The Mann Cup champions looked poised to put together a string of titles. With Pat Baker, they had the best goaltender in the game. Veteran leadership from Bob Allan, Cy Coombes and Larry Ferguson was in place. They had great youngsters like John Davis, Bill Armour and Jim Paterson. Plus one of the best two way players in the game Ken Ruttan. The Don Byes, as they were now called, looked set to at least win another Mann Cup.

Regular season play did nothing to diminish their chances. They finished in first place with a 17-4-3 record. Granted three of those victories came in overtime - Peterborough played eight! - however they still finished thirteen points ahead of second place Brooklin. The Don Byes also had four of the league's top six scorers(Davis, Paterson, Ruttan and Coombes). The Davis brothers swept the top two spots again. John repeated as scoring champion - the first to do so since Bill Brunskill in 1944-45.

Then it all fell apart. Peterborough played third place Brampton in the semi finals. That meant a seventh must win game because the Excelsiors of the sixties only played seven game series. The previous seven playoff series Brampton had been in had all gone the distance. It was practically guaranteed that the Don Byes would have to go seven. They did and lost that deciding contest.

To squash all Peterborough hopes, professional lacrosse came in 1968-69 and the town once again lost it's Senior club. They did have a team in the pro league both years and John Davis won two more scoring championships for Peterborough, however the Mann Cup dynasty was long gone.

The Senior Circuit was back down to four clubs, meaning each made the playoffs. Brooklin drew fourth place Toronto. The Maple Leafs had started the year at the Gardens but were playing out of Port Credit by the end of the season. Buff McCready had returned to Ontario County and was ready to win another OLA championship. He led the Redmen to a 10-8 opening game victory. Toronto rebounded at home to win 14-8. Brooklin jumped ahead again thanks to a 15-8 romp. They ran George Stephens out of the Maple Leaf goal in two periods. Stephens returned for a big fourth game overtime triumph. Ron MacNeil scored twice in the extra period as Toronto won 9-8. They then went one better by winning in Brooklin, in overtime again! Paul Henderson scored the winner, a 9-7 victory. McCready bailed his Redmen mates out with a stellar performance in Game Six. He held the Leafs to four goals over two periods then shut them out the final twenty minutes. The clubs entered the last frame tied at four. Glen Lotton scored once and set up another as Brooklin won 6-4. The series was decided by one shot during the seventh game. In the second period, George Stephens was injured by a shot hitting him in the throat. He recovered enough to remain in net, however he was unnerved by the blow. The Redmen took advantage and ran away with a 12-3 victory.

The Peterborough/Brampton series was odd. Even though the Don Byes had home advantage the series opened in Brampton. Peterborough hosted Games Two, Four, Five and Seven. It was also unusual because the losing team outscored the winner 63-46!

The series commenced with three blow outs. Brampton doubled Peterborough 12-6. The Petes came back with wins of 14-6 and 15-6. Then things settled into a defensive struggle, very dangerous for the high flying Don Byes. John Jefferson shut their offence down as the Excelsiors tied the series with a 6-5 win. Brian Aherne scored the deciding goal with five minutes remaining. In the fifth game Peterborough outshot Brampton 41-22. John Davis scored five times as the Don Byes won 13-4. Over 1,700 fans packed Brampton's Memorial Arena for Game Six. Shots once again favoured the Petes but only by a 33-32 edge. Jefferson outdueled Pat Baker in a 5-4 Excelsior victory. Peterborough paid dearly for a slow start in the deciding match. Brampton were up 6-2 halfway through and would never relinquish their lead. Jim Paterson cut it to 7-6 with four minutes left. There was over two minutes still on the clock when Bob Allan started pulling his goaltender. The extra attacker would not be enough. The Excelsiors held on to their 7-6 advantage.

For the fourth consecutive year Brooklin and Brampton met in the playoffs and for the fourth time they would play seven games. The Championship Final commenced at the end of August. Buff McCready was the star in the opener. He held the Excelsiors to 4 goals, while Brooklin doubled that total with 8. In Brampton, the home team turned the tables with an impressive 11-5 win. Don Arthurs scored five times.

