1963 Memorial Cup

1963 MEMORIAL CUP
Edmonton Oil Kings vs. Niagara Falls Flyers
at Edmonton (Gardens)

The Edmonton Oil Kings were back in the national final for a fourth consecutive year. And coach Buster Brayshaw was all but guaranteeing victory over the Niagara Falls Flyers.
This, he said, was the best team he had brought to the championship. And furthermore, he said, this team had been taught to play "the eastern style of play.”
"This is the biggest club overall that I've taken to the final,” Brayshaw said. "It has more weight because I've found that our light clubs in past years have run out of oomph as the season wears on.
"The larger club may take more time getting started but they have the staying power.”
Considering the west had won but seven titles since 1940, the Oil Kings had their work cut out for them.
"In the past, (eastern clubs) have come out on top by clutching and grabbing, playing the man and shooting the puck a lot,” Brayshaw said. "We will play that way now, too. Any club that gets into a series with us now will know it as we can play as tough as anybody.”
The Oil Kings had made it to the final with a best-of-seven playoff victory over the SJHL-champion Estevan Bruins (six games) and a five-game victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Abbott Cup final.
Included on the Edmonton roster were Bert Marshall, Pat Quinn, Glen Sather, Max Mestinsek, Bob Falkenberg, Gregg Pilling, Dave Rochefort, Ron Anderson, Jim Eagle, Butch Paul, goaltender Russ Kirk and captain Roger Bourbonnais. Marshall, Quinn and Sather would go on to coach in the NHL.
The Flyers, managed by the legendary Hap Emms and coached by Bill Long, had eliminated the Neil McNeil Maroons and Espanola Eagles in Ontario playoffs and then dumped the Notre Dame de Grace Monarchs 8-2, 7-1 and 5-0 in the best-of-five eastern final. The Flyers were led by Bill Goldsworthy, Wayne Maxner, Ron Schock, Ted Snell, Gary Dornhoefer, Don Awrey, Terry Crisp and goaltender George Gardner.
The championship, with all games played at Edmonton Gardens, opened on May 2 with Niagara Falls roaring to an 8-0 victory before 6,785 fans.
Snell and Maxner, with two goals each, Dornhoefer, Goldsworthy, Gary Harmer and Ron Hergott scored for the Flyers. Gardner, 20, posted the shutout.
The game was physical and featured 25 penalties, 14 to the Flyers.
"They had an off night,” Emms said. "It's going to be a tough series yet.”
Brayshaw added: "They certainly aren't eight goals better than us.”
Crisp was the only casualty from Game 1. He was left nursing a charleyhorse.
The Oil Kings rebounded on May 5 to even the series with a 7-3 victory in front of 6,845 fans.
Paul, an 18-year-old from Red Willow, Alta., scored twice and set up three other goals for Edmonton. Bourbonnais, Mestinsek, Harold Fleming, Butch Barber and Falkenberg also scored for the Oilers. Bill Glashan, with two, and Schock replied for the Flyers.
Crisp was in the lineup, while the Oilers dropped forward Jim Chase, who had joined the team for the playoffs from the juvenile ranks, in favor of Rochefort.
Gardner stopped 37 shots in this one, while Kirk blocked 18.
On May 6, before 6,424 fans, the Oil Kings exploded for four second-period goals en route to a 5-2 victory.
Paul continued his superb play with two goals, while singles came from Mestinsek, Falkenberg and Bourbannais. Harmer and Glashan scored for the Flyers.
The teams played through a scoreless first period before Edmonton outscored the visitors 4-1 in the second.
Gardner was brilliant again in a losing cause, this time stopping 30 shots.
Dornhoefer was lost for the series when he suffered a broken leg when checked by Quinn, who was hit with a major penalty for charging.
This marked the first time in four years that the Oil Kings had a series lead during a Memorial Cup final.
The Oil Kings upped their edge to 3-1 on May 7 with a 3-2 victory before 6,300 fans.
