History of the A's

Coach "Tank" Teather

THROUGH THE SPORTS GATE

by Jack Gatecliff

The St. Catharines Standard

Wednesday June 6, 1956

Jim Joy was giving Don Moore a rubdown on the training table. Al Frick was struggling out of some cumbersome, but necessary, shoulder pads. Haggis McIntosh had the long pole out and was hanging the sweaters high and out of the way of the passing traffic on a specially constructed clothesline.

In the corner of the arena dressing room and just out of range of the hot shower sat Tom (Tank) Teather, new coach of the senior lacrosse Athletics. Tank was twirling a lacrosse stick idly in his hands and seemed rather oblivious to the surroundings.

“Hey coachie, watcha dreaming about,” shouted Doug Smith giving Teather a playful switch of the towel. “Just thinking back a few years,” said Tank and it was with almost visible effort that he brought himself back to the present.

Memories come easy for Tank. Like the other members of the famous Athletics of the 1938 – 41 era and the Teepee hockey club of 1954, Tank has found out from personal experience how St. Catharines can literally turn hand springs for a sports organization which it takes to its heart.

Teather’s lacrosse experience started during the transition from the old field game to the present box lacrosse and he is one of the few men now active who has been continuously associated with the sport since that radical change.

In 1931 Louis Cunningham coached the field lacrosse Shamrocks in the city league, later turning over his duties to Tank’s dad Tip Teather. Tank started with the Shamrocks, then switched to the Athletics in 1933 when half the season was played as field lacrosse and half as boxla with Mel Soper as coach.

In 1934 he started in senior, at the same time keeping up his duties in junior. The seniors didn’t enjoy spectacular success until 1938 but the junior team amassed a record which has never been equaled by a junior or senior team in box lacrosse history.

For three years, 1934, 1935 and 1936, the Athletics didn’t lose a game in league or playoffs. Unfortunately there were no Minto Cup playoffs at that time, the Ontario championship being the end of the road. It was the next year, 1937 that the Minto Cup was placed for competition among the Canadian junior teams.

The bulk of that great junior Athletics team moved into senior in 1937 and Teather and the other team members suffered their first big disappointment when they were eliminated by the Orillia Terriers in the Ontario finals.

However chinks were starting to appear in the mighty Orillia dynasty and in 1938 it was the Athletics who knocked off the Terriers in the finals, then went on to win the Canadian championship and Mann Cup in Maple Leaf Gardens. A new dynasty had appeared on the scene.

1938, 1939, 1940 and 1941 saw the Athletics sweep to four Ontario and three Canadian senior championships. Lacrosse was at its peak in popularity and embraced some of the greatest players the game has ever known.

In St. Catharines it was a form of hysteria as fans stood in line for hours for the privilege of watching the Athletics meet, and defeat, teams like Orillia, Brampton, Fergus, Mimico, Hamilton and Cornwall at the country’s largest outdoor lacrosse stadium, the Haig Bowl.

After a succession of coaches, Herb Millar, Marty Cahill and Tip Teather; Art Brown was at the controls during those championship and lucrative years. Lucrative meant that the players were not paid on a per game basis but received as much as $400 in their “split” at the end of the season.

In those days that was a fair sum for a season of lacrosse especially when it is considered that the price of admission was just 25 cents. (There was a strong feeling of resentment when for one playoff series, the Athletics put the price up to 30 cents.)

After a couple of years overseas with the Canadian Army, Teather returned to St. Catharines and resumed his lacrosse, this time shifting to Hamilton under the sponsorship of Russell T. Kelley. Tank played with the Tigers for four seasons, 1946 until 1949, and added two Ontario and one Canadian championship to his imposing display of lacrosse medals.

Joe Cheevers, a life-long friend of Teather, returned from Hamilton in 1950 to coach the Athletics and Tank followed. (Neither man actually shifted residence, merely commuted between Hamilton and St. Catharines during the lacrosse season.)

In 1952, after 19 years of senior lacrosse, Teather hung up his stick for good. However the end of his playing days didn’t signify the end of interest as far as he was concerned.

For three years Tank has headed the ambitious minor lacrosse program in St. Catharines, acting as general convenor, referee and on occasion, coach.

This year Roy Morton, another of Tank’s playing mates of former years, resigned as senior coach and Teather was the logical and unanimous choice to succeed. It was typical of Tank that he moved into the new position without hesitancy or outright promises, merely the statement that he would do his best.

When accepting the position he asked for a two-year term feeling that little could be proven in one season. Now he’s not so sure.

