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ST.CATHARINES -- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the 1947 season of the St. Catharines Junior Athletics.

That years’ playoff journey of the A’s would have more twists than a bow tie. A provincial title was won, simple enough, but then the double-blue’s 1947 excellent adventure would truly begin. A showdown against a team that no one had heard of, a road trip to a lit and abandoned lacrosse bowl, a game where the team scored a decisive blow-out win while dodging a continual barrage of swinging sticks and flying tomatoes, an exhibition game against the seniors to raise money for a trip that never happened, and an all-star game ordered up by the O.L.A. that was played in 40 degree F. temperatures. All of this before they had even met the Vancouver Burrards from the west for the title.

Maybe none of this would have even happened had the A’s listened to their critics before the season started. You see, the rebuilding St. Catharines Athletics of 1947 weren’t expected to challenge for the Minto Cup. They were too young. They were too small. And most observers thought they were not capable enough or gritty enough to last when the going would get tough.

The double-blue crew from the year before were a good bunch and made it to the league finals. But eleven from that team were now gone, some going overage, and others making an early jump to senior ball. Gerry Fitzgerald made the jump to the senior Athletics along with Don Frick. Tony Capula headed down the highway to play for the senior Hamilton Tigers. And Ken “Weiner” Croft and Donald “Nip” O’Hearn were now off playing lacrosse with “Punch” Imlach and the Quebec Aces. Going overage from the class of ’46 were George Scott, Doug Wignall, Tommy Bye, Jack Timlock, Les Bell and Jack Gatecliff.

But that would only open the door for some of the kids. Seventeen-year-olds on that 1947 team included Leo Teatro, Bob Dyke, Andy Baird and future Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees Jim McNulty, Tony D’Amico and Harry Wipper.

The junior Athletics of 1947 would also need to rely on the goaltending of a fifteen-year-old named Ralph Speck. Who was Ralph Speck and would he be ready to handle the competition at this level? Oh sure, he was coming off a good ’46 season when he led the Kiwanis bantams to the Ontario championship, but come on now, that was a far cry from junior.

Rest assured, Ralph Speck would be one of the heroes of this story.

Coach Mel Soper looked for leadership from just a handful of veterans that year. Larry Cunningham along with future St. Catharines mayor Joe McCaffery on defence, “little” Billy Bradshaw at rover and Leo Cheevers on the wing, the team’s twenty-year-olds.

Yes, this was a team that seemed destined to be building for the future. And when they opened the season with a 17- 6 loss to Mimico, the word around the Garden City was hey, what did you expect? Aren’t they too young and too small!

But then the A’s would win their next game, and then the next, and the next. Win after win would pile up and it became evident to everyone except the admission paying public of St. Catharines that this was truly a team to watch.

The junior A’s would soon climb into first place and stay there all summer. All the while they played before crowds of just a few hundred while their big brothers on the senior Athletics were still drawing crowds of two to three thousand a game. A championship team in the making, and nobody seemed to take notice.

The president of the team was Fred Conradi. St. Catharines and the sport of lacrosse were lucky to have a man like Conradi, who built teams at all levels, built character out of boys and supported much of it all with his own money. In 1947 he would sponsor the bantam and midget team in Port Dalhousie (as he had for years) and bankroll the money losing junior Athletics. Fred Conradi’s eventual induction into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the builders category was a very deserving honour.

As the Ontario finals were about to commence in late August between St. Catharines and Mimico, word was leaking out that the O.L.A. was going to allow the junior “B” champions to challenge the junior “A” winner for the Ontario title. This took a great many by surprise.

What was behind this was the Port Dover Lions. The Reverend Wes Hare coached Lions were loaded with some talent from the Oshweken area such as Al Martin, goaltender Ted Williams and the great Ross Powless. They also had a farm boy named Len Kelly who would soon be better known as “Red” Kelly of the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Reverend Hare himself was an old St. Catharines Athletic from the early 1900’s and when he claimed that his team could beat any junior “A” team, many of the league moguls listened.

