Shrines honour past stars
Published Wednesday November 4th, 2009
As a boy growing up in post-Second World War Moncton, they were my heroes.
They were the 1946-47 edition of the Moncton Hawks, who won the Big Four Senior Hockey League title and the Maritime senior hockey championship, but lost in the Eastern Canadian Allan Cup semifinals to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Hawks, whom I followed closely in this newspaper as a teenager, will be inducted into the Moncton Sports Wall of Fame on Saturday at Bernice MacNaughton High School, along with the 1959-61 Moncton Junior Beavers, who lost to the Toronto St. Michael's Majors in the Eastern Canadian Memorial Cup finals in 1961; Olympian and New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame member Lise Robichaud-Gautreau (rhythmic gymnast); Special Olympics' Glen Agnew (builder) and Cyril Weatherdon (shooting builder).
* I have fond memories of the Hawks. In our early teens, my friends and I would take a bus or walk to some of the games at the Stadium on St. George Street. I lived on "the hill" off Drummond Street, about 3 1/2 miles from the Stadium. If we didn't have enough money to cover the bus fare, game admission and a soda and hotdog (75 cents to $1), we'd walk or hop a ride by grabbing onto the back bumper of the bus or a car. At times we'd sneak into the games or one of us would purchase a ticket and then pass the stub through a broken window so we could all get in.
The Hawks in those days were to me like the Montreal Canadiens (Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Hector "Toe" Blake, Elmer Lach, Bill Durnham, Doug Harvey) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (Teeder Kennedy, Syl Apps, Walter "Turk" Broda) of the old six-team National Hockey League. (Note: While serving as an altar boy at the St-Louis-de-France Roman Catholic Church in Lewisville, I was blessed that the parish priest -- Rev. Hector Belliveau -- converted me from a Maple Leaf fan to the Canadiens).
* "Bucko" Weston Trainor centred "Mousie" Maurice Dowling and "Twinkle Toes" Sammy McManus. The line was one of the best in the country at the time. Meanwhile, the second trio was centred by "Buck" Roy Whitlock, one of 38 survivors when a German U-boat torpedoed HMCS Valleyfield in the North Atlantic in May 1944. A total of 127 Canadians lost their lives.
The survivors spent a fair amount of time in the cold water before being rescued by the British Corvette HMS Giffard. Despite the ordeal, the "Ole Lamplighter" became one of the most prolific scorers in the history of Maritime hockey, recording 1,807 points (813-954), an average of 1.8 points and .82 goals per game. Whitlock's linemates were Donald "Chick" Charlton and George Bell. The third trio had Mike Demchuck, Doug Leadbetter and William "Wee Willie" Agnew.
On defence was Ian "Fritz" Fraser of Gimsby, Ont., who probably won't be on hand for the team's induction because of leg problems (he's had many hip operations); Eugene Poirier, Clarence "Cail" Bastarache and "Windy," player-coach Clarence Steele. The regular goaltender was Hughie MacDonald, who now lives in New Glasgow, N.S., while the sub-goalender was Bob Schurman. The manager was George Schurman, who was assisted by Stadium manager Harold (Dud) James, a star with the 1933 and 1934 Allan Cup-winning Hawks.
Layton Schurman, the father of Moncton Wildcats general manager Bill Schurman, recalls when George Schurman went to Charlottetown "with a bag of money and enticed Dowling, Steele, Trainor and Whitlock to come to Moncton and play hockey.'' (Note: Most of the Hawks have been inducted in provincial and city sports shrines).
The Hawks finished first and knocked off the Halifax Crescents 3-1 in the best-of-five Big Four Senior Hockey League semifinals. They then defeated the Truro Bearcats, winning the fifth and deciding game 6-3 at the Stadium before more than 5,000 people. The game was sold out the day before. (Note: Angus "Sonny" MacDonald, Hughie's brother, was in goal for Truro). The Hawks then won the Maritime title, topping Glace Bay Miners 3-0 in games. On the Allan Cup trail, the Hawks knocked off the Cornwall, Ont., Falcons 4-0 but were stopped by the Hamilton Tigers, losing 3-0 in games in Ontario (Hamilton and Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens). The Montreal Royals won the Allan Cup in 1947.
