History of Hockey (Part 12 of a series)

Royals proved to be the best team of the 1960s

Harry Katrynuk left Corner Brook in the 1966-67 season. He was replaced by new playing coach Reg Asselin. Likewise, veteran local goaltender Bert Brake retired leaving the full time netminding duties to young Doug Grant, a product of the Corner Brook Minor hockey system.

In three pre-season exhibitions the Royals were winless, losing one to the Grand Falls Cataracts and tying the Miners twice. Possibly the most interesting game since the exhibitions against the Boston Bruins was a match that occurred in late December 1966 between the Royals and the touring World Hockey Champions from the Soviet Union. Not surprisingly the Royals were blasted 28-0 and were subjected to a blistering 74 shots to their own 18.

One observer stated, "You have to go back to the pre-Humber Garden days to find a Corner Brook team taking a similar beating." For older fans it must have reminded them of the losses to Buchans in the early 1950s, except in this case the losing Corner Brook team were the Newfoundland champions.

Throughout the regular season which followed the Royals were more injury plagued than they were the year before. Almost all the players on the team suffered from one hockey induced malady or another and several of the top players missed crucial games. The hockey organizers pleaded with the N.A.H.A. to allow a third import but they would not relent.

Dave Brown, vice-president of the C.B.H.A., argued that it was a prejudiced decision aimed at keeping Corner Brook from winning another Herder but the provincial association was unmoved. Nevertheless, the Royals surged at the end of the season and placed a respectable third with a semi-final berth against star import Jacques Allard's Gander Flyers.


Doug Grant, Jacques Allard and George Faulkner

After splitting the first two at Humber Gardens a confident Danky Dorrington guaranteed three straight wins in Gander, betting he would eat his hat if he were wrong. He was right about everything except for the team he had predicted to win the trio. The Flyers took the series four games to one and the Royals were out of the playoffs before the finals for the first time since the 60-61 season.

At the local level, the Senior and Commercial League returned once again. Early on Humber Gardens threatened to stop the Senior season as they had in previous years but they allowed it to run its course with a deplorable average of 14 spectators per game.

The Curling Rangers, often with the services of Royal Doug Grant, captured both League titles. The Rangers also went on to win the first provincial Intermediate League championship, defeating the Renews Royals in the final game. With several new teams in the League, Commercial hockey played its normal season and playoffs. The East Indians were double champions, earning the best record in the regular season and defeating the South Shore Eagles two games to one in the finals.

High School hockey remained as popular with the fans as ever. In a game between Amalgamated and Regina, held early on in benefit of High School hockey, over 2500 people attended. In the first series of the year Regina won three games to two, and they continued their streak in the second series, winning that, and the City Motors Trophy, four games to one. The Pats played only one game in 66-67. It was an exhibition against the Glace Bay Junior Miners to mark the opening of the Bruce Arena in Port Aux Basques. The Pats edged out the Miners in a tough contest. Minor hockey remained a fan favorite in Corner Brook as well.

Unfortunately for the boys and their supporters, competition in provincial tournaments remained unrewarding. Neither the PeeWee, Bantam, or Midget all-stars made it to the final game in their tournaments. On the whole, however, despite low attendance for the local Senior league, it was a stable season for local hockey in Corner Brook.

In 1967-68 the city's entries in the provincial Minor hockey tournaments fared even worse. None of the three teams made it to the semi-finals and the PeeWees ended up tied for last place in their playoff. There were Junior High and High School championships in Corner Brook as well.

G. A. Mercer won the former and though Herdman, formerly Amalgamated Regional High School, came from behind to win the first High School series, Regina won the second and the trophy. Regina also took games from the St. James Saints and the LeGallais Eagles at the Bruce Arena in Port aux Basques. In an exhibition during the annual Minor Hockey Day the Corner Brook High School All-Stars defeated a team of Juvenile all-stars from Sydney, Nova Scotia.

The Pats were not so lucky. As usual, the Junior all-stars had few practices and no exhibition matches before competing for the Veitch Memorial Trophy, and after gaining a bye into the finals they lost two games to one to the Gander Junior Flyers.

Eight teams competed for the Commercial League title in 67-68. After a close race in the regular season it was the Gadens Sprites who topped the standings. They also went on to win the playoff championship that year.

Finally, a local Intermediate League, made up of players who were not on the Royals, was organized. There were supposed to be four teams as in the old Senior League but the West Side Sports Club could not arouse enough player interest in that area so the Monarchs sat out the season for the first time since the regional set up was introduced.

