1948 saw a resurgence in local hockey
The 1948 season was well organized. Inter-school Junior hockey finally returned to Corner Brook after what Jimmy Murphy calls an "estrangement" which lasted several years. St. Bernard's, the Public School, and Curling took part in the league.
In a memorable series of games, the Public School won the Junior championship. Also, The Western Star Trophy, the Junior equivalent to the Senior Tie Cup, was awarded for the first time. The Public School won that as well. The Senior League was full of excitement from the moment that "Monty" Lewin, the general manager of Bowaters, dropped the puck on opening night. West Side, Curling, the Public School and St. Bernard's Alumni returned to do battle once again. It was a good season for the Public School all around. Their Alumni captured the Stadler Cup. There was at least one local women's game between the Accounts and Stenos as well.
General Skating at the old Corner Brook rink in March of 1948. The Stan Dawe building stands on the property in downtown Corner Brook today. Photo courtesy of Gerald F. Cooke
There were more inter-town games in 1948 than in any year since the mid 1930s. The Grand Falls Guards, one of that town's local Senior teams, played a three game series in Corner Brook. In game one, the Guards lost to the Public School Alumni, and St. Bernard's Alumni defeated them in game two. The only victory for the Guards came in their last game against Curling. The Corner Brook All-Stars got a boost early in the season when Ray Mallenfont arrived to help coach them. Mallenfont also gave advice to the Senior players who were not on the All-Stars and the various Junior teams around town. In the first exhibition series however, Bell Island defeated Corner Brook, and once more, Corner Brook advanced past the first round of the Herder playoffs only to be dispatched in the semi-finals.
There were three local divisions in 1949: Senior, Junior, and Intermediate. In the Senior League the Town Aces secured a better record than the West Side Wolves and the Curling Rangers to capture the Stadler Cup. Oddly enough, it was the Public School and Curling fighting it out for the Junior prizes in this year. St. Henry's got blown out in almost every game they played, prompting several angry articles in The Western Star.
| Heroes of the Past |
| The following is a list of players who performed for Corner Brook in provincial senior hockey competition since play for the Herder Memorial Trophy began in 1935. 1944 All-Stars: (Defeated in Herder Finals by Bell Island) Hounsell, W. LeDrew, S. Buckle, J. Myrden, R. Buckle, Grace, L. O'Reilly, H. Collins, D. Goodyear, G. Downey, W. Harris 1945 All-Stars: (Defeated in playoffs by St. Bon's) Stan O'Leary (Manager), W. Byrne, L. Bugden, R. White, S. O'Leary, W. Noel, J. Joannis, G. Downey, W. Hull, W. Harris, R. Joannis, R. Oxford, H. Caines, Gus Cossitt 1946 All-Stars: (Defeated in Western Finals by Grand Falls) Stan O'Leary (Coach), Joe Downey, Herb Collins, Walter Harris, Murdock Sweet, Harold Bouzanne, Stan Buckle, Raymond Buckle, Basil Oxford, Baxter Hounsell, Gilbert Rowsell, Wilfred (Biff) Hull 1947 All-Stars: (Defeated in Western Finals by Grand Falls) P. Young, Neal, S. Buckle, H. Collins, J. Myrden, H. Bouzanne, S. Buckle, B. Power, D. Goodyear, H. Caines, McKay, Bishop, W. Lemessurier. |
The Intermediate League was made up of the West Side Wolves, the Curling Rangers, and the Humbermouth Hawks. This league proved to be the most exciting and evenly matched of the local divisions. The Humber Hawks and the Wolves were tied at the conclusion of the regular season, and then they tied 1-1 in a tie-breaker for the championship. The Wolves finally triumphed in a second tie-breaker. In the Intermediate Tie Cup round that followed, the Humber Hawks emerged victorious.
In the first inter-town exhibition contest of the season, a St. John's all-star team took two games from the Corner Brook All-Stars in Corner Brook. However, the two biggest stories of the 1949 hockey season took place during the All-Newfoundland playoffs.
In late January, the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association barred five Canadians from playing on the Buchans team. This was the first year that "imports", basically professional players from Canada who were hired by the Newfoundland teams, became an issue. The Herder had become a highly sought after trophy and all organizations were looking for the winning edge. Around this period teams began to import players from the mainland, and it eventually became an accepted, island wide phenomena.# But in this season, the Buchans imports were said to have arrived too late to qualify for the N.A.H.A.'s residency rules. With the longtime spoilers effectively out of the competition, hopes were high in Corner Brook for a second Herder. A Western Star reporter remarked, "Corner Brook hockey stock takes a sudden, meteoric rise!"