“I still intend to keep the job for two years,” he stated earlier this week, “but now I’m not so sure that it will take two years to bring the Mann Cup back here.”

The Athletics have strengthened by the return of Nip O’Hearn and were given further encouragement by the signing two days ago of Jim McNulty, undisputed king of the senior lacrosse marksmen.

THROUGH THE SPORTS GATE

by Jack Gatecliff

The St. Catharines Standard

Thursday July 25, 1974

Since 1943 Thomas R. (Tank) Teather has retired on five occasions but as of tomorrow he fully intends to make No. 6 stick.

As the older readers will recall, with more than a touch of nostalgia, Teather was a member of the great St. Catharines Athletic teams which won the Ontario senior lacrosse championship four consecutive years - 1938 to 1941 - and the Canadian senior title (Mann Cup) three times.

Those were the days when the open-air Haig Bowl was packed with more than 4,000 fans for virtually every home game to watch, what we firmly believe, was the best team which ever played box lacrosse.

Tank started his senior career in 1934 while also playing with the junior Athletics which, one season, never lost a game.

In 1937 the senior A's advanced into the Ontario finals against the Orillia Terriers - who had won the Mann Cup the two previous years - and were nudged by one goal in the deciding seventh game in Orillia.

However from that point on it was one beautiful series of summers for St. Catharines lacrosse bugs as the Athletics won the Canadian in 1938, 1940 and 1941, and lost in the 1939 national final in British Columbia.

Mimico-Brampton Combines shook the trophy loose from the Athletics in 1942 and in 1943, Teather retired for the first time when he left lacrosse to join the Canadian Army.

Job At McKinnon Chain

Backtracking a little, it should be pointed out that while the Athletics packed 'em in, there was not much money as far as the players were concerned. Price of admission was only 25 cents and one year when it was boosted to 40 cents for the playoffs, many fans felt the raise was exorbitant.

No player ever received more than $400 for a single season and Teather, like team-mates Gus Madsen, George Urquart, George Hope, Roy Morton and Bill Nelson (who came along a little later) were hired by the late Harvey Dudley, president of what was commonly known as McKinnon Chain. (It is now Columbus McKinnon Ltd. and the location has changed from next door to General Motors Plant One to new quarters on Welland Avenue East.)

It was no mere coincidence that "Uncle Harvey" Dudley was also president of the St. Catharines Athletic Lacrosse Club.

The majority of the players moved on to positions in other plants or changed careers but Tank stayed from 1936 until his final retirement at the end of this month - a period of 38 years including the time served in the army.

He started as a shipper, was promoted to shipping and receiving foreman after returning from overseas and for the past 17 years has been purchasing agent.

However it is in sport that Teather was, and still is, better known.

During his first year in senior he played a full month under his buddy Morton's certificate as Roy's parents wouldn't let him play until the school term was completed.

When "Pung," as Morton was called, came back Tank had made a position with the team and his bona fide certificate was forwarded to the Ontario Lacrosse Association.

More Retirements

Teather was one of the smaller players with the A's but was always up among the leading scorers on a line with Morton, Urquart and usually rover (seven players were used in the 1930's and 1940's) George Coles.

However when he returned from active service the late George Cleverley had taken over from Art Brown as coach and was concentrating on a youth movement.

When Tank realized he was not really wanted he retired again briefly, but got the urge to continue and joined the Hamilton Tigers.

His former team-mate Joe Cheevers also switched in 1948 -- as playing-coach -- and the Tigers won the Mann Cup that season and the Ontario in 1949.

It was another retirement for Teather - a tough-checking forward who changed into a tough-checking defenseman with Hamilton - in 1950 but he was prevailed upon to come back and play with St. Catharines and finally put his stick and running shoes in mothballs in 1954 to take over as president of the St. Catharines Minor Lacrosse Association.

About the time he started evening shifts at the Garden City Arena, not for money but because he was pals with Lee Blank, the ex-manager and Joe Cheevers, who was his assistant boss until he started selling cars.

However one of his chief reasons was that he just liked people and enjoyed meeting them while selling tickets.

He left that part-time job two years ago.

During his active days in sport Tank was also a fine football player with the Collegiate, St. Catharines and Thorold teams and it was through football he was tagged with the nickname.

Tank and Jessie Teather have three children, Tom Jr. who is with the St. Catharines Fire Department, Dick who farms in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Carol who is married to a Beamsville High School teacher Ed Wright.

This may be the last retirement for Tank Teather but on his past records don't wager he won't be back doing something useful in the community.

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