1950 MEMORIAL CUP
Regina Pats vs. Montreal Junior Canadiens
at Montreal (Forum) and Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)
The Regina Pats, having ousted the Port Arthur West End Bruins (they featured future NHL defenceman Leo Boivin) in five games in the Abbott Cup final, headed east to meet the Montreal Junior Canadiens in the best-of-seven Memorial Cup final.
This was a banged up Regina outfit -- linemates Eddie Litzenberger (ankle), Paul Masnick (charley horse) and Gordon Cowan (charley horse) were on the limp; and, Lorne Davis, who hadn't missed a game in his three years of junior hockey, would miss the first game with a facial infection believed to be a severe case of the mumps.
The Pats, of coach Murray Armstrong, headed east having won 14 of 18 playoff games against Moose Jaw, Lethbridge, Prince Albert and Port Arthur, winning seven out of nine at home and having an identical road record.
Montreal, coached by Sam Pollock and Billy Reay, had finished off the Guelph Biltmores -- featuring the Bathgate brothers, Andy and Frank -- in six games to earn a spot in the final, which opened on April 27 in the Forum.
The Canadiens came up with an 8-7 victory in the opener, a game in which 10,414 fans saw 10 third-period goals.
According to The Canadian Press, the first two periods "were played at a steady, close-checking pace, but the third broke wide open with the western champions staging a terrific rally to wipe out a two-goal lead and threaten to win the game.”
Dickie Moore, Art Rose and Don Marshall had two goals each for Montreal, with Kevin Rochford and Billy Goold adding one each.
Defenceman Morley MacNeill scored three times -- the first time in his hockey career that he had scored three goals in a game -- for Regina, which got two from Litzenberger and singles from Brian McDonald and Masnick.
Harvey Dryden, writing in the Regina Leader-Post, noted: "Art Rose, a speedster from the Lakehead, was the big man in the Montreal cast. But don't overlook this Dickie Moore. His most fervent admirers will admit he's a showoff and that he plays it rugged now and then, but there's no denying that he can dangle when he wants to.”
(It's worth noting that while the Memorial Cup final was being played, the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Marlboros were playing for senior hockey's Allan Cup. Why is this of note? Because the Toronto coach was Joe Primeau, who had had such a glorious run with the junior Toronto St. Michael's Majors.)
Montreal came right back on April 29 to score a 5-2 victory and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The Pats actually took a 2-1 lead into the third period but ran into penalty problems. They killed off the first two penalties but Montreal got the tying and winning goals with defenceman Al King in the penalty box midway in the third.
There were 10,000 fans in the Forum when defenceman Ernie Roche put Montreal on the board early in the first period. Cowan, in the first, and MacNeill, in the second, then put Regina out front 2-1.
But Montreal pounded four pucks past Regina goaltender Bobby Tyler in the third period.
Goold tied the score, Rose got the winner, and Goold and Jacques Nadon ended the scoring.
According to CP: "Dickie Moore, who turned a stellar performance in the first game of the series, was closely checked all night and was held to an assist on his team's first goal. This caused him to display his feelings, which netted him five trips to the penalty box including one major for roughing.”
Regina took six penalties to Montreal's one in that third period, something that caused the Regina organization much concern.
One penalty in particular had the Reginans livid. Early in the third period, with Regina leading 2-1, Davis, who had returned to the lineup, collided with Montreal goaltender Roger Morrissette in a race for the puck near a faceoff circle. The puck ended up in front of an empty Montreal crease from where Masnick knocked it into the net.
But referee Lorne Lyndon of Winnipeg disallowed the goal and penalized Davis for interference.
Pollock was not impressed with the play of his charges. With Game 3 scheduled for Toronto, he ordered his players to leave for Toronto immediately after Game 2 rather than spend the weekend with friends and family. Which left observers wondering what Pollock would have done had Montreal lost the game.
On May 2, Montreal went up 3-0 in games with a 5-1 victory before 8,429 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Again, the Pats had problems in the third period.
As documented by Dryden: "For two periods the Toronto crowd, which had come to cheer the Pats, thrilled to a gritty display by the youthful westerners who threw their best licks at the Montreal Canadiens. But their Sunday punch couldn't produce a goal and the crafty eastern champions capitalized on three quick openings early in the third period to walk off with a 5-1 victory. Three goals within 46 seconds did the trick and the game was won and lost right then and there. Pats had no answer for that outburst.”
Marshall led Montreal with two goals, while Rose, Herb English and Rochford added one apiece. Masnick scored Regina's lone goal at 18:13 of the third period.
"The game was then held up while the ice was cleared of paper thrown by the fans,” reported CP.
It was back to Montreal for Game 4 on May 4 and the Pats were able to save some face with a 7-4 victory in front of 8,100 fans.
This was an impressive victory as Montreal held a 4-1 edge midway through the game.
Davis scored three times and set up two others for Regina. MacNeill, Doug Little, Merv Bregg and Cowan also scored for the Pats. Rose, with two, Nadon and Marshall replied for Montreal.
"This time we'll have to do it the hard way,” said Davis, who would go on to play in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins. He would later return to Regina and coach the Pats. "We'll take one game at a time.”
It all ended on May 6 as Montreal, playing at home, skated to a 6-1 lead and hung on for a 6-3 victory.
The media noted that on the same day as the Kentucky Derby, also known as the Run for the Roses, Rose sparked Montreal with two goals six seconds apart -- at 17:31 and 17:37 -- in the second period. Those goals stretched Montreal's lead to 4-1 and the Pats weren't able to get back in it. Rose's second goal would stand up as the Memorial Cup-winning score.
Goold had three goals -- one in each period -- to finish the five games with six goals and seven assists. Rose led the series with eight goals.
Litzenberger, Bregg and McDonald scored for Regina.
"We were beaten by a better team and we have no alibis,” said Armstrong. "Our boys gave their best but the Canadiens were too good for us.”
NEXT: 1951 (Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Barrie Flyers)