commanding 3-1 lead. Brooklin came back with a 14-3 win followed by a convincing 13-6 victory in Port Credit. Yet Porky Russell silenced the Merchant shooters in the crucial seventh game. Port Credit won it 5-3.

The other series also looked like an upset as last place Brampton grabbed a 3-1 lead on St.Catharines. The Athletics stormed back with three consecutive victories. They immediately extended their winning streak to seven games as they swept the Sailors in the league final. The first Senior championship for St.Catharines since 1946. It would be their last ever!

The Double Blues were hardly expected to win the Mann Cup on the west coast. In fact they were not even expected to win a game. Vancouver Carlings had finished first in the ICLL with a 22-7-1 record. Their top scorers were Gord Gimple, Sid Warick and Bill Barbour, plus they had first team all star goaltender Merv Schweitzer and all star defencemen Bill Chisholm and Wayne Pecknold. In the playoffs they defeated New Westminster four games to two.

They greeted the eastern champs by winning the first three games. St.Catharines then surprised every one by taking Games Four and Five. Vancouver coach Alec McKay claimed that the Athletics were trying to maim his players. St.Catharines player/coach Jim McNulty replied, "If they don't like the wood, they should get out of the game." Yet penalty minutes hardly reflected brutal behavior on the part of the visitors. In the series the Brew Boys racked up 156 minutes compared to the A's 94! Chalk it up to gamesmanship on the part of McKay. His whining ceased the moment Vancouver won the sixth game 12-6.

Gord Gimple was series leading scorer with thirteen goals and nineteen points. He also took home the Mike Kelly Award. John Cervi also had nineteen points and Wayne Pecknold popped in ten goals. Gary Moore led the A's with ten goals and fifteen points. Jr.A addition Doug Favell Jr.(the future NHLer) scored six points in five games. Pat Baker was picked up from Brooklin and split goaltending duty with Bob McCready. He had five assists in three games. Previously no netminder had scored more than two points in a Mann Cup series.

The village of Brooklin won its first Ontario championship this year. Admittedly most of the talent was imported from Oshawa, Peterborough or Whitby, still it was a great accomplishment for a community of less than 2,000 people. In the Canadian Championship they would face the city of Vancouver...only in lacrosse!

Peterborough returned to the Senior Circuit and took away some of the Merchants talent. Cy Coombes headed home to become player/coach. Larry Ferguson joined him. Yet Brooklin did hang on to Grant Heffernan, Ken Ruttan and, most importantly, Pat Baker. The Speedy Erns(yes that was the Petes' new nickname) had to settle for Russ Dunn in goal. Current Laker owner Ted Higgins saw two periods of action in relief and actually beat Port Credit. Plus Lloyd Wotton returned to goal one last time. He was the same superstitious Moon. He would not allow anyone to photograph him before a game. Also he always stepped into his pants right foot first. In his solo start, Wotton filled in for thirteen minutes against Brampton and only surrendered two goals before giving way to the late arriving Dunn.

The Merchants finished in first place with an 18-6 record, followed closely by Brampton at 15-9. Led by goaltender Baker, Brooklin had the best defence in the league, giving up only 197 goals.

The Excelsiors scored a league leading 271 goals. They were led by
scoring champ Don Arthurs, the only Brampton player to make the top
ten. For the first time in five years the league had a fifty goal scorer. Straight out of Junior, Arthurs counted 70 goals and 44 assists. Only one other player came close to 50 goals. Brooklin's

Glen Lotton fell one shy at 49. He finished third in the scoring race, just ahead of his playmaking teammate Grant Heffernan. With 52 assists Heffernan became only the seventh player to count over 50 in one season and the first to do so since Ross Powless back in 1956.

St.Catharines was also in the hunt with 14 wins. They were followed by Peterborough at 10-14. Reknown goalscorer Cy Coombes finished second in the scoring race and second in playmaking with 49 assits. Port Credit and Huntsville both missed the playoffs with eight and seven wins respectively. The Sailors had lost Bob Hanna as the big guy jumped ship to join the Merchants. Huntsville was led by Minto Cup winner Tom Conlin and Fergus junior star John Roberts.

