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1976 PRESIDENTS CUP TEAM- TEAM CATEGORY
| Manitoba's history of competing in Senior lacrosse goes back to the 1920's and 1930's. Teams like the Tammany Tigers and Argonaughts competed for the national title- falling short on each occasion. In the late 1930's the CLA instituted a play down format: one year the winner from BC would go east playing challengers from the prairie provinces. While the next year the winner from Ontario would run the gauntlet to get to BC. Manitoba All Star teams struggled with the powerful representatives from west and east. To make things even more difficult for the "Toba" teams was that the rules allowed BC and Ontario to pick up to seven players from their provincial leagues. While Manitoba did not win a game in this format- many local players were recruited to play in Ontario. This theme runs through Manitoba lacrosse history- some good players just not enough.
In 1964, the CLA introduced the Castrol Cup (Changed in 1971 to the Presidents' Cup) for national competition for Senior B lacrosse. Manitoba competed in this competition with some sporadic success, finishing second in 1974 to a Windsor Warlock team composed of professional players. In 1976, the Presidents' Cup was hosted by Manitoba. Having the games in Winnipeg made Manitoba Lacrosse Association "extremely optimistic" (Wpg. Free Press). A key reason for this optimism was that by hosting the games in Winnipeg, Manitoba would be able to field its strongest team ever. In previous years, many good players were unable to get time off work to attend the competition. The second reason was that Manitoba had a bumper crop of talent from which to choose. The core of the team was to be composed of graduates from the Winnipeg Junior North Stars (Don Paul, John Schillinger, Ralph Deda, Garnett Lobb, Jim Love), who played predominantly against Senior teams and who had plenty of experience on the nation stage competing in a number of Junior nationals (and 1 Canada Games). The third reason for optimism was the intergenerational talent that was available. There was a group of experienced Senior players- Harry Nightingale, Calvin Paul, George Sykes, and Dave Gillis. The bonus for the '76 team was highly skilled players who graduated from Winnipeg Minor Lacrosse Association to the Senior ranks. These recent graduates (Gary Bohonus, Tom Stadnyk, Rick Henkewich, Doug McKeever, Kim Ridd, Steve Zelensky, Randy Knight, Wayne Proceviat, and Mark Izzard) also have had the advantage of the playing in the combined Senior/ Junior league during their junior years. Finally, Manitoba's "ace in the hole" was the dynamic goal-tending duo of Bill Crook and Doug McKeever. Crook, the cagey veteran, with plenty of experience in national play, was ranked as "one of the best in Canada" (Wpg. Free Press). McKeever, the younger of the pair, also experienced at national competition was the more acrobatic of the duo. Game 1 was a heart breaker for the home team. Buoyed by a large crowd the "Toba" team held an 8-3 lead over Quebec with 14 minutes left in the game. The team was rattled in the last 14 minutes or as Coach Nightingale summed it up " we were just too eager" (Wpg. Free Press). Over exuberance contributed to Manitoba taking a number of penalties leading to 3 Quebec power play goals and ultimately 9-8 Quebec victory. Dave Martin and Bill Stearns, each with 2 goals, paced the All Star attack. The opening game loss to Quebec made the second game against the tournament against tournament favourite- BC's Vernon Lodge Tigers even more important. The Manitoba squad "checked with the savageness" (Wpg. Free Press) the Tigers, a team mainly composed of the professional players from the folded NLL. With goal scoring spread over seven players Manitoba upset the top ranked team 9-8. This was Vernon Lodge's first loss in 33 games this season. Manitoba's third game was against Nova Scotia's Olands Sprayfield. The scrappy young Nova Scotia team, composed mainly junior aged players battled Manitoba to 9-9 tie at the end of regulation. The hero of the game for Manitoba was Steve Zelensky, who scored with nine seconds left in the second overtime period. The rest of home team's scoring was spread over 8 players. The fourth game for the Manitoba crew, their second game of the day, was against the defending President's Cup Champions the Alberta Fullers. After beating powerhouse BC team, only 7 hours earlier, Manitoba came out flat losing 5-4. Calvin Paul led the scoring with 2 goals, Mark Izzard, Randy Knight, and Wayne Proceviat chipped in singles. Due to the playoff structure where the top two teams played for the Presidents' Cup, Manitoba was required to play Quebec for third place in the tournament. Buoyed by the return of Bill Stearns, who missed the last 3 games due to injury, the home team rolled over the visitors from Quebec 10-3. Again Manitoba's offense was balanced being shared by eight players. At the end of the tournament only the Presidents' Cup was awarded to the victors- no medals were given to the second and third place finishers. Without medals around their necks, the Manitoba squad left the floor, frustrated with the overall results, but satisfied with how they represented their game and their province: |
| o Third place finishers at the 1976 Senior B Presidents' Cup Championships
o Finished tournament with a 3-2 record
o Defeated the undefeated BC Vernon Lodge Tigers- first loss in 33 games
o Gained respect for the Manitoba in lacrosse on the national stage
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| Manitoba has fought long and hard for recognition in lacrosse on the national stage. Over the years their have been some success in Minto Cup competition (Junior Lacrosse) in 1951, 1954, & 1955. In the 1920's and 1930's Manitoba reached the Mann Cup (Senior Lacrosse) final on three occasions- each time coming up short. The third place finish at the Senior B championship- the Presidents Cup was the sign of growth in the quality and quantity of lacrosse played in Manitoba. The first step was having the Winnipeg North Stars (a junior all star team) play in the senior league. This provided highly skilled junior players an opportunity to compete against older and more skilled senior aged players. The second step, upon the dissolution of the North Stars, was instituting a junior/senior combined schedule. This provided the first wave of graduates from the Greater Winnipeg Lacrosse Association an opportunity to compete at a higher level. The success of 1976 Presidents Cup team was one of the critical signs that Manitoba with an effective structure for player development could compete nationally for the President's Cup.
The 1976 team, arguably, the best collection of lacrosse talent Manitoba had ever assembled deserves to be recognized by being inducted into the Manitoba Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Some may argue that the team did not win gold- only finishing in third place, but for the province on Manitoba defeating the ultimate tournament champions, BC, marks a huge step in the development of lacrosse in the province. |
