Hockey rivalry continues long tradition
Published Wednesday March 4th, 2009
The rivalry between Moncton and Saint John hockey teams has existed for decades now in one form or another.
The current rivalry is a two-game battle to see which club attracts the most fans in their two remaining Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular-season meetings.
The first contest, held Feb. 8 at Saint John's Harbour Station, drew 89.5 per cent of capacity. Now, if the Moncton Wildcats draw 5,789 fans or more next Tuesday to the Coliseum, the Hub City will win the first installment of the Rivalry Cup -- a fan challenge where the winner is declared by having sold the largest percentage of seats in relation to their home building's capacity.
* One of the battles between the two cities which comes to this columnist's mind occurred 63 seasons ago -- an on-ice/committee room tilt with the New Brunswick senior hockey championship and a berth in the Maritime senior finals leading to the Allan Cup playoffs on the line.
* I was 12 1/2 years old and remember that March 1, a Friday night in 1946, when around 11 p.m., all hell broke loose at the Stadium before 5,500 fans.
The Moncton Maroons were denied the tying goal against Saint John Beavers by the late George Bell, a member of the Moncton Sports Hall of Fame (1993). On the ice was Maroons' forward Donald "Chick'' Charlton, an 86-year-old Wildcat fan who was a season-ticket holder the past three seasons and would still be if he hadn't moved back to his native Halifax from Riverview. However, the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame member (hockey and baseball) continues to follow the success of the team religiously and was in attendance when the Cats recently defeated Shawinigan Cataracts, 3-2.
* On that March night more than six decades ago, the Maroons -- who had lost the opener in Saint John 4-1 -- trailed 4-3 with 38 seconds left when Bell, one of the top players in the Maritimes during that era, grabbed the puck from a faceoff and raced the length of the ice.
After a scramble in front of Beavers goaltender Bill Giggey's net, the goal judge's light flashed, indicating a goal. A long argument followed and when referee Clem "Okie" O'Connor skated to a point near the Saint John net for a faceoff, indicating no goal, the fans showered the ice with a variety of articles, including chairs and bottles. After the ice was clean (and a delay of about an hour), the Maroons played the remainder of the game under protest.
* Moncton coach Charles "Knucker" Irving, who had replaced Bill Gill behind the Moncton bench at the end of January, had removed goaltender Vincent "Red" Alary in favour of an extra skater. Allary, stationed at No. 5 Supply Depot, had been obtained from the Halifax Air Force team as replacement for injured goaltender Raymond "Buzz" Barton.
* "I was in front of the net ... parallel to the goal line and the puck definitely went in," recalled Charlton, who was playing on a line with Bell and the late Shermie White of Amherst. "I cruised in front in the event of a rebound," added Charlton, who served with the Air Force during the Second World War.
* The March 2, 1946 edition of The Transcript carried a photo on its front page by the late Fraser Robb. It showed Bell skating behind the Saint John net after banging in the disallowed goal. In front of the net are Beavers' goalie Bill Giggey and defenceman Walter "Gus" Kyle; Maroons' Charlton, Sammy McManus and Glenn Dart and other Saint John players. The picture was indistinct, largely because of the haze of smoke which hung over the ice, especially in the third period. The puck couldn't be seen.
* The Beavers had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period on Joe O'Toole's goal at 3:26 with an assist from Mike Fitzgerald, while McManus (White, Bell) made it a 1-1 game after one period, scoring at 10:06. In the second period, goals by Alex Robertson (Eddie Price, Steve Estabrooks) at 1:57 and Jack Culverwell (Nick Federonick, Fitzgerald) at 13:50 made it 3-1 for the Beavers. However, McManus tallied unassisted for the Maroons at the 19-minute mark of the second and at the 49-second mark of the third with assists from George Appleby and Dart, making it a one-goal game in favour of the visitors.
* A few years back, the late Beaver goaltender Giggey told this columnist that the puck hit the post. "Our players got caught up-ice and George (Bell) and I think it was Sammy (McManus) broke in on a 2-on-1 break. I went to cut the angle and George was in too close and his shot went by my skate and struck the post. That sound (the puck hitting the post) had become familiar to me," quipped Giggey, who said he then smothered the rubber. Meanwhile, the late Barton, on the Moncton bench at the time, said the puck went in and that Giggey didn't know what he was talking about.
* Moncton's protest was turned down by Maritime Amateur Hockey Association president Charles Campbell of Sydney (the Maroons didn't carry the ruling to Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Hanson T. Dowell of Middleton, N.S., claiming it would be useless). The Maroons were told that the ruling body would not even consider affidavits made by spectators, and would rule only on the reports of the referee-in-chief (O'Connor), the second referee (Bev Wheaton of Amherst) and the affidavit of the Saint John goal judge. The goal judge's affidavit was that it wasn't a goal and he had not flashed the red light. Thousands in the Stadium saw the light flash.
* Many stories made the rounds, with one alleging an assault on the goal judge while one fan reported he had seen the goal judge in a restaurant with Beavers manager Murray Long and he didn't show any signs of having been roughed up. Another rumour had the official in hospital with a fractured jaw. The issue came to an end when Maroons' manager Claude Orr decided not to take the matter any further.
* Meanwhile, the Beavers went on to win the Maritime senior title, defeating the Halifax Navy 5-3 in the Nova Scotia capital in the deciding game of a best-of-five final. The Port City club lost in the Eastern Canadian Allan Cup quarter-finals at home to the Hamilton Tigers, 2-1 in games with the visitors winning the third game, 3-0. The Tigers copped the opener, 8-1, while the Beavers won the second, 6-3. (Note: Calgary Stampeders won the Allan Cup in 1946).
* Notes: In the Beavers' 4-1 first game win at home, Kyle scored twice while Gerry Lynch and Butler added singletons. McManus scored the Maroons' lone goal in the third period ... Before taking on the Beavers, the Maroons eliminated St. Joseph's Association Catholic Jeunesse Canadian (ACJC) in the provincial semifinals, posting 11-5 (Stadium) and 12-5 (St. Joseph) wins to take the two-game, total-goal series, 23-10. McManus had 11 goals in the two games, seven in the first. Fraser Morrison and Appleby scored twice. In the second game, Bell had four goals and Appleby three. Fraser had the other. In the opener, Albert Gaudet had three goals and Henri Cormier two for the "Villagers." In the second game, Fred Gaudet had two, while A. Gaudet, Dollard Gaudet and Robert Gaudet one each. The ACJC goaltenders were Dollard Poirier and Léo Arsenault.
* The disputed goal game lineup:
Maroons: Goal -- Vince Alary; defence -- Ian "Fritz" Fraser, Bert Sleep, Gene Poirier; forwards -- Sammy McManus, George Appleby, Willie Agnew, Glenn Dart, George Bell, Donald "Chick" Charlton and Fraser Morrison. Among other players with the Maroons included defenceman Doug Moriarity; forwards Mike Demchuck and Alfred (Babe) LeBlanc.
Beavers: Goal -- Bill Giggey; defence -- Walter "Gus" Kyle, Jack Culverwell, Joe Croteau; forwards -- Steve Estabrooks, Alex Robertson, Eddie Price, Walter Butler, Joe O'Toole, Nick Federonick, Ted Page, Mike Fitzgerald. Gerry Lynch was also with the Beavers.
* Eddie St. Pierre is a retired Times & Transcript sports editor. His column appears Wednesdays.
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