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The Hamilton Red Wings and the 1962 Memorial Cup
Chapter Two Hamilton stumbles at first, but takes command and wins over the Teepees “We all made mistakes tonight but it isn’t over yet.” Those words were spoken by Hamilton Red Wings Coach Eddie Bush after losing the first game in the OHA Junior A semi-finals 2-1 against the Saint Catharines Teepees. This first game in the best-of-seven series belonged to Roger Crozier, who ruled lord and master over the Saint Catharines net. Scoring the lone Hamilton goal was the team’s top goal scorer, Lowell MacDonald, the single exception to Crozier’s 43 saves. Writing in the Hamilton Spectator, Joe Watkins said the clubs were closely matched: “It was evident from the start that it was going to be a rugged, close-checking affair,” he noted. “The teams matched strides throughout and it was the bounce of the puck that finally settled the decision.”
After Ives scored the tie-breaker for the Teepees in the third period, Hamilton pummeled Crozier with shots, but the former Memorial Cup winner (1960) and future NHL star goalie of the Detroit Red Wings could not be stopped. “We’ll never play any better than we did Thursday night (opening game night) and lose,” said Coach Bush in a post game interview. “We’ll never check them any closer and we had 43 shots at their net. We were closed by Crozier.” Hamilton rebounded with a game in a packed arena in the Garden City, taking a 3-2 decision and tying the series. Howie Menard, Wayne Rivers, and John Grofton scored for the Wings. The next day, the Hamilton Forum was also packed, and fans watched their heroes take a 5-4 win to give Hamilton a 2-1 lead in the series. But another element entered into the mix of the third game, and that was referee Bill Quenneville, brought in from the Quebec Hockey League. He pulled no punches with either club, and dished out 67 minutes in penalties to the teams. Rarely during the game were the teams at full strength, and at one time three Wings were sitting in the penalty box. “I didn’t call a tougher game here than I regularly call in Montreal,” Quenneville said after the game. “I wasn’t sent here to do anything differently than I do in my own league. If these boys knew me and if they knew the way I call’em there’d have been a lot fewer penalties this afternoon.” It’s a miracle that we won today,” he said. “We’ll have to do more than five or six carrying the load if we’re going to win this.” Well, for the fourth game of the series, held in Hamilton, a sellout crowd of 3,810 watched a bit of a nail-biter, but the Red Wings came through with a 3-1 victory, and Paul Henderson got the winning Hamilton goal with less than two minutes in the game. Defenseman Bob Wall was able to get the puck to rightwinger Henderson for the goal to win the game and take a 3-1 lead in the series. “I had three breakaways tonight,” said Henderson, who would go on to play in the NHL for Detroit and Toronto. “It’s about time I scored a goal.” The fifth game was right out of a Hollywood movie, as the Red Wings made up for a 3-0 deficit to defeat Saint Catharines 4-3 to win the game, and the series. The game was held in Saint Catharines in front of 3,465 fans. After three goals by the Teepees, Wall scored Hamilton’s first with less than a minute in the second period. In the penalty-free final period, Wall opened up the scoring with another, followed by the goals of Roger Lafrenier and Pit Martin. Once again, Coach Bush had the last word. “The good Lord is with us” he said after the game. “Finishing first has proved a jinx in this league for years. We had the odd home game advantage in this series now we’ll get it against the Flyers too.” Bush was referring to the Niagara Falls Flyers, who defeated Montreal in the Series A of the OHA Junior A play-downs with a 4-2 record in their series. The scene was set for Hamilton in their quest for the 1962 Memorial Cup. Game one was scheduled for March 21, 1962, at the Hamilton Forum. NEXT: The Red Wings battle another team in the Peninsula.
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