1939-40 Play-Offs
FIRST QUARTER-FINAL (Pembroke VS St. John’s)
The Mariners begin their tenure in the Maritimes by making the play-offs in their first year. Game one in Pembroke was a shoot-out. Michael Francis and Black Jack Jones were absolute sieves in the first period, with both giving three goals. In the second, penalties plagued Saint John’s which caused them to spend most of the time 5-on-3. Pembroke’s power play led by Michaels and Van Vleet went 2-4 to make the game 5-3. Jones shut down the rest of the period, but would let in a goal of off a weird bounce on a dump in. Saint John’s would bounce back, winning game two on a goal by Erwin Osswald mid-way through the third. Game three would be a slaughter as Pelletier and Carter carried the team to a 3-0 shut out, before clinching the series in overtime with Dennis Knight burying the winner.

SECOND QUARTER FINAL (Ottawa VS Hamilton)
Ermis Siskakos lit up the Cavalry with a four-goal night as Maxime Auvrey stopped 37 shots for a shut out. Ottawa came back strong in game two, beating the Steelmen 3-1 due to the amazing effort of Camillo Adams. Ottawa’s big guns came through for them in game three posting a 6-0 final as Mike White stood on his head. Then it fell apart. White would be pulled as he gave up four goals in the first ten minutes of the game. A bad hook early in the second put Ottawa on the power play and Milo MacDarcy came through for them with a nice shot from the face-off circle. A couple more powerplay goals would be all Ottawa would get in game four. Gave five was a battle of the grinders. The big guns were quiet on both sides and the bottom feeders came through. Ottawa came through with a 5-3 win, propelling them to the semi-finals.

FIRST SEMI-FINAL (Toronto VS Halifax)
Hay, Moore, and Cavillo were unstoppable in game one, tallying seven goals between them, as the Bulldogs took game one 7-3. Game two was closer, going scoreless after the first period. Francis Mitchel broke the scoreless tie for Toronto part way through the second. A few minutes later, Christopher O’Keefe got brought down in the corner, sending Halifax to the power play. They wouldn’t be able to convert, however, as Milo Dunphy shut the door on them. Coming out of the box, Jacky Anderson would snap in the second Toronto goal. A late third period goal from Halifax would make it 2-1, but it was too little, too late. Toronto apparently didn’t enjoy the Bulldogs having the audacity to fight back after the regular season, and shut them up with an amazing 5 goal shutout to advance to the Borden Cup Final.

SECOND SEMI-FINAL (Ottawa VS St. John’s)
Game one was scoreless late into the third, despite the numerous chances on both sides. White was in nets for Ottawa, stopping 39 of 40 shots on the night. Michael Francis came through for the Mariners, coming up with a 50 save shutout, as Pelletier buried the game winner. With Walter Griffith surprisingly quiet, Osswald and Pelletier picked up the slack. Feeding off of each other, along with Pekar and Fentrey on the blue line, they took Ottawa to school. The Cavalry were unable to figure out the Mariners’ attack, and Alex Hawley was unable to cope with insane number of shots he faced. Saint John’s swept the Cavalry and advanced to the Final against the Toronto Millionaires.
C+C is welcome, and the Final should be up by the week's end. Also, if any of you want a sig for any of the teams, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do.

1940 OFF-SEASON
After the Mariners’ upset of the Toronto Millionaires, the CPHL looked forward to expansion to ten teams. Although the league was looking to continue to expand into the Maritimes, pressure began to come from Western cities. Sudbury, North Bay, Windsor, and Thunder Bay, Ontario all began to lobby for places in the CPHL. Harry Holmes Sr. initially denied their advances, siting the statistical advantage of fulfilling an all-Maritime division within the league. Existing Ontario teams added their voice to the fray. “Travelling to Windsor or the Thunder Bay area is exponentially more economical for us,” Hamilton owner Andrew Lucasson said in an interview. “Not to mention the amazing rivalries that will come from it.” With pressure rising on all angles, Holmes agreed to entertain applications from western cities for the expansion council.
Two weeks later, the CPHL office would release the final list of candidates.

Moncton, New Brunswick
Population: 22,763
Owner: Oscar Molson, part owner of Molson Canadian.
Proposed arena: 10,000 seats (would be 2nd largest after Toronto)

Sydney, Nova Scotia
Population: 28,305
Owner: Alfred Manson and Peter Shoemaker, a pair of local businessmen
Proposed arena: 8,900 seats

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Population: 14,821
Owner: Nicholas Reginald, local Member of Parliament
Proposed arena: 9,500 (would be 2nd largest after Toronto, barring Moncton’s entrance)

Sudbury, Ontario
Population: 32,203
Owner: Isaac Levi, local bank manager
Proposed arena: 11,800

Windsor, Ontario
Population: 106,311
Owner: Zachary French
Proposed Arena: 20,000 (would be largest in the league)

Thunder Bay, Ontario
Population: 50,011
Owner: Lionel Alexander, partner in Ford Motor Co.
Proposed Arena: 18,550 (would tie Toronto)

Outside of the expansion talks, the Quebec Mariners and the Pembroke Patriots lost long standing members of their roster. In Quebec, Gabriel Sardou, Bernard Auguste, and Josue Bachlet would hang up their skates after five years of professional hockey and a couple of decades in amateur hockey each. Pembroke fans were forced to say good-bye to star defender Alexander Manning, who retires at age 45, having won two Borden Cups in his professional career. Manning was famous for his break-out passes and his great hockey IQ, being able to see the play beautifully. Lionel Ambers and Geoffrey Spinelli were two stalwarts on the offense for the Patriots, with Spinelli being an absolute beast on the wing for many years.

Ironically happening after the finals, Toronto and Saint John’s both made changes in the back up goaltending spots. Jonathon Michaels found himself on the short side of the stick after a disastrous regular season and an even more disastrous semi-final, losing 7-3 to Halifax in game one. In his place, twenty-year-old Bobby West came in from the south-side of Toronto to play for his home-town team. For Saint John’s, they finally had enough of the minor-league style of play from back-up John Redson who was completely incompetent at the professional level. While he might be able to excel in house leagues, the more competitive leagues seemed to be too much for him. As a replacement, German Kasper Hoff was brought in. Unable to speak English fluently, he created an interesting paradox in the locker room, although his play remains to be seen.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the expansion this round, please vote for one (1) Ontario team and one Maritime team. If you wish to vote for two cities from the same area, you'll need to have a compelling reason for it. C+C is welcome as well!

My votes are for Moncton and Thunder Bay

Windsor and Moncton

Love it.  Like the presentation. 

Moncton and Thunder Bay my votes.

Last edited by JMurr (2/25/2021 9:51 pm)