After the A’s won their second game in the best-of-five showdown against Mimico, the official word came from the O.L.A. offices that the series winner would have to beat the “B” champions before being declared Ontario champions. The Athletics would win the third and deciding game of the “finals” by a 19 – 6 score at the Haig Bowl on September 4th and then begin the wait for the “B” playoffs to wrap up.

But more surprises were now in store for the A’s. On Tuesday September 9th, Fred Conradi received the word from the O.L.A. office to prepare his team for a game on the coming Thursday against the Hamilton Tigers.

Who were the Tigers? Well, the word was they hadn’t played any games all year, and, Russell T. Kelley owned them. Kelley was an Ontario M.L.A. and long-time financial backer of Hamilton senior teams, and what’s more, he seemed to have the ear of the O.L.A.’s executive. The Standard’s Clayton Browne would write, “Russell Temple Kelley of Tigers is not giving up lacrosse without semblance of a tussle, even if it had to descend from senior to junior mantle to wear. Picking up a bye all summer, they are the first fruit for the Conradi-Soper junior A’s to sample here tomorrow night.”

Browne’s lowly assessment of the Tigers wasn’t too far off, the A’s won 28 – 0.

After an unsuccessful plea to O.L.A. Secretary Gene Dopp to end the series, the A’s trekked to the Hamilton’s Cannon Bowl for game two the following Monday. The Standard would report, “They found a lighted bowl, but no Tigers team, coach, or anything indicating a game there, so they travelled back home.”

Next up for the Athletics would be the showdown with the junior “B” champion Fergus Thistles the very next night.

Fergus Thistles! What happened to the mighty Port Dover Lions?

It seems Rev. Hare’s heavily favoured Lions didn’t make it out of the “B” semi-finals against Norval. On September 12th, the Standard would recant this story, “Ports won the opener at Norval 5 – 2, were all set for the return game and it happened. The game was called for 6:30 as they have no lights in Dover and seven members of Port Dover (the stars from Oshweken) walked into the bowl at 7:45. The game was in the bag then and Port out. One could scarcely blame a parson for emitting strong words, when he is the coach.”

So the A’s met the Fergus Thistles at the Haig Bowl on Tuesday September 16 and they started off the two-game, total goals-to-count series with a convincing 23 – 2 win. Would this be the Hamilton Tigers disaster all over again? Well at least the Thistles would show up for the second game just two days later. But then again, maybe the A’s wished they stayed home.

The A’s would win game two by 23 – 4 in Fergus, but the Standard would report that the A’s “received such a physical beating from the bigger Thistles and both vocal and physical barrages from the Fergus fans.” The newspaper game report would go on to say that the game was “emphasized by the indiscriminate throwing of tomatoes, fruit and anything fans could lay their hands on at the referees and the Athletics players.”

The Athletics limped home with the knowledge that they were now truly the Ontario junior champions (unless the O.L.A. could find another team for them to play). Their next challenge would be to defeat the Quebec champions to become Eastern Canadian champions.

A trip to Quebec would be an expensive endeavour. A serious proposition for a team so strapped for cash. The fan support was just now slowly coming around but Fred Conradi was still reaching into his pocket to keep the team going. As an example of their financial troubles, they didn’t have enough gloves to go around and the players had to exchange them as they made their line changes on the fly.

A hastily arranged benefit game was put together that would pit the senior A’s against the juniors. On Saturday September 20th, the fun game went off before about 700 fans at the Haig Bowl and the juniors were augmented by some of the retired local legends such as Billy Wilson, Carl Madsen, Roy Barnard and even Billy Fitzgerald playing his first game in four years. Gimpy-kneed “Fitz” scored four goals, Doug Cove played while smoking a huge cigar and opposing goaltenders Doug Favell and Bill Whittaker (playing for the juniors on the night) would take turns making length-of-the-floor rushes in a crowd-pleasing performance. The seniors won 17 – 13 and the fundraiser earned $200 for the juniors’ trip to the Eastern Canadian finals in Quebec. The only negative on the evening was a separated shoulder for poor Frank Madsen of the seniors.

