The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1968

1968 MEMORIAL CUP
Estevan Bruins vs. Niagara Falls Flyers
at Niagara Falls (Memorial Arena) and Montreal (Forum)

The Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, the outlaw/independent league that had been formed over the summer of 1966, was gone.
In its place was the Western Canada Junior Hockey League. Same people. Mostly the same teams. Different name.
And it was mostly back in the good graces of the CAHA, meaning that after a one-year absence its teams were eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup.
Up until now, the focus of junior hockey had been mainly on the ice. Oh, the characters were always in the neighbourhood -- hockey giants like Rudy Pilous and Sam Pollock and Scotty Bowman and Al Ritchie and Joe Primeau et al -- but they always seemed to be on the periphery.
That started to change in the late 1960s as men like Hap Emms, Scotty Munro and Bill Hunter began to dominate the game of junior hockey.
These men had always been there and they had always been colourful characters. They just weren't always able to make it onto the front pages of the sports sections.
In the late 1960s, however, that changed, primarily because the media changed. No longer was it enough just to cover the games; now the readers, listeners and viewers were demanding a look inside the game, inside the dressing room.
And so it was that the 1968 Memorial Cup final came to be dominated by two men, neither of them players, both of them able to blow smoke with the best of them.
Hap Emms was running the Niagara Falls Flyers, the eastern Canadian champions, with his son, Paul, serving as coach. They would meet Roderick Neil (Scotty) Munro and his Estevan Bruins in the Memorial Cup final. Munro was the Bruins' general manager; the coach was Ernie (Punch) McLean. It was the latter's first of what would be many appearances on the national stage.
This final was unique in that it featured teams that wore exactly the same uniforms -- fashioned after the NHL's Boston Bruins.
Munro and Emms had long been associated with the NHL's Bruins. Thus, it was most ironic that in Munro's first trip to the national final -- he had been in seven Abbott Cup finals, winning for the first time in 1968 -- he should be up against a team run by Emms.
The Bruins had finished second in the regular season, their 45-13-2 record leaving them seven points in arrears of Bobby Clarke, Reg Leach and the Flin Flon Bombers.
Estevan didn't have a scorer in the top 10 during the regular season, but it had the second-best defence and the offence, led by Jim Harrison, caught fire in the playoffs. Harrison would lead the postseason in goals (13), assists (22) and points (35), all in just 14 games. Ernie Moser chipped in with 23 points, including nine goals, Dale Hoganson had 22 points, nine of them goals, and Dan Schock had 21 points, including six goals. (Hoganson, a defenceman, was joined on the team by his older brother, Wayne, a left winger.)
The Bruins began the 1967-68 season with a 22-game unbeaten streak. They finished the regular season by winning nine in a row, then opened the playoffs by sweeping a best-of-seven from the Winnipeg Jets. They then ventured into a best-of-seven semifinal against Moose Jaw, and ousted the Canucks in five games (four victories and a tie). And the Bruins had it pretty much their own way in ousting the Bombers from the final, again winning four games and tying one in the best-of-seven series. That left the Bruins unbeaten in their last 23 games.
They then won the first two games of a western semifinal with the Westfort, Ont., Hurricanes, a team they would take out in five games. In the western final, the Bruins swept B.C.'s Penticton Broncos in four games to win the Abbott Cup.
Overall, Estevan played 23 postseason games -- winning 20, losing one and tying two.
The Bruins arrived in Toronto while the Flyers were still engaged with the Verdun, Que., Maple Leafs in the Eastern Canadian final, a best-of-five series that went the distance. The Flyers won the first two games in Verdun, only to have the Maple Leafs roar back and win the next two games in Niagara Falls. And, in Game 5 on May 4 in Niagara Falls, the Maple Leafs led 4-3 with 13 minutes to play when things fell apart and the Flyers went on to a 7-4 victory.
Prior to that, the Flyers had survived three Ontario Junior Hockey League best-of-seven playoff rounds -- they eliminated the Peterborough Petes in five games, the Montreal Junior Canadiens in six and then went eight -- there was one tie -- in the final with the Kitchener Rangers.
Munro and McLean also brought some extra players with them, what with the western team still allowed to add players from other teams in its league. So as the Bruins sat in Toronto and prepared, Munro and McLean were deciding which players to use.
