Chapleau Ministry Manglers Win MNR Hockey Tournament Title in 1975 with Key Goal by Robin White

names below

The Chapleau Ministry Manglers made a clean sweep of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Hockey Tournament held at the Carmichael Arena in Sudbury in 1975.

In 2014, at the Ministry hockey tournament in Peterborough, the Chapleau Ministry was still competing, and the official program carried a photo and story about that 1975 team.

Since I started writing Chapleau Moments, and my blog, I am first to admit that I have not written much about the MNR or its predecessor the Department of Lands and Forests, and its immense contribution to the community, but thanks to Ken LeClaire and Tim Cecile, I will be able to share some of their moments now.

For starters, Ken advises that the Chapleau team did not win the 2014 championship but put up a great effort. However, he did provide me with some details on the 1975 tournament in which he participated as a player. In fact, he sent along the news story, written by Bill "Esher" Ritchie, the coach.

Teams from Owen Sound, Barrie, Parry Sound, Maple, Minden, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Chapleau participated in 1975.

Playing defence for the Manglers were Martin Healey, Ken LeClaire, Graham Bertrand and Randy Corston with Glen Cappellani in goal. Rounding out the team were Tom Richardson, Darryl Ritchie, Al Harris, Robin White, John McKee, Gary Black and Joey Turner.


In their first game they defeated Owen Sound 5-2,  with Gary Black scoring two goals, and then they downed Maple 3-1.

Meeting the Sault Ste. Marie team which was heavily favoured and included Greg Vaughan and Tom Linklater, formerly of Chapleau, they won 5-2.

This set the stage for the final against Minden, and as the the third period drew to a close they were deadlocked in a 1-1 tie.

Ken shared an anecdote on what happened next. "Robin White turned to coach Ritchie and said, 'Put me on coach.' Esher did. Robin got the puck behind our net, skated the length of the ice through five defenders and scored.

"Robin came back to the bench, and said 'Now hold it'".

Ken added that it was not typical of Robin, who they called by his nickname 'Boogie' who was quiet and unassuming but it proved to be the winning goal and the Manglers won the championship with a 2-1 victory.

Another story Ken told about the series centred around Glen Cappellani who really was not and MNR employee.

Ken wrote:"When we were receiving our awards (Zippo Pen knives) for winning from Dr. Keith Renoylds the Deputy Minister, he was asking everyone what they did for MNR. 

"Our goalie had cancelled at the last minute and we brought Glen Cappellani, a non MNR Chapleauite who played goal at a fairly high level. 

"I told him to tell the Dep that he was a Jack Pine cone picker.  When the Dep got to him and asked,  Glen replied that he was a “ tree cone....... “ and forgot the rest.  He turned to me and asked what he did and I had to fill it in for him.  The Dep just laughed as he ( the Dep ) had had beverages with us the previous night in our hotel rooms."

Thanks Ken, and stay tuned for more about the MNