Even though you already know the answer, we at the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame got to thinking about the greatest team ever, just as an exercise, you understand, just for fun.
So, we devised criteria. First, to be considered for the title of greatest ever Sr. A box team the team has to be a CLHOF inductee. Inducted teams: 1876-83 Caughnawaga,* 1938 St. Catharines Athletics, 1951-54 Peterborough Trailermen, 1958-59 & 1962 Salmonbellies, 1961-67 Vancouver Carlings, 1968-72 Salmonbellies, 1985-91 Brooklin Redmen, 1980-89 Salmonbellies, 1994-96 Six Nations Chiefs. There is one exception: The 1934-36 Orillia Terriers. Had there been a team category from 1965 when the CLHOF was founded to the induction of the first team, the Vancouver Carlings, in 1999, the 1934-36 Orillia Terriers would without question be in the Hall of Fame. Therefore, we have included them as worthy contenders for the best ever team.
* The Caughnawaga teams of 1876-83 were inducted into the CLHOF in 1998. Is one of those teams the best ever? Unfortunately, we don’t know much about them, other than that they toured England, there are no stats, and of course they did not compete for the Minto or Mann Cups, so it will have to stay an open question for now.
Sr. A lacrosse was a field game between 1900 and 1932. The Minto Cup was introduced in 1901 and the Mann Cup was introduced in 1910. We are going to name a best field lacrosse team in addition to a best box team.
Even though we are choosing only one team as it was in one year from field and box to be our greatest ever, we must consider a team’s performance in a continuous span of time, because it says too much about a team’s greatness to ignore it. Even though players arrive and depart, and a team’s line up changes to some degree year-to-year, we must still award it points. Call it points for core longevity. Therefore, we are awarding a point for each Mann Cup won in a row. (Using the example of the Orillia Terriers, who won three Mann Cups in a row: 3 points.)
More points are awarded to a team on the basis of how many individuals on that team are also members of the CLHOF. So, for example, the 1961-67 Vancouver Carlings have ten individuals in the Hall: 10 points.
We must also consider a team’s regular season record. With that in mind, we have awarded one point for an undefeated regular season. In the same vein, we have awarded teams one point for an undefeated playoff record. Then there is the Mann Cup final series. Any team that swept the series is awarded one point.
The Orillia Terriers won three Mann Cups in a row, 1934-36. The ’34 Terriers defeated the Salmonbellies in Barrie, Ontario, led by CLHoFamers Bill Wilson, Ed Downey, Bill Wilkes, the Curran brothers Bill and Ernie, and goalie Pete Anthony. The ’35 Terriers defeated Winnipeg’s Elmwood Pats and Calgary before beating the Richmond Farmers for the Cup. In total, Orillia in ’35 played about 50 games. The ’36 Terriers defeated the North Shore Indians for the Cup at Maple Leaf Gardens. A 1950 nation-wide poll of Canadian sports editors and broadcasters gave the Terriers an honourable mention as one of the great teams of 1900-1950 alongside the 1938 St. Catharines Athletics, the 1909-10 Salmonbellies, and the 1929 Oshawa General Motors. It is a mystery why the Terriers are not in the CLHOF—they should be. We pick the 1935 edition of the team.
Orillia Terriers? That’s nothing, you say. You’ll find the greatest box team ever in St. Catharines. The Athletics won it all in 1938, lost narrowly to the New Westminster Adanacs in ’39, but won two Cups in a row 1940-41, and two more Cups in ’44 and ’46. And let’s not forget, the Athletics did all this during WWII. It takes a hell of a team to defeat the best in Canada and Hitler at the same time. The A’s have 7 players in the CLHOF: Roy “Pung” Morton, Carl “Gus” Madsen, Frank Madsen, John “Wandy” McMahon, Bill Wilson, Bill Whittaker, and Joe Cheevers. The best. Hands down. The St. Catharines team in the CLHOF is the 1938 version, so that’s the one we have to go with.
We turn our attention to the 1951-54 Peterborough teams. Four Mann Cups in a row. Only been done once before (by the Vancouver Athletic Club 1910-13) and not since. Ergo, Peterborough of the early ‘50s must be the best of all time. Look at the 1953 line up: Jack “Curly” Mason, Ross Powless, Russ Slater, Don “Nip” O’Hearn, Harry Wipper, and Lloyd “Moon” Wootton in goal. Victoria’s 1953 Mann Cup team was just as strong with Archie Browning, Jack Northup, and Whitey Severson. But Victoria’s net minder allowed 51 goals out of 113 shots over 5 games: a 54% stop average. With goaltending (and defence?) like that, can you really say unequivocally that the ’53 Peterborough Mann Cup team is the best ever? Or maybe their shooters were really that good? The facts remain: four Mann Cups in a row and 11 players in the CLHOF. We’ll go with the 1953 Peterboroughs as a contender for the best ever.