Before winning battles on the ice, most members of the Hawks went to war on the battlefield, serving with honour during the war in the Atlantic, England and mainland Europe as members of the Royal Canadian Army, Air Force or Navy during the Second World War.
Riverview's Dowling (Army), Halifax's Charlton (Navy), New Glasgow's MacDonald (Army) and Grimsby, Ont.,'s Fraser (Air Force) are still around today to talk about the war and spin old hockey stories.
***
Meanwhile, as sports editor of this newspaper, I covered the 1959-61 Moncton Junior Beavers when they challenged for the Memorial Cup in 1960 and 1961. In 1960, after beating Fredericton for the N.B. title, the Beavers won the Maritime crown over Halifax. On the Memorial Cup trail, they lost to the Hawkesbury, Ont., Montagnards in the first round of the Eastern Canadian playoffs. They dropped the first game 3-2 in overtime (3:55 of a 10-minute period) and lost the second game by the same score before being eliminated, losing the third 8-4.
In 1961, the Beavers won the Maritime title over the Dartmouth Marines 2-1 in the best-of-three finals. They opened the Eastern Canadian Memorial Cup semifinals at home versus the Trois-Rivières Reds, dropping the first game of the best-of-five series 7-4. The locals tied the series with a 6-3 win. Goaltender Emery "The Cat" Cormier was the star as the Beavers took a 2-1 series lead with a 4-3 win. The Reds tied things up with a 7-6 overtime win (7:34 of a 10-minute period) despite a six-point game (four goals, two assists) by Delphis Legacy. Gene Gaudet had tied the game with 14 seconds left. However, the Beavers won the deciding game 4-1 before more than 5,000 fans at the Stadium.
The Beavers became the first Maritime team in 17 years to reach the Eastern Canadian Memorial Cup finals. They waited two weeks before taking on the Ontario winner -- the Toronto St. Michaels Majors. Playing in the fabled Maple Leaf Gardens, the Beavers fell 11-2 in the first game after arriving in Toronto the same day. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was criticized by the Toronto media for their poor series arrangement. The Beavers then lost 6-2 and 11-1. St. Mike's, coached by Rev. David Bauer, went on to win the Memorial Cup, defeating Edmonton Oil Kings 4-2 in games.
Members of the Beavers (1959-61) were: owner/manager Don Ramsay; coaches d-Gene LeBlanc and Ronnie Gaudet; the players were Nick Nicolle, d-Doug Hillman, Gerard "Buddy" McIntyre, Rae Murphy, d-Darryl Pollock, John Lordon, Alphie Flanagan, b-Phil Doiron, b-Gene Gaudet, Emery "The Cat" Cormier, b-Oscar Gaudet, Delphis Legacy, Bev Bawn, Roland Belliveau, Hartley Estabrooks, Don Feeney, John Warden, Lloyd "Toy Toy" Gallant, Cammy Gaudet, Louis Gaudet, Gary Harmer, Paul Hébert, Dave Inch, Bernie Keating, Vince Mulligan, Nap Pellerin, Clarence Poirier, Gary Watts, b-Dave Wilbur, d-Romeo Boucher, d-Edmour Gaudet. B-Played both seasons; d-deceased.
***
Meanwhile, the Dieppe Sports Wall of Fame will hold its third induction ceremony Sunday during a noon brunch at the Crystal Palace/Ramada Plaza convention centre. The inductees will be the Dieppe Red Sox, who won the Maritime juvenile baseball title in 1960, defeating the Glace Bay Miners 2-0 in games; harness racing's Guy Gaudet, a consistent winner; and figure skater Donald LeBlanc.
The Red Sox manager was Larry Faudel, with Armand Brun his assistant. The head coach was d-Raymond "Tozie" LeBlanc with Billy Hamilton his assistant. The players were d-Paul Curwin, Jean-Paul LeBlanc, Ray Gallant, Claude Cormier, d-Edmour Gaudet, Robert Auffrey, Art Bourque, Reg Boudreau, Don Landry, Bob Beers, Gene Gaudet. The batboys were Neri Vautour and Clifford (Gum Gum) Cormier. D-deceased.
* Eddie St. Pierre is a retired Times & Transcript sports editor. His column appears Wednesday.
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