1978 MEMORIAL CUP
New Westminster Bruins, Peterborough Petes and Trois-Rivieres Draveurs
at Sault Ste. Marie (Memorial Gardens) and Sudbury (Arena)
Come the spring of 1978 and -- lo and behold -- Ernie (Punch) McLean and the New Westminster Bruins were making a fourth consecutive appearance in the Memorial Cup tournament.
This Memorial Cup, which was co-hosted by the OHL cities of Sault Ste. Marie, home of the Greyhounds, and Sudbury, home of the Wolves, would also signify something else.
History would show that this Memorial Cup, perhaps more than any other, was the introduction of a new breed of coach.
The fiery Michel Bergeron -- Le Petit Tigre -- was head coach of the QMJHL's Trois-Rivieres Draveurs. This was his first opportunity to perform on the national stage.
And the boyish Gary Green was head coach of the OHL's Peterborough Petes. This, too, was his introduction to the nation's hockey fans.
Talk about a marked contrast -- Bergeron and Green up against McLean, a grizzled 20-year veteran of the bench wars in the west, a man who got into junior hockey by serving as bus driver and trainer in 1962, six years before buying the Bruins, who were then in Estevan.
Come 1979, Bergeron and Green would have their teams back at the Memorial Cup. McLean would be there, too, but only as a fan.
In 1978, McLean was gunning for a second straight national championship.
A year earlier, he had talked of leaving junior hockey for a professional coaching job. He talked of needing a change, a challenge. When that didn't happen, well, his options were rather limited.
And let's be honest -- the Bruins without McLean, well, that would have been like bacon without eggs.
This Bruins team was basically a team of grinders led by perhaps the most consummate grinder of them all -- right-winger Stan Smyl, who would play in his fourth straight Memorial Cup. They got big goals from John Ogrodnick -- 59 of them in the regular season -- and solid goaltending from Richard Martens and Carey Walker.
Still, they didn't have a scorer in the top 30 -- Ogrodnick had 88 points, Scott McLeod added 80 with Terry Kirkham at 77 and Smyl at 76.
There were only six players with more than 100 penalty minutes (the Brandon Wheat Kings, who would end the Bruins reign in another year, had 12), but that included defenceman Boris Fistric and his 414 minutes.
The Bruins had what was a rather mediocre regular season, going 33-28-11 and finishing third in the WHL's four-team West Division. Actually, they were tied with Victoria, but the Cougars were awarded second place on the basis of one more victory.
This would be the first season of round-robin play in the WHL playoffs. And the Bruins and Cougars were able to rid themselves of the first-place Portland Winter Hawks. They played a double home-and-home series -- the Bruins went 7-1, Victoria was 4-4 and Portland wound up 1-7 and on the outside looking in.
The Bruins were rolling now and quickly took out the Cougars in five games to advance to yet another round-robin affair.
This time, the Billings Bighorns and Bruins each went 3-1 to oust the Flin Flon Bombers, who went 0-4.
New Westminster then swept the Bighorns in the championship final, winning four straight and wrapping it up with 6-3 and 3-1 victories right in Billings.
Bergeron's Draveurs, at 47-18-7, were one of two QMJHL teams to crack the 100-point barrier, the other being the Cornwall Royals, with 100 points. The key to the Draveurs was defence -- they allowed 252 goals, the second-lowest total that season.
Offensively, they were led by Denis Pomerleau, acquired from the Hull Olympiques during the season. He wound up sixth in the scoring derby, with 148 points, including 75 goals.
In the playoffs, however, Richard David would provide the offensive spark with 33 points, including 17 goals, in 13 games.
Trois-Rivieres opened postseason play by taking out Quebec in four straight, outscoring the Remparts 21-12 in the process. The Sherbrooke Castors were next, going down in five games.
And in the championship final the Draveurs swept the Montreal Junior, outscoring them 21-11. The Junior had eliminated Cornwall in five games in the other semifinal series.
The Petes were a typical Peterborough team -- defence came first and the offence seemed to look after itself.
That style had been handed down in the organization, from one coach to another, from Sam Pollock to Scott Bowman and eventually to Roger Nielson and now to the 25-year-old Green.
The likes of Bill Gardner, Tim Trimper, Keith Crowder, Steve Larmer and Keith Acton, his league's fourth-leading scorer, could score. But they preferred to check you to a standstill. And, with some outstanding play from rookie goaltender Ken Ellacott, it worked. After all, they were in the Memorial Cup tournament.