The previous year, Brooklin had won the Regular Season
championship for the first time, then bombed out in the opening playoff round. The Merchants came from 3-1 down only to lose the seventh game at home to Port Credit. Against the defending champions the Red Shirts won three out of the first four, including a key 6-5 overtime contest. St.Catharines came back. Wins of 8-7 and 5-3 forced the series to its limit. The deciding match was a 10-9 thriller. Heffernan's deuce, including a shorthanded marker, saved Brooklin.

It was no picnic for the Excelsiors either as they dueled Peterborough for seven games. The home team won every single game convincingly.

The series opener was the closest of the bunch. The Excelsiors won 14-11. Gord Thompson scored three goals and Larry Ferguson had a quartet for the Erns. Peterborough followed with a 15-10 victory. Thus the competitors went back and forth. Brampton 11-6, Peterborough 13-9, Brampton 13-7 and Peterborough 12-9. Wayne Platt took over in the Petes goal starting in Game Three. Jim Thompson went all the way for the Excelsiors. The sixth game in Peterborough drew just under 2,000 fans. Brampton ended the series by doubling the Speedy Erns 16-8. They won the first period 6-1 and never looked back. Ferguson had four goals and two assists for the losers.

This was the year Ontario lacrosse fans were treated to twenty-one playoff games in three series. The League Final would also go the distance. After an opening victory, the Merchants ended Brampton's dominance at home. It took them over 80 minutes to defeat the Excelsiors though! Glen Lotton tied the contest with 44 seconds left in the third period. A ten minute overtime could not decide the game. 11 minutes and 48 seconds of sudden death lacrosse would also be necessary. Eventually Elmer Tran ended the second longest game in OLA history, 11-10 Brooklin. Back home they went up three games by doubling the Excelsiors 12-4.

Next came the Excelsior comeback. Brampton looked to be in control during the fourth game but nearly lost it to a late Brooklin rally. Down 7-4, the Merchants scored two power play goals, then Glen Lotton tied it with a shorthanded marker in the final two minutes. Twelve seconds later, Junior call up John McCauley notched the winner. He added another with 38 seconds left. In Game Five the Excelsiors finally won a road playoff game. A five goal second period put them in position for the upset. With the contest knotted 5-5, John Spicer scored the winner with less then three minutes remaining in the third period. It came on a neat passing play from Bruce Wanless. The next match was another 6-5 win. The Brampton power play decided this one. They scored three times, while giving up two shorthanded. Ken Ruttan had a hattrick for Brooklin but it wasn't enough. Bruce Castator counted the deciding goal, with the manadvantage, midway through the third period.

The deciding contest was a remarkable see-saw battle. Don Arthurs led the visitors with four goals, as Grant Heffernan countered with a five point game for the home side. It was Brampton's turn to jump ahead 3-0. That lead was cut to 4-3 by the end of the first period. They extended their advantage to 6-3, however three unanswered goals by Brooklin turned the match around. The period ended at 6-6 and the Merchants went on to outscore the Excelsiors 4-1 in the third. 10-7 Brooklin, it's first OLA Senior A championship.

The Mann Cup commenced at the Whitby Arena on September 12th. Castrol Oils had inked a four year deal to sponsor the Mann and Minto Cup finals. This dispells that rumour that the Long Branch Castrolites Jr.A club was supported by friends of the Cuban Communist Party.

Vancouver Carlings represented the ICLL. They led the opening game 7-5 early in the third quarter but only beat Pat Baker once more. The Merchants fought back for a 10-8 victory. Pick ups Bob Allan(Peterborough) and Ron Roy(St.Catharines) both scored hattricks. Brooklin was soon up two games. They led the second contest 6-5 at the half, then scored three unanswered third quarter goals to pull away. The final result was 11-7. Another pick up, Larry Ferguson, led with three goals. Allan and Roy both bulged the twine twice. Carlings' coach Alex McKay praised the work of Pat Baker. He also complained about the narrowness of the Whitby Arena floor. Fortunately for the Brew Boys, the arena would not be available for Game Three, thus the series would move to Peterborough's Civic Arena for one night.

