"Cinderella Club of All Time" The Lethbridge Maple Leafs: World Amateur Hockey Champions 1951, Part 1

Photo Courtesy the Galt Museum and Archives

The Lethbridge Maple Leafs were called the " Cinderella Club of All Time" in the Lethbridge Herald on December 22, 1950, even before they became World Amateur Hockey Champions after winning the gold medal at the 1951 World Championship in Paris, France.  The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association selected the team to represent Canada after they had won the Western Canadian Championship in 1950. Following their world championship win they completed an extensive European tour.  They posted a very impressive record of 51 wins, 4 ties and 7 loses.  They also won the Sir Winston Churchill Cup Competition.

The Lethbridge Maple Leaf team and members were inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.

They boarded the train from Lethbridge, Alberta on December 17, 1950 to start their journey across Canada.  Their train journey ended in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where on December 22, 1950  they boarded an ocean liner to Paris, France and the World Championship.  For a great description of this train trip visit Hockey Rail Tales.

Lanny McDonald, John Davison, John Chapman and the 1971 Arena Fire; Part 1

Lethbridge Arena Before the Fire

Pictures Curtesy of the Lethbridge Galt Museum and Archives

Lanny McDonald, John Davison, John Chapman and the 1971 Arena Fire; Part 1
What do Lanny McDonald, John Davidson and John Chapman have to do with this arena fire? All 3 were involved in the hockey game that was in progress when the fire started as members of the Lethbridge Sugar Kings. Lanny ( the Lethbridge Herald spelled it Lannie) McDonald, was the 18 year old centre for the Sugar Kings who had just be named the MVP of the AJHL. John Davison had just been named Rookie of the Year for the league after being the AJHL’s stingiest goaltender. John Chapman was the 22 year old coach of the club, guiding them to a second place league finish.

With just 35 seconds gone in the third period, the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) play-off game was abruptly halted when the players suddenly left the ice followed by 1,800 spectators evacuating the arena. The March 13, 1971 edition of the Lethbridge Herald reported that within 20 minutes, the raging fire that started in the south east corner of the Lethbridge Arena caused the roof to collapse. 40 firefighters fought the blaze however the 49 year old arena was destroyed. No spectator or player was injured.

Going into the game, the Lethbridge Sugar Kings held a 2 -0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series against the Edmonton Maple Leafs. At the time of the fire the Maple Leafs had a 2-1 lead.

"I Was in the Rink That Night!" - Arena Fire, Part 4



Photo Courtesy Galt Museum and Archives

 First Hand Account of the Lethbridge Arena Fire

I was 14 years old watching the Lethbridge Sugar Kings in the Lethbridge arena the night it burned down. The third period of the AJHL playoff game had just started and the teams were at the other end of the rink skating toward me. Suddenly, the players from both teams stopped skating, some dropped their sticks, and they all calmly started skating off the ice. The fire had started in the south east corner of the rink and there were walls where the players enter the ice separating where I sat, in the north east corner of the rink,   from the blaze. I couldn’t see the fire. I remember how odd it was to continue seated for a few moments while I watched the 1,800 spectators at the game start to file to the exist, again in the most orderly manner. Everyone in the rink but a few of us could see the fire.  Finally, the public address announcer asked everyone to leave the rink. It was only as I rounded the corner of the wall that I saw blaze, which had quickly grown.  I easily made it out safely, as did all the spectators and players. However, the old wood structure, which had piles of paper cups and debris under the slatted bleacher seats, burned so quickly and intensely that the roof caved in within 20 minutes.    I recall hearing that the players lost most of their equipment in the change rooms.  I watched the remainder of this game, which was tacked on to the next game in the series, in the new Taber Arena. T. L. Esau

Lanny McDonald, John Davison, John Chapman and the 1971 Arena Fire; Part 2

Photo Courtesy of the Galt Museum and Archives

This photo  of Lethbridge Sugar Kings' Lanny McDonald (left) and John Davidson appeared in the Lethbridge Herald on March 10, 1971, 2 days before the arena fire. The article announced that they had been named AJHL award recipients.  Lanny McDonald had just been named the MVP of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). He was an 18 year old centre who came in second in the league scoring race with 83 points (37 goals).  Lanny McDonald went on to become a NHL Hall of Fame member after a distinguished pro hockey career. See Lanny's stats.  John Davidson was named Rookie of the Year in the AJHL. He also when on to a stellar NHL career as a player and now President of the St. Louis Blues.  He is also an accomplished sportscaster. See John's stats.