They next grabbed control of the series with an 8-5 win in Brooklin. Control did not last for long. The Redmen scored three power play goals enroute to a 5-3 win, knotting the series 2-2. In Game Five they tripled Brampton 9-3. Elmer Tran potted a trio. Two crucial second period plays decided the next contest. First, Terry Davis scored to apparently give the Red Shirts a 7-5 lead. The goal was disallowed because Davis was proven to be using an illegal stick. Second, the ever wandering Bob McCready finally got caught out of his crease, gifting Arthurs an easy goal. Those breaks, plus a Brian Aherne hattrick, powered the Excelsiors to an 8-7 win. The deciding match started fast. Davis scored with a legal stick 19 seconds in. He would add two more later on. By the end of the opening period Brooklin led 5-0. They carried that lead all the way to claim a 9-6 victory. It was the fifth successive year Brampton was eliminated in a seventh game.

Brooklin were back in British Columbia and determined not to blow another 3-1 series lead. They started well and surprised a crowd of 3,400 by taking the first game 9-8. Buff McCready set up two goals with rushes up the floor. Elmer Tran scored three times on three shots. Vancouver Carlings turned things around the next night by shaking up their power play. John Cervi was moved to the point and he was motivated to produce a four assist/five point game. The Vancouver power play went 3/5, compared to the Redmen's effort of 1/6. The result was a 9-5 Carlings victory. Coach Jack McKinnon was crowing after the game. "We were running tonight and when we're running their aren't many clubs that can beat us." Buff McCready was still running but he paid for his wanderlust. He took a stiff check from Pete Black late in the contest, suffering a cut elbow.

The Brew Boys were really running in Game Three. They blew McCready out of goal with eight first period markers. The Brooklin netminder retired to rest his elbow. Vancouver kept pouring it on and ran the score up to 19-5. The Redmen's top line, including Elmer Tran, John and Terry Davis, was on the floor for twelve Carlings' goals! No chance of Brooklin blowing a 3-1 lead now. Yet they were soon down 3-1. Coach Fred Whalley did his best to stem the tide. He broke up the top line and dressed Mike Gray for defence. Still Whalley had to watch helplessly as his Redmen took thirty minutes in penalties compared to Vancouver's eighteen. The Carlings' redhot power play kept pouring in the goals - ten in two games! Bill Robinson and Gary Stevens scored hattricks as the Brew Boys won 13-4. It looked bad for the Ontario champs, however they were not about to give up. 225 pound defenceman Bob Hanna warned, "it takes four games to win a series and it's a long way from over. We'll be back Wednesday and we'll be a lot tougher."

Fred Whalley had one more Ace up his sleeve. For Game Five he unveiled a zone defence which stopped the Vancouver offence in its tracks. The penalty minutes were more even - Redmen 26 Carlings 23. Buff McCready came up with 21 saves. And Peterborough pick up John Davis broke loose with five goals. Brooklin won handily 11-4. Brampton Gemeral Manager Herb Armstrong was impressed: "Brooklin played the whole game the way they played the first period in the eastern final against us."

Vancouver responded with a fast start to Game Six. They won the opening period 3-1. With the luxury of a lead, the Carlings resorted to stalling tactics to counter Brooklin's zone defence. This was the last year before the thirty second shot clock was introduced to the game. Even without a shot clock, ragging the ball had always been illegal in lacrosse. The normal procedure was for the referee to take possession away from the offending team and award it to their opposition. This did not happen in Game Six. The two officials - including Whitey Severson(no favourite of Redmen fans) - watched Vancouver play catch much of the scoreless second period. The stalling was so bad the crowd booed the home team. A Sid Warick power play goal thirty seconds into the final period extended the lead to 4-1. At that point Vancouver felt safe enough to start abandoning the stall. John Cervi scored on the power play at the 13 minute mark. Down 5-1 Brooklin was forced to give up the zone and play more aggressively on defence. They had left it too late. With four minutes remaining Buff McCready raced down the floor and set up John Davis for a goal. That made it 5-3 but was the last score of the series. Coach McKinnon defended his tactics: "We used it earlier than we intended because of injuries." Nevertheless, the conclusion to this series would prompt a change in the rules transforming the modern game.