In 1959 CLA President Les Gilmore called the ’59 O’Keefe’s (Salmonbellies by a sponsor’s name) “perhaps the greatest team the West has ever produced.” The playing-coach of the team the O’Keefe’s defeated in ’59, Moon Wootton, said of the ’59 O’Keefe’s, “That is the greatest team I ever played against.” High praise. But Moon’s praise is for the greatest team he ever played against. Wootton did not say the O’Keefe’s were the greatest team ever. Jack Fulton, Sr., however, has no qualms about ranking the ’59 O’Keefe’s as the greatest ever. But should we discount his opinion? After all, Fulton, along with GM Harry McKnight, assembled the ’59 team, so his opinion is hardly disinterested or objective. But hold on, the ’59 O’Keefe’s featured Jack Bionda who racked up 144 points over the course of the season, and in the Mann Cup against the Peterborough Mercury’s tallied 12 goals in 4 games, leading all scorers on both teams by a wide margin. Of course, Bionda didn’t do it alone. He had big time teammates. In fact, eight 1959 Salmonbellies are in the CLHOF: Jack Byford, Cliff Sepka, Stan Joseph, Jack Barclay, Ivan Stewart, Mario Crema, Les Norman, and Doug McRory. So, the ’59 O’Keefe’s represent that era. (And who are we anyway to disagree with Jack Fulton, Sr.?)
How about the 1961-67 Vancouver Carlings? In 1964 the Carlings were down 3 games to 1 in Brooklin and came back to win the Mann, only the fourth time that a Western team had won in the East since 1932. Many knowledgeable observers have called it the greatest series ever. Ten Carlings have gone into the CLHOF including Gordie Gimple, Fred Usselman, John Cervi, and Bill Chisholm, and in 1999 the 1961-67 Carlings were inducted into the CLHOF, the first team to receive the honour. We select the 1964 Carlings to represent the era.
Not so fast, they say in New Westminster. Granted, the Carlings were good, the 1908 Salmonbellies set the standard for the future, and the 1959 O’Keefe’s were awesome, but, with apologies to Jack Fulton, Sr. and Les Gilmore, if you’re looking for number one look no further than the 1968-72 Salmonbellies.
In 1968 the Salmonbellies opted out of the amateur Inter-city Lacrosse League and were one of four Western teams competing against each other and against four Eastern teams in the interlocking East-West professional league begun by Jim Bishop and Morley Kells (the NLA). In the regular season the Salmonbellies could only muster a 19-19 win-loss record, but in the playoffs defeated Vancouver in seven games to advance to the semi-finals against the Portland Adanacs. The series went to seven games, with New Westminster prevailing. The very next night, the Eastern champs, the Detroit Olympics (mostly the graduated cream of the Jr. Oshawa Green Gaels), arrived in the Royal City. The series went another seven games, with the Salmonbellies winning. It was a grueling season for all teams involved, and New Westminster played an incredible 60 games. Up-and-coming youngsters such as Wayne and Ed Goss, Al Lewthwaite, and Ken Winzoski blended with established stars such as Paul Parnell, Wayne Shuttleworth, Cliff Sepka, and Larry Henry to get the job done. The Salmonbellies lost the NLL final to Peterborough in seven games in 1969, but were back in the Mann Cup in 1970, winning in four straight against the Lakers. The Bellies lost to the Brantford Warriors in the Mann Cup in 1971, but captured the Cup the following year again against Brantford. Two more Mann Cups followed in ’74 and ’76, and there are 14 Salmonbellies of that time period in the CLHOF including, in addition to those players already mentioned, Doug McRory, Ken Oddy, Mac Tyler, Steve d’Easum, Kerry Gallagher, and Joe Comeau. So, let’s go with the ’68 ‘bellies to represent the 1968-72 teams.
As impressive as the 1968-72 Salmonbellies are, the heir to those teams, the 1980-89 editions of the Salmonbellies, might be even more impressive. Might be. Possibly. Maybe. In 1981 the ‘bellies defeated Brampton for the Mann Cup. In 1985 the team set a Mann Cup record they didn’t want, losing four straight Mann Cup games to Brooklin after being up by three. New Westminster revenged its loss to Brooklin in ’86 and became the first Western team to win a Mann Cup in the East in ten years. It was a different ending in ’87, with Brooklin winning the Mann again. The Salmonbellies closed out the decade with another Mann Cup in 1989, for a total of 3 Cups in 9 years (adding another in ’91), but none in a row. Seven 1980-89 Salmonbellies are in the CLHOF: Ben Hieltjes, Geordie Dean, Eric Cowieson, Rod Banister, Lyle Robinson, Andy Ogilvy, and Dave Durante. We’ll pick the ’86 Bellies to represent the 1980s New Westminster teams.
