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History of the A's |
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A's Shine Early In 1964 |
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THROUGH
THE SPORTS
GATE By
JACK GATECLIFF The
St. Catharines Standard Wednesday
May 27, 1964 Tonight
the Athletics will meet the Port Credit Sailors here at the Haig Bowl in
their first home senior game of the season. Piloting the visitors will be
Elmer Lee, just as colourful and just as rabble-rousing now as a coach as
he was in his days as a rotund forward with the old Mimico Mounties. With
the exception of player-coach Derry Davies and Dave Hall who is working a
night shift, the Athletics should have all available talent on hand this
evening. Hall incidentally should be a real help this year when available.
He has been with Port Credit the last three or four seasons and has always
finished among the leagues top scorers. One
disappointment was the decision of Ron Roy not to go through with his
planned comeback. After looking very sharp in practice, Ron decided just
before the team left for Brooklin on Saturday night that he would not
play. Husky
defenseman Doug Smith, who annually announces his retirement at this time
of the year and just as regularly returns a few weeks later, can be
expected to be in the line-up early next month. The
Athletics however have little hope of using Jim McNulty who, in the role
of playing coach last fall, led the club to the Mann Cup finals. McNulty
has a position with a Charlotte, N. C. golf club this summer and will
likely remain there, then continue his hockey activities with the
Charlotte club in the fall. ATHLETIC
GOALTENDER SHINES WEATHER
BRISK BUT McCREADY HOT PORT
CREDIT BEATEN 10 – 2 The
St. Catharines Standard Thursday
May 28, 1964 As
some wag among the hardy fans in the stands at the Haig Bowl last night
said: “It’s a good thing it didn’t rain or the players would have to
wear skates.” This might have been some exaggeration but the temperature
was certainly more conducive to sitting home in front of a fire than
watching a lacrosse game. The
scattering of spectators who did brave the icy breezes watched St.
Catharines goaltender Bob McCready turn in a sensational game as the
Athletics posted a decisive 10 – 2 win over the Port Credit Sailors. The
victory brought the defending Eastern Canada senior champions back to the
.500 win-loss mark after they suffered a 9 – 8 loss in their opening
game in Brooklin last weekend. McCready
Sharp McCready,
who has the same wandering habits in lacrosse that Jacques Plante does in
hockey, has seldom played a better game. In fact until well into the third
period it appeared as if he might register a rare (for lacrosse) shutout. He
not only blocked at least a dozen difficult shots but fielded every loose
ball within 20 yards of his net and also made a few spectacular dashes up
the floor whenever interest seemed lagging. However
his hopes for a perfect game were dashed when Doug Holyday cut through the
centre at 8:09 of the third period and picked an open side. The only other
Port Credit goal was scored by Brian Ahearne with less than seven minutes
of playing time remaining. Moore
Scores Three McCready
was not solely responsible for the one-sided victory. The Athletics showed
too much all-round power for the visitors both on defence and offence and
after Gary Moore scored the opening goal at 4:54 of the first period the
result was not seriously in doubt. Moore
had three goals for the night, Pete Berge and Gerry Cheevers two each, Don
Carr, Mike D’Amico and Brian Woods singles. Woods
returning to lacrosse after spending the last few summers as a soccer
goaltender (and sometimes forward) is definitely a valuable addition to
last year’s Mann Cup finalists. As well as scoring a goal he assisted on
three others and with Carr and the veteran Ted Howe, was a positive
“hawk” on loose balls. The
only casualty was St. Catharines defenceman Gary Hind who was hit on the
forehead in the first period on a follow-through shot by George McGaffey.
Hind was taken to the hospital where four stitches were required to close
the wound. He returned to play in the third period. The
game was strictly officiated by Bob Dobbie and Bill Dicks. St. Catharines
drew 16 of the 30 minutes in penalties, all minors. Participating
in the brief opening ceremonies were Ed Moir, chairman of the St.
Catharines Parks Board; Bob Stewart of Avondale Dairy, sponsors of the
Athletics; Labatt representative Tommy Wallace who will make an award to
the outstanding St. Catharines player at each home game. Master of
ceremonies was CKTB sportscaster Rex Stimers. Port
Credit: goal, Stephens (0-1); defence, Brown, Dmytrass, Allen,
Kapasky; forwards, Holyday (1-0), Shipway, Tomchyshyn (0-1), McGaffery,
Ahearne (1-0), Henderson. |