The Green Gaels lost only four games enroute to another Minto Cup championship. Again New Westminster defeated them twice but not before losing the first three games in the series. In his final year, Gaylord Powless led the league in regular season and playoff scoring, plus had twice as many points as any other player in the Minto Final. He became the second junior to claim the offensive double. Back in 1964, John Davis led the league in the regular season and playoffs. Powless also topped the career Minto Cup scoring list with 53 assists and 97 points. His 44 goals were one better than Davis' mark, however Jim Higgs would pass both two years later with 47.

Overnight Senior lacrosse in Canada was turned on its head. The birth of the National Lacrosse Association nearly ended the established leagues. Out west all four ICLL clubs abandoned their league and turned professional. Vancouver, Victoria and New Westminster formed the Western Division of the new league. Coquitlam moved south of the border, becoming the Portland Adanacs. That left the ICLL with four Sr.B teams representing Coquitlam, Burnaby, Surrey and North Vancouver.

In Ontario, Peterborough jumped to the professional league, however Brooklin and Brampton loyally remained in the OLA. They were joined by a Hastings team(the same year the Hastings Juniors moved back to Peterborough) and a Mississauga club. Yet all the talent was gone. Of the top twenty five scorers from 1967, only Don Craggs returned to the OLA the next year.

The Redmen coped best with the changes and ran away with a first place finish. In goal Brooklin started with George Stephens but that partnership didn't last. Another veteran Justin Howe was brought in, spelled occasionally by junior call up Merv Marshall. Howe also didn't last. By the playoffs Wayne Platt had been lured away from Hastings, however he was replaced by Joe Tomchishen. Professional league or not, there were many experienced goaltenders around. Offensively the Redmen were led by St.Catharines' Sandy Doberstein. He narrowly lost the scoring race to Mississauga's Rick Bisson. Along with player/coach Craggs the supporting cast included: Neil Armstrong, Gerry Burrows, Jim Campbell, Mike Gray, Dave Houston, Ken Lotton, Danny Sandford and Paul Tran. Some had been second line players in Brooklin for years. Others had won Mintos with Jim Bishop or been to the Minto Cup with the Red Wings. Thus there was enough talent and experience for the Redmen to dominate.

The Excelsiors counted on many young players either just out of Junior or still in Jr.A. Their only experience was player/coach Gord Thompson and John Spicer. Julie Kowalski was their leading scorer. Still the Maroons finished in fourth spot.

The '68 scoring race was a mystery which took many years to solve. Even to this day, only the top two scorers are known. The problem was a mail strike which paralysed the exchanging of statistical information. Game sheets could not be sent to the OLA office and the statistician could not finish his work. By the time the mail strike had ended lacrosse season was done and no one seemed to have cared enough to save the information. Jr.A suffered just as much, thought we know Ross Jones won the scoring title and the local Huntsville paper saved their club's scoring. Jr.B and Sr.B scoring was lost completely!

Brooklin met third place Mississauga in the Semi Finals. The Redmen won the opener 16-3 but lost on the road 10-7. Back home they flirted with disaster when Justin Howe was injured halfway through. Hastily Mike Gray was thrown between the pipes and he gave up only four goals in 34 minutes of play. The defending champs won 13-8. Wayne Platt was picked up to finish the series - wins of 18-5 and 18-7.

Second place Hastings tangled with the Excelsiors in the other Semi Final. Remarkably this series did not go seven games, ending Brampton's run of eight straight. The Excelsiors took the first two games by scores of 12-8 and 12-10. Kowalski scored five times in the opener and a hattrick in the second match. Jim McClure had four goals in Game One and Bob Bartlett chipped in a second game hattrick. Hastings came back to win at home 13-5. Roger Grant and Bernie Burns had four point efforts. A 10-6 Brampton win put them up 3-1. John Spicer had four points, while Bartlett counted another hattrick and Dave Rudge scored three times. The Legionaires extended the series with an 11-9 victory. Mike Self was high man with four points. The Excelsiors dodged a seventh game by ending the series with a 12-10 triumph. Julie Kowalski scored four times, one better than Grant's trio.

