’65 Bisons headed to hall of fame

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/07/2015 (4055 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In March 1965, the U of M Bisons won the university’s only Canadian men’s hockey championship.

To celebrate 50 years, the team members planned a reunion in Winnipeg on July 10 and 11. But they didn’t know they would have a second reason to celebrate. Shortly before the reunion, word came from Sport Manitoba heritage manager Rick Brownlee that the 1964-65 Bisons would be inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 7. The official announcement of the 2015 inductees was made July 16 and the Bisons will be the only team honoured.

The reunion began with an evening reception at Mona Lisa Restaurant on July 10. Current Bisons coach Mike Sirant was on hand to present the team members with caps that honoured the championship team. Sirant told the group their team was the one his team needed to model itself after if it hoped to bring another title to the university. The champions had hoped to visit the current team’s facilities at the university but ran into a conflict with the Blue Bomber game. On the 11th, they golfed at Bridges.

Putting together a championship team today, when most university players have major junior or pro experience is much different than it was 50 years ago.

With no AAA or AA minor hockey, the Winnipeg players played at their community clubs through the juvenile level before moving up to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League or, in a few cases, right to university hockey.

Goalie John Shanski, also a Bison football star, had played at West Kildonan. Goalie Ken Kachulak and forward Jim Irving starred at Riverview. The defence included George Butterworth  (River Heights); John Trojack (Earl Grey); and Brian English (Norberry). Captain Chuck Meighen played his minor hockey in Brandon and Edgar Rivalin in The Pas. Up front were Tom Trosky (Transcona East End); Gavin Speirs (Orioles); Geoff Ball (Fort Garry); Bill Podolsky (Earl Grey); Terry Mancer (River Heights); and Ken Plews (Sir John Franklin). Future federal MP Leo Duguay was lobbying referees at Norberry. Lynn Lake was home to forward Gord Lindal and the versatile Barry Solnes came from Dominion City. The only non-Manitoban was forward Jim Pineau, from Thunder Bay. Assistant coach Gibb Pritchard, who played the previous season, was a Norwood product. Only Butterworth, Pineau and Rivalin missed the reunion. Coach Bill Robinson and manager Norm Gardner are deceased.

A 10-2 record earned Bisons the Western Intercollegiate spot in the national playoff.  In a match at Bison Gardens, the home team, with Shanski in net, beat Laurentian from Sudbury 10-4 to reach the final. Irving led the scorers with a hat trick, Podolsky and Pineau had two each, and Duguay, Mancer and Trosky singles. In the other game, St. Dunstan’s Saints from Charlottetown beat Sir George Williams of Montreal 3-1.

In front of 2,500 fans at the Winnipeg Arena, Bisons won the championship 9-2 over the Saints. Podolsky, Irving, Lindal, Speirs, Duguay and Trosky scored in the first period. Lindal added another before the Saints’ Maurice Roy beat Kachulak midway through the second. Podolsky and Solnes scored in the third.   

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com