AFTER finally solving the two-time defending national champion Port Arthur Seniors, rival Fort William thought they had the perfect ingredients to win the Allan Cup in 1927.
Acquiring the moniker, ‘The Thundering Herd’ from western Canadian sports writers for their full-speed ahead style of play that possessed a relentless attack on the ice set in place by head coach Stan Burgoyne, the Forts appeared to be set-up to achieve great things.
In early March of that year, the club’s initial test following their triumph against the highly-touted Ports, was a two-game total-goal series with the Manitoba title holders from Winnipeg.
Opening at home in front of a packed house at the Prince of Wales Arena, the big crowd and unseasonably warm temperatures made for less than ideal ice conditions, with a watery sheen that slowed up play considerably.
Gaining the early edge, defenceman Don McLeod helped the Herd strike first as his crafty feed set-up forward Eric Pettinger who slammed the rubber past Winnipeg netminder Jimmy Foster, 2:45 into the proceedings.
From there, the star of the show was Fort William goalkeeper Fred Kearney, who stood on his head while providing many miraculous saves in backstopping his club to the narrow 1-0 victory.
Heading to the Manitoba capital for the finale, the Forts needed to rally twice from a pair of multi-goal deficits to stay in contention.
Winnipeg looked to have the series won when they built up a 3-0 cushion with over half the match-up gone.
However, the Forts went to work and pulled back to within one by the second intermission on tallies off the sticks of McLeod and Jimmy Ward.
An early marker in the final frame put the home side back up by a pair and on the verge of advancing.
Once again though, earning their Thundering Herd nickname, Fort William continued to press and saw Ward dance through the Winnipeg defence to make it 4-3, then saw Tommy Cook take a Pettinger pass and put it top shelf with seven minutes to play to tie the game and restore their slim cushion in total goals.
Neither team would connect offensively after that to give the Lakehead squad the series by a 5-4 count.
Up next for the Forts was trip to Regina where they would take on the Weyburn Beavers in a western semifinal affair.
There, it turned out the Saskatchewan representative would be no match for the relentless Herd attack as they blasted the Beavers 9-1 to kick things off and take commanding lead in the total-goal affair.
In front of a big crowd, Fort William saw Cook collect a hat trick, while Ward and Frank Hacquoil connected twice and had Pettinger, as well as McLeod, supply singles in the romp.
Knowing they had a big cushion entering the final game, the Forts tacked on double digits as part of an 11-6 win.
Never in doubt from the on-set, it was 5-0 early and went on to see Ward fire five in the back of the net, with McLeod tacking on two and seeing Pettinger, Cook, Hacquoil and Harry Fraser also score.
Continuing towards the west coast, a date with the Trail Smoke Eaters was in store for the western final, which was played in Vancouver.
With a record-setting throng of over 6,500 patrons on hand to commence the get together, it was Fort William that prevailed, winning 4-2, in Game 1.
The fast-paced affair saw the Lakehead title holders bag first period markers from McLeod and Ward.
Another Ward effort in the middle stanza extended the cushion to three before Trail finally solved Kearney.
Moving to within one in the third, the Smoke Eaters made it interesting before Ward sealed the deal with his third of the evening and confirming the win.
A costly 4-1 Game 2 victory did earn Fort William the Patton Cup, as western Canadian champions and send them to the Allan Cup final versus the Toronto Varsity Grads, but it came with a price.
Pettinger was felled with a first period slash and suffered a broken wrist, thus seeing the Herd lose one of their top offensive performers.
He had nine points in six playoff games prior to the injury and his offensive prowess was missed in the match-up with Toronto.
Cook notched a pair of markers in the decider with Trail, while Davis and Ward also connected before the Smoke Eaters got one late to dash Kearney’s shutout bid.
With Vancouver remaining as the site to decide a national winner, the highly-touted Grads arrived unbeaten on the season.
A three overtime marathon saw nothing be decided to commence the series as the two clubs battled to a 2-2 draw, in front of over 10,000 spectators, which at the time was the most to take in a game in British Columbia.
The Forts did have the lead twice, on markers from McLeod and Cook, only to see Toronto counter with goals of their own.
Skating in front of another capacity horde in Game 2, the Thundering Herd were deserving 3-2 victors, handing the Varsity Grads their first loss of the season.
Ward would strike twice, including picking up the game-winner, with blueliner Harry Tuckwell getting the Forts going offensively with the night’s initial tally.
Needing a Game 3 win to extend their season, Toronto did just that, topping Fort William 4-1.
Cook had tied the contest early in the third, but the Grads came back with three of their own to force a fourth and deciding affair.
A thrilling finale proved to be heartbreaking for the Herd, as despite battling valiantly, they suffered a hard-fought 2-1 double OT setback in front of another sold out crowd of 10,000-plus.
Toronto began the scoring in the second stanza, only to see Ward provide the equalizer.
Neither side would convert in the third and first extra session, but the Grads got the eventual winner in the second OT and held on from there to win the Allan Cup, while dashing Fort William’s hopes in the process.
Another bitter pill to swallow for the Forts was the fact that by winning the senior championship of the Dominion, it ended up earning Toronto the right to represent Canada at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
There they outscored their opponents 38-0 overall in easily cruising to the gold medal.
Of note, the Grads were guided by their manager, the legendary Conn Smythe.
While the agonizing loss dashed the hopes of having a third straight national title holder from the Lakehead, the Fort William Thundering Herd arguably remain one of the best teams the city has ever produced.