The Final
February 7, 1936. Toronto, Ontario. 7:35 PM. The Ottawa Cavalry step out onto the ice, the crisp sound of their skates stirring the silent crowd. They begin their warm-ups, circling their side of the ice. The opposing door opens, and the green, black, and gold clad Patriots get onto the ice, circling their side of the ice. The referee blows the whistle to summon the centers to the center line. Worsely crouches down for the draw in an outlandish stance, while Van Vleet stares down at him, his stick grasped skillfully in his leathern gloves. The puck drops, and the game begins. It’s a fast game, with little hitting. Nineteen of the first thirty minutes passes and still we lack a goal. Clemens receives a pass from Anthony, and feeds it up the boards to Franconi. Franconi displays unusual dexterity as he avoids Howardson. A SHOT! Its in! Franconi opens the scoring for Ottawa!

From there, the flood gates opened. David Wilkes and Peter Darling each netted a couple of goals before they set up John Granger for a rocket of a back-door goal. Ottawa’s so-called Bully Bunch had shown that they CAN use their sticks for good. For Pembroke, Leonard King and Geoffrey Spinelli led the team with three goals each, while Erik Micheals and Skippy Van Vleet dominated the game in the corners with their amazing passing and strength. Eventually, the final whistle sounds, and the Cavalry leave with a 13-12 win over Pembroke.

Unfortunately for the nation’s capital, games two and three were dominated by the Patriots. Game two was an easy 6-0 win for the Patriots with Spinneli scoring 4, and Van Vleet putting 2 behind Ottawa’s Howard Richardson. In the final game, Ottawa’s physical players attempted to put a damper on the speedy top players opposite them. Van Vleet and Emmanuel Derringer each scored a hat trick, and the former having six points. On February 11, 1936, the Pembroke Patriots had gold medals placed around their necks as the first Canadian Premiere Hockey League champions. As the Patriots celebrated and were awarded, the Ottawa Cavalry took a knee and tapped their sticks on the ice, even as the tears streamed down their cheeks.

Great series! What a start to this project

1936 OFFSEASON

Three months after the Patriots won the CPHL Championship, tragedy struck Ottawa. While out boating with his sweet-heart, Michael Worsely struck a rock in the Ottawa River and drowned while saving her life. She would eventually a full recovery in the Hôpital Saint Marguerite in Ottawa, and later became a prominent figure in promoting women’s hockey. The entire city was devastated by the loss of their playoff hero and the city honoured his memory with a city-wide funeral. The team for their part retired his number 7, marking the first time a jersey number was retired in CPHL history.

During the off-season, numerous meetings pervaded the Canadian Premiere Hockey League. The owners met in the league offices on Golden Avenue in Toronto behind closed doors. The meetings lasted for approximately two weeks, and often proceeded for the majority of the day. At the end of the fortnight, Holmes and the owners held a press conference, which boasted a decent attendance. Holmes made two announcements before taking a record low of two questions, one of which was to repeat part of his statement. First, he announced the awarding of the Borden Cup to the champions of the league beginning the following season, and that the Patriots would retroactively be awarded the cup. The championship trophy was named in honour of Robert Borden, the Prime Minister who had led Canada through the First World War.

Next, he announced that there would be an expansion committee reviewing the details of each city’s bid for a team with an entry fee of $200 dollars. Evert and Warren, the owners of Pembroke and Brampton respectively, would latter reveal that they had not been in favour of the expansion, feeling that their teams were a sort of expansion team and deserved some recognition as such.

Sudbury, Ontario
POPULATION: ~ 65,000
FAN BASE: Committed, but small.
BID: Would be able to secure an area to play at. The city would run the team until a suitable owner is found.

Edmonton, Alberta
POPULATION: 87,034
FAN BASE: Strong
BID: Will play at the Edmonton outdoor rink until the city can secure a proper arena. Owner Michael Brandon will secure the funding for an eight thousand seat arena.

Calgary, Alberta
POPULATION: 83,304
FANBASE: Enthralled, captivated, even cultish.
BID: The Calgary Agricultural Men’s Theatre and Sports Society would purchase the team and fund the building of a 7,000 seat arena.

MADAWASKA, New Brunswick
POPULATION: ~3,900
FANBASE: Small, but devoted.
BID: Owner Alexander West will purchase the team, funding a 3,000 seat arena.

NOTE ON MADAWSKA AND SUDBURY: Due to lack of census records, the populations are estimations.

FREE AGENTS:
Derek “Red” “Cyclone” Smith signs a $150/game contract with Ottawa.

RETIREMENTS:
Ottawa’s John Granger retires after his twentieth season of hockey, and only one professional. He returned to his native Kingston, where he resumes his former job as a general store worker.

Andrew Wealth, Toronto’s 44 year-old stalwart winger, decides to return to his father’s publishing house on Younge Street, trading sticks and skates for ink and paper.

Rugrat wrote:

I still feel like it too early for Calgary and Edmonton just my two cents. Also RIP Michael Worsey

Feel free to write your list 1-4 of which cities you think should get a team. Apologies, I should have stated how it works.

Here’s my take. We’re still way too early to touch Western Canada. Winnipeg I can see immediately after WWII, but until air travel is regular (which in our universe, the Bruins were the first to do so in 1958), we should just take Sasketchewan and west off the table. My thoughts on the cities are as follows:

Sudbury is perfectly fine as a dark horse candidate.
Madawaska even for the standards of then, is way too small. If you want New Brunswick, Moncton is far and away the best option.

Three markets to really have the best consideration for expansion at this point yet aren’t on your list are Quebec City, Windsor and Halifax. Quebec City is a very reasonable distance away from every team and has a potential to create a rivalry for the ages, Halifax is a bigger Moncton (although I still prefer Moncton), and Windsor is right near the crux of the league.

Don’t take this as a personal attack, the hopes for this series are very high here still. Just slow down and don’t be afraid to do some other research into the logistics outside of census and population data. Look at transportation as well to really get a good grasp on it.