A Great Game

by Stephen J. Harper

  Berlin won by a score of 3–0, but the game reports focused more on the appalling circumstances than on the actual play. The News labelled it “Hockey on Bare Floor” and observed that “by the time play ceased there was not ten yards of solid ice in the rink.”14 In such conditions, players hitting exposed boards were thrown headlong. The puck was often indistinguishable from the sugary slush mixing with the sand beneath.

  The consensus was best summed up by the World: “The Flying Dutchmen of Berlin proved better mud horses than the Torontos.”15

  The Professionals, like the Marlboros before them, were a fast, skilled but light unit, especially up front. They had decent goaltending, but suspect defence. Predictions generally held that they could take the Dutchmen in a real contest on good ice, and these predictions were prescient, for Toronto’s games against Berlin would be the pivotal matches of that first OPHL season.

  Harvey Corbeau was considered a better skater than cousin Con. Although an OPHL all-star in 1907–08, he did not match his relative’s eventual success in the pro game.

  The Toronto Professionals’ second match of the season was out of town against Brantford, the team many considered the strongest in the league. Just the same, “Brown’s Braves”16 were also off to a rough start, having lost their first game to Guelph. The Pros did some shuffling. As Gee was down with a bad cold, Lambe came in at point and Corbeau moved up to cover.

  The Torontos again lost. They fell 7–6 after Morrison, who had led the visitors’ attack, broke a skate and had to sit out. By this time even Robertson’s Tely raved about the encounter on Brantford ice, calling it “a tremendously fast game, with brilliant combination … played before a record crowd.”17 Readers must have wondered how the Telegram’s sports department managed to get such copy past the publisher.

  For Brantford, Taylor and Marks had led the charge. A side story was the Braves’ attempt to slip the ageless Pete Charlton into their lineup. He had come from Pittsburgh for the occasion. Alas, old Pete arrived with two right skates and could not lace up. Despite some inkling he had really come only to sign up players for the Western Pennsylvania league, a generous management paid him anyway.

  Only three days after losing in Brantford, the Torontos would face their next road test at Guelph. This first of two matches against the Royal City septet was gaining a sense of urgency. While the twelve-game OPHL season was long by Ontario standards—an OHA team typically played four to eight—being in last place with a 0–2 record was still worrisome. The Royals were supposed to be the league’s weak sisters. Victories against them were thus essential.

  The hometown had a couple of interesting characters in its lineup. Harvey Corbeau, at cover, was the cousin of Toronto’s Con. Also dressed was none other than Buck Irving himself. The league’s secretary, the rink owner’s son and the team’s manager was also Guelph’s point man. However, Irving injured a knee early in what would prove to be his last game as a player.

  An expert speed and figure skater, William Kenneth Russell Mallen was a frequent target of opponents when in close quarters. Malicious reports following Kenny’s departure from Toronto depicted him as unhappy about a lack of media attention.

  For the Torontos, Lambe18 got his second straight start, with Corbeau again moved to cover. This time, no explanation was given for Gee’s absence on defence. One presumes he was quietly cut at some point. Hereafter, his name vanishes from all reports.

  Toronto defeated Guelph 4–3 and was judged very lucky to have won. Despite leading 2–0 at the half and 3–1 early in the second, they were badly outplayed and the score was tied with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Tyner had been great in what the Guelph Mercury considered the best hockey game ever played there. It ruefully described the winning marker, a hat-trick goal by Toronto’s centre:

  Finally, Bert Morrison lifted a shot from the side. Booth got in front of it, but the puck went through his skates and rolled tantalizingly and slowly, but very surely into the nets. It was all over but the shouting, and there wasn’t much of that.19

  With the bare victory, one particular gripe among Toronto hockey fans was reaching a crescendo: the decision to play Rolly Young at right wing while moving Mallen to rover—a peculiar arrangement from the outset. Young had played rover before, whereas Mallen had been sought specifically to fill the right-wing position. Although Rolly had worked hard in the first three games, his “serpentine” rushing style left him constantly out of position. At the same time, Mallen, while clearly having speed to burn, had sometimes seemed indifferent in his efforts.

