History of Hockey (Part 21 of a series)

Provincial senior league folded in 1989-90 season

Early in the 1988-89 season, it did not seem that there would be a provincial Senior League at all. The Royals, Jets, and Mariners had signed on but the Capitals were left out because it was believed that traveling expenses to and from St. John's would be too much for the west coast clubs.

Eventually a compromise was reached whereby the Capitals would play fewer games as well as providing some money for the Jets to subsidize their road costs. A Western team would earn 1.75 points in a victory and 2 points went to the Capitals when they won a game. Furthermore, a new import policy was agreed upon.

The rule was if you were an import in the past you would continue to be an import.
During the early and mid-80s, players were only considered imports for one season so, for example, after Rob Forbes first year he was no longer an import and the Royals could get another out of province player, a situation that caused a number of problems. The Capitals were allowed three imports, the Royals and Jets were permitted to sign five such players, and the Mariners, after having been out of the N.S.H.L. for several years, could have eight.

Dave Matte did not return to Newfoundland for the regular season, but was part of the Corner Brook lineup for the playoffs. Likewise, Dan Cormier did sign on for one more campaign, and Gus Greco was the team's player-coach for a second season. Mark Zeitlin, Todd Stark and Tim Cranston once again donned the red, white, and blue as well.

At mid-season, the Royals were in third place behind the Mariners and Capitals, and that is where they stayed throughout the remainder. St. John's finished in first place with Port aux Basques right behind them. Luckily for the Royals, Stephenville was having a rough year. Fan and financial difficulties plagued the club all season long. At one point the club was going to pull out but they stuck around even though they finished dead last.

The Royals had to play the second place Mariners in the best four of seven semi-final. The series was a nail-biter all the way. After the first four games the series was knotted at two apiece and tempers were flaring among players and fans. In the fourth contest, fans of the Royals decided to show their frustration and anger at the Mariners by pelting them with cans as well as liquor and beer bottles.

As the game progressed, fans got a little more restless and one spectator even punched a Mariner player who was sitting out a penalty. By the end of game six, the series was still tied, but the Mariners pulled out a rather easy victory in game seven at Bruce Arena to eliminate the Royals and advance to their first ever Herder Memorial final. In fact, it proved to be the Mariners year. They beat the Capitals in six to take the provincial title.
A local Senior League failed to get off the ground in 88-89. Minor and Junior remained Corner Brook's sole hockey outside of the Royals.

In the Minor divisions the Corner Brook Pizza Experts Bantam All-Stars beat the St. John's Celtics in the final game of the tournament and captured the Provincial "A" title. None of the other "A" entries from the city finished in the top three.

The Junior League began with the Monarchs, Warriors, and Junior Royals, but the latter folded around mid-season because not enough players were showing up for practices and games. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Midget All-Stars took their place but the season boiled down to a match-up between the S.W.G.C. and the West Side. The dominant college team once more took the regular season honours and dumped the Monarchs two games straight in the playoff final for the city championship.

The Junior League did not return in 1989-90. It had clearly been on its last legs the previous season and there was simply not enough interest to get it going. However, due to the lack of an N.S.H.L. regular season a local Senior League was formed for the first time in years. The league was made up of the Hawks, Rangers, Warriors, and Monarchs, and many of the players, such as Brent Jenkins, Darren McWhirter, Ed Kearsey, and Jeff Regular, had played steadily with the Royals in bygone years.

Few fans took in the games and the league was in dire straits financially, but the contests were often very exciting regardless.

The College Warriors were the best regular season team by a narrow margin and in the final best five of seven game series between the Warriors and Monarchs there was one overtime and one double overtime game before the Monarchs finally managed to stop Grenfell in six. Minor hockey had problems too. Only 175 children signed up for the program in 89-90.

It seems as if kids were simply not interested in the sport anymore, at least not like they were before. The continuing decline surely had something to do with the divisional all-star teams lack of competitiveness in the annual April "A" tournaments. Of the four divisions represented; Midget, Bantam, PeeWee, and Atom, only the Corner Brook PeeWees made it to the final game. They were beaten by Conception Bay North and had to settle for a respectable second place finish.

As was mentioned, the N.S.H.L. folded in 1989-90 after almost 30 years as a truly provincial league. There was no regular season. Teams could simply not afford it anymore. For instance, the Royals were over $70,000 in the red. Just two years earlier, they had been in debt over $100,000 and had almost broken even, but the constant financial drain was too much.

They had no real credit left. From November there were attempts to get at least four teams organized for a Herder playoff in the spring but there were a lot of difficulties to be overcome.

It was understood that no teams would be permitted to use imports. For the first time since the mid-70s the competition would be an amateur one.

Claude Anstey, now one of the organizers for the Corner Brook entry, said, "Everyone wanted to go with locals.

We want a league like we had back in the 1950s and early 60s with the old team names." By late February the five team lineups were decided and the playoffs were to begin. Terry Gillam was named coach of the Royals.

The playoffs themselves proved to be anticlimactic after all the hype which had been generated about them.

The Royals easily swept the Jets in four games in the West, and St. John's swept their two opponents in East-Central play. One would imagine that the two powerhouse teams remained and the resulting series would be a real battle; the rematch of the 1987-88 finals, the two old rivals dating back to the earliest years of hockey on the island. Well it was not that way at all. The Capitals swept the Royals four straight marking the end of the N.S.H.L.