With the chance to stretch their legs, the Carlings took advantage. Actually it was the defence and netminding of Norm Nestman which won them the 9-5 contest. Brooklin was minus captain Glen Lotton, out with a pulled groin. The Merchants led 2-0 early but were down 4-2 by the thirty minute mark. The Brew Boys extended their run to nine consecutive goals. Back in the safe confines of Whitby, Brooklin went up 3-1. Lotton was back, however Grant Heffernan missed the game with a bruised hip. Vancouver took the opening quarter 4-1. The Merchants beat Nestman six times in the second and led 7-6 at the half. They went on to a 14-10 triumph. Lotton scored four times. Brooklin's other ten goals were all scored by pick ups - Jack Madgett(3) Roy(2) Allan(2) Cy Coombes(2) Ferguson(1).

Now the Carlings had to win in Whitby! Whitby Town Council was not expecting them to ever win in the County Town. During their meeting Alderman Bob Attersley(former Whitby Dunlop) moved that the town's anti noise law be waived for the Brooklin celebration. The request was seconded by Alderman Tom Edwards and passed. The gauntlet had been passed. Could the Brew Boys keep Whitby quiet?

It was time for heros to step forward and 215 pounder Fred Usselman did so for Vancouver. He beat Pat Baker six times in the fourth game. The Red Shirts led 5-4 in the second quarter when Usselman scored three times in 2 1/2 minutes. That gave the Carlings a lead they would not relinquish. They won 13-10. John Cervi contributed six points in support and Alex Carey had a hattrick. Eight out of Brooklin's ten goals were scored by pick ups. Merchant Manager Art Morton was unconcerned by the loss. "I told you we'd take them in six," was his response to reporters.

Game Six proved to be one of the greatest games in Mann Cup history. No question the finish will never be matched. Vancouver led 9-7 early in the fourth quarter. A Brooklin spurt put them ahead 10-9 midway through. The Carlings responded with three goals in three minutes. First Cervi set up Carey to tie it. Next Usselman made it 11-10. Nine seconds later it was 12-10 as Cervi helped Carey again. That appeared to be the end of it as the clock wound into the last minute. With 28 seconds remaining Glen Lotton gave the home side hope. Seven seconds later Bob Allan tied the contest 12-12! The Brew Boys struck back immediately. Gord Gimple blasted a shot past Baker with twelve seconds left. Yet the Merchants were not done. They won the ensuing draw and Ron Roy was sent in alone. Norm Nestman robbed him with two seconds on the clock. 13-12 Vancouver.

A crowd of 1,860 attended the final game. It was all Brooklin early. They built a 4-0 lead before Vancouver could even get a shot on goal. The visitors first chance came late in the quarter. Bill Chisholm scored after taking a perfect pass from Pete Black. From that point on the Carlings whittled away at the lead. They cut the margin to 4-3 by halftime. Chisholm tied it in the third period, then the Brew Boys ran in four more to take control. They went on to win the game 10-5. Bob Allan finished the series with nine points more than any other player. He was named MVP. It was the first time an eastern player on the losing team had won the Kelly Award.

Jim Bishop again had the best junior team in Canada. With Oshawa's John Davis setting records for assists, 93, and points, 184, the Gaels rolled to another title. Davis won the scoring race by an incredible 63 points! In the Minto Cup, New Westminster were competitive but only able to win once. Davis led the series with 23 points, while Ken Thompson's 13 goals were best. Sentimental favourite Gaylord Powless took home the McConaghy.

While Ontario had been frustrated in most of their Mann Cup bids, the advantage of a weaker Senior League was that it was more balanced. In the first half of the decade four different clubs had won the championship. Of the fifteen playoff series, seven had gone the distance and only one had been a sweep. In comparison, during the first half of the 1990s the OLA won four Mann Cups. They did have three different league champions but none of those winners lost more than seven league games all year. More importantly, of the eleven playoff series during that period six ended in sweeps, only three went past five games and none went the distance. If competitive lacrosse is entertaining lacrosse then fans in the sixties were blessed.

The '65 pennant race was the most competitive of them all. Brooklin and Brampton both finished with 16-8 records, Peterborough one point back. St.Catharines, Port Credit and Huntsville all failed to keep pace. Each finished with a losing record. That was all for the Sailors and Hawks as neither club would return next year. A sad fate for Port Credit, considering their meteoric rise and first season championship. Elmer Lee coached the Sailors all six seasons.