  This photograph of the 1907–08 Toronto Professionals was clearly taken early in the season. Standing (L to R): F. Carroll, B. Morrison, H. Lambe, C. Corbeau, B. Ridpath. Sitting (L to R): K. Mallen, R. Young, C. Tyner.

  Whatever the reason for this odd placement, the situation was resolved when Mallen defected to the ECAHA’s Montreal Wheelers shortly after the game at Guelph. Next came word that Morrison—to this point the team’s best performer—was also going to Montreal, to play for the Shamrocks. His stint there was said to be a temporary, second-employer arrangement. If the management of the Toronto Professionals were not worried before, they surely were now.

  Miln quickly brought in two new men. One was Walter Mercer, Guelph’s former star right winger. Irving cried foul, but he had already lost Wally before the season began. Mercer had been with the Ottawa Vics for their Stanley Cup semifinal against Renfrew. Interestingly, Mercer had played against Con Corbeau, then a ringer with the Creamery Kings.

  The other man was a young French Canadian far better known—and better rated—at the time as a lacrosse player. He was the star goalkeeper of the Cornwall Lacrosse Club, one of the country’s best. Soon, however, the potential of “Newsy” Lalonde in the national winter sport would become evident for all to see.

  Without Lalonde, the Toronto Professionals were a good team. With him, they would become a Stanley Cup contender.

  • CHAPTER EIGHT •

  A BRUSH WITH ETERNITY

  The Torontos Reach for the Stanley Cup

  For the quintessence of gall commend us to this aggregation of false alarm hockey statesmen, who have wired a challenge for the Stanley Cup: to wit and namely the Toronto professionals. There can be no doubt but that the Wanderers upon receiving the wire last night laughed themselves to sleep.1

  —Toronto Telegram

  None of the notices in Toronto had prepared fans for the significance of this new arrival. Newsy Lalonde’s weight and toughness would add real punch to the Torontos’ forward line, something it had been missing ever since the departure of Tommy Phillips back in the Marlboro era. Also unknown was the fierceness of Newsy’s competitive streak and temper—attributes that were to make him a perpetual source of controversy.

  The idea of signing Lalonde had come from Jimmy Murphy, manager of the Toronto Lacrosse Club and a respected local hockey coach. Besides the lacrosse connection, both Lalonde and Murphy hailed from Cornwall, the most easterly city in Ontario. The manufacturing centre was a significant sports hub of the day. Newsy had come up through the town’s OHA and Federal league teams before moving on to the Canadian Soo for the International league’s final campaign. He had had a good season there. However, he had started 1907–08 in Portage la Prairie, where the reviews had been poor.

  The new lineup would face a return match with Guelph at Mutual on Saturday, January 18, 1908. Despite sticky ice and a poorly rated opponent, well over 2,000 jammed in to get a look at their team’s overhaul. They were not disappointed. The reconfigured Torontos completely dominated the Royals and coasted to a 7–2 victory.

  It should be noted that Guelph felt disadvantaged from the outset. Goaltender Bert Booth had not been able to make his train connection on time. There being no such thing as a backup goalie then, the Royals recruited local boy Tooze, the discarded Torontos backstopper, for the occasion. The Toronto papers gave him decent reviews, but Guelph’s was sarcastic:

  One does
not desire to be unduly harsh, but really Mark would be perfectly safe in enlisting for active service. He could go through quite a few campaigns without stopping anything.2

  In reality, there were many good signs for the Torontos in the win. Young finally played rover and got two goals. Ridpath, scoreless in three decent efforts, at last got one of his own. The new man Mercer, though small, was the fastest on the ice and notched one as well.

  The revelation was Newsy Lalonde. The new centre was anything but fancy on skates and, only hours off a two-day train ride from the west, he was tired. But he was also husky and aggressive with a hard, accurate shot. Always dangerous, he netted three for his new club. Guelph’s reporter observed simply, but accurately, that he would be “one of the stars of the league in no time.”3

  With the home-and-away wins against Guelph, the Torontos had averted disaster. At 2–2, their record now compared favourably with those of both Berlin and Brantford, who were tied with two wins and one loss apiece. However, the Toronto squad had not beaten either of those competitors. As they headed to Berlin for a match the following Friday, the question was: were they a middling team or a genuine contender?

