The boys of winter

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/05/2024 (846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Monarchs junior hockey club, which was founded in 1930, had a long and storied history. The team won the Memorial Cup, emblematic of the Canadian junior championship, three times.

The first title came in 1935, when the home team, coached by Harry Neil, defeated the Sudbury Cub Wolves two games to one in a series played at the Amphitheatre. In 1937, the Monarchs went east and beat the Copper Cliff Redmen three games to one in the Canadian final in Toronto. That team was led by the line of Alf Pike, Johnny McCreedy and Dick Kowcinak. The trio, along with teammate Pete Langelle, are honoured members of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, as is coach Neil.

The Monarchs’ third championship in 1946 might be our province’s greatest junior hockey victory. The western champions, coached by Walter Monson, went to Toronto, where they beat the highly favoured St. Michael’s Majors in a seven-game series that attracted record crowds to Maple Leaf Gardens.

Ross Parke recently sent this column a photo of the 1951 Monarchs team, which was the last one to reach a Memorial Cup final. The Monarchs finished in second place during the MJHL regular season, but won the Manitoba title by first defeating the Winnipeg Black Hawks four straight, and then the two-time defending provincial champion Brandon Wheat Kings in six games. Next up were the Port Arthur Bruins, whose lineup included an all-Manitoba line of Alf Lewsey, Nick (“C’mon Down”) Hill and Jack Staples. The Monarchs prevailed in seven games, winning the clincher 3-2. Elliot Chorley, Laurie Mitchell and Ron Barr, who netted the winner on a pass from Parke, scored for the Monarchs. Mitchell later became a provincial court judge.

The Western final against the Regina Pats went eight games. Pats won the first game 3-1 while Game 2 was a 5-5 tie. Monarchs won the next three games, 2-1, 2-0 and 5-2, but the Pats forced the extra game with 2-1 and 4-3 victories in games 6 and 7. In the tie-breaker at the Amphitheatre on April 28, Parke, a first-year junior, led the way with a hat trick in the home team’s 8-4 victory. Chorley scored twice while Dave Trainor, Jim Zarie and future Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bill Burega added singles. Don Collins was the Monarchs goalie.

Future NHL star Eddie Litzenberger and linemate Gordie Cowan were Regina’s top players. Bernie Grebinsky, later a Winnipeg Maroon, was a Pats defenceman and Bob Tyler, from Matlock, Man., was the goalie. Coach Monson brought up multi-sport star Gerry James from the Monarchs juveniles during the series.

Before the Canadian final, which began on May 1, the Monarchs had played 71 games including 25 in the playoffs. The long, hard grind to win the West may have caught up with them, as the eastern champion Barrie Flyers came to Manitoba and won four straight games — 5-1, 5-1, 4-3 and 9-5.

The Flyers lineup included forwards Leo Labine and Jerry Toppazzini, who scored twice in the final game, and Real Chevrefils, who had one. The trio went on to lengthy NHL careers, primarily with the Boston Bruins. Chevrefils also played briefly for the Winnipeg Warriors of the WHL in 1960-61, Flyers defenceman Jim Morrison, who reached the NHL in 1951-52, played pro for 22 seasons. His NHL stints were with five different teams — Boston, Toronto, Detroit, New York and Pittsburgh.

The 1951 Monarchs team was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey HOF in 2013. Monson was honoured individually in 1990, Chorley in 2001, and Parke in 2017. James, who played in the NHL with the Maple Leafs, was inducted in 2013. Parke mentioned that he and forward John Mozol are the only 1951 Monarchs still alive. Parke, Chorley, Collins and Grebinsky later played for the 1964 senior Allan Cup champion Winnipeg Maroons. Mozol became a hockey official with whom this columnist frequently worked with in minor hockey and the MJHL.