Grant and Dorrington
Selected among province's all-time best
Near the end of 1994, a panel of knowledgeable Newfoundland hockey enthusiasts got together in St. John's with the intention of naming the top 10 Newfoundland hockey players of all time and the 10 best imports to ever play in the island Senior League.
Not surprisingly, George and Alex Faulkner were named the top two Newfoundland natives. Corner Brook's Doug Grant was named the fifth best for his efforts on the Royals of the 60s and his seven season stint in the N.H.L., first with the Detroit Red Wings and then with the St. Louis Blues. In total, he played 77 games in the N.H.L. with an overall record of 27- 34-8. Grant's career goals against average was 4.00 and he earned two shutouts in the big leagues.
In terms of imports, none of the panel members had a doubt that the Royals Danky Dorrington was the best to ever play the game on the island. In his 13 seasons as a player/player-coach, Dorrington racked up over 1,000 points, captured three scoring titles, and competed on four Herder winning teams.
After he had retired from the Senior League he still managed to win championships. Dorrington won his fifth as a bench coach for the Royals in 1976-77. Flyers sharpshooter Jacques Allard was ranked number two. Another Corner Brook player to make the top ten was Dan Cormier, one of the main contributors in the Royals run at the Allan Cup in 1984-85, their victory in 85-86, and their ninth Herder win in 87-88.
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Only one Corner Brook team entered the Western Junior Hockey League in 1994-95. The defending champion Bay of Islands Blues were joined by the Centennials, Deer Lake, and the Stephenville Junior Jets.
The upstart Jets earned first place atop the regular season standings, but the Blues put on the pressure in the playoffs and repeated as Junior League champions. In provincial Minor hockey action, the only Corner Brook squad to even come close to a championship were the PeeWee all-stars. They came second to the Avalon team in their "A" tournament.
The Corner Brook Junior Royals were the only city team to play in the Western Junior Hockey League in 1995-96. They placed fourth out of four teams in the regular season and were defeated by the league leading Deer Lake Video Juniors in four games in the semi-finals.
One highlight for the Junior Royals was a winter carnival exhibition match against the 1985-86 Senior Royals. It was called the "Turn Back the Clock" game and just about all the Allan Cup players showed up except for Greco, Matte, Longpre, and McKenzie.
Over 1,500 spectators attended the contest as the Senior Royals won 16-12. The game was just for fun. Steve Dunne dished out some body checks as he had throughout his career. There was even an entertaining scuffle involving another of the Royals tough guys, Steve Gallant, who danced with (Kevin) Lasaga of the Juniors. The two were assessed two minute minors for not fighting.
Stan Hennigar was given two minutes for having been a member of the St. John's Capitals and the game ended in a mock bench-clearing brawl to the great amusement of all the fans. G. C. Rowe captured their third Corner Brook Junior High School title in four years as well. They beat G. A. Mercer in the championship series.
Minor hockey all-star teams improved somewhat in 95-96. The Atom and Bantam aggregations did not finish in the top three in their tournaments, but the PeeWees finished second behind St. John's in the provincial "A" final. The Western AAA Midget Kings were the biggest story in Minor hockey.
The team was made up of not just players from Corner Brook, but was a Western all-star team with players from Deer Lake, Port aux Basques, and Stephenville. In an exhibition series against the Junior Royals they took two of the three games and had an excellent all around year. The crop of Midgets that year must have been outstanding. Corner Brook won the "A" tournament by dumping the Southern Shore in the final contest.
None of the Corner Brook Minor all-star entries were competitive in the 1996-97 "A" tournaments. The Western AAA Kings on the other hand dominated the new Newfoundland AAA Midget League. They had only two losses for a first place finish in the regular season, dumped the Central Arctic Blast in two straight semi-final contests, and captured the island championship by defeating the Tri-Pen Osprey in similar fashion. In the season ending Maritime AAA tournament in Moncton, N.B., the Kings placed a respectable fourth.
A Western Senior "B" League finally got going in 96-97 as well. Corner Brook, Stephenville, and Port aux Basques were the only three teams who participated but there were some great moments. In fact, the whole season was great for the Royals. They were undefeated in the regular season, and then defeated the Jets four games to two in the title series.
The Junior Royals did not fare as well as their older namesake. They were part of the Central-Western Junior Hockey League alongside Deer Lake, Grand Falls-Windsor, and Gander.
The Junior Royals finished in fourth place and were unceremoniously ejected from the semi-finals by the Junior Flyers. A new champion was crowned in the Junior High School League.
The G. A. Mercer team, which had lost to the Crusaders the previous season, were able to claim bragging rights in the city. Interestingly enough, it was not Mercer's first Junior High championship. They were the best in Corner Brook in the 1967-68 season nearly 30 years before.
In September, 1997, the civic centre had its official opening. Named the Canada Games Centre, the new building boasted two official size hockey rinks with a capacity of over 4,000 spectators, squash courts, a convention area, and a fitness centre.
Its price tag was $21 million. In the first couple months of operation, there were several Quebec Major Junior Hockey League exhibitions. Being such an expensive new feature to the city, the Canada Games Centre needed a big drawing attraction on a regular basis in order to pay for it.
There had been rumours around town that there was an attempt to bring in an A.H.L. franchise like St. John's had done when they acquired the Maple Leafs in the early 90s. Also, there were a number of people in Corner Brook who were interested in bringing in a Quebec Major Junior team to fill the stands.
The West Coast Junior League did not operate in 1997-98, but the Junior Royals-Blues did play a number of exhibition matches in the Beothuck Senior "A" Hockey League where they were generally outmatched by the older competitors.
