A Great Game (33 page)

The reconstituted offence looked very good on paper. Lalonde was back at centre, while Smith took his natural place at rover and Manson was moved to the right side. However, with Hugh Lambe behind Doran, the defence looked slow and suspect. The club had no spare rearguard, Fred Young being the only extra player still under contract. For this contest at least, the weakness did not matter. When the defence proved inadequate, Tyner more than compensated with his goaltending. Lalonde, with four markers, led an offence that rolled over the Indians 7–3. He also took his team through the tough stuff, bettering the home side's Angus Dusome in the main bout.

Galt, previously tied with Brantford in the standings, had lost for only the second time, and Little Manchester's fans did not take it well. A couple of hundred locals waited outside the rink to confront the visitors after the game. In the end, however, they turned largely passive, reserving “a few warm hisses”
⁴
for the referee.

Miln now wanted an opportunity to show his new powerhouse offence to Torontonians. He decided to schedule a postponed game with Brantford for that Saturday night at the Mutual Street Rink. Almost immediately there was an uproar. The Toronto Amateur Athletic Club had its Interprovincial home game scheduled for the same time at the Excelsior. The amateur Torontos clearly were not relishing the competition for fans, as they threatened to cancel their future OHA bookings at the old Caledonian if the head-to-head manoeuvres of Miln and his Professionals continued.

For the pro Torontos, Brantford would be the real test. That club was again in first in the OPHL race. The Braves had kept on winning despite
the personnel losses sustained in the recent train crash. Interestingly, the replacement for Jack Marks at right wing had turned out to be none other than former Toronto Pro Wally Mercer, picked up when Guelph dissolved.

The Pros' manager decided to shore up his defence for the encounter. He relegated Lambe to the substitution list, put Doran back at point, and brought in a new cover. This would be yet another Cornwall player, Hank Smith. Hank was a cousin of Donald, and he came directly from the Factory Town's Federal league club.

There was yet another packed house that evening in the Queen City. And the fans were not disappointed. The offence, with Manson and Donny Smith swapped, more than lived up to its billing. Even Robertson's
Tely
was in awe of its performance:

The whole four passed and re-passed the disc, bandied it about with the surety of wizards, never faltering, seldom failing, and slipping along past their opponents like shadows.
⁵

The born-again Torontos proved they were for real, literally crushing the front-runners. The 15–10 score was deceptive. The locals had gone up by a wide margin early, Brantford narrowing it somewhat only after the matter had become hopeless. Three hundred Dykeville supporters who had come down on the train grew silent as the “cakewalk”
⁶
continued. The spectacular Ridpath, with seven goals that night, looked as if he could have beaten them single-handedly.

The Professionals had also again bettered their amateur competition at the gate. The Toronto Athletics had faced the famed Montreal Victorias and their legendary star, Russell Bowie. The amateur squad was trounced in front of a small gathering at the Excelsior. Toronto hockey fans seemed to be in complete ignorance of the increasingly savage coverage of the professional league in most of their local newspapers. When ticket sales were stopped at Mutual, there remained a lineup stretching fifty yards down the street.

Nonetheless, after four weeks of the OPHL season, the Torontos still found themselves in last place. However, their prospects had definitely improved. Including the eight defaulted games each team was credited against Guelph and St. Catharines, the official league standings were now:

The revitalized Professionals would face their next test almost immediately—on Monday, February 1, at Berlin. For that occasion, the Dutchmen would not feature Rolly Young. The former Toronto captain's hesitancy about hockey had spilled over into the regular season. After debating whether he would play at all, his performance in Berlin had gone steadily downhill. Young had refused to practise between games and, as a consequence, he put on weight. Never fast to begin with, Rolly lost both a step and the edge to his physical game. He also failed to bring support from his Waterloo home over to his new club. Management finally decided to cut him. While he was rumoured to be interested in returning to the Ontario capital, Miln also decided to pass.

