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Hockey HistoryHamilton’s first Memorial Cup winners
Hamilton celebrated early in May of 1962 when the Hamilton Red Wings gave the city its first Memorial Cup championship. In front of over 7,000 fans at Kitchener’s Memorial Auditorium, the Red Wings rallied in the third period of the final game to defeat the Edmonton Oil Kings 7-4, winning the series in five games. Coming on strong in the final frame, the Red Wings and Edmonton were tied 3-3, and Hamilton came back to score four unanswered goals against the Oil Kings. The western club was not about to give anything up, and were matching the Red Wings early in the match, but Hamilton’s depth was obvious in the latter stages of the game. “Twice tonight we had it,” said Pit Martin, the Hamilton ace who went on to play with the parent Detroit Red Wings, the Boston Bruins, and the Chicago Black Hawks. “But both times we let it get away and we had to come back a third time to make it stick.” When Hamilton’s Wayne Rivers fired into the empty Oil King net after Edmonton goalie Harrison Gray had been pulled in the final minute of play, the Red Wings could breathe again, knowing the Memorial Cup truly belonged to them. “Sure I was worried,” said Hamilton net minder Buddy Blom after the game, which was a long one at over three hours and ten minutes. “I didn’t breathe easy until Wayne (Rivers) scored that last goal.”
“I was going crazy the last five minutes,” he continued. “A two-goal lead isn’t enough when you’re playing against a team like Edmonton.” Along with Blom and Rivers, the rest of the Hamilton team played well. Lowell MacDonald scored one of the third period goals and his 70th of the season and eighth of the series. Paul Henderson opened the scoring for Hamilton in the first period. Howie Menard’s 8:05 goal of the third period gave Hamilton the lead at the time. Blom stopped 27 shots on net. The championship was a great victory for Red Wing Coach Eddie Bush, hired in 1960 to coach the Junior A team, and was known as “Mr. Hockey” in Hamilton during his time behind the Red Wing bench in the 1960s. The consummate professional, Bush made sure his players were professional also, both on and off the ice. The Red Wings had an exceptional year for the 1961-62 season. Before meeting up with Edmonton for the national title, Hamilton had put away the Niagara Falls Flyers in OHA Junior A action four games straight before taking on and beating Toronto. In the 24 postseason games the Red Wings played, it won 20 contests, lost three, and tied one. It had been a great, but tiring season for the Red Wings, and several team members were looking forward to a break.
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