Lanny McDonald, John Davison, John Chapman and the 1971 Arena Fire; Part 3

Photo courtesy Galt Museum and Archives

Coach John Chapman and "timeout with the rookie line" .  The Lethbridge Herald picture and caption was in the March 12, 1971 edition.  The same day as the fire. Coach  John Chapman went on to have a successful coaching career in the WHL and then as a Pro Scout with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Video Link of the Month: October 2010: Hockey History - The Bill Masterton Story

Grand Stadiums: Surviving the Depression

The NHL became big business during the Great Depression due to the vast investments made by new clubs during the roaring twenties. The trend of building grand stadiums with large seating capacities greatly contributed to the game’s survival once hard times hit. The new arenas were city attractions that allowed the League to build a large fan base with accessible and affordable entertainment. The first major NHL stadium construction was the Montreal Forum built in 1924. Although it was originally built for the English speaking Montreal Maroons that would go on to win two Stanley Cups under its rafters, it quickly became home to the beloved Montreal Canadians only two years later.

Other teams followed Montreal’s example of attracting fan bases through new stadiums. Madison Square Gardens was built in 1925, The Detroit Olympia in 1927, Boston Gardens in 1928, Chicago Stadium in 1929 and finally Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931. Maple Leaf Gardens was built by Conn Smythe and most likely saved hockey in Toronto. The Maple Leafs were the last team in the NHL that would build a new arena and it became the gem of the League. It was built in only six months at a much-reduced cost due to the depression. Workers had twenty percent of their wages paid in shares and construction materials were much cheaper than they would have been in the 1920s. Although the stadium was originally referred to as “Smythe’s Folly”, it was able to generate the revenue needed to build a hockey dynasty in Toronto.

It is no coincidence that only the teams that built large, attractive stadiums in the 1920s were able to survive through the Great Depression of the 1930s. Small market teams unable to afford this luxury, including Ottawa and Pittsburg, quickly waned once hard times hit. It is important to note that the stadiums built in the Depression era continued to be used until the 1990s when they were finally replaced after seventy years’ of use. Although it has gone through several renovations and re-builds, Rickard’s multi-purpose Madison Square Gardens is still in use today by the Rangers and other New York “spectacles”.

Post References: The Business and Sport of Hockey During the Great Depression in Canada

Photo:  Reference

Tex Rickard: The Commercialization of Hockey

Seeing the financial success of the large Montreal stadium in 1924, New York investors built Madison Square Gardens under the leadership of businessman Tex Rickard the following year. On 15 December 1925, Rickard was convinced by a friend to travel to Montreal to watch Howie Morenz play for the Canadians. This experience convinced him that the new sport would spark enough interest to become popular in his new building. Funded by bootlegging alcohol under prohibition laws, the New York Americans opened the first game to a sold out crowd of 17,442 fans. The games were purposely scheduled at 8:45 to compete with Broadway shows, and patrons dressed in their finest clothes.

Ricard saw the opportunity of using hockey purely for entertainment and put less of an emphasis on the game itself. This movement was essential for ensuring that the sport would grow, as it was able to expand its appeal to a much broader demographic. Ricard soon purchased his own franchise to play in his building calling them Tex’s Rangers, or Rangers for short, so that his experimentation with transforming a young Canadian game into a large entertainment business could be further pursued. He began by changing players’ names on the back of their jerseys such as Oliver Reinikka to Ollie Rocco to appeal to different ethnic groups. He also developed entertainment at intermission with skating girls so that there was continuous entertainment for fans. The prestige of games was highlighted by the attendance of celebrities like Babe Ruth who would sit in the front row.

Tex Rickard is in large part responsible for the commercialization of hockey that turned it into a big business sport and thus allowed it to survive and even flourish through the Great Depression. Without implementing a system that allowed the team to generate large revenues by producing a New York spectacle, the relatively unknown game probably would not have survived in the new American markets. Furthermore, the other clubs, particularly the American teams where the fans were the least knowledgeable regarding the sport, could easily replicate the model.

Post References: The Business and Sport of Hockey During the Great Depression in Canada