Left-winger Ron Garwasiuk of the Regina Pats, an all-star, was sure to play. McLean would then choose from among Edmonton Oil Kings centre Ron Walters, Moose Jaw goaltender Ken Brown (Estevan's regular netminder was Gordie Kopp), and defencemen Kerry Ketter of Edmonton and Joe Zanussi of the Swift Current Broncos. Before the series was over, McLean would use all of them.
Up front, the Bruins featured Harrison. He was the team leader. Period. But they also had the likes of Moser, Schock, Greg Polis and Greg Sheppard.
The Flyers could boast of goaltender Phil Myre and a defence that featured future NHLers Rick Ley, who was the team captain, and Brad Selwood, along with Mike Keeler and Rick Thompson. Up front, the big line featured centre Garry Swain and right-winger Tom Webster, along with whomever Paul Emms happened to put on the left side. Doug Brindley centred a second line with Phil Roberto on the right side and Ron Schwindt or Dan MacKey on the left wing. Ross Webley centred Steve Atkinson and left-winger Don Tannahill.
On the eve of the series opener, the teams were still bickering over where games would be played.
"In no way will we play all of the series in that barn,” Munro said, referring to the 2,900-seat Niagara Falls Memorial Arena.
The series also began with Hap Emms having barred two Toronto sports writers -- Frank Orr of The Star and Jack Marks of The Globe and Mail -- from the Flyers' dressing room.
And Hap Emms was, as usual, blowing smoke.
"The series against Kitchener Rangers killed us,” he said, referring to the league final having gone eight games. "No way we can beat Estevan, if we get past Verdun. We're dead and the Bruins are resting.”
Well, the Flyers got past Verdun and the best-of-seven Memorial Cup final opened in Memorial Arena on May 6.
The first game was won 7-4 by the Flyers, who held period leads of 2-0 and 4-2 as they got two goals from each of Roberto and Swain before 3,023 fans.
The Flyers got singles from Atkinson, Webster and Karl Haggarty, with Harrison, Greg Sheppard, Jerry Dionne and Dale Hoganson replying for the Bruins.
But when it was over, everyone was left talking about a last-minute donnybrook. Referee Jim McCauley of Montreal almost called the game when fans became involved behind the Bruins' bench.
It began with Garwasiuk and Ley, a veteran of the 1965 Memorial Cup-champion Flyers, tangling at centre ice. Before it was over, Harrison, who was already in the penalty box, tangled with a fan. The gentleman happened to be Thompson's father. And, according to one report, Mr. Thompson "left the arena battered and bleeding.” The fan was also reported to be stripped to the waist.
After Garwasiuk was separated from Ley, Myre was waiting for him. At the same time, Estevan's Bob Piche went at it with Atkinson.
The Bruins had taken 11 of 16 minor penalties before the brawl, and the Flyers had struck for three power-play goals.
And when it was over, Munro said the fans in Niagara Falls "are nothing but animals.”
"(The fans) kept baiting the boys on my bench,” Munro said.
Other than that, Munro said, "we got off to a slow start. Of course, we took five minor penalties in that first period and it was bound to harm us.
"Then our goaltender (Kopp) let three shots between his legs. That's something for him. He's a good goaltender.”
Munro wasn't about to point the finger at the officiating. At least, not yet.
"We took a lot of penalties before the fight started, and we don't usually play that brand of hockey,” he said.
The scene shifted to the Montreal Forum for Game 2 on May 8 and only 1,849 fans showed up.
The Bruins evened the series 1-1 by scoring a 4-2 victory as Schock, who had been dumped a year earlier by Emms, scored one goal and set up two others.
"It was the greatest moment in my career and the only thing that will ever be bigger is to take the Memorial Cup back west,” said Schock, a native of Terrace Bay, Ont.
Dale Hoganson, Sheppard and Moser also scored for the Bruins, who tallied three times with the man advantage. Atkinson, on the power play, and Webster replied for the Flyers.
The Bruins, who had gotten off to a slow start in Game 1, came out flying for Game 2 and led 3-0 in the first period, with Hoganson and Schock scoring 71 seconds apart. They took a 4-2 edge into the third period.