By the start of the final Brooklin had picked up Joe Tomchishen to tend goal. The Excelsiors and Redmen renewed their rivalry but this one would be no classic. Wayne Davidson scored four times as the defending champions won the first game 15-7. They were victorious in Bramptn 13-10 as Gerry Burrows and Dave Houston scored five each. Back home, six unanswered second period goals blew the Excelsiors away. 12-3 was the final score as Davidson counted a hattrick. In the last contest Houston and pint sized speedster Jim Campbell buried Brampton with hattricks. Brooklin won 13-4.

Coquitlam won the ICLL but were beaten in the BC Final by Nanaimo Luckies. This marked the second and last time the ICLL champ did not represent the west at the Mann Cup. Nanaimo came east without their starting netminder Alf Shuker. He was Gone Fishing literally! Off on a expedition to the interior. The Luckies made do with Port Coquitlam pick up Harry Preston. Neither Preston, Shuker or Tomchishen had any Mann Cup experience. Justin Howe had appeared in one game during the '58 Final.

Brooklin took the opener 9-6. They won the first period 4-2, grabbing a lead they would never give up. The westerners out shot them 39-36 but couldn't beat Tomchishen consistently. The eastern champs dominated the second contest, outshooting Nanaimo 17-4 in the second period. The final shot totals were 38-23 as the Redmen won 11-6. Before Game Three Alf Shuker arrived in town carrying a twenty-five pound salmon. His appearance in goal changed nothing. The Ontario champs outshot the Luckies 36-24 enroute to a 12-5 victory. Davidson led with three goals and three assists. Brooklin had twice blown 3-1 Mann Cup Final leads, could they now blow a 3-0 lead? Justin Howe was healthy and made the Game Four start. Shuker stoned the Redmen for two periods and held them to three goals. The shots in the game favoured the home side 36-20, thus it was only a matter of time before they broke through. An eight goal third period finished Nanaimo off. The final score was 11-4. Julie Kowalski scored four times. Bench warmer Joe Tomchishen was named the Mike Kelly winner. After the game the team drove to Oshawa in a parade of cars, then returned to Brooklin on a fire engine.

The Green Gaels were nearly perfect in 1968. With 101 goals Ross Jones showed them the way to a 24-0 record. The squad next ran off back to back series sweeps to reach the OLA Final. There they met a determined Mississauga club which nearly beat them right in the Civic Auditorium. Oshawa squeezed out a 17-15 victory, despite seven point efforts from Earl MacNeil and Al Gordaneer. Two nights later, the bubble burst in Mississauga. Rick Dudley and Barry Salovaara both scored four goals as the locals won 13-12. All they really achieved was to get the Gaels mad. Oshawa took the next three by scores of 17-4, 15-3 and 13-4. They were just as merciless in winning the Minto Cup. In their last ever meeting with New Westminster the results were: 13-7, 16-7, 24-10 and 22-9. Goaltender Merv Marshall won his sixth championship.

While much of the lacrosse world was preoccupied with the second and final professional season, the good, old teams just kept right on winning. Brooklin and Oshawa repeated as champions once again, another Ontario County sweep and the last for the county soon to be renamed Durham Region. The sixties were the decade for the area east of Toronto. From insignificance a meteoric rise had taken place leading to thirteen OLA championships, seven Minto Cup wins and a pair of Mann Cups. Lacrosse's balance of power had shifted.