The scoring race was also tight. Five different players scored fifty goals: Larry Ferguson(63) Cy Coombes(57) Don Arthurs(54) Glen Lotton(50) and John Roberts(50). Point wise, Ferguson edged defending champ Arthurs 113-110. Coombes was close by at 106 and Lotton also broke the 100 point barrier - without picking up a single penalty minute. Second year man Don Arthurs became only the fourth player in league history to produce consecutive 100 point seasons.

This was the season Brooklin began two of it's greatest rivalries. The Merchants faced Peterborough in the playoffs for the first time and later met the great Salmonbellies for their initial encounter. First came their Semi Final series against the Speedy Erns. Drawing the 15-8-1 Petes, some reward for winning the pennant! Meanwhile the Excelsiors drew 11-13 St.Catharines.

It had been an eventful regular season for the Red Shirts. They had to play out of the Whitby Arena and Children's Arena in Oshawa until mid July. They started the year on a ten game winning streak but immediately turned around and lost five in a row. With the club sitting at 12-7 player/coach Ken 'Red' Crawford was replaced by Bud Christie. In contrast, all was calm in Peterborough, where Bob Allan made his coaching debut. The most dramatic event was the appearance of Miss Salad Queen, Wendy Sanders, to perform the ceremonial opening draw for a contest and hand out the Three Star Awards at its conclusion.

It was another short post season for goaltender Russ Dunn. He was injured midway through the opening playoff game and knocked out of the series. Ted Higgins replaced him but was unable to contain the Brooklin onslaught. He was beaten twelve times as the defending champions won 17-10. Next came a bit of outlandish political manoeuvring which had Brooklin fans already referring to Peterborough as "cheaters". The Erns were allowed to bring in Porky Russell to replace Dunn. The same Port Credit Russell Peterborough had twice beaten in overtime earlier in the season. That made things tight for the Red Shirts but they pulled off a 12-11 victory for a 2-0 lead. The final nail in the Petes' coffin came in Game Three. They blew a 10-4 lead in Brooklin and lost 14-13 in overtime. The Merchants also took the last game 13-5.

This set up another Brampton/Brooklin showdown. The Excelsiors got by St.Catharines, though they needed seven games! Neither of the finalists were strangers to seventh games. Both clubs had seen their past two seasons ended by seventh game defeats. Thus it was a safe bet the '65 Final would go the distance.

The Excelsiors were missing starting netminder John Jefferson for the opener. They trailed much of the match but Gord Thompson gave them their first lead with 1:28 left. Brooklin scored twice in the dying seconds to win 12-11. A crowd of 2,800 attended the second contest in Brampton. Nine different players scored for the home team as they doubled the Merchants 10-5. Back home, Brooklin claimed another one goal victory. They led 11-7, but a late comeback by the visitors made the final 11-10. Both Glen Lotton and John Spicer led their sides with four goals. Brampton again won at home, a narrow 9-7 triumph. Don Arthurs had four goals, while Ken Lotton counted three for the losers.

The series advantage shifted to the Excelsiors in Game Five. Another one goal encounter in Brooklin, however it was the visitors who prevailed on this occasion, 10-9. John McCauley's hattrick lead the way. Grant Heffernan appeared for the first time in the series and scored a deuce for the Merchants. Brampton led 10-7 with 8 minutes remaining, then hung on for the win. The Excelsiors may have been poised to end it at home but Brooklin turned up with their best game and smoked them 13-6. Grant Heffernan scored five times.

The final game was another controlled by the Red Shirts. Red Crawford (now just a player) and Jack Madgett both counted hattricks. Crawford's trio made the difference in a 12-9 victory.

Like other Ontario champs of late, The Merchants headed west as huge underdogs. The O'Keefe's looked like a sure bet after they dismissed the eastern challenge with an 11-5 first game victory. Pat Baker had to make 38 saves or the beating would have been worse. He was unable to stop Cliff Sepka. The New Westminster sniper potted four goals. When Bill Castator tried to slow Sepka down with a high stick he paid dearly for it. Ron Loftus came charging across the floor and send Castator sprawling. Both recieved two minute penalties.