There was no provincial Senior League of any kind in the 1990-91 season. There was not enough interest among any of the clubs and, "for the first time since 1942-43, the Herder Memorial Trophy was not awarded".

Not only was player and fan interest at an all time low, but financial constraints made the operation of an all-Newfoundland league an impossibility. The four teams who had competed in the 88-89 season suffered from a combined debt of almost $500,000.#
Local Senior League play returned for the second year however. The Deer Lake Irving Big Stop team were added to the Monarchs, Warriors, Hawks, and Rangers lineup, and although the organization suffered from the usual difficulties some good competitive hockey was played.

The Monarchs easily clinched first place in the regular season but in the playoff final they were surprised by the third place Deer Lake team. The West Side crew took a commanding three games to none series lead, but they saw it evaporate as Deer Lake roared back in the next two contests. The Monarchs finally eliminated their opponents, capturing the championship, in the sixth game.

Enrolment in Minor hockey remained steady at about 175 kids for the third year in a row. As usual, city championships were decided and the best of each division went on to play in the provincial "A" tourneys at the end of the season.
None of the teams were very effective.

The Midgets, PeeWees, and Atoms finished fourth in their respective tournaments and the Bantam all-stars got third place. The PeeWee team did get to do some travelling, however. In February they went to Quebec City to take part in an international invitational.

They did not have a great showing but they did get to play against the Moscow PeeWee all-stars in an exhibition match. The Corner Brook lads were shut out by the Russians but it must have been a great thrill to play against a team from such a distant country.

In 1991-92, none of the four Minor division squads were competitive in the "A" tournaments either. Also, the local Senior League was scrapped and, instead, the best players in the city made up a Royals team and took part in the Central Beothuck League.
The five teams that the Royals faced were the Gander Flyers, Bishops Falls Express, LaScie Jets, Twillingate Combines, and the Badger Bombers.

Corner Brook had an up and down season but they managed to finish in the top half of the league in third place overall. They were set to face the second place Badger Bombers in the C.B.L. semi-finals. The Royals were routed in four straight games. This was a far cry from the team that had won the Allan Cup only six years before.

It may have been some small consolation to the Royals players that the Bombers went on to win the Herder that year against the Flatrock Flyers (champions of the Avalon East Senior League).

A new local league was formed in 91-92 as well. For the first time since the mid-60s a Junior High School Hockey League took to the ice. Five teams made up the league: the G.C. Rowe Crusaders, Presentation Panthers, Templeton Tigers, St. Peter's Mariners, and the G.A. Mercer All-Stars.

The two teams to beat in the league were the Crusaders and Panthers, but it was G.C. Rowe which captured the titles. The Crusaders were first in the regular season, and they beat the Panthers in the finals, becoming the first Corner Brook Junior High School champions in almost 30 years.

During the 1992-93 season, the only out of town matches were generated by the Minors. Neither the Midget, Bantam, or Atom all-stars were in the race in their "A" tournaments, but the Corner Brook PeeWees came first in the province. In the Junior High School League, the same five teams returned and it was the Presentation Panthers turn to take the city championship. They beat the Crusaders for the title.

No local Senior League operated during the season, and the Senior age players did not put together a Royals team to play in any other league either. It was truly the lowest point for hockey in Corner Brook since before the construction of Humber Gardens.

In response to the need for more hockey, a Midget/Juvenile League was organized for players between the ages of 16 and 20 years of age.

The West Side Monarchs, C.B.H.A. Royals, Holiday Inn Aces, and Humber Hawks made up the patchwork league. For the entire season the Midget/Juvenile League was on the verge of collapse because not enough fans were attending and players did not show up for games, but the set up managed to stick it out.

The Monarchs topped the regular season standings with ease, but were almost beaten in the championship by the Royals. It took the West Side the full five games, but they pulled out a victory to become the league's first and only champions.

The Midget/Juvenile League was disbanded in 1993-94 but a new Western Junior Hockey League took its place.

This time it was not just made up of local teams. Deer Lake Video and the Port Aux Basques Junior Centennials joined the Corner Brook Junior Royals, the Western AAA Midget All-Stars, and the Bay of Islands Blues.

In the league's inaugural season it was the Blues that really stood out. They were the best team in the regular season and won the playoff championship as well.

The Junior High School League returned for the third consecutive season and the G. C. Rowe Crusaders captured their second city title. "A" tournament competition proved to be rather disappointing. None of the four divisional all-star teams were in contention for the provincial championship.

The planning of the civic centre progressed during the season.

By this time its construction had become a campaign issue for would-be members of the city council.# All agreed that the new stadium would be in the best interests of all residents of the city. Also, by Nov. 10, 1994, Corner Brook had been selected as the site of the Canada Winter Games.

Not the upcoming Games in 1995 as had been hoped, those had been awarded to Grande Prairie, Alberta, but the 1999 competition.

At least it gave the city almost five years to get everything in order. Accordingly, work on the civic centre began shortly thereafter. By late 1994, fundraising for the project had begun.

Among other money making ventures, an annual $1 million draw was initiated. Over the next several years it proved to be the most successful of the fundraisers.