  The Professionals would play the Dutchmen with the same lineup that had beaten Guelph at Mutual. Morrison was still away in Montreal, where his play with the Shamrocks had been stellar, but he had suffered an arm injury. It was unclear at this point whether he was temporarily recovering or planning to stay down east permanently.

  The Torontos were plagued with rumours of other defections as well. It was known that Montreal interests had been approaching Tyner and Young. The Pittsburgh league had also been after the goalie and Ridpath for at least three seasons. On the other hand, Miln had just nailed down Lalonde. His $600 for the balance of the season was at that moment a decent big-league salary.

  The Lalonde signing represented a clear and final shift away from the team’s previous “cooperative” basis. Since their barnstorming days, the players had maintained a gate-sharing arrangement. However, the trend in the expanding world of pro hockey was unmistakably to employer-employee relationships. This development was probably inevitable. Some of the other OPHL clubs were already joint-stock companies. In Toronto, though, the employer would be the rink. The players’ committee elected in November consisted of Young, the captain; Morrison, the veteran; and the rink boss. This underscored that Miln, rather than the committee, was really in charge.

  The speedy Walter Hayes “Midget” Mercer was a horse trainer by profession. Known more as a playmaker and backchecker than a goal scorer, Wally found his arrival in Toronto contested by his former employer in Guelph.

  Miln’s team arrived in Berlin as the definite underdog. The Dutchmen were coming off a loss at Brantford, but they seldom lost on their own ice and had not dropped two straight within anyone’s memory. The nearly 2,000 who turned out at the Auditorium were giving odds of three or four to one for the home club.

  Toronto got out to an early lead, and although the game was close, the visiting team never trailed. Nevertheless, with a minute and a half left and Mercer serving a penalty, Berlin evened the match at 5–5 off a goalmouth scramble. The Torontos vigorously disputed that tally, without success. As was the custom of the era, the goal umpire who upheld the ruling was replaced.

  This postcard features the Torontos’ Edouard Cyrille Lalonde. While he got his nickname working in a newspaper plant as a youth, Newsy rarely had much to say in the press. He did, however, speak loudly on the ice—with his skills and his fists.

  Another tradition of the time—one inherited from the amateur code—was the frowning upon of tied results. The teams therefore played a ten-minute overtime. Lalonde notched his sixth goal of the night in the first minute, after which the Torontos played defensively and, while the Dutchmen pressed hard, held on to win.

  It was now clear that the Queen City seven could prevail against the best. Although Berlin had had an edge in the play, the Pros were good for the win. Tyner was a solid goalie who more than compensated for any weakness in the team’s defence. With Lalonde up front, the fast forward unit was now also able to produce when the going got heavy. Even without Morrison, the Torontos were a contender.

  Next up would be Brantford. The first of two games was scheduled for Mutual on Saturday, February 1. In other words, as early as 1907–08, a great and durable Toronto tradition was taking shape: the big-league Saturday-night hockey game.

  By game day, the Braves had a marginal lead in the OPHL race at three wins and one loss. Toronto and Berlin were half a game back at 3–2. Guelph was down to 1–5 and rapidly falling out of contention. Any game among the other three was now a big one.

  The good news for the Garnet and Grey was that Morrison, returned from his stint in Montreal, would finally be back in the lineup. As he was the faster skater and Lalonde the natural sniper, it made sense to leave Newsy at centre and move Bert to rover. Young and Corbeau were pushed back a slot, and Lambe reverted to spare.

  The choice of Corbeau at point over Lambe had been a tough one. Hugh had played much better than anticipated, while Con was so far a disappointment. His offensive contribution had been limited and, though tough defensively, he was frequently dirty and heavily penalized.

  There were almost 3,000 in the building that night, including 300 from Dykeville. With the largest crowd ever, there was barely room to breathe in the old Caledonian Rink. These patrons would be exposed to the OPHL’s first big display of on-ice violence.