But before the trip to Quebec, the O.L.A. had another game planned for the Athletics of 1947, the “selection” game. This game, slated for the Haig Bowl on Monday September 22nd, would have the A’s play against a junior all-star team to determine four or five players to be added to the double-blue line-up for the cup run. After a full O.L.A. regular season and playoffs, did they really need an exhibition game to determine who to add?

The game went to the A’s by a 16 – 6 score and was played before a dreadfully small crowd (mostly relatives of the all-stars) in frigid 40-degree F. temperatures. The plan was to have league officials convene the next day with coach Soper before announcing the additions, while team president Fred Conradi still would have been just as happy to go with the kids that brought them this far. The Standard’s Clayton Browne would write, “Gene Dopp (O.L.A. Secretary) heaved a long sigh and shed a few tears—the latter from a cold, north wind that blew straight across Haig Bowl and into the Doppian face—when he and Past Pres. Ed McDermott sat huddled in the lee of the press here on Monday night…The $64 quiz is, whom are they going to drop from the A’s…Mel Soper hasn’t the easiest task in the world, either, to bench five players. The course is up to him along with the four OLA-CLA officials who form the selection group. It will likely be based on size, weight, box ability and experience mostly and the last named is the major point. A few of junior Athletics’ are pretty green boys as junior talent was scant here this year. Dopp saw them go and he is the big noise.”

The selection group settled on just three additions that would play for the locals; scorer Don Ashby from Weston and from the Brampton juniors, defenseman Ralph Gowland and centre Gord Steele. Perhaps an interesting footnote to this game was that a couple of the Port Dover junior “B” stars were invited to play. Clayton Browne would write, “Martin and Powless of Port Dover were absentees, recommended by Coach Rev. Wes Hare to Secy. Dopp. However, they could not travel from Oshweken and Brantford on the 12-cent mile scale set by the CLA and city fans missed two boys whom Coach Hare says are shoo-ins as future seniors. He may be correct.”

Another interesting surprise was in store for the locals when it was announced that there would be “no E.C. finals in Quebec. Secy. Dopp quashed that…the challenge being tossed out.” The team’s finances may have had a role in that decision.

So at long last, the 1947 St. Catharines Athletics would play for the Dominion championship.

It would be the first Minto Cup final since World War II had cancelled the junior lacrosse showcase after 1941. It would also be the first time St. Catharines had hosted a national lacrosse championship, as the four Mann Cups that the seniors had won in the east in recent years were all played at Maple Leaf Gardens (or the Barton Street Arena in Hamilton in 1944).

The series against the Vancouver jr. Burrards began on Tuesday September 30th with a 10 – 3 Athletics win at the venerable Haig Bowl. The Burrards fielded one of the biggest teams that the A’s had seen all year, but the locals played quick, smart lacrosse for the victory. Sadly, the game was played before only 500 fans.

The second game was played on the following night and this time the Burrards seemed a little hungrier. The A’s kid goaltender Ralph Speck earned the accolades in a very tight 6 – 5 win while the home-side shooters were criticized in the press for being too content to stay safely out at the perimeter. A big concern for the A’s was the loss of defenseman Harry Wipper who crashed head first into the boards after missing his check. Wipper was carried off and although he made a valiant attempt to play in the third game, his lacrosse was really over for the season.

After a night off and the official welcoming dinner for the Burrards by His Worship, Mayor Dr. W. J. Macdonald and city officials, game three would be played Friday night and the Burrards momentum swing seemed to be in full force. The Vancouver Burrards came away with a 12 to 10 win and it could actually have been a lot worse if not for the play of young Speck in the A’s net. The Standard would report “only Speck, Bradshaw, D’Amico and perhaps Cunningham and McCaffery were playing up to par.”

