Hockey History

Hamilton and the 1931 Allan Cup – The Final Chapter

After a lengthy train trip to Winnipeg, the 1931 Hamilton Tigers were ready to meet Winnipeg Seniors in a best two-out-of-three series, the victor collecting the Allan Cup.

With all 6,000 seats filled in the Winnipeg Amphitheater, Hamilton fans of the Tigers could listen to the game on the local CKOC radio station.

So the stage was set April 1, 1931 for the first game, and Winnipeg played a swell April’s Fool joke on the Bengals, winning the first match-up 2-1.

A Hamilton Spectator report of the game was not favorable for the Tigers.

“For two periods Hamilton showed nothing in the line of offensive play, and they were backed into dangerous corners repeatedly as the Winnipeggers used cyclonic speed to dive in after rebounds and test Hawse Marsh (Hamilton goalie) with snappy drives from close in.”

After scoring near the 12:00 minute mark of the first period, Winnipeg tallied another marker near the end of the second to start the final frame with a 2-0 lead. With less than three minutes to go, Muir McGowan scored for the Tigers.

Much praise was given to Hamilton goalie Harold (Hawse) Marsh:

“For 50 minutes of the hour’s play, shots rained on Marsh, clever Hamilton netman,” read a Canadian Press wire story of the event. “Time and again, he fell to the ice to collar rebounds from his saves of to protect his cage from threatening mix-ups at the net-mouth.”

The Spectator report mentioned that the Tigers did not play as a team, were well-checked by Winnipeg, and could not match the pace set by the home team. The CP story offered this advice to Hamilton:

“In the second game tomorrow night, the Tigers may cast aside their defensive style and meet the flashing Pegs at their own game – speed.”

And although Hamilton tried to match Winnipeg on the ice in the second game, the Westerners were just too much for the Bengals, who dropped a 3-1 decision, and in doing so, lost in their bid for the Allan Cup.

“Great in defeat, the Bengals passed out of the blue-ribbon series of amateur hockey with colors flying, for unlike their exhibition in the first game, they fought from the drop of the hat Thursday night and it was a tribute to their gameness and fighting ability that the capacity crowd stood as one man at the finish and cheered the gallant fight that was the end of the trail for the courageous squad from the Ambitious City,” editorialized the Spec.

Winnipeg scored in the first, second, and third periods before Roy Litzen scored the lone Hamilton goal with less than a minute remaining in the game. Winnipeg was just too strong a team for Hamilton.

“The victors turned in more superior combination than they exhibited in the first game,” noted the Spec. “They turned in dazzling speed, fought for every break, and generally made the task of the Hamiltonians tough beyond description.”

Hamilton’s Senior amateur club would continue to play in the city for another two decades, almost always known as the Tigers. The team would go to the Allan Cup final once more during this time, losing to Calgary in 1946.

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