Indeed, Corner Brook made it past the first round and were set to play Grand Falls at the rink. Grand Falls had constructed a new stadium only shortly before the 1949 season. It boasted the first regulation size artificial ice surface on the island, and it was much bigger than most Newfoundland rinks. Nevertheless, the Corner Brook All-Stars were confident that they could beat Grand Falls on their home ice. In the first game this prediction proved to be correct. Corner Brook trounced the Andcos 10-3. The following evening, Grand Falls refused to play the second game because of poor ice conditions. An indignant Corner Brook commentator said: "Sulking over a 10-3 walloping they suffered last night, the visitors claimed today that the ice was "not good enough" for them and refused to face off...The repugnance of this action...is at once apparent to all sports fans everywhere. In one fell blow the Grand Falls hockeyists have alienated the respect, admiration and sympathy of sports fans all over the island...So Corner Brook takes the Semi-Finals by default. They would have taken it anyway.
The Grand Falls team were suspended from Herder play by the N.A.H.A. and Corner Brook were named Western Newfoundland champions by default. The Herder finals were held in Corner Brook as well, but this time St. Bon's won both contests, spoiling Corner Brook's best showing in years.
In 1950 the Buchans squad, including imports, were allowed to play for the Newfoundland championship and they plowed through Corner Brook on their way to the finals. The Corner Brook All-Stars were outscored a total of 40-6 in the two games. In an exhibition series with Grand Falls, Corner Brook lost as well, but these two games were much closer. Grand Falls had the edge in total goals, 17-14. A Junior All-Star team from Corner Brook also played a team from Grand Falls. They won the first game and lost the second to Notre Dame Academy. Against Gander, the Corner Brook Seniors won the first match and dropped the second.
The Bowaters Head Office Hockey Team in February of 1953. From left (front kneeling) are Don Sansome, Doug Elliott, Mabel Oxford, Pete Kennedy, Ray Woolridge; (back) Willie Wicks, Ernie Power, Roland Way, Hollie White, Bert Rowsell, Jack Lee, Clyde Hewitt, Clive Elliott and Grant Hiscock. Photo courtesy of Gerald F. Cooke
By this period, teams like Gander, who did not even begin to play All-Newfoundland hockey until well after Corner Brook, were getting much faster and more skilled than the West Coast boys. The only "easy" inter-town victory of the season came when the Curling Juniors beat a Howley School team in Howley.
If the All-Newfoundland circuit had been a disappointment, the 1950 season in local hockey was excellent. Early on, Pat Moore, C.B.H.A. chairman, said that all previous attendance records were being broken. The league was split up into two Sections. Section "A" was the Senior division and it was made up of the Town Aces and the West Hornets (an agglomeration of the West Side Wolves and the Curling Rangers). The Humber Hawks, Corner Brook (Garage) Cardinals, West Side Wolves, and Curling Rangers comprised the Intermediate "B" Section.
The West Hornets took both the Stadler and Tie Cups in the Senior category and the Cardinals were Intermediate champions. However, the West Side Wolves managed to capture the Section "B" Tie Cup. Also, Junior hockey remained a fan favorite. Traditional winners St. Henry's and the Public School were again joined by Curling. Curling were victorious in what must have been a shocker to everybody considering their generally lackluster past performances. It was the first time that the any Corner Brook championship had been won by a strictly Curling-only team.
By 1951 the people of Corner Brook had realized they were alone in the basement of a Newfoundland league which was now made up of imports playing on regulation size, artificial ice surfaces. Even the N.A.H.A. were listless in terms of scheduling and regulations and there was talk of reforming the association. In a two game exhibition series versus Grand Falls, Corner Brook was wiped out 17-2 in the first game and 19-1 in the second. Clearly, this was not the same team that Corner Brook had "owned" in the 1920s. In the All-Newfoundland semi-finals Buchans humiliated the Corner Brook squad in both games. The final goal total was 54- 2 in favour of the Miners. As one sports writer remarked: "The locals were as helpless as flotsam in a raging, rushing current. They were simply props on the stage of Buchans colossal production, puppets who could offer no more than a token resistance to the whippet-like Buccaneers."
The Western Star published several angry sports editorials during this period.
One offered a solution to the town's hockey woes: "We are faced with two alternatives.
Either we acquire the means to raise our calibre of hockey upon a par with that of other island towns - and soon - or we withdraw entirely from all inter-town competition...It is my urgent recommendation that the latter course be followed. If we must be content with bush league shinny, for heaven's sake let's confine it to our own backyard and not expose it to the jeers and ridicule of a more discriminating audience."
Another commentary chastised Bowaters for not supporting Corner Brook hockey the way in which other Newfoundland "town companies" did.
(Continued next week.)
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]
