Joe MacArthur (far right), of the Port Arthur Bearcats, swings back after scoring 20 seconds into Game 3 of the 1939 western Canadian senior hockey final, on April 3 of that year, versus the Kimberley Dynamiters, in Calgary. MacArthur went on to notch four tallies, including the game-winner, and chip in with two assists, as the Bearcats blasted the Dynamiters 13-2, following a pair of one-goal contests to commence the match-up. With six playoff series triumphs that year, including defeating the Montreal Royals in the national championship event, on the road, at the venerable Montreal Forum, Port Arthur went on to win the Allan Cup. Photo: The Calgary Herald
By Tom Annelin / HockeyThunderBay.com
MANY local hockey icons, from days gone by, fall into a similar class of having been exceptional players, but even better people. The late Joe MacArthur certainly fell into that category.
Born on May 1, 1913, he took to the ice as a 16-year-old to begin his junior career with his hometown Fort William St. Andrew’s side.
A year later he joined the Westfort Maroons and was part of their Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League-winning squad.
Equally adept playing defence, up front on the wing, or at centre, MacArthur went on to attend school and skate for St. Michael’s College in Toronto, that featured him leading the club in goals as well as sharing the team point lead with future long-time NHLer Nick Metz in 1933, a year before St. Mike’s won the Memorial Cup.
With his junior days behind him, MacArthur returned home and suited up with the Fort William Forts seniors.
As one of the youngest skaters on the squad, he chipped in to help the Forts capture the Thunder Bay senior league title.
So good was Fort William that year, they also crowned the Winnipeg Monarchs and the Kimberley Dynamiters, of British Columbia, to win the western Canadian senior crown.
They would however go on to be clipped by the Moncton Hawks, two games to one, in the Allan Cup final.
After pacing Fort William, who were dubbed the Thundering Herd by western hockey scribes, offensively in 1934-35, MacArthur won two more local senior titles with the Forts in 1936 and ’37.
Then being recruited by the Port Arthur Bearcats in the fall of 1938, he would go on to be part of one of the finest teams that the Lakehead ever produced.
His 18 points in 14 postseason contests in the spring of 1939 saw him finish only behind the legendary Edgar LaPrade in offensive production as the Bearcats went on to capture Allan Cup, as Dominion of Canada champions.
This included five points for him in the national final where Port Arthur crowned the Montreal Royals 3-1, during a best-of-five affair, in four sold-out contests at the venerable Montreal Forum.
The Allan Cup win was to have seen the Bearcats represent the country at the 1940 Winter Olympics, but the outbreak of the Second World War put an abrupt halt to that.
Heading west for a season, MacArthur played for the Lethbridge Maple Leafs, where he led them in scoring, but saw the Leafs fall in the Alberta senior final.
Back home after that, he spent most of 1940-41 with Fort William, but was picked up by Port Arthur for another Allan Cup run, that fell short in the western semifinals against the Regina Rangers, who went on to win it all.
Following another team-leading point run with the Fort William Hurricanes in 1941-42, MacArthur then served his country and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy.
He remained there for the remainder of WWII, while getting some time on the ice with Navy squads in Victoria, B.C. and Halifax, N.S., over the course of his three years of service.
Finishing up his playing career with the Fort William Legion, MacArthur won one final TBSHL championship trophy in 1946.
He went on to register 338 points in 292 overall outings on 152 goals and 186 assists.
Tack on another 100 playoff match-ups, he chipped in with 50 more tallies there, and 41 helpers, as a versatile defenceman and forward.
Later turning to coaching, MacArthur proved to be as equally adept behind the bench.
Coaching such clubs as the junior Port Arthur West End Bruins and later with the senior Fort William Beavers, he went on lead his charges to numerous title triumphs.
His Beavers’ team in 1953 advanced all the way to western final before eventually being topped by the Penticton Vees.
Going on to serve as manager of the Beavers, Fort William won the local crown, and the Patton Cup western Canadian senior title in 1955, prior to be bounced by the host Kitcher-Waterloo Dutchmen for the Allan Cup that year.
Moving to the minor hockey ranks, MacArthur coached the Hurricanes to multiple league and Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association triumphs.
He was also behind the bench for the Herks, who competed in the inaugural Wrigley tournament in Oshawa, Ont., back in 1974, which was the precursor to the Air Canada Cup and now TELUS Cup Canadian under-18 national championship event.
His coaching career also had an international flavour locally as part of Thunder Bay All-Star midget teams that took on a touring Moscow Dynamo squad from the Soviet Union in both 1977 and ’78, that featured a victory in ’77.
From winning a myriad of championships over his lengthy tenure in the game, to being a coach of the year and a Life Member of the Hurricanes organization, Joe MacArthur accomplished a lot in representing our community.
Always personable and having time for a chat about hockey when bumping into him in or around the Fort William Gardens back in the day, he offered tremendous stories about his time in the game.
This included reminisces of the arduous road travelled en route to the exceptional accomplishment of the Allan Cup win in 1939.
Over a point-per-game performer on the ice, at different positions, during his playing days, to being an excellent coach and mentor behind the bench for three-plus decades, Joe MacArthur certainly made his mark on the local hockey scene for many, many years.
In recognition for his contributions to the game, MacArthur was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.