The Town Aces were number one in the short regular season and were most likely on their way to a playoff victory until an incident occurred which ruined their chances. The Aces had finished their last game and player Mac Bishop was the league's leading scorer by an eleven point margin. Only one game remained in the schedule between the Curling Rangers and the Humber Hawks.

The Rangers had the number two scorer in the league and the Hawks had number three. In the "contest" which ensued both teams abandoned hockey in order to get their respective scorer into the top position. In other words, they were basically allowed to score goals at will.

The result was a 29-21 victory for the Rangers, and their leading scorer had 10 goals. It was not enough to catch Bishop however and the game caused quite a stir among hockey fans. Sportswriter John Mayo exclaimed, "It was a stab in the back which could prove fatal for local hockey." Indeed it did. Shortly thereafter the playoffs were cancelled and the fledgling league, after losing its fan support, lost much of its credibility as well.

In the Newfoundland Senior League, the Royals sought to avenge the previous year's premature elimination from the playoffs by adding Tim Rothwell, a new import from the Sorel Hawks of the Quebec Junior "A" Provincial League, to the team. Though attendance sagged at Humber Gardens, the 67-68 season was one of the closest ever. Corner Brook ended up in third place overall and had to play the newly revitalized Grand Falls Cataracts, led by Nick Mickowski.

The series proved to be the closest the Royals had been in up to that point. It took seven games but the West Coast boys finally vanquished their inland rivals and moved on to the finals versus the Buchans Miners.

Once again, Humber Gardens was packed to capacity for the first two games as the Royals jumped out to a two to nothing lead. In Buchans the Miners played stellar hockey, especially goalie George Mercer, but they only salvaged one victory as the Royals went on to win their fourth Herder in seven years.

Following the trend set by the Conception Bay CeeBees the year before, the Royals, as Newfoundland champions, moved on to play in the Allan Cup playoffs, the top Senior hockey tournament in Canada. Their competition in the best three of five Eastern quarter-finals were the Morrisburg (Ontario) Combines.

The C.B.H.A., realizing the Royals would need some extra firepower to compete with the stronger mainland team, hired on Jacques Allard and Harry Katrynuk of the Flyers, George Faulkner of the CeeBees, and George Mercer of the Miners. After splitting the first pair, Corner Brook won two in a row and upset the Combines becoming the first Newfoundland team to win a series in the Allan Cup playoffs.

Their semi-final opponents, the Victoriaville Tigers, proved much tougher, ousting the Royals by a three to one margin and thus concluding their season. Corner Brook fans and players did gain some small consolation however from the fact that they were defeated by the team that ultimately took the Allan Cup.
Newfoundland favourite, and veteran of several Herder-winning CeeBees teams, George Faulkner joined the Royals in 1968-69 replacing Tim Rothwell, however Corner Brook struggled throughout the regular season.

At one point, longtime leader Danky Dorrington, under what some believed to be pressure from the C.B.H.A., relinquished his coaching position to Faulkner stating he felt he would play better as a player only. The change made little difference. The Royals finished in fifth place behind the St. John's Capitals, retiring before the playoffs for the first time since the island wide league began in 62-63.

Locally, the Intermediate League took to the ice again with the Monarchs returning and the Humber Hawks bowing out. Low player and fan turnouts plagued the league and another dispute with Humber Gardens nearly resulted in its dissolution but they managed to stay above water until the Town Aces could be crowned champions for the second year in a row. In Commercial League competition, the Deer Lake Red Wings were regular season champions but they were beaten by Gadens in the playoff final.

A Junior League, composed of the Pats, Herdman, and Regina, operated in the city for a short time as well. Herdman was number one in the short round robin. Likewise, in the first series, in this case cut down to one game, between Herdman and Regina for top High School honours Regina won, but Herdman triumphed four games straight in the second best four of seven series.

In terms of participation Minor hockey had an excellent season. Over 650 boys took part in the various Minor divisions; as many as in the early years of Humber Gardens. In fact, the large numbers prompted some hockey organizers to argue for a second rink in order to facilitate the children. Also, Minor Hockey Day and Minor Hockey Championship Night experienced large turnouts and continued financial success. For yet another year however, the PeeWees, Bantams, and Midgets finished out of the finals in their respective provincial Minor hockey tournaments.