They got there by winning two hard-fought eight-point series. They first eliminated the Ottawa 67's 9-7 and then, in the championship final, ousted the Hamilton Fincups 8-6, winning the seventh game 5-0.
The Draveurs, led by Normand Lefebvre's two goals, opened the double round-robin tournament with a 5-2 victory over the Petes in the Soo before 3,441 fans on May 6.
Ghislain Gaudreau, Gaston Douville and Jean-Francois Sauve also scored for the Draveurs.
Defenceman Greg Theberge and Mark Kirton replied for Peterborough.
The Petes then whipped the Bruins 7-2 in Sudbury the next night in front of 5,006 fans, as Mike Meeker and Gardner had two goals each and Trimper had a goal and three assists.
Crowder and Larmer also scored for the Petes, who lost Acton with a separated shoulder.
Larry Melnyk and Doug Derkson replied for the Bruins.
"Our guys weren't full of desire (against the Draveurs),” Green said, ""but they were up today.
"I had quite a lot of confidence coming into this game. The mental attitude was much better today. The thing I was most concerned about was the physical drain.”
The Petes, who had won the Ontario title just four nights earlier, were playing their second game in two nights and knew they needed to get the jump on the Bruins.
"Naturally, we wanted to capitalize,” said Green, whose club jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead and totaled four power-play goals in the game. "We never expected to get that kind of a lead.
"We jumped on them early. In the third period we hung back and picked up our wingers. We were trying to keep our strength so we sacrificed something in the forechecking, which really takes it out of you.
"We're capable of playing a physical game. We're not as big as they are, but I was proud of my guys today. They had a tough series to get here, and I have to give them a lot of credit. They have lots of desire, too.”
New Westminster bounced back to beat the Draveurs 6-4 in the Soo on May 8 as Smyl struck for three goals and set up two others before 3,575 fans. The outcome left each team with a 1-1 record.
"Tonight,” Smyl said, "I think everybody calmed down. Yesterday, everybody tried to do something extra, to do everybody's else's job. Today, we did our own.”
Brian Young, Ogrodnick and Ken Berry also scored for the Bruins. Lefebvre, with two, David and Carey Haworth replied for Trois-Rivieres, which was outshot 39-31.
Martens, who had been given the hook after giving up six goals to Peterborough, was solid in goal for New Westminster.
"I thought he played well,” McLean said. "He came up with big saves. But so did the kid at the other end.”
That was Jacques Cloutier, who also played well. In fact, he may have only given up five goals. Referee Jim Lever awarded a goal to Smyl at 5:29 of the second period although the goal judge never signaled a goal.
"No, it didn't go in,” said McLean of the score that gave his team a 4-2 lead. "But it's on the scoreboard and we're taking it.”
Smyl, however, said it was a legitimate goal. "It hit inside the goal post and came right back out,” he stated.
Still, the Draveurs battled and tied the game 4-4 when Haworth scored at 1:43 of the third period. It remained for Berry to count the winner at 7:24 and for Smyl to supply the insurance at 8:46.
Peterborough returned to Sudbury on May 9 and beat the Draveurs 4-0 behind Ellacott's 28-save effort in front of 5,094 fans, this tournament's largest crowd to date.
"It was a win we had to have,” Ellacott said.
Kirton, Bob Attwell, John Olds and Gardner scored for the Petes.
"The defence played really well in front of me,” Ellacott said. "They had a few good chances, but we cleared the puck pretty well.”
Ellacott added that the pressure of being in the Memorial Cup wasn't bothering the Petes.
"Every playoff series we've been in this year, we've lost the first game and we've had to come back,” he explained. "We always seem to do it. I think we kind of like to get down, where people count us out and then we come back at them.”
This was an especially costly loss for the Draveurs who lost defenceman Normand Rochefort and Lefebvre, the starry right winger who was the tournament's leading scorer, to injuries.
Green was looking ahead to the next night's game, in which a victory over the Bruins would put the Petes into the final.
"I'm not too concerned with us getting physically outhit,” Green said. "They're not a goony hockey club, but they are big and they finish off their checks well.”
It was a thriller on May 10 in Sault Ste. Marie. With 3,641 fans looking on, the Petes pulled one out of the fire to clinch a spot in the final.
The Petes beat the Bruins 4-3 as Trimper tied the game at 19:57 of the third period and Crowder won it 20 seconds into overtime.
The winner came when Jeff Brubaker tossed a pass from the left-wing boards to the front of the net. Crowder found it in a scramble and stuffed it past Martens.