Brooklin found their form in time for Game Two. They slowed down the westerners' offence enough to prevail 6-5. Ken Ruttan was outstanding on defence and scored the winning goal with 2:44 left on the clock. Coach Doug McRory described it as New Westminster's worst game of the year! He expressed disappointment with the play of Sepka, Paul Parnell and Wayne Shuttleworth - one goal between them. He was still confident of victory but, not to take anything away from the Merchants, admitted that it might take six or seven games.

The Friday night game was a thriller. Brooklin overcame a 10-4 disadvantage, thanks to six goals in five minutes. They also overcame 41 penalty minutes, compared to New Westminster's 23. In the end, Grant Heffernan scored the winner with five seconds left in overtime, 15-14 Merchants. Over 3,600 attended the match and saw Larry Ferguson and Sepka with four goal efforts.

The series resumed Monday. Once again New Westminster started fast, grabbing a 4-1 lead. Yet the Brooklin fast break kept beating the O'Keefe's defence back, thus the Red Shirt offence kept rolling. Led by Glen Lotton's hattrick they won 14-9. The Merchants only loss was when Jack Madgett was crushed into the boards by Shuttleworth. He had to be taken to hospital and was finished for the series. Madgett had scored five times in the first four contests.

For the second consecutive year Brooklin led the Dominion Final 3-1. This time they hoped to get that fourth win. They nearly succeeded Wednesday evening. In a tight game New Westminster played in front. They led 3-2 at quarter time and 5-3 by the half. The key play to the game and the series came in the third quarter. Brooklin captain Don Craggs lost his cool and pounched upon referee Whitey Severson. That act got him thrown out of the game and suspended for the remainder of the final. The Merchants stayed close without their leader. Red Crawford scored midway through the fourth quarter to narrow the lead to 8-7. New Westminster successfully ran the clock down, thanks to great ragging from Don Boyd and Rudy Reisinger.

Brooklin was now missing Craggs, Madgett and Ruttan(work committment at home) but it was the loss of Craggs, their inspirational leader, which transformed the series. The westerners smelled blood and struck fast in Game Six, on Friday. They built up a 10-2 lead enroute to an easy 17-7 victory. Sepka scored four times, while Shuttleworth registered a hattrick. New Westminster did lose Parnell in the first quarter when he was crosschecked by Castator.

There was no rest for the weary. Both clubs were back at Queen's Park Saturday night. A five goal second quarter busted it open for the O'Keefe's. They led 7-2 at the half and cruised to an 11-3 triumph. Les Norman turned aside 25 shots as he won a record sixteenth career Mann Cup game. Coach McRory decribed Brooklin as "just too tired to win." He couldn't understand why the Merchants dressed sixteen runners but only used ten of them the last two games. Close to 5,000 watched New Westminster hoist the Mann Cup yet again.

The Ontario County Double had fallen one game short for the second successive year. Still, one out of two wasn't bad. The Oshawa Green Gaels were Canadian Junior Champions again. They went 29-1-1 in league play, then disposed of the Salmonbellies in a six game Minto Final. Individually, Hastings' Bill Armour denied John Davis what would have been a record third scoring title. Davis concluded his spectacular career with twelve goals in the New Westminster series. In 24 career Minto Cup games Davis scored 43 goals and 73 points, both records at that time. Davis left Junior lacrosse the OLA's all time leading scorer with 960 points in 170 games. He was also the first player to score over 500 goals in a junior career.

Having lost five straight Mann Cup finals and winning only one Canadian title since 1954, the OLA needed something to turn things around. That something would be ex Gael John Davis. Davis was a curiosity. At a time when Peterborough players were abandoning their home town, such as Paul Parnell in New Westminster plus Terry Davis and Grant Heffernan in Brooklin, John Davis returned home. With the exception of four years of professional lacrosse, Davis would wear Peterborough colours his entire career.

As his brother Terry had done in 1961 and Don Arthurs in 1964, Davis became yet another rookie scoring champion. John took top spot with 119 points, while brother Terry was runner up twenty-two points behind. With 51 goals John Davis was one of only two fifty goal scorers. Second year man Ron MacNeil led the league with 52 tallies.