It was an eventful year for scoring champ Elmer Tran. Brooklin's diminuitive sniper began the year suspended, along with Merv Marshall, for not honouring a professional contract. The suspension lasted five days. Next Tran, Marshall and Peterborough's "Golden Jet" Bill Armour were all suspended until their amateur status could be cleared. All this transpired before the season had even started! Once play began Tran was unstoppable. He won the scoring race with a record setting 96 assists. He worked well with fifty goal scorer Neil Armstrong. Thus begining a partnership which would coach Whitby to a Minto Cup win years later, then lead Toronto Beaches to their only Jr.A playoff successes.

The Senior B Brantford Warriors jumped to A ball and enjoyed immediate success. They had the league's top offence, though they finished four points behind Brooklin in the standings. Jim Squires finished second in league scoring, with Bill Squires right behind him.

The other three clubs all had losing records. Brian Thompson led Huntsville and everyone with 66 goals. The Hawks had four top ten scorers but not enough depth to succeed. The Excelsiors moved next door to Bramalea. Senior lacrosse in Peterborough continued its eastward trek. From Hastings the club shifted to Belleville, becoming the Merchants.

The playoffs commenced in early August. Armstrong scored seven points as Brooklin upended Bramalea 18-14. Julie Kowalski counted four goals for the losers. In Game Two the Redmen had to outscore the Excelsiors 6-2 in the third period for a 17-15 win. Marshall came off the bench to replace Justin Howe and spark the rally. Don Craggs led with five goals, while Dave Houston chipped in four. Marshall played the final two games and held Bramalea to seven goals. In Brooklin the score was 20-3. Five goals for Houston and a nine point effort from Tran. The last game was slightly more respectable at 11-4. Glen Lotton starred with a hattrick.

Brantford and Belleville hooked up for a more competitive series. The Warriors began with a 19-14 victory. Ivan Thomas scored four times and Jim Squires added a trio. Pat Hickey was best for the Merchants with five points. The first ever post season contest in Belleville was a narrow 13-11 loss for the home side. Hattricks for Ivan Thomas and Bill Squires as Charlie Squires contributed five assists. Bill Armour beat Ron Thomas five times for the Merchants. Back in the Telephone City, the Warriors won 13-8. Charlie Thomas was the only notable scorer with six points. Belleville avoided elimination by winning at home 17-15. Seven goals from the stick of Armour while Hickey added six points. Brantford ended the series with a tight 11-10 triumph. Another super effort by Armour as he tallied half his team's goals. Bill and Jim Squires both counted three for the winners.

The Redmen opened the Final with a 15-11 win. Elmer Tran led with six assists, however three third period goals by Glen Lotton were key. Dave Houston also had a hattrick and Jim Squires scored four times for the losers. Brooklin then blasted Brantford 21-12. A Homeric eleven point game from Tran was just the tip of the iceberg. Jim Henderson scored four goals, while Neil Armstrong, Glen Lotton and Jim Campbell each had five points. Charlie Thomas and Bill Squires were best for the Warriors with three goals a piece. The defending champs again struggled at home but came away with an 11-9 victory. Lotton counted three goals as Tran and Armstrong both contributed four assists. Bill Squires had a five goal night. Squires was shutout by Merv Marshall in the finale, a 14-9 Brooklin triumph. Lotton, Henderson and Campbell all found net three times.

The year concluded with another Redmen Mann Cup victory. They defeated New Westminster Blues four games to one. Bill Squires was picked up and he led the series with thirteen goals. Elmer Tran was top point man with twenty-four. This gave Tran the triple as regular season, playoff and Mann Cup scoring leader. A rare triple only previously done by John Davis three years earlier and Oddie Core back in 1931. The only player to since duplicate the feat was John Tavares in 1993 and 1994.

The Green Gaels won their seventh straight Minto Cup. Oshawa set a league record, which has never been matched, by averaging 23.79 goals per game. Remarkably they placed only two scorers in the top ten. Jim Higgs won his third McConaghy. Ageless Don Stinson finally graduated from Junior. He had played on all seven winners. Jim Bishop also moved on. He would coach some Senior lacrosse before making the first of three returns to Jr.A in 1977.

