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Hockey History
The 1919 Allan Cup– Chapter 1 Before the Hamilton Tigers went professional in 1920 during their five-year term as an NHL club, the OHA senior team was a good one, and by 1919 was a contender for the Allan Cup, the top prize in Canadian amateur hockey. To give an idea of the team’s capabilities, here’s the results of a game played early in 1919 as the team began to gear up for the playoffs. Pre-game talk for a game in Hamilton against the Toronto Veterans was favorable for Hamilton, who not only had Shorty Green on the squad, but had just acquired the talents of Bill Duncan, who played left wing for the AAF team. He was also a hockey friend of Green from Sudbury, where they had both played. “Hockey is king in local sporting circles,” noted a newspaper account before the match. “One all sides one can hear nothing but discussions on the senior OHA outlook, and Tigers’ prospects of winning the championship.” The game was quite a one-sided affair, with Hamilton defeating Toronto 13-3. Although the Vets scored first at the 17-second mark of the first, and twice more in the period, they were helpless as they watched the Tigers scored nine goals in the second and third periods to add to their four-goal first period. Future Montreal Canadien Herb Reaume was in net for the Tigers. Substitute winger Thomas McCarthy had an outstanding game for Hamilton, scoring eight goals himself, playing with center Mickey Roach: “There is no getting away from the fact that Roach and McCarthy stood heads above the other players,” reported the Hamilton Spectator. “They played like Siamese twins and McCarthy scored eight of the 13 goals noted by the yellow and black, the majority of them on a pass from his running mate Roach.” The account continued that although the Tigers were a strong team, there was still work to be done to continue towards the championship: “The game showed that Tigers have the material for a championship team, but there remains a great deal to be done in the way of whipping it into shape. While the Tigers had more sped than the visitors the Vets proved hard checkers, and were at the heels of the locals all the time.” And the visiting press was not impressed with the facility the game was held in, considering the quality of hockey. “The attendance at the Hamilton-Veteran game in Hamilton last night indicates that the Ambitious City must be accorded a place on the hockey map,” stated the Toronto Globe. “The rink is small, and the accommodation for the spectators is not what a city of Hamilton’s size and sporting proclivities warrants. With hockey properly handled, the present plant with its artificial ice apparatus will have to be enlarged of a more commodious rink erected.” Well, the Barton Street arena, built in 1912-13 would remain the rink for all major hockey played in the city for close to the next 60 years. Although enlarged and updated, Hamilton fans would have to tolerate the arena until the building of Copps Coliseum. Next: On the road to the Allan Cup, Hamilton meets its first opponent,
an opponent with a name that ranks as one of the oddest in the
sport.
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