The star-crossed St. Catharines Athletics were now holding on to a tenuous two games to one lead for the Minto Cup. These kids had their doubters from the season’s start, never received the same rabid fan support that their older brothers and fathers on city lacrosse teams had enjoyed, played through a truly bizarre post-season schedule that kept presenting new and remarkable plot-twists, gamely scrambled onto the floor in the Minto finals as shared lacrosse gloves were tossed to them by a team-mate, were mauled all season long by bigger and older teams that resented their record, and even now in the national finals, couldn’t escape their nay-sayers.

Perhaps this team couldn’t compare to the great Mann Cup or Globe Shield teams of the past. Maybe they didn’t stir the local populace as some of the champion junior teams of the 20’s and 30’s had. But for all that they went through to even get to the national junior finals, and their ability to rise above it, the story of the amazing A’s of forty-seven will always be one of my favourites.

And, the rest is history.

The St. Catharines Standard

Monday October 6, 1947

Mel Soper, Fred Conradi and their gallant band of boxla artists brought the first Canadian junior lacrosse championship in history to the Garden City on Saturday afternoon, defeating their challengers from the west, Vancouver Burrards, by 10 – 6. By virtue of their well-merited win, the double-blue St. Catharines outfit win the coveted Lord Minto Trophy the first time the cup has been up for competition since Orillia Terrier Pups copped the honors in 1941. Considering the many rival attractions on tap in baseball, softball and rugby, a fair turnout of fans were in attendance at the afternoon tilt, the first major lacrosse game played in St. Catharines in mid-afternoon since 1932. It was real weather too, the majority of the fans taking full advantage of the brilliant sun, sitting the full game in their shirt-sleeves, probably their last chance to do so until next season rolls around.

To get back to the game. It was a completely different outfit that took the field in the double-blue sweaters than the scrambly looking squad that performed on Friday evening. Saints fought for every loose ball, running right with the fast-stepping Burrards and seldom if ever, letting their bigger, heavier opponents “bull” their way in on top of Ralph Speck, who played another starry game in Saints’ twine. Mel Soper elected to give big Harry Wipper a well-deserved rest, the injured boy pretty well worn out after his seven stitches on Wednesday night and several fairly “rough rides” on Friday evening. Bill Steele of Brampton replaced Wipper on defence, while Barney Welsh gave Bobby Dyke a rest as odd man. Vancouver stuck with the same line-up that netted them their only victory in the third start of the series.

A’s Always Led

Little Billy Bradshaw, who always seems to get up faster than he goes down, started A’s off on their final victory, taking a pass from Cunningham after but 16 seconds had been ticked off. Once in the lead, Saints never relinquished it. Ashby on a set-up from Bradshaw making it 2 – 0, although Fleming made it close before the end of the first session, drilling a nice bounce shot into the net from 15 yards.

Teatro from Cunningham, then D’Amico after an intercept at centre to outrace Burrards’ two defenders and make no mistake and A’s were well on the way. Vancouver fought back on a single, although it was of the disputed variety. Durante firing a bullet shot that clicked on the cross bar and was finally declared a tally by Referee Peart. Soon after this play, Whitey Frick got the oddest play of the afternoon, leaping high in the air to bounce the ball right off the top of his dome into the stands for a perfect football “header.” Jim McNulty took an over-shoulder pass from Steel and dropped the ball over Green’s shoulder, then play began to roughen up as in the previous encounters, with numerous slashing offences that failed to bring down a penalty. Jim McNulty and Don Fleming, then Frick and Cruickshank finally got the eye of the officials, going off in pairs with minors, with Scott grabbing a loose ball in front of the net to score just before the half-time gong was sounded and Saints up by a 5 - 3 count.

Athletics opened the third combining superbly, every man on the floor feeling the ball on its downward trip, but their marksmanship when in close was still far from deadly. The passing plays finally told, however, Teatro setting up Bradshaw before Gowland to McCaffery to Steele, and Bradshaw on a running pass from Cunningham for a five-goal 8 – 3 lead. Vancouver showed the fighting team they were in the next couple of minutes of play, turning the tide of defeat, at least temporarily, by snaring a pair of counters, Durante going through on his own and Burton picking up a rebound after McCaffery had been kayoed on the first shot.

