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History of the A's |
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Lacrosse At The Crossroads |
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THROUGH
THE SPORTS
GATE By
Jack Gatecliff The
St. Catharines Standard Thursday August 17, 1961 Lacrosse Here At Crossroads The
playoff series between Port Credit and the Athletics will do more than
decide which team will move on to the Ontario Lacrosse Association senior
“A” finals. This
is not a threat. Fred Conradi is not in the habit of making threats. It is
merely a statement that under present conditions and the general apathy of
the public, senior lacrosse just can’t continue to exist in the city. When
the huge crowds at the bowl started to dwindle in the late forties, all
connected with the game including the fans proclaimed both loud and long
that if there were a floor in the Garden City Arena and the weather hazard
of outdoor lacrosse was eliminated, attendance would return to its former
heights. At
a cost of $14,700 to the St. Catharines Parks Board, the floor was
installed in 1952 and the Athletics moved inside the following year. So
certain was the Athletic executive that the new quarters would put an end
to their troubles that they went far out on the limb and agreed to pay the
players a certain amount for each game. This was something that wasn’t
even done in the halcyon days of the late thirties and early forties when
crowds of 4,000 were the rule. Players at that time shared equally in the
profits at the end of each season. However
the confidence of the Athletic executive proved to be founded on hope
rather than fact. The team went into the red to the extent of $2,000 that
year and if anything, attendance was smaller inside than outside. That was
despite the fact that the Garden City Arena with its fine floor and costly
fencing around the boards afforded the finest playing area in Canada. After
five years in the arena and the crowds decreasing each season, many of the
fans who stayed away outside because of what they termed “uncertain
weather conditions” proclaimed that they would gladly go to games if
they were out under the stars. “Too hot in the arena,” appeared to be
the general opinion. The
Haig Bowl was in poor condition at that time, so instead of transferring
the games to the bowl, Manager Conradi shifted to the Welland Arena.
Attendance there was fairly good in 1958, slipped in 1959 and last year
the club came back to St. Catharines. Awaiting
the team on its return to this city was a magnificent new lacrosse bowl
built by the Parks Board at a cost of $12,000. Conradi felt that now that
the games were outside again all those who had burned his ears about being
uncomfortable in the St. Catharines and Welland arenas would storm the
gates in their eagerness to watch lacrosse in the cool evening breezes. Wrong
again. The
largest crowd last year was under 500, the largest this year under 250. And
here’s the piece de resistance. A
couple of weeks ago we were standing at the end of the bowl and the
discussion came up (again) about the lack of attendance. “You know what
the trouble is,” asked one man. “The weather is too uncertain. They
should play inside.” Fortunately we didn’t have a blunt instrument
handy at the time to add emphasis to our answer. It
just boils down to this. In less than 10 years, the Parks Board has
expended close to $27,000 in an attempt to revive interest in lacrosse.
Conradi has brought together a contending team in senior and Ab Frick had
done a similar job in junior year in, year out. The games have been played
outside, and then inside, now outside again and still the fans treat the
players as if they were suffering from the Black Plague. As
we said before, this is not a threat. However, if attendance doesn’t
increase from now until the end of the season, there is a good chance that
both junior and senior will fold simple because of lack of finances. It
is as simple as that. Friday
night the senior A’s meet Port Credit here in the second game of the OLA
senior “A” semi-finals. Port Credit won the opener Tuesday by a 10 –
7 score after the Athletics ran into a series of costly penalties while
leading 2 – 0 in the second period. Games
this year have been better than any played in the senior division in the
past six or seven seasons. The teams, with the exception of Niagara Falls,
have been well-balanced and the few who have attended will verify the fact
that the “legs” have returned. One game went into overtime, three
others finished in one goal decisions. You just can’t beat that for
thrills. The
A’s aren’t looking for miracles. They would be more than happy with
400 to 500 paid customers. Certainly there must be that many in St.
Catharines who would hate to see the game forced out of existence. ELIMINATED
BY
PORT
CREDIT A’S
LOSE OUT
IN OVERTIME SAILORS
WIN 8 – 7 IN SUDDEN-DEATH 2ND
EXTRA SESSION The
St. Catharines Standard Saturday
August 26, 1961 St.
Catharines Athletics ended their 1961 senior lacrosse season here last
night. But it wasn’t without a fight. It took the Port Credit Sailors
two overtime periods to edge the A’s 8 – 7 before a near-capacity
crowd at the Haig Bowl. However, at this stage in their OLA Senior “A”
semi-final series, a miss was as good as a mile for St. Catharines and the
win was enough to give the defending Mann Cup champions a 4 – 2 margin
in the best-of-seven playoff. It
was a partially-screened bouncer by Lou Nickle at 3:52 of the sudden-death
second overtime session that sank the Athletics. Nickle fired through a
tangle of legs from about 15 feet and St. Catharines goaltender Bob
McCready didn’t have a chance. The goal spoiled an uphill battle by the
A’s that saw the home team fight from behind twice during the rugged
playoff encounter. Powless
Stars After
giving up three early goals, the St. Catharines club managed to narrow the
gap to 3 – 2 by the end of the first period. Two quick ones in the
middle session put the A’s ahead. But Port Credit came back with four
straight for a 7 – 4 margin going into the third period. Doug
Smith pounded one home after 49 seconds and Ross Powless added two more
before the period had ended to produce the deadlock. The
clubs then fought through a ten-minute overtime session (when any number
of goals could have been scored) and when still tied, headed into the
sudden-death session. Powless led the St. Catharines output with three
goals, while Gary Carr added a pair. With Smith scoring one, the other
single went to Gary Hinds. Nickle
and Larry Ruse scored two each for the winners while George Kapasky, Ken
Crawford, Bob Hanna and Gerry Aherne were the other marksmen. Started
Rough Last
night’s outing began roughly with both clubs seemingly determined to
wear the opposition down with slashing and bumping. However, after a rash
of first period penalties, play settled down and (although there were a
few minor skirmishes) no more trouble resulted. Both
goalkeepers (Porky Russell of Port Credit and Bobby McCready of St.
Catharines) came up with excellent games. Time and again, they robbed the
opposition at point blank range. Joe
Cheevers handled the A’s in the forced absence of Norm Corcoran. The St.
Catharines playing coach had to sit it out after having drawn a match
misconduct penalty the night before in Port Credit when the A’s bowed 7
– 5. Port Credit: Russell, Hanna, Kapasky, Sears, Allan, Tomchychen, Hall, Ruse, Ahearne, Henderson, Crawford, Nickle, Teatro. St. Catharines: McCready, Smith, Powless, Howe, Roy, O' Hearn, Hinds, Moore, G. Carr, D. Carr, Squires, Mower, Bomberry, Cheevers. First Period
Penalties: Ahearne, D. Carr, Sears (roughing) 2:49, Cheevers (slashing) 2:49, Kapasky (fighting major) 6:01, Smith (fighting major) 6:01, Hanna (elbowing) 7:02, G. Carr (slashing) 7:18, Nickle (checking goaltender) 16:59 Second Period
Penalties: Nickle (checking goaltender) 4:53, Kapasky (10-minute misconduct) 6:43 Third Period
Penalties: G. Carr (roughing) 6:43, Nickle (roughing) 6:43, Squires (slashing) 7:41, Ruse (high sticking) 9:22, Howe (charging) 10:02, Howe (high sticking) 12:52, Tomchychen (high sticking) 14:07 First Overtime
Penalties: Squires (high sticking) 8:00, Ruse (slashing plus 10-minute misconduct) 8:06 Second Overtime
Penalties: Mower (fighting major) 3:34, Ahearne (fighting major) 3:34 |