The Berlin game was a rough, crude affair—something increasingly common in the OPHL that season. A raft of penalties finally culminated in a free-for-all. When Edward “Toad” Edmunds slashed Don Smith,
Lalonde went after him. Then Uncle Gross came in, followed by Doran, and soon every player was part of a “tumbling, slugging pile.”
⁸
It ended only when the police finally intervened.

With the flow of the game destroyed, the Torontos' offence was broken up. Without a strong attack—and periodically bogged down in penalties—the Professionals' weak defence became their downfall. Berlin took it 6–3. Big Ezra Dumart shone in the tough going and scored a hat trick for the winners. As they rolled to victory, the hometown fans chanted their song, “Oh the Dutch companee is the best companee!”
⁹

The Torontos headed back home, banged up and with their confidence shaken. Teddy Marriott declared that the players had performed “1,000 per cent worse”
¹⁰
in Berlin than in their previous outing. They were thus eager to show the Mutual gallery that the recent run had been no fluke. The awaited opposition would be Galt, which had slipped into first place in a razor-thin race between the three country teams.

After two games with the same roster, the Pros seemed almost overdue for a lineup change. This became necessary when Hank Smith returned to Cornwall to prepare for his exams for the marine service. Lambe was brought back in at point.

By the time Thursday night came, the homesters had their form back. The offence opened the scoring with five unanswered goals en route to a 6–2 win on poor ice. In front of the usual big crowd, the visiting Indians were totally outplayed both ways.

Lalonde led the offence, but all the forwards contributed. Lambe and Doran had unusually strong games on defence. Tyner also played well, but it did not really matter. As one writer wryly observed:

The only excitement of the evening was caused by a couple of female rooters from Galt, who were stationed in the gallery, and who had many verbal encounters with male fans of the big city.
¹¹

A disappointing season for the Toronto HC had now concluded its fifth week. While the usual critics of pro hockey had become bolder, the club still enjoyed significant goodwill among its many fans. Attendance had remained large and enthusiastic at all home games—even with play that had frequently been either rough or uninspired.

The revolving door of the dressing room had also been largely accepted. With unfortunate injuries and unforeseen defections, Miln's many player movements had generally been regarded as bold and necessary. There was also increasing excitement and confidence in the team's new lineup. The
World
flatly declared that the win over Galt “again demonstrated that the Toronto team have no license at the bottom of the league and with any share of luck they should even now tie Brantford for the championship.”
¹²

In retrospect, however, the elements of a deep disillusionment were beginning to take shape. Fan patience was being pushed very close to a precipice. A couple of events would soon edge it over. Foremost was the reality that the championship was virtually out of reach, notwithstanding the wishful thinking of the
World
. It did not matter how good the team had become or how many games they had almost won. The closeness of the race was exaggerated by OPHL standings typically showing eight free wins for each team against their defunct rivals. In reality, with five losses in what was now effectively a twelve-game schedule (with their three remaining competitors), Toronto's chances of finishing or tying for first were mathematically very slim.

All this was being noticed by some—but most significantly by Bruce Ridpath. On Monday, February 8, a spreading rumour was confirmed: Riddy had signed with the Cobalt Silver Kings of the Temiskaming league. Bruce, who maintained a sporting goods store on Yonge Street, said he would be willing to come back to Toronto when available. However, he was being paid $500 to help settle the northern league's tight race. Any return to the Queen City club therefore seemed like wishful thinking.

It is hard to overstate the magnitude of the blow Ridpath's loss dealt the franchise. A local boy, he was the team's founder, key playmaker and most popular player. Since becoming a senior with the Marlboros in 1904–05, he had been miles away the city's most exciting performer when at full throttle. The
Star
captured a sense of this, recounting a recent match when “a stentorian-voiced rooter made the rafters ring with, ‘Go it, you little rat, go it!' ”
¹³
as Riddy repeatedly led the attack.