Doug Fox's goal at 11:08 of the third period broke a 2-2 deadlock and gave Edmonton the victory. He was able to lift the rebound of a Falkenberg shot over Gardner for the winner.
The teams played to period ties of 1-1 and 2-2. Maxner scored both Niagara Falls' goals, with Edmonton getting its goals from Paul and Mestinsek.
Emms played the game under protest after his request to be allowed to select which end of the ice his team would first defend was denied. The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes while the request was considered.
As it turned out, Emms had filed an all-encompassing protest before the series started. This one was because he felt the CAHA rules dealing with the placing of goal nets out from the end boards was being violated.
The Flyers stayed alive on May 9 with a 5-2 victory in front of 6,746 fans.
According to The Canadian Press: "Flyers, showing much more drive than they have in any other game this series, took a physical beating from the hard-hitting and sometimes brutal Oil Kings.”
Crisp, with two, Harmer, Glashan and Awrey, who was having a superb series on defence, scored for the Flyers. Eagle and Fox scored for Edmonton.
More from CP: "The game almost turned into a donnybrook with less than two minutes to go. Greg Pilling of Oil Kings and defenceman Rich Morin of Flyers crashed against the boards and Morin, on the outside, bounced to the ice. As the play moved up to centre and with the referee watching the puck, Pilling brought his stick down across Morin's head. Morin was taken from the ice on a stretcher and it took five minutes to get play under way again.”
Earlier in the game, Barber had flattened Harmer at centre ice. Harmer was taken to hospital with what was believed to be a fractured right leg.
Gardner was excellent again, this time stopping 23 saves. Kirk blocked 19.
Emms, who came west with 19 players (17 skaters and two goaltenders), said before Game 6 that he had 10 players injured in the first five games, including Harmer and Dornhoefer, both of whom had broken legs.
The known injured: Rich Morin, 10-stitch cut to the head; Goldsworthy, torn stomach muscles; Crisp, charleyhorse; Glashan, 12-stitch cut to the chin; Hergott, 10-stitch facial cut; Awrey, concussion, forehead contusions, two black eyes; Gardner, mild concussion; and, Maxner, stretched muscles near the rib cage.
"I said if the Oil Kings lost the fifth game, they'd lose the series,” Emms stated. "Our boys appear more accustomed to the climate and the altitude and have regained their strength.”
But the Oil Kings wrapped it up on May 11, posting a thrilling 4-3 sixth-game victory before more than 6,700 fans.
The crowd swarmed on to the ice at the final siren and lifted Kirk, Quinn and Bourbonnais on to its collective shoulders.
The Oil Kings had this game in control until the last half of the third period.
Goals by Fox, Sather, Paul and Pilling gave the Oil Kings a 4-0 lead early in the third period. But Mestinsek took the game's only penalty shortly thereafter and seven seconds later Glashan put the Flyers on the board.
Niagara Falls swarmed around the Edmonton net for the rest of the game, getting goals from Schock and Crisp. But the Flyers weren't able to pull even.
Kirk made the game's biggest save on Maxner with about five minutes to play. Kirk stopped 27 shots, three fewer than Gardner.
Pilling scored what turned out to be the Memorial Cup-winning goal at 4:11 of the third period when he put a low backhander through Gardner's legs.
CAHA president Art Potter presented the Memorial Cup to Bourbonnais. That picture is one of the great photos in Canadian sporting history – Bourbonnais is pictured wearing a cape and a crown, both of which had been placed on him by adoring fans.
"I never thought anything could give me the thrill I got last year when a bunch of fuzzy-cheeked kids carried us to the Memorial Cup final,” Brayshaw said. "But this club did. It's a great feeling, a better thrill than I got from anything I ever did as a player or coach anywhere.”
Edmonton won the Memorial Cup for the first time in seven trips to the final. The only other Alberta team to win the Memorial Cup was the Calgary Canadians in 1926.