The 1985-90 Brooklin Redmen are by any measure among the elite teams in history. The ’87 Redmen were undefeated in 20 league games, 3 of 3 in round robin games, and then defeated Peterborough 4 straight to advance to the Mann Cup for the third time in four years. The final, against the Salmonbellies in New Westminster, went seven games, with the Redmen prevailing. In 1988 Brooklin repeated ’87’s extraordinary record of no loses by winning 28 of 28 total games, including 4 in a row over Peterborough in the Eastern finals. The Redmen then disposed of Coquitlam in the Mann Cup 4 games to 2. In ’89 Brooklin was even stronger—if that was possible—thanks largely to the addition of superstar Gary Gait. Yet again, the Redmen were undefeated in 24 regular season and round robin games. Brooklin then beat Peterborough 4 games to 3 in the Eastern finals and only a determined effort by the Samonbellies at home in Queen’s Park Arena stopped the Redmen juggernaut 4 games to 2 in the Mann Cup. Let’s add up Brooklin’s 1987-89 record: 60-0 in league play; 93-12 in round robin, playoff, and Mann Cup play. Two Mann Cups in three years, including one played in New Westminster. An incredible record, to say the least. Ten Brooklin Redmen are in the CLHOF including Gil Nieuwendyk, Ken and Wayne Colley, Tom Wreggit, Derek Keenan, Eric Perroni, and John Fusco. It’s a toss up for the single best team of the ’87 through ’89 Redmen, but on the strength of a 27-0 regular season and playoff record, followed by a 4 to 3 Mann Cup victory in the West—without Gary Gait—over a powerful Salmonbellies team, we’re going to pick the ’87 Redmen to represent the 1980s Brooklin teams.
How about the 1993-95 Six Nations Chiefs as the best ever? No visiting team has won the Mann in the West since Six Nations did it in 1994 against the Salmonbellies. Four members of the team are in the CLHOF: Cam Bomberry, Duane Jacobs, Darris Kilgour, and Paul Gait. We’ll select the ’94 Chiefs.
The Montreal Shamrocks won and retained the Minto Cup five years in a row, 1901-1905. In addition, in the years before the Minto Cup, the team won the National Lacrosse Union title in 1899, placed second in 1900, and won the Minto for a final time in 1907. An impressive record. By general consensus, the 1904 edition of the Shamrocks is the finest of all, winning all 7 league games, scoring 81 goals and allowing only 19. The Shamrocks defeated Brantford in two games in a two-game Minto Cup final. Three Shamrocks are in the CLHOF: Patrick “Paddy” Brennan, Henry Hoobin, and Jim Kavanagh. It’s entirely possible that the 1904 Montreal Shamrocks are the greatest ever field team.
The New Westminster Salmonbellies won the Minto Cup in 1908 (defeating the mighty Shamrocks at home in Montreal) and successfully defended the Cup 1909-10 before losing to the Vancouver Lacrosse Club in 1911. The Salmonbellies won back the Cup in 1912. The 1908 version of the team won all 7 league games, scoring 88 goals while allowing only 14. Very impressive. Their great rivals, the Montreal Shamrocks, scored 7 fewer goals and allowed 5 more in 1904. Eleven 1908-10 & 1912 Salmonbellies are in the CLHOF: Alex Turnbull, Cliff Spring, Gordon Spring, George Rennie, Pat Fenney, Jimmy Gifford, Bun Clark, Tom Gifford, Buck Marshall, Len Turnbull, and Hugh Gifford. We’re giving the nod to the 1908 team to represent the Salmonbellies of that era.
What about the 1911 Vancouver Lacrosse Club? With a couple of exceptions, it was an Eastern all-star team bought and paid for by the team’s owner, the great and colourful Con Jones. The team’s biggest star by far was Eduard “Newsy” Lalonde (cited in a 1950 poll of Canadian sports editors and broadcasters as the greatest lacrosse player of 1900-1950.) Not far behind Newsy in the goals department was Billy Fitzgerald and Angus “Bones” Allen. Another Easterner, Harry Pickering, played an important mid-field defensive role. Harry Godfrey, George Matheson, and Dave Gibbons provided the local talent. All seven players were inducted into the CLHOF. Simply put, a lacrosse team starring Newsy Lalonde has to be given consideration for top spot.
Scoring System
1 point for each Mann or Sr. Minto Cup win in a row.
1 point for each individual on a Mann or Sr. Minto Cup winning team.
1 point for an undefeated regular season record.
1 point for an undefeated playoff record.
1 point for an undefeated Mann Cup final series.
