East Coast-West Coast rivalry nearly killed lacrosse

Sixty years ago this summer the Canadian Lacrosse Association did their level best to kill lacrosse in Peterborough.

In the mid-1950s the CLA was a western Canada-dominated governing body. They essentially controlled senior lacrosse in Canada. The Ontario Lacrosse Association became nothing more than lackeys to the Western Lacrosse Association and the CLA.

The WLA would annually raid eastern OLA teams luring players west with promises of jobs and cash. Attempts by the OLA, through the CLA, to control the exodus west, were a waste of time. The CLA had rules limiting transfers from east to west but also had loopholes to get around them.

In those days the east were producing the players with a strong junior league and solid franchises only to have the WHA cherry-pick the best players.

One could hardly blame the eastern players. Promises of solid career jobs, some game pay and all the salmon they could eat.

In 1956 former Peterborough player Harry Wipper was coaching Nanaimo in the WHL. He invited Bob Allan to join him. As far as the OLA was concerned that contravened the CLA transfer rule. The CLA ignored the OLA. Bob played and won a Mann Cup with Nanaimo, beating Peterborough.

In the summer of 1957 Bob Allan decided to return to Peterborough. The WHL said no, he belonged to them. The OLA said he was out there illegally in 1956, so he belonged to Peterborough. The CLA just sat back at waited.

OLA President Ed Blair approved Allan’s playing card. Bob played the 1957 season with the Peterborough team. They won the Ontario league and travelled west to Victoria for the Mann Cup.

With the Peterborough team on the floor warming up for game one of the Mann Cup in Victoria, a CLA officials slinked into the Peterborough dressing room.

“Allan can’t play for Peterborough,” he said.

Peterborough called them on it and said he was playing even if it meant a forfeiture of the game.

All this was going on before 3,400 fans in the Victoria Arena.

Finally Ed Blair came into the Peterborough room and told Peterborough they could not play with Allan in the lineup. The game was cancelled, the Peterborough team was suspended. A few days later Long Branch, the Ontario finalists, were brought in.

The CLA confiscated the Peterborough return plane tickets and nullified their hotel rooms. The team was forced to return by train day coach. There were no credit cards in those days. Money had to be wired west to help them. Later the CLA suspended all the players and executive for five years.

That winter the OLA rescinded the five year ban for the players, reducing it to a year; the first indication they were unhappy with the way their president Ed Blair handled the entire situation.

In 1958 the Peterborough juniors were moved up to maintain the senior franchise. The junior team withdrew from the league. By 1960 there was no lacrosse left in Peterborough. The CLA achieved their goal. The senior team folded after the 1960 season and the revitalized junior team move to Hastings where they immediately won the Minto Cup. Senior lacrosse didn’t return to Peterborough until 1964.

This entire fiasco was caused by a few members of the west upset that the east, driven by Peterborough, was the power of senior lacrosse. They took control of the CLA and then went about rebuilding western lacrosse through illegal transfers.

The weak OLA didn’t stand up to the moves. Even though membership in the CLA has changed over the decades, those around lacrosse in 1957 will never forgive the CLA for their handling of the situation.

Don Barrie is a retired teacher, former Buffalo Sabres scout and a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame. His column appears each Saturday in The Examiner.