Peterborough's new blood wasn't limited to Davis. Bill Armour was another outstanding rookie and top ten scorer(though Davis scored more than twice as many points). Pat Baker also returned home from Brooklin. Consequently the Petes finished in first place at 16-7-1, three points ahead of Brampton and four up on Toronto. The defending champions changed their nickname to Redmen and fell to fourth place with a losing record. St.Catharines won only three times in their final season and defaulted all of their late season games.

The Petes started their Mann Cup run by sweeping Toronto Maple Leafs. The first two contests were tight wins of 10-7 and 11-7. The final two matches were even closer one goal games. Player/Coach Bob Allan broke an 8-8 tie with under five minutes remaining in Game Three. Peterborough lost Baker with a knee injury in this game. Russ Dunn replaced him for the fourth contest, a 12-11 victory. Ken Ruttan spoiled Toronto's three goal comeback with a last minute score.

Everyone expected another long Brampton/Brooklin series but no one expected double overtime in Game One! Five Redmen power play goals enabled them to stay even with the Excelsiors. At the 7:38 mark of the fifth period Grant Heffernan scored to give Brooklin an 8-7 win. In the next match Brampton goaltender Porky Russell held the opposing shooters to six goals in a 10-6 Excelsior triumph. Brampton then doubled the Redmen 8-4 to take the series lead 2-1. In Game Four the defending champs trailed 5-4 with six minutes left but scored three unanswered goals to steal it. Bob Hanna counted the winner on a backhanded shot. Brooklin next won in Brampton 12-11 with Matt Campbell replacing Gary Drysdale in goal. Elmer Tran scored a hattrick, including the winner. Drysdale was back for the remaining games, both Redmen losses. The star of the sixth game wasn't even on the line up sheet! Porky Russell inspired the Excelsiors to a 6-4 triumph, however back up John Jefferson's name was twice written on the score sheet by mistake. Back home, Brampton jumped out to a 5-0 lead enroute to a seventh game victory of 13-5. Jack Madgett and Jim Richardson both scored three times.

Brampton's next series also began with an overtime game. The usual ten minute overtime was enough as the Excelsiors edged Peterborough 10-9. Richardson and Gord Thompson scored in the extra period. In Game Two, a third period shutout by Russell was the key. Brampton scored twice to take the contest 7-5. The Petes came back with successive wins on a Friday and Saturday night. Pat Baker returned to goal and Cy Coombes tallied a hattrick in a 12-2 triumph. That was followed by an 8-6 victory in Brampton. The first period of that game was so rough that a third referee was used on the floor for the remainder of play. That win gave Peterborough home advantage back. That would be enough for them to secure their first championship of the decade. After three day's rest, Game Five was a tamer affair. There was only one fight and seventeen minutes in penalties. The Petes won it 11-4. Though they lost Game Six in Brampton, they were just as dominant at home for the seventh contest, a 10-2 triumph.

The Mann Cup Final had returned to Peterborough. Unlike the past disappointment in 1956, the Petes would win this time. Four out of the five close games went their way as they only outscored the Vancouver Carlings 47-42. John Davis was at his best, leading the series with ten goals and ten assists. He took home the Mike Kelly Award. Defenceman Ken Ruttan was outstanding as Peterborough's second highest scorer. Brian 'Butch' Keegan, Don Arthurs and Ken Crawford were picked up for the series and played every game. Veteran Jack Mason appeared in a pair of contests. He and coach Bob Allan were the only two ex Trailermen remaining from Peterborough's last Dominion champion back in 1954.

For the second consecutive year the Green Gaels lost more games in the Minto Cup than in league play. Oshawa went 35-1 as Gaylord Powless had a record setting year. The scoring champ set high marks with 120 assists and 191 points. New Westminster again took two games from the titleholders. After a 20-7 loss, the Salmonbellies rebounded with a remarkable 15-4 victory, followed by a 10-8 win. The Gaels barely won the next encounter 11-10, as Powless had five points. After that netminder Merv Marshall shut the door and Oshawa posted wins of 11-6 and 16-6. Powless counted eight points in the finale. Ken Winzoski became the first player on a losing team to win the McConaghy. For the champs, Powless' 26 points and Ross Jones' 12 goals stood out.

Previous          Index          Next