This was also the first time a team from one of the three western provinces had won it all since the Regina Pats were successful in 1930.
 

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1966 Memorial Cup

1966 MEMORIAL CUP
Edmonton Oil Kings vs. Oshawa Generals
at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)

The Edmonton Oil Kings made it seven Memorial Cup finals in a row when they eliminated the Estevan Bruins from the Abbott Cup final in six games.
This was the last Abbott Cup final before major junior hockey came to the Prairies in the form of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League.
The Abbott Cup final was a clash of hockey legends, what with the Bruins managed by Scotty Munro and coached by Ernie (Punch) McLean, and the Oil Kings coached by Ray Kinasewich and managed by Bill Hunter.
Following the series, the Oil Kings, featuring the likes of Garnet (Ace) Bailey, Al Hamilton, Bob Falkenberg and goaltender Don (Smokey) McLeod, announced they would add three Bruins to their roster for the national final – forwards Jim Harrison, Ross Lonsberry and Ted Hodgson. Hunter also said he would take Weyburn Red Wings goaltender Don Caley as a replacement for Pete Neukomm who had suffered a fractured cheekbone in a western semifinal game against the Fort William Canadians.
Edmonton had spent the season playing in the Alberta Senior Hockey League, there being no junior league in Alberta. In fact, the Oil Kings tied the Drumheller Miners for the provincial senior championship.
The Oil Kings' opposition this time around was provided by the Oshawa Generals, featuring 15-year-old defenceman Bobby Orr, Wayne Cashman, Danny O'Shea, goaltender Ian Young, Billy Heindl, Barry Wilkins and Nick Beverley. The Generals were coached by Bep Guidolin and managed by Wren Blair.
Oshawa, which finished fourth in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, had eliminated the Shawinigan Falls Bruins in the eastern final, winning the best-of-five affair in four games.
All games in this national final series were scheduled for Maple Leaf Gardens – the last Memorial Cup series to be played there.
The politicking began early as Blair announced he would protest (1) the presence of the Oil Kings because they didn't play in a junior league; and, (2) the inclusion of three Estevan players on Edmonton's roster.
Blair admitted he didn't expect success but "I'm going to file them anyway.''
Edmonton, which had lost five of the last six Memorial Cup finals, opened the series on May 4 by thrashing Oshawa 7-2, outshooting the Generals 52-20 in the process. Attendance was 4,310.
Centre Ross Perkins scored two shorthanded goals for Edmonton. And you can bet Blair was livid as the three Estevan players all figured in the scoring – Harrison had a goal and two assists, Lonsberry had a goal, and Hodgson had two assists. Galen Head, Hamilton and Bailey added singles. Hamilton also had two assists.
Orr, who dazzled with his rink-length dashes and had at least 10 shots on goal, and Chris Hayes scored for Oshawa, which trailed 4-1 and 5-2 at the period breaks.
Six players picked up fighting majors six minutes into the third period, the altercation starting when Harrison crashed into Orr, after which he was immediately confronted by Oshawa's Bill White. One of the ensuing fights featured Orr, who scored an easy decision over Dave Rochefort.
Kinasewich was upset and accused the Generals of head-hunting.
"I like a rough, hard-checking game,” Kinasewich said, "and if they can't take it, then let them go home.”
Guidolin countered: "We didn't see one good check all night, and you can tell them to stop sending bushers after Orr.”
Oshawa tied the series on May 6, riding a three-goal performance from O'Shea to a 7-1 victory before 7,210 fans, most of them apparently from the Oshawa area.
O'Shea and Cashman had gone into the final with 21 playoff goals apiece.
Cashman, Hayes, Heindl and Ron Dussiaume also scored for the Generals. Cashman also set up three goals as the Generals took period leads of 2-0 and 5-0.
Defenceman Doug Barrie scored Edmonton's lone goal.
