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Hockey History
Hamilton wins its first OHA Intermediate Championship “It took a long time, but it finally happened,” started a report from the March 10, 1917 edition of the Hamilton Spectator. “For many years Hamilton has been struggling to get on the hockey map, but in vain until last night. It was the first time that the fair name of this city ever appeared on an OHA honor roll, but so firmly has the game been established here this winter that from now on look out for Hamilton.” Hamilton had won the OHA championship over Kitchener, the first time for Hamilton since the advent of the competition in 1897. Earlier in the month, Hamilton had defeated Peterborough in a two-game contest, outscoring the Petes 11-10, and giving them the rights to meet Kitchener for the intermediate OHA championship. Hamilton had come back from a six-goal deficit, losing 9-6 in Peterborough, to dominate with an 8-1 victory in front of the home town fans at the Barton Street Arena. The first game of the final two-game title series was also played at the Arena, and while Hamilton won handily 8-3, the reporter was not only impressed with the play of the victors, he went on at length about the size of the crowd. “Hockey history, from an attendance standpoint, was made, and the biggest crowd that ever viewed a game here jammed into the arena. Every available inch of room was occupied, and before the game started the arena management had to quit selling tickets.” Billy Coir was the star of the game, with four goals for Hamilton, while Boyd had a pair of goals, and teammates Harold Parker and Harry Reid each took a marker. It seems the Kitchener team was just not up to setting the pace for the game. “Speed is what gave the locals an edge on the visitors,” commented the article. “They proved faster at all times, but the Kitchener outfit checked very closely and did not allow the Hams to indulge in as much spectacular individual work as was shown here with Peterborough.” The second game of the series was played a week later in Kitchener, and although Hamilton lost 3-1, the final tally was 9-6, giving Hamilton the championship. Once again Harry Reid was cited as a driving force for Hamilton, and in the final period kept Kitchener at bay after the local team had scored three goals in the second frame. Hamilton goaltender Sloan was also given credit: “The K boys started off in the first frame with a rush, and carried the disc into Hamilton territory, and for about two minutes the rubber did not cross the center line into the Kitchener end. The play throughout the first frame was easily Kitchener’s and the shots on goal were about six to one, but Sloan was on the job and the local seven were unable to score.” Close to 200 Hamilton fans made up the large crowd of 3,000 to witness the game, and the reporter spoke for them: “About 200 supporters accompanied the team, and they were well satisfied with what they saw, although they were on the verge of having an attack of heart failure when the Kitchener team scored three goals in less than five minutes in the early part of the second period.” A couple of interesting notes during the trip to Kitchener: In the days before the now-normal highway travel, teams traveled
from city to city by rail. But the Hamilton squad could not secure
a special train trip to Kitchener for its second game, and had
to use the radial, part of an established inter-city transit system
very popular at the time. The mode of transport was known as interurbans
in the US. Another interesting item mentioned in the reports of the games
was the tally of admissions in the Kitchener game. The receipts
collected for this second game of the series was $1,091, and each
team was to receive $325 in total for their efforts, which would
amount to about $46 for each of the seven players, although the
coach and staff probably got a share.
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