In the Senior "B" League the Royals had financial problems all season. The league itself was very unstable. Corner Brook finished third in the four team set up and were knocked out of the playoffs in five games by the Deer Lake Video Blues in the semi-finals.
High School hockey returned briefly for the first time since the early 80s.
The Herdman Huskies and Regina Knights played only one game and the Huskies won by a narrow margin becoming the unofficial city champions. Due to the low registration in Minor hockey, a couple of the divisional all-star teams had to enter the "B" level provincial tournaments for the first time.
The Atom all-stars were not competitive in their "A" tourney, and the Bantams came third in theirs, but the "B" Midgets finished in second place behind Gander, and the "B" PeeWees won the Newfoundland championship.
In the Midget AAA League, it was a rebuilding year for the Western Kings. Many of the players on the team had grown out of the Midget designation. They finished in fourth place in the regular season before being eliminated in the semi-finals by St. John's.
Early in 1998-99, the Western Kings play had improved considerably, but in the second half of the season the team fell apart finishing out of the playoffs for the first time. The defending "B" champion Corner Brook PeeWees earned third place in their tournament, and the Atom boys were not competitive.
It was the "B" Midget all-stars year. They put on an excellent showing in every game and won the provincial title handily. The only division still represented in "A" action were the Bantams. They ended up with a third place overall finish.
In November, 1998, there was no move to get the Royals into Senior play. No one had come forward to handle the team and it looked like they would be sitting out for another season.
Fearing for the stability of the West Coast Senior Hockey League, Jets general manager Art Barry asked Corner Brook hockey organizers, "What are you going to do to keep that big barn going after the Canada Winter Games?", implying that if the city could not handle a local Senior team how could it hope to maintain the expensive civic centre. Whether spurred on by this comment or not, the Royals were back in action by the end of the month.
The W.C.S.H.L. was comprised of the Royals, the Stephenville Jets, Port aux Basques Centennials, Badger Bombers, and Lewisporte Seahawks.
Corner Brook finished in third place in the regular season but were eliminated in three straight games by the Jets in the semi-finals.
Of course local hockey was overshadowed in the new year by the biggest sporting event Corner Brook had ever seen - the Canada Winter Games. Anticipation was running high in the city.
Residents had been counting down the days for about three years and when February rolled around the time had almost arrived. Scores of people volunteered to help with the Games in any way they could, from ushers, to cooks, to guides. Corner Brook was not the only community to hold the Games. Stephenville, Deer Lake, Pasadena, and Steady Brook all played their part in hosting certain events. For people who wanted to take in events during the two weeks, tickets were relatively cheap. One could get a "super-pass" to see just about any sport, apart from certain championship and medal matches, for only $35.
The Games were held from the last week of February to the end of the first week in March and attracted countless athletes, tourists, and spectators. National sports channel TSN had regular coverage of the Games and highlights could be seen on the CBC. In men's and women's hockey, neither of the Newfoundland entries fared very well.
The men finished with a fifth place 1-3 record in pool B and the women ended up with an eighth place overall finish. Still, the Canada Games Centre was packed whenever they played. In fact, the arena was packed for two weeks straight no matter who was playing. Alberta beat Quebec for men's gold and the Ontario women beat Quebec for a first place finish.
The Games were a huge success and went off basically without a hitch. Team Newfoundland had their best Canada Winter Games finish ever. They were seventh overall and did better than New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Praise was heaped on Corner Brook, and indeed the west coast, for their hospitality and hard work. The city's hockey organizers, players, and fans looked forward to a bright future for the sport.
In the last years of the 1980s, the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League was nearing its end. Years of importing expensive talent from the mainland and attempting to win the Allan Cup had taken its toll on the league.
After the Royals became the first Newfoundland team to win the national title in 1985-86 there was no incentive for other teams to continue spending such large sums of money. Besides, all the organizations were in debt to some extent and it is doubtful that their credit ratings would have allowed it anyway.
The N.S.H.L. remained in operation for three years, in which the Royals won their ninth and final Herder Memorial Trophy, but by 1989-90 the provincial league was reduced to a season-ending playoff. The next year there was no competition for the trophy at all, and throughout the 1990s the Herder has been awarded to smaller communities.
The dissolution of the provincial Senior League did not spell the end of hockey in Corner Brook.
The sport was scaled back to almost pre-Humber Gardens era levels during the 1990s but it continued to be a popular winter pastime in the city. New leagues like the provincial Midget AAA League, and the West Coast Senior "B" League kept the sport alive and Junior competition and Minor hockey remained a permanent fixture.
The 1999 Canada Winter Games provided a boost to hockey in Corner Brook with the completion of the state of the art Canada Games Centre in 1997, and the Games themselves put the city on the national map.
1999 also marked an important anniversary for hockey in Corner Brook. In late January, 1924, in the old Number 2 Wharehouse adjacent to the pulp and paper mill on the waterfront, the community's first hockey game was played between the mill employees of Staff Houses 51 and 52. Who would have guessed that 75 years later the city's Royals would be the most celebrated club in the province's hockey history.
From those humble beginnings, hockey players and organizers had proceeded to win the first Herder (and eight more besides), and be the first island team to win the Allan Cup, the symbol of Senior hockey supremacy throughout Canada. Other hockey enthusiasts in Corner Brook were at the forefront of developing Minor and Junior hockey on a province-wide basis.
With the men's and women's national championships at the Canada Games Centre, the people of Corner Brook showed that they still loved a good game of hockey.
The history of hockey in Corner Brook, researched by Neil White for the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame covering the period from
the 1920s up to 1990.
The series of articles was first published in The Western Star from December
2000 to May, 2001.
To buy a reprint of this page as it appeared in The Western Star email [email protected]