Belleville and Brantford had met in the playoffs the previous year, however Peterborough and Brantford had never met. That was about to quickly change. The two titans of Senior lacrosse would meet in the OLA Final the next four years. The Belleville squad returned to the Lift Lock City and adopted the nickname Lakers, which the professional club had used. With the demise of the pro league all the players returned to the OLA. John Davis came back to amateur lacrosse and switched from #16 to his now famous #9. Davis had worn #43 with Oshawa, the traditional number worn by Green Gael captains back then. Upon moving to Senior he was forced to give up #43. A certain Brooklin fan claimed that he couldn't wear 43 because up in Peterborough no one knew how to count that high! Larry Ferguson also returned to the Lakers. For the first time Ferguson wore a face mask. After fifteen years and over three hundred stitches he was due for a change.

John Davis had been out of Junior lacrosse four years and had won four scoring titles. That string was ended by his former teammate Gaylord Powless. Powless' 90 assists were too many to keep up with as Davis finished a distant second. The top ten list was littered with ex-Gaels. Behind Powless and Davis were Jim Higgs(5th) Brian Thompson(6th) and Larry Lloyd(7th). Thompson scored 82 points despite missing a third of the season. Cy Coombes surpassed them all with a league leading 66 goals.

With the boys back home, the former giants of the Senior League became minnows. Brooklin managed a third place finish and a winning record, however they never threatened to win a fourth consecutive championship. Brampton fell to last place, missing the playoffs for the first time in over thirty years! Matters would only get worse in the years to come. Both clubs would have losing records in 1971. It would be 1972 when they were really snookered. Both the Redmen and Excelsiors were prepared to challenge for the Mann Cup when the OLA suddenly created its Major League, consequently relegating Brooklin and Brampton to B status.

Merv Marshall became the third of the great wandering goaltenders. He scored in a game against Brantford, beating none other than Buff McCready. Pat Baker was unimpressed. He conceded that it was colourful but not what lacrosse was about.

The troubles for Brooklin and Brampton were never ending this year. The Redmen started the year with Glen Lotton as coach. He was fired after a 20-7 loss to Peterborough. Bob Vesey replaced him and immediately beat Brantford 15-13. The Vesey Redmen would have the Warriors number all year, as the playoffs would prove. Meanwhile the Excelsiors went to Brooklin for a game minus starting netminder Joe Musial. Wayne Thompson had to sub for him but Thompson had no equipment! Fortunately the Redmen were playing out of the Civic Auditorium in Oshawa, so Thompson was able to borrow equipment from the Green Gaels.

On a sad note, former Athletic George Teather passed away that summer. Teather had founded the Old Boys Association. An organisation dedicated to preserving St.Catharines' rich lacrosse history. The Old Boys are still going strong today and supporting all current St.Catharines teams.

Brantford and Brooklin met in one semi final. The other saw Peterborough sweep Huntsville by scores of: 13-6, 14-10, 22-6 and 16-13. The Warriors would not have it so easy. They may have finished first by a point, however the third place defending champions would not go quietly. The Warriors demolished Brooklin in the opener 17-4. They met a very different squad in Oshawa the next game. The Redmen narrowly won 15-14. Thus the homer series was off and running. That form was maintained over the next three contests. Brantford won 19-13, followed by a 13-9 Brooklin victory, then a 12-8 triumph for the Warriors. Game Six was the tightest of the series. Brantford tied it with their goaltender pulled. The defending champs regrouped for overtime and won 16-13. Thus the deciding contest came down to Brantford's offensive firepower versus Brooklin's experience. Experience nearly won out. Late in the third period Larry Lloyd scored his fourth goal to put the Redmen ahead 10-9. Gaylord Powless tied it with two minutes remaining. Next Ron MacNeil beat Merv Marshall for the winner with 68 seconds left. The Warriors then ran out the clock to preserve their 11-10 victory.