Kirton and Stuart Smith also scored for Peterborough, with John Paul Kelly, Randy Irving and Bill Hobbins scoring for the Bruins.
By now, with the final three days away, Acton was listed as probable.
The Bruins earned another shot at the Petes, and an opportunity to win their second consecutive Memorial Cup, by beating the Draveurs 6-3 on May 11 in front 5,114 fans in Sudbury.
"It's always exciting, expecially this year when we're not even supposed to be here,” McLean said. "Nobody gave us a hope in hell.”
Kelly and Scott MacLeod had two goals each for the Bruins, who took a 1-0 lead into the second period and promptly scored four goals in 52 seconds beginning at 5:49. Berry and Derkson also scored for the Bruins.
The Draveurs got goals from Gaudreau, Robert Mongrain and David.
"They still weren't out of the hockey game,” McLean said. "They're an explosive hockey club. I was worried all through the third period until we got the sixth goal.”
Before the final, the teams enjoyed a day off.
McLean spent at least part of the day entertaining the media and campaigning for the head-coaching job with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.
"There's been talk about the Canucks,” McLean said, "and after I get back home I'm going to meet with (Vancouver general manager) Jake Milford and discuss with him what he wants in a coach.
"I love junior hockey, but I think once you're a coach it's simply a question of adapting to the level you're coaching at.”
As he had a year ago, he also talked of challenges.
"I have no more challenge left in junior hockey unless it's to go five times to the Memorial Cup,” he said. "I've done everything in junior hockey . . . and I love it.”
Looking ahead to the final, McLean saw it unfolding this way: "I think we're going to play a hard-checking hockey game for two periods and then it will settle down.”
Green saw it this way: "I look for a really tight, close-checking, good, hard-hitting hockey game, and I think that's what we're going to find.”
The Petes went into the final with a 3-1 record; the Bruins were 2-2, both losses coming against Peterborough, 7-2 and 4-3 in overtime.
In the final, played before 5,898 fans in Sudbury on May 13, the Bruins won their second straight Memorial Cup, dumping the Petes 7-4 behind three goals and an assist from MacLeod.
Smyl put the wraps on his junior career with a goal and four assists and Ogrodnick had two goals. Fistric scored New Westminster's other goal.
Theberge, with two, Kirton and Gardner found the range for the Petes.
"A lot of the guys were nervous coming into this game,” MacLeod said. "There are a lot of 18- and 17-year-olds on this club, and all the guys were saying they couldn't get to sleep for an hour last night and then were dreaming about winning.”
The Bruins came out hitting in this one and physically battered the Petes.
"It was an aggressive hockey game,” McLean said. "I'd hate to be in a seven-game series. We wouldn't have too many players left on either side.”
Ellacott, named the tournament's outstanding goaltender, stopped 21 shots, compared to Martens' 35 saves.
"That kid's got to be tired,” Green said of Ellacott. "Kenny carried a lot of weight for this club over the last few months and I knew going into the game that he was tired.”
It was MacLeod's third goal that spurred the Bruins to victory. They had led 3-1 after one period but were ahead only 4-3 early in the third period. MacLeod's third goal came at 5:38 of the third period and upped their lead to 5-3. The Petes protested, claiming Berry was in the crease, and MacLeod agreed.
"He just did a great job,” MacLeod said of Berry. "He shot the puck and rammed into the goalie. He took the goalie right out of the play and the puck was just sitting there and there was no way I could miss.
"I thought they might call it no goal, because he was standing right in the crease and that was what they were arguing about.”
Referee Tom Brown didn't see it that way and the goal stood.
Smyl was selected the tournament's most valuable player, with the sportsmanship award going to Kirton.
The all-star team featured Ellacott, the Bruins' Brian Young and Paul MacKinnon of the Petes on defence, and forwards Kirton, Smyl and Lefebvre.
It was an especially gritty performance by MacKinnon, the Petes captain who was playing on two sore knees. Randy Johnston, another Petes defenceman, played despite a cracked foot and a partially separated shoulder.
The Bruins were the fourth team to win back-to-back Memorial Cups.
The others? The Oshawa Generals (1939 and 1940), Toronto Marlboros (1955 and 1956) and Montreal Junior Canadiens (1969 and 1970).
"We're going to have a great team next year,” McLean said, ""and if things go right we could make it three in a row.”
History shows that things didn't go right.
NEXT: 1979 (Brandon Wheat Kings, Peterborough Petes and Trois-Rivieres Draveurs)