For the second time in seven years,
SIHR invaded the relatively new
community of Cambridge, Ontario
(formed in 1973 from the city of
Galt and towns of Hespeler and Preston)
and came home consumed
with hockey memories.
Thanks to host Ed Heather and
President Len Kotylo, the Ontario
Hockey Association offices and the
Holiday Inn's Hespeler Room, were
the settings for the strongest parade
of former hockey greats and special
guests ever featured at a Fall Meeting.
Interspiced with meet-and-greets, "health
breaks" and sumptuous meals was a busy business
session that produced the most pro-active
decisions taken in years. President Len, in his
written report, pointed to the growing number
of members, many attracted by the Society's
website. "The level of talent of SIHR members
is high," he said. "Therefore the abilities of our
organization to create successes in many areas
will be demonstrated before our next annual
meeting in (Moncton, N.B.) in May, 2006."
The 26 Cambridge delegates hailed from Minnesota
to New Brunswick.
The Friday night meet-and-greet was
featured by the fine presentations of Gord
Renwick, former vice-president of the International
Ice Hockey Federation and Dave
(Cerebral) Cressman of the Minnesota North
Stars. Both well known names in the Galt-
Kitchener area, their observations on local and
international hockey were augmented by the
words of Terry Walker, a former CBC sports
producer, now doing research on a new ten-part
series, Hockey: A People's History (due late in
2006). The son of former Toronto writer Gord
Walker, made a an impassioned and detailed
plea for restoring the bronze medal to Father
David Bauer's 1964 Team Canada which was
demoted to fourth place by a late ruling by IIHF
President Bunny Ahearne. "He was no friend
of Canada," said Mr. Renwick, who supported
the move to have the 1964 medal situation rectified.
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Cressman, a Minnesota North Star (1974-76),
who finished his career with the CambridgeHornets, said the caliber of Senior
A players in Ontario started
to decline after the 1967 NHL
expansion. In those days he
played for "share the wealth"--
$800 to $1,700 a season. Today's
seniors get $100 a game
for a win and $50 for a loss. Expros
earn $200 and $100.
Cressman also credited
North-Star goaltender Cesare
Maniago with saving his rookie
skin in a game against the Philadelphia
Flyers, in which he
found himself surrounded by the
Broadstreet Bullies. It seems
that Maniago charged the group
and bowled them over like pins
allowing the referees to intervene.
The Saturday afternoon session
was faced off with a fascinating
film session presented by
movie collector Paul Patskou.
No one was more interested than
special guests Harold "Boat" Hurley, the sterling goaltender
for Galt Hornets and Kitchener
Dutchmen, and another fine
netminder Norm Defelice, who
donned the pads for 22 teams,
including Boston Bruins, between
1952 and 1970. Both admitted
they had never seen
themselves play and Paul surprised
them with videos of
themselves in action. (Two days
later the Toronto film collector
found highlight clips of Cressman).
“Boat” recounted the fascinating
experience he had during
his trip to the Soviet Union with
the National Team as well as the
various opportunities he had to
turn pro. The pragmatic, softspoken
man had no regrets
about his decision to remain an
amateur and stick with his job at
Bauer, where he would remain
for many years.
After the formal discussion,
Hurley shared memories with James Milks of his experience as
the backup goaltender for one
game for the Chicago Blackhawks
during their Stanley Cup
run in 1961 against Detroit.
Despite paying his way to and
from the motor city, Hurley was
only handed $50 by Chicago
coach Rudy Pilous. His protests
earned him a pat on the
back and another $25 before he
returned to Canada, never having
been needed on the ice.
Norm Defelice had no shortage
of memories to share either.
Having played for the legendary
Eddie Shore, he confirmed the
rumour that Shore would carry
suspension slips in his shirt
pocket so that a player could be
sidelined at any given moment.
Another funny moment came
when Norm recounted the time
at which he found out he had
been called up to play with the
Bruins. Upon arriving home, his
wife told him to pack his bags. “What for?” he asked. “Well,
you’re headed to Boston” she
replied. “Me, I don’t think they
would ask me”. “Well that is
what they are saying on the radio”
she said. Norm played 10
games for the Bruins to replace
Terry Sawchuk who was hospitalized
for nervous exhaustion.
When asked about his short
stay in Trois-Rivières with the
Lions, he explained how his
family felt terribly isolated in
the French-speaking community,
resulting in his decision to quit
the team. “The old man will
break you” his coach told him,
referring to Shore’s reaction.
Despite being suspended and
then traded, this troublesome
time was actually the beginning
of his most spectacular performance
in the crease. The 1958-59
season would see Norm lead the
EHL with 41 wins and a GAA
of 2.78 with the Clinton Commets.
Over the next six seasons
with the team, his stats would continue to impress, notching a league-leading 48 wins and
15 shut-outs in 1964-65 season.
In 1967 he returned to Galt
where he was quickly approached
by the Hornets. At
first, he balked at the salary,
but eventually came around
and joined the team. He recorded
5 shut-outs and had a
GAA of 2.14 with the team,
which led to a sizeable bonus
with which he purchased a
new Chevrolet Vega for his wife. It was the gift that kept
on giving, as each of his children
learned to drive with it.
Former SIHR member Fred
Addis of Orillia, gave a valuable,
36-minute PowerPoint
presentation on "The Year of
the Mask, 1959-60." It ranged
from its creation and development
from the Benedict, Plante
and Simmons' versions to the
molded plexiglas and the
form-fitting fibreglas models
made from a plaster impression.
He ended with a salute to
the last bare-faced goalie,
Andy Brown. "Anyone who
stands up to 90 mph slapshots,"
he said, "is no coward."
Padre Glen Goodhand,
who recently moved from
Beaverton to Lindsay, Ontario
(where The Daily Post publishes
his Hockey Historic
Hilites' columns) presented his
umpteenth paper in his usual
entertaining and finely enunciated
style. In 18 minutes he
covered "Hockey's Hand-Me-
Downs"--the public transfer of
retired numbers, i.e. No. 9
from Charlie Conacher to Ted
Kennedy; No. 10, from Syl
Apps to George Armstrong
and No. 6 from Ace Bailey to
Ron Ellis.
Recent McFarlane Award
winner Joseph Nieforth of
Toronto gave a well researched
paper on "70 Years of Penalty
Shots" including the first stop
by George Hainsworth and the
first play-off goal by Lionel
(Big Train) Conacher. Pathos
and humour prevailed. Dit
Clapper scored twice (the first
was disallowed because of an
illegal start). One ref let the
opposing team pick the shooter
(a bench warmer), and the incomparable
Jean Pusie circled
the ice before picking up the
puck and blasting it into the
rink corner!
Membership fees and the
prompt payment of dues ($30
Cdn., $25 U.S.) received close
scrutiny. Secretary Lloyd Davis
reported on successful efforts to
decrease the delinguent list and
President Len reported the
growing interest in SIHR, included
new members in France
and Italy (to go along with
those in Germany, Sweden,
Australia and Hong Kong). |