The first of four meetings between Peterborough and Brantford would be the shortest series. The Warriors took the opener at home 18-13. In Peterborough their road woes continued - a 16-11 loss. The crucial contest in the series would be Game Three. Cy Coombes made the trip with the flu and was even sick on the bus. On the floor he scored five goals! Bill Armour scored four times, with three assists. The Lakers edged Brantford 14-13. The Warriors replaced Rodger Williams in goal for Ron Thomas but their losing ways continued. The Lakers took Game Four 16-10. Thomas did play the final six minutes and made an impact. He knocked out John Davis then fled to the bench with Carm Collins chasing him. Brantford coach Ross Powless then defended his goalie against Collins. The seeds of hatred had been sown. This was not going to be a pretty rivalry. The ugliness was fully evident in the last game. Gary Powless went between the pipes and Peterborough beat him 22 times. Pat Baker allowed 15 goals in the series clincher. Coach Bob Allan removed Baker from goal to the safety of the bench with two minutes remaining. By that time the Brantford fans were littering the floor with garbage. However it was their boys who had been trashed and the Petes who were heading west.

Heading to New Westminster for the beating of their lives. The Salmonbellies had put together one of the greatest teams of all time. They went 22-8 to finish first in, what was now called, the Western Lacrosse Association. They then defeated Coquitlam in a six game final. The Fishmen had scoring champ Wayne Goss, plus Paul Parnell, Mac Tyler and Dave Tory. Joe Comeau was in goal and Steve d'Easum was an all star defenceman.

Every game of the final was played in front of a full house at Queen's Park Arena, even though none were particularly close. The Salmonbellies won each contest by at least four goals. In the second game they doubled Peterborough 16-8 while outshooting them 65-38! Parnell led the series with 13 goals and 25 points, plus took home the Mike Kelly Award. Ed Goss was next best at 21 points. Comeau set a Mann Cup record for goaltenders with 9 assists. John Davis was best for the Lakers with 13 points.

On the Junior Front, a veteran Lakeshore squad brought the Minto Cup to Toronto. They upended the defending champions in the Semi Finals, then produced the second greatest comeback in OLA Jr.A history. They trailed Bramalea three games to one in the league final. The Maple Leafs battled back to force a seventh match. In the deciding contest they fell behind by a substantial margin. Yet the Lakeshore kids refused to lose. They came from behind again to take the game and the championship. After that it was an easy four game sweep of Burnaby. Brian McCutcheon won the McConaghy. Bill Coghill's 190 regular season points left him one shy of Gaylord Powless' record. In combined regular season and playoffs Coghill finished with 236 points, equalling John Davis' 1963 mark. Powless was still best, having twice had 239 point seasons.

In 1904 the Brantford Lacrosse Club won its third straight CLA Senior title. Since then their success at the highest level of the game had been minimal. In 1971 all that changed. Though the old Brantford squad imported several eastern stars, the majority of their players were local. The '71 Warriors had no local players, unless one counted those from the Six Nations Reserve. Regardless of where the players came from, Brantford Warriors became the newest Canadian champion.

Their chief hurdle would be the club from Peterborough. The Lakers put together an impressive 29-3 record to finish on top of the standings. John Davis scored 197 points, surpassing Bill Isaacs record. Davis also set a new high for assists, 123. He and Gaylord Powless were both over 100, the only two players in ever accomplish that in OLA play. Cy Coombes produced his third 100 point season. That made him only the third player in league history to have three. Bill Isaacs had done it earlier. Meanwhile Davis had four in four seasons!

Brantford was not without offence. Though they finished a distant second with a 21-9 record, the Warriors led the league with a record setting 613 goals - the best offence in OLA history! In one game they defeated Aurora 41-5. Paul Suggate, Brian Wilson and Ron MacNeil gave Gaylord Powless plenty of support. Suggate finished third in the circuit with 73 goals, one behind Davis. Brooklin's Larry Lloyd led with 80.

There was no love lost between the frontrunners. In a mid summer game Peterborough defeated Brantford 18-17 in overtime. The affair was so violent that the Lakers were fined $500. The Warriors' fines totalled $1700, plus coach Morley Kells was suspended five games! The teams met a couple of night's later in Peterborough. Brantford showed up with only six players and were beaten 12-7.

