AFTER winning the 1984 Allan Cup Canadian senior hockey championship against a formidable Cambridge Hornets side, at the friendly confines of the Fort William Gardens, the 1985 version of the Thunder Bay Twins needed to forge a different path to another national crown.
Finishing middle of the pack in the Manitoba-based CASH League, the players on the ’85 squad still knew they were in good hands under general manager Gary Cook and head coach Ron Busniuk.
Trailing to both the Morden Bombers and St. Boniface Mohawks in the playoffs, the steady force of Cook up top, and Busniuk behind the bench, paid dividends as Thunder Bay went on to claim the Pattison Cup league title.
Despite a few bumps along the way, the players knew they had what it took to continue succeeding.
“The key to coming from behind was we remained calm,” stated Twins’ defenceman Gerald Bolduc. We each had a job to do. We didn’t panic; felt we could always score enough to win and as the games went on, we seemed to get stronger.”
That certainly would be needed in the Patton Cup western final as the Twins welcomed a familiar foe to the Gardens for a best-of-seven affair.
Having defeated the Spokane Chiefs in Washington State a year previously to win the west, their opponents arrived in the Lakehead this go-round with revenge on their mind.
For awhile, it looked like they would do just that as Spokane surged out to a three games to one lead.
Despite another deficit, Bolduc recalls how Busniuk deftly pulled all the right strings on the bench, helping to get the Twins back in it and eventually prevail.
“Ron would mix and match lines, keeping an eye on who had that extra reserve of energy and using them to full capacity,” recalled the former Twins blueliner.
“He was simply masterful in getting the most out of each and every player on the team. He quietly would go with what, or who, was working that game and always seemed to make the right decision.”
Rallying for a pair of home ice victories, the club bounced back yet again as they forced a seventh and deciding affair at the Gardens.
In front of a jam-packed throng of over 5,000 faithful, the late Gerry Cizmar shovelled in a backhander at the top of the crease, off a Wally Presenger feed, with line mate Brant Kiessig driving hard to the net, during a third period power play to give the Twins the lead and an eventual 5-4 triumph to cap off the come from behind triumph.
“The excitement in Thunder Bay was crazy, recalled veteran forward Rick Adduono.
“I remember playing with broken ribs and a partially separated shoulder in that series and still continued to work my job on game days a couple of times, so I don’t know how I had any energy left at game time.”
But in the end, he and his teammates took the series.
“In Game 7 at the Gardens, I don’t think I have ever seen that many people in there,” Adduono fondly supplied. “There were fans sitting on the stairs and behind the nets. There were people stuffed in from the glass to the back walls.”
Their latest comeback complete, Adduono summarized: “We beat a well coached, big, strong, talented Spokane team full of ex pro players.”
What was a reason this squad roared back for a trio of series victories and earned another berth in the Allan Cup final?
“We were a close-knit team”, provided Bill McDonald, who was a team captain before going on to coach the Twins to two more Allan Cup wins and a trio of Colonial Cup titles with the Thunder Bay Senators franchise.
McDonald added: “We were skilled enough and we were tough enough,” when commenting on what would be a staple of clubs, he was a part of, for many years.
With a second trophy won, the 1985 Thunder Bay Twins, on short rest, headed to Newfoundland looking to become the first team to repeat as Allan Cup Champions in over 50 years.
Next week, Part III as the Twins ventured into a hostile environment versus the Corner Brook Royals in what would prove to be an epic comeback for the ages.