  It was probably the roughest game ever seen in Toronto. Corbeau took on Brantford’s Walter Miller. Young dropped gloves with Brown. Mercer tangled with Taylor. And Morrison mixed it up with John Mickus, the Braves’ goalie. However, none of it compared to the vicious battle between Newsy Lalonde and Brantford cover Cap McDonald.

  Both players were known to be capable of dirty play, and there was bad blood between them from the outset. Finally, just before the midpoint of the second half, Lalonde chopped McDonald hard across the arm. Cap retaliated by taking the lumber to the side of Newsy’s head, rendering him unconscious on the ice. For this, referee Fred Waghorne gave McDonald fifteen minutes in penalties, after which Cap chose not to return to the rink—for his own safety. Lalonde got five minutes, but, despite having regained consciousness, was finished for the night.

  Paradoxically, this incident could have turned the game in Brantford’s favour had it happened sooner. Toronto was just starting to pull away at 7–3 when it occurred. Shorthanded, Brantford held its own. With both Lalonde and McDonald out, the visitors had a definite advantage when the teams were at even strength. Nevertheless, the Pros held on to win 10–7, all the Toronto skaters but Corbeau adding to the offence.

  Ten days later, the rematch took place at Brantford’s Burnley Rink. By then the Braves were rid of McDonald, although it was not clear whether he had been expelled by the league for his dirty play or merely cut from the roster. In either case, his penalties had been killing his club.

  There was also a big crowd in the Telephone City. This included about a hundred coming down on a special train from the provincial capital. They represented an official Torontos fan club set up by friends of Tyner and Young at the University of Toronto. Those two were just returning from a brief stint in Montreal, where they had been hired by the Wheelers to play against Morrison and the Shamrocks.

  It was a clean and brilliant contest. The Torontos were down 6–4 at the half, but dominated the second and went on to win 11–8. Ridpath and Young were said to be the stars, but once again, everyone pitched in. The Pros had shown that, no matter how Brantford played, they could beat them.

  Only Berlin now stood between Toronto and the league championship. While the Pros were recording their two wins against Brantford, the Dutchmen had also defeated the Braves as well as racking up another one against Guelph. With Brantford reduced to 3–4, Toronto and Berlin were now tied for the league pennant at 5–2.

  As one local reporter succinctly observed, “Berlin is now
the team to beat.”4

  The coming Saturday contest at Mutual—February 15 with Berlin—was the professional team’s biggest game yet. The winner would move ahead in the season series and take the undisputed lead in the Ontario race.

  Despite mild weather and soft ice, the rink was again packed. Five hundred supporters of the Dutchmen came in for the big match, which was a fast, hard game. The Torontos had the edge in play, but Berlin goalie Charlie “Punch” Ellis had kept it close all through.

  Then came the dramatic conclusion.

  Late in the contest and leading 5–4, the homesters got into significant penalty trouble. With Morrison and Corbeau both off, the Dutchmen moved six men up for a frantic assault on Tyner’s net. The locals responded by surrounding their goal like a “citadel.”5 It held the attackers off until Gross took a penalty and the visitors’ momentum was lost.

  On this occasion, the Toronto papers had every reason to be appalled.

  Lalonde had again led the Toronto attack, scoring two and being constantly dangerous around the net. The playmaking Ridpath, whose speed and stickhandling just kept getting stronger, was the game’s selfless star, his play and demeanour adored by the fawning crowd. The Torontos were now widely acknowledged as a solid seven from goal to left wing, with an ever-improving team game. Tyner had been a bit soft that night, but it was not a real concern.

  On the other hand, Morrison was a worry. As each game passed, there was ever more pointed coverage in the local papers of his listless play. Hopping trains back and forth to play with the Montreal Shamrocks, he looked visibly tired to many. The Berlin game had been his fourth in five nights, all in different cities. However, this criticism may have been rooted as much in resentment of Bert’s divided loyalties as in his actual performance, since his scoring stats—for both Toronto and the Shamrocks—remained healthy.