The Warriors swept Brampton to reach the league final. They were shortly joined by the defending champions. Peterborough needed five games to get by the Redmen. After opening with a 15-8 win, they narrowly prevailed in Brooklin 11-10. Surprisingly they lost the next contest 14-13. After a 13-6 victory, the Lakers closed out the series with a tight 11-9 triumph.

Pat Baker started the championship series by shutting out the Warriors for the first half of Game One. Peterborough doubled Brantford 16-8. Larry Ferguson scored three times but John Davis had the most memorable goal. He was awarded a penalty shot. That decision incensed Morley Kells so much that he refused to allow Buff McCready to stay in his goal. Thus Davis scored into an empty net. Back home the Brantford offence found itself. They drove Baker from the game with 16 goals in two periods. They went on to win 22-12. Rick Dudley bulged the twine four times, plus Gaylord Powless and Bill Coghill scored hattricks. Peterborough coach Bob Allan complained that Brantford was using a zone defence. The zone defence had been outlawed after the '67 Mann Cup. Over 3,000 fans saw Peterborough win Game Three 14-12. The Lakers scored twice in the final two minutes to break the deadlock. The star of the night was Pat Baker. He made 50 saves as the Warriors outshot the Lakers 62-38. Yet Baker could not slow down the Brantford offence the next match. The Warriors struck for four goals in the first five minutes. Meanwhile the Petes hit four post in the opening period. Bill Coghill beat Baker four times as Brantford won 14-7. With the series knotted 2-2 Joe Todd returned from injury for the fifth contest. He scored four goals and had two assists for the Lakers. The game was tied 10-10 when Zeny Lipinski scored a shorthanded goal for the Warriors. That sparked them to a 19-13 victory. Rick Dudley had four markers on the night. That loss cost Peterborough home advantage. The next game they would lose the championship. Game Six was more of a defensive battle. It was tied 6-6 early in the third period when Brantford broke away. They went on to win 13-8 as Ron MacNeil counted three goals. The unsung hero of this series was Bob Smith. He successfully shadowed John Davis the entire six games.

The Warriors next swept New Westminster to win the Mann Cup. Buff McCready held the Salmonbelly snipers to 35 goals. The Brantford offence scored 54. McCready also helped on ten goals. That tied him with Ron MacNeil for top series playmaker. Gaylord Powless, Brian Wilson and Paul Parnell each scored eight goals. In a losing cause Parnell was the top point man with sixteen. 42 year old Ted Howe had four goals and five assists. Howe's Senior career dated back to 1950. It had taken him over two decades but he was finally a Canadian champion.

Just when fans of competitive lacrosse thought it was safe to return to junior arenas, the Green Gaels returned to prominence. Coached by Bob Hanna, the '71 edition finished with the best record in the OLA. "Here we go again," the fans must have feared. Fortunately Etobicoke upset Oshawa in the semi final. Unwittingly they opened the door for a new dynasty to unlease its reign of terror on the league. Peterborough knocked off the giant killers in six games. Ben Floyd had stepped in to replace Don Barrie as coach for the last eight games plus playoffs and he never stopped winning. With fifteen regular season and playoff losses, the Petes hardly seemed like a throw back to the Oshawa sides. Yet over the next four seasons they would only lose twelve league games!

Before the dynasty could get rolling, the Petes had to become part of lacrosse history, in a losing cause. The '71 Minto Final was the greatest ever played! Four games went to overtime, including the dramatic seventh game finale. Richmond Roadrunners came away with a 13-11 victory. Pick up goaltender Ted Gernaey was named series MVP. Gernaey was one of many pick ups on the Richmond squad. Due to the OLA's recent dominance of junior lacrosse, Peterborough was not allowed to add any players. They would face this disadvantage over the following four years, yet would overcome it every time. They were unlucky not to win the '71 final as well. John Grant led the Petes with 28 points. Other top performers were: J.J. Johnston(12 goals) Jim Wasson(11 goals) Jan Magee(9 goals) and Gord Floyd(16 points).

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