|
|
Hockey HistoryThe 1976 Fincups
According to reports of the time, it was a David and Goliath scenario, but the Hamilton Fincups brought home the Memorial Cup to Hamilton in 1976. It was the second time in the city’s history that the coveted honor came to Hamilton. In only its second season, the Fincups became the junior hockey champions of Canada when they defeated the powerful and strong New Westminster Bruins in a 5-2 finale at the Montreal Forum in May of 1976. The Fincups started their road to victory by winning the Emms Division in regular season play in the Ontario Hockey Association, eliminating the Kitchener Rangers, the Toronto Marlies, and the Sudbury Wolves to earn the right to go to Montreal. More than 2000 Hamilton fans were on hand to witness the games in Montreal against an opponent that was supposed to win the Cup. “Fincups, up to their ears in propaganda about the size, muscle, and talent of the burly Bruins, made liars of the touts yesterday just as they did in their 8-4 whomping on Wednesday,” reported Joe Watkins in the Spectator. “The Ontario Major Junior A champions opened up a two-goal lead by the 11:24 mark of the opening period and never looked back.” It was the second losing trip to the Cup for the BC team, and the Hamilton win was an emotional one for many, including the Fincup coach. “I didn’t want anyone to see a grown man cry,” admitted Fincup coach Bert Templeton about his team’s victory. “I had to leave and go for a walk.” Named for the team owners, brothers Mario and Joe Finochio, and business associate Ron Cupido, the Fincups were the city’s renamed Red Wings Junior A club since the three purchased the franchise and the Forum arena from Nick Durbano after the 1974 season. Fincup captain Dale McCourt, who went on to play for the Detroit Red Wings, was emotionally drained, according to teammate Willie Huber: “I
just looked across the room, and there was Dale crying,” Huber
said years later about their win. “You don’t really
see that stuff from grown men. It was just the happiest time of
our life.” “The guys were all great,” said Joe Contini. “Bert deserves a helluva lot of credit. He’s a super coach. He worked us so hard at practice on Friday and Saturday that there was no way we were going to tire in the third period.” It was reported that during the final game, the Bruins tried to rough up and intimidate the Fincups so much that they drew a lot of penalties, which gave the Fincups several successful power play goals. Several members of the Fincups would go on to stellar careers in hockey, and 12 players would be drafted into the NHL. And
while the Fincup owners and the city would be at loggerheads
over the next few months to get a proper arena for the team to
play in, the team was never formally honored for a quarter century
when the squad was reunited and received the recognition it deserved
at a special dinner and post-game reception hosted by the Hamilton
Bulldogs in April of 2001.
|
||||||