Munro and McLean chose to go with Brown in goal and he sparkled with 26 saves, six fewer than Myre.
The fact both teams wore the same colors finally posed something of a problem. The Flyers wore the Montreal Junior Canadiens uniforms for this one, which caused at least one person to do something of a doubletake.
As Ron Campbell reported in the Regina Leader-Post:
"The use of the Junior Canadiens sweaters created quite a hubbub in the Forum when Sam Pollock, general manager of the NHL Canaadiens, returned and walked into the Forum to see Niagara suited up in Hab colors.
"Reports have it that Pollock has ordered two sets of special uniforms to make sure the situation won't ever occur again.”
The scene was to shift to Niagara Falls for Game 3. But as the teams left Montreal to return to the Honeymoon City, dates and sites for games beyond that had yet to be announced.
However, prior to Game 3 it was revealed that Game 4 would also be played in Niagara Falls. It seemed that Munro was losing on and off the ice.
The Flyers made short work of the Bruins in Game 3 on May 10, winning 7-4 as Atkinson scored twice before a capacity crowd of 3,905.
Estevan led this one 2-0 in the first period before the bottom fell out.
Atkinson, with two, Brindley, Russ Frieson, Swain, MacKey and Tannahill, with an empty-netter, scored for the Flyers. Sheppard, with two, Harrison and Dale Hoganson replied for the Bruins.
Once again, the Flyers didn't wear their own uniforms. This time they wore the sweaters of the St. Catharines Teepees.
The Flyers, again wearing Teepees uniforms, closed to within one victory of the Memorial Cup title on May 13 with a 4-3 overtime victory in front of 2,627 fans.
Webster's goal at 12:56 of the extra period was the difference.
A fifth game? It also was scheduled for Niagara Falls.
Brown kept the Bruins in Game 4, making 59 saves as he was tested time after time after time.
Estevan had possession of the puck in its zone prior to Webster's goal. But the Flyers knocked down a clearing pass and Webster went in alone on Brown. He put a couple of moves on Brown before backhanding the puck into the gaping net.
Swain had two goals for the Flyers, with Webley getting the other. Sheppard, Garwasiuk and Dionne scored for Estevan.
The Flyers, again wearing Teepees uniforms, wrapped it up two nights later, posting a 6-0 victory as Myre made 20 saves before 3,813 home-town fans. The Flyers actually sent backup goaltender Dave Tataryn in for the final 80 seconds, but he didn't have to make a save.
The game was plagued by on-ice fog problems that, according to Campbell, "at times made it almost impossible to see the puck from the press gallery.”
The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead and never looked back.
"We just ran out of gas. The two playoffs in the west -- one against (Thunder Bay) Westforts and the other against Penticton -- killed us,” McLean said. "It was impossible to get sharp again. I'm not saying this to belittle the Flyers -- they are a great team -- but if we had met them after we beat Flin Flon it would have been a different series.”
Brindley, with two, Webster, Atkinson, Selwood and Roberto looked after the scoring. Webster's goal, on a power play at 9:15 of the first period, stood up as the winner.
Brown was again heroic in the Estevan goal. He made 51 saves, but on this night that wasn't enough.
It was only fitting, one supposes, that the game ended with the victors wearing their own uniforms. With five minutes left in the third period, Hap Emms had his players put on their familiar black-and-yellow uniforms.
"They never quit,” Munro said. "They gave us all they could. They are a great bunch of kids -- the best I've ever had. It was unfair to make them play a national final under the circumstances the CAHA made us play.”
Munro was referring to the fact that this was the Bruins' 105th game of the season, 28 of them coming in the postseason.
It was revealed afterwards that Harrison, ineffectual through most of the series, played the last four games with a broken bone in one hand. He had broken it in the final minute of the first game, when he had gotten into a scrap with the father of Niagara Falls defenceman Rick Thompson.
Some of Harrison's pain was soothed moments after the game when he signed a contract worth $37,000 with the Boston Bruins. To that point, only defenceman Bobby Orr had gotten more money -- an estimated $60,000 -- in signing with the Bruins.

NEXT: 1969 (Regina Pats vs. Montreal Junior Canadiens)