Orr was used sparingly. He was on the limp with a groin injury he said he suffered during practice the previous week. Hamilton, Edmonton's top defenceman, was nursing a sore tailbone and hardly played in the third period.
When this one was over, Hunter pointed a finger at referee Frank Daigneault of Montreal.
When a Maple Leaf Gardens publicist said "we'll get a crowd of 14,000 here (for Game 3),” Hunter added: "Yeah, and we'll get a new referee.”
"He's going to lose control,” Kinasewich added, "and that won't be good for the players or the fans.”
After Game 2, Hunter announced the Oil Kings would use Caley in Game 3 only to be informed by the CAHA that he was ineligible.
After the Generals won Game 3 by a 6-2 count on May 8 before 7,365 fans, Hunter was again all over Daigneault.
"Daigneault must have signed a contract with Oshawa before the series,” Hunter said. "Generals' defencemen were stopping shots and pulling the puck into their bodies as they fell, and Daigneault, only five feet away, wasn't calling them.”
The Generals, with Orr playing only on the power play, got two goals from O'Shea and singles from Cashman, George Babcock, Bill Little and Dussiaume. Perkins and Ron Walters scored for the Oil Kings.
Kinasewich yanked McLeod and sent in Jim Knox after the first period with Oshawa leading 4-0.
"You don't expect that a fellow who's played well all season will choke up all of a sudden,” Kinasewich said. "But that's what he's done.
"Oshawa's not that good. We've played better teams than that all season. And this is the first time we've played two bad games in a row this year.”
Guidolin fired back: "You can tell 'em we've got a few surprises for (Game 4). We got the same team.”
The Oil Kings held a team meeting on the off day.
"We've just had a revival meeting,” Hunter said. "And we've given our lads the message – God help Oshawa in the next game.”
McLeod was back at his best in Game 4 as he backstopped the Oil Kings to a 5-3 victory on May 11 before 5,761 fans. That tied the series 2-2.
Trailing 3-2 going into the third period, the Oil Kings exploded for three goals, the winner coming at 16:46 when Hamilton went coast-to-coast and set up Head. Perkins followed with an empty-net goal to wrap it up.
Lonsberry, Ron Anderson and Rochefort also scored for the Oil Kings. Hayes, Cashman and O'Shea scored for Oshawa.
Orr took a regular shift for two periods, but took his gear off after that. He aggravated his groin injury when checked into the boards by Perkins.
"We blew it,” Guidolin said. "We didn't skate. You gotta skate. If you don't, you're dead.”
Kinasewich thought it was Edmonton's turn.
"Don't you think we were due?” he said. "We couldn't get much worse than in the second and third games.”
The Oil Kings wrapped up the Memorial Cup posting two victories in two days – 7-4 on May 14 and 2-1 on May 15.
Craig Cameron had three goals and an assist to lead Edmonton in Game 5. Perkins added two goals and four helpers, with Falkenberg and Hodgson also scoring. Heindl, Dussiaume, Cashman and Hayes scored for Oshawa.
In Game 6, it was two of the Estevan players – Harrison and Hodgson – who provided the victory.
For starters, Harrison put two players – Heindl and Paul Cadieux – out of the game with injuries after hard checks.
Heindl opened the scoring on a power play at 9:10 of the first period. Harrison tied it on a 30-footer at 17:02 of the second period and Hodgson won it with a blistering slap shot at 6:47 of the third.
Both goaltenders – Young and McLeod – stopped 37 shots in front of 5,018 fans.
The hero in the end was McLeod, the goaltender who had been so severely criticized in the early going.
"You are looking at the finest goalie in junior hockey,” Kinasewich said.
"When he gets that look in his eye,” Hunter said, "you just know that nobody's gonna beat him.”
Guidolin offered: "They owe it all to the goalie, who they said choked. What are they saying about him now?”
They were saying they had been misquoted earlier in the series.
This was the first time a western team had won the championship while playing in an eastern rink since the Port Arthur West End Bruins did it in 1948.
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