A look back at the Petes’ memorable Memorial Cup run 40 years ago
Petes were one of the first Canadian junior teams to sign European players
This weekend the Petes are having their Alumni Homecoming featuring the 1978-79 Memorial Cup team members.
The Petes’ run to the Memorial Cup 40 seasons ago had a number of unique happenings that all contributed to their success.
That season the Petes were defending Ontario Hockey Association champions. The previous spring of 1978, the Petes lost 7-4 to the New Westminster Bruins in the Memorial Cup final in Sudbury. Surprisingly, the Petes completed the OHA trifecta and returned to the Memorial Cup the year after their championship season, in 1980, losing to Cornwall Royals in the final played in Regina.
In the late summer of 1978 the Petes assembled their team for the upcoming season. They had 11 returning players from the OHA winning-season. Coach Gary Green was in his second season as the Petes head coach after assisting for two seasons.
That season the Petes were one of the first Canadian junior teams to sign European players. Veli-Pekka Kinnunen and Anssi Melametsa, both from Finland, made the team. Keith Crowder, still with junior eligibility and undraftable into the NHL, was signed by the upstart World Hockey Association Birmingham Bulls to play pro hockey.
The Petes played eight preseason games in 11 days, winning three and tying one. The OHA introduced a 10-minute, suddendeath overtime period after tied games this season. No shootouts yet!
The Petes opened the season with four straight victories. By Oct. 19 they were in a four-way tie for first place.
When the Petes made their first trip north to play Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, they had an unexpected trip into the United States. They played the Greyhounds across the river in the Lake Superior State University Arena as the Soo rink was under renovation. The team returned from that trip in fifth place.
That week showed why Indianapolis of the WHA should have stuck to car racing or football; they sold Wayne Gretzky to Edmonton of the WHA for $850,000.
The WHA experience for the Petes’ Keith Crowder didn’t pan out and he was returned to junior hockey in mid-November. In his first game back, he contributed two assists in the Petes 10th straight win after that trip north. The Petes extended that streak to 15 games before the Toronto Marlies beat them.
On Dec. 7, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the Petes gave the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and their Peterborough-born goalie Jay O’Connor, their own Day of Infamy, defeating them 16-5.
After Christmas, in a game in Toronto, the Marlies’ Bart Wilson sucker-punched the Petes’ Bill Gardner, knocking him unconscious. The Petes’ Carmen Cirella led the charge onto the ice ending in a bench-clearing brawl that resulted in suspensions for three Petes players and coach Green. Trainer Dick Todd ran the team in the interim.
In November, Bill Beagan took over as league commissioner when Clarence Schmalz retired. At a league meeting late in January Beagan bolted from the room when he learned the board of governors was about to limit his powers. A few days later, Sherry Basin became acting commissioner. Also at that meeting the governors rejected franchise bids from North Bay and Guelph.
In the playoffs, the Petes moved past Kingston and Sudbury. In the Ontario final they met the Niagara Falls Flyers. They beat the Flyers in seven games, the final before 5,031 fans in the PMC.
The Memorial Cup was hosted by Quebec in a number of venues. The three-team double round preliminary series ended with all three teams tied with two wins and two losses.
The host, Trois Rivieres Draveurs, was eliminated on goalspread, putting the Petes and Brandon Wheat Kings into the final.
The Petes won that final game played in Verdun and the Memorial Cup on Bob Attwell’s overtime goal.