TBSHL: 1939-40

THE long and storied history of the Port Arthur Bearcats holds many chapters in their historic times, that brought triumph and near success to its legion of supporters.

Fresh off capturing Canadian senior hockey laurels as Allan Cup champions in 1939, the Bearcats later ended up being denied a significant opportunity.

After crowning the highly-touted Montreal Royals three games to one before capacity crowds at the venerable Montreal Forum, to capture the laurels of the Dominion, the triumph was supposed to have secured Port Arthur a berth to serve as Team Canada at 1940 Winter Olympic Games, which were to be held in Sapporo, Japan.

However, with the outbreak of World War II in the September of ’39, the Games were later cancelled, foiling the Bearcats occasion to represent their country on the international stage.

In a tight battle for top spot in the Thunder Bay Senior Hockey League standings in 1939-40, with the Geraldton Gold Miners, Port Arthur ended up in first place, finishing four points clear, going 13-8-2 overall.

The Fort William Forts meanwhile were third in the table with an 8-13-2 mark and thus did not qualify for the TBSHL final.

Action in the best-of-five league championship saw the reigning title holders skate to 6-0 and 4-1 triumphs on home ice to gain the upper hand heading to Geraldton for Game 3.

In that third contest, 20-year-old Edgar Laprade struck just 45 seconds into the proceedings to give the Bearcats an early lead.

However, the Gold Miners countered with power play tallies off the sticks of Fred Ralph and Butch Marchant before the opening frame was complete.

Action in the middle stanza saw Hugh O’Leary tie it, only to see Ralph wrap-in his second of the game to put Geraldton up 3-2 after two periods of play.

In the final session, Laprade notched another, to knot the score before Stan King batted in the series-winning tally to give Port Arthur yet another local senior crown.

Next came a best-of-three affair with the Fort Frances Maple Leafs in the quest for the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association trophy.

There the host Cats clawed past the Maple Leafs 5-1 to kick things off.

King collected two markers in the win while O’Leary, Laprade and T.B. (Bones) McCormack also found the back of the net in the victory.

Flying out to a tremendous start in what proved to be the finale, Port Arthur put themselves up 4-0 before the first period was six minutes in, and would not trail as part of a 7-4 decision over Fort Frances.

Weikko Koivisto was the offensive catalyst in the meeting, setting up the opening two goals, then supplied the third one, before McCormack capped off the early outburst.

After the Maple Leafs pulled back to within two, defenceman Bert Laprade made it 5-2 moments into the middle stanza.

The Fort managed another before blueliner Laprade potted his second of the match-up early in the third.

The Leafs pulled closer once more, but O’Leary clinched the district title on a solo rush to cap off the result.

Guiding them to victory was an all-time Bearcats great, as a player, and future Hockey Hall of Fame honoured member, Gordon (Phat) Wilson, who had taken over the coaching reigns midway through the season.

Next up, Port Arthur entered the Allan Cup playdowns, taking aim at their initial opponent, the Winnipeg Rifles.

Game 1 saw stalwart goaltender Arthur (Jakie) Nash turned aside all 20 attempts he faced to post the shutout in a 6-0 win.

A 47-shot bombardment saw Winnipeg netminder Jack Fraser stand tall keeping his side in it with the Bearcats’ Norman Wright managing the lone marker through 40 minutes of on-ice action.

In the third though, the hosts blew it open with five goals to win going away.

Koivisto had two of the markers, while King, O’Leary and Bert Laprade added singles.

Building on that, Nash was unbeatable yet again as Port Arthur silenced the Rifles 4-0 to win the set in the minimum.

In that one, Wright collected his second straight game-winning goal, off another first period effort.

After Bert Laprade made it 2-0 in the second, his brother Edgar struck twice in the third to secure the winning result.

That series win set-up a date with the Moose Jaw Millers in western Canadian semifinal action.

Continuing their winning ways, the Bearcats ground down the Millers in a pair of 6-1 wins, much to the delight of the throng of spectators stuffed into the old Port Arthur Arena.

Heading to Saskatchewan, for the rest of the series, the visitors were clutch when required to wrap-up the best-of-five affair, with a 4-3 decision, that required overtime before play was decided.

After a scoreless first, Edgar Laprade put the Lakehead contingent ahead four and a half minutes into the second stanza.

After Moose Jaw drew even, Laprade fed Wright for a go-ahead effort halfway through the third period.

Knowing their season was on the line, the Millers put two past Nash late in the session to go up by one.

However, Edgar Laprade, widely regarded as the best amateur player in the country despite his youthfulness, swatted in the equalizer with 29 seconds remaining in regulation to send it to OT.

In extra time, Port Arthur carried the play and were rewarded with the decider 6:29 into the fourth period when Bert Laprade blasted a shot from the Moose Jaw blueline into the goalmouth that was promptly sizzled in by McCormack as the Bearcats won an 11th straight postseason contest, dating back to their Allan Cup triumph of 1939.

Seemingly unstoppable, the club stayed in Saskatchewan to commence the western final, where they began a meeting with the Calgary Stampeders with a pair of neutral site affairs in Saskatoon.

The opener saw Calgary carry a one-goal cushion into the third period, only to see Port Arthur storm back with a trio on unanswered tallies in the final frame to pull out a 3-1 come from behind victory.

Bert Laprade continued his stellar play and tied it, before McCormack banged in the eventual game-winner with 10:18 to play.

Capping off the comeback was Gordon at 15:20.

Game 2 in Saskatoon saw Port Arthur let an early lead, buoyed by an Edgar Laprade hat trick, get away, before needing some late-game heroics from his older sibling in OT to salvage a 5-5 score.

Alf Coombs collected the other Bearcats marker in the draw.

Moving to Calgary for the next two contests, home ice proved pivotal as the Stampeders won both games, by scores of 3-1 and 6-4 to see the Bearcats trail a playoff series for the first time in over two years.

Gordon supplied the lone goal in the Game 3 defeat.

Game 4 saw Port Arthur build a 2-0 edge thanks to Koivisto and Bert Laprade.

After Calgary got two of their own to tie it, the Bearcats’ Wright put his side back in front.

Roaring back, Calgary banged in four straight goals to go up 6-3 with under 10 minutes to play.

McCormack got one back in the late going, but it wasn’t enough as the Stampeders went up 2-1-1 in the series.

While on the ropes, Port Arthur headed home where they had been next to unbeatable in the confines of their local venue.

Riding a 13-game winning streak at home, their luck would run out as the defending national senior champions saw their run for the title come to an abrupt end, following a tough 4-3 defeat.

Koivisto, Edgar Laprade and Wright did connect for the Ports in defeat that saw the Bearcats fall short on a second straight Allan Cup bid.

While Calgary had dethroned the defending Canadian title holders, they would go on to be swept by the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils in three straight in the final, which kept the Allan Cup in Ontario for another year.

In a rarely played postseason exhibition series, the Bearcats headed to Montreal in April of 1940 for a brief match-up with the Royals, who they beat a year previously for national laurels.

There, 17-year-old junior pick-up, Gaye Stewart, had one of the Port Arthur goals in a 6-3 setback in the opener.

O’Leary and Wright were the other two marksmen in the loss.

As for the finale, it was a high-scoring affair that saw the Royals prevail by a 9-7 count, to complete the campaign in front of the big crowd at the Forum.

Koivisto, King and Stewart each bagged two goals apiece in defeat while Coombs provided the other offensive effort.

Despite going 26-7-2 in postseason play over the span of two seasons and missing out on back-to-back Allan Cups, the Port Arthur Bearcats showed once again why they were widely recognized as one of the most storied senior hockey franchises across the Dominion of Canada.