Bradshaw Tops

Joe McNulty took a pass from Teatro and from a seemingly impossible angle fired it into the far upper corner to put a damper on Burrards’ hope of a sustained comeback and leave the period score at 9 – 5.

McKay, who seemed to take a delight at swinging at anybody and everybody on the floor, was finally nabbed for too strenuous exertion on Bradshaw and Ashby was quick to take advantage of the odd man, although the actual goal was of the “fluke” variety. Ashby threw an intended pass to Dennis Anderson in front of the B.C. net, but at the last minute, Anderson lifted his cudgel to let the ball drift into the twine with Green on the other side of the goal. Durante set Hannula up for the final goal of the game and the series, but from there on Vancouver had the majority of the play in their last ditch stand for a win to keep their Minto Cup hopes alive. Once more their biggest stumbling block was Ralph Speck, who kited balls, blocked shots and in fact thoroughly broke Burrards’ hearts on his sensational work, to top off a series of outstanding goaltending.

As was fitting, the leading scorer of the championship game was Billy Bradshaw. Playing his last year of junior lacrosse, “Brad” played his heart out in every game and came up with three goals and an assist in the all-important third win. Don Ashby was next best with a pair of counters, while Teatro, Steele, Joe and Jim McNulty all gained singles. Joe Durante, with a pair of goals and an assist, was tops for Vancouver, with their remaining tallies being divided between Scott, Fleming, Hannula, and Burton. Once more Lawrence Cunningham was ace high in the assist department, three of his plays resulting in goals.

Champs Earned Title

It wouldn’t be fair to name stars in the final game or even in the series, every player on both teams giving all they had and after all, that’s what counts.

Special mention could be made of young Ralph Speck in A’s goal and Bill Bradshaw on the attack for the winners. Speck, who can play junior for five more seasons, was a standout in a defensive way, while Bradshaw, the veteran of the team, was perhaps the leading light on the offence. That doesn’t take anything away from the efforts of the other double-blue members, each of whom was a valuable asset in both winning the Ontario championship and Dominion honors, for the team was not composed of individual stars, but rather team-work, and that is what brought St. Catharines its only all-Canadian championship for the 1947 season. As for Vancouver, they put everything they had into it, but it was just not quite enough. They were beaten by a better team, but even in defeat showed the style of lacrosse that has won for the West Coast its full share of championships.

Vancouver Burrards: Goal, Green; defence, Zimmer, Cruickshank; rover, Lee; centre, Byford; forwards, Scott, McKay; subs, Fleming, Foster, Anderson, Landess, Durante, Hannula, Burton.

St. Catharines Athletics: Goal, Speck; defence, Anderson, Cunningham; rover, Bradshaw; centre, Teatro; forwards, Joe McNulty, Ashby; subs, Frick, Steele, McCaffery, Gowland, D’Amico, Welsh, Jim McNulty.

Summary: First Period St. C. – Bradshaw (Cunningham)…0:16
St. C. – Ashby (Bradshaw)…11:14
Van. – Fleming (Hannula)…12:16
No penalties

Second Period
St. C. – Teatro (Cunningham)…0:25
St. C. – D’Amico…4:08
Van. – Durante (McKay)…6:37
St. C. – Jim McNulty (Steele)…10:12
Van. – Scott…14:15
Penalties: Jim McNulty, Fleming, Frick, Cruickshank

Third Period
St. C. – Bradshaw (Teatro)…2:07
St. C. – Steele (Gowland and McCaffery)…2:36
St. C. – Bradshaw (Cunningham)…6:35
Van. – Durante…8:18
Van. – Burton…10:08
St. C. – Joe McNulty (Teatro)…13:15
Penalty: McKay.

Fourth Period
St. C. – Ashby…2:34
Van. – Hannula (Durante)…6:53
Penalty: McKay

Goal Stops

Green…11, 4, 9, 7—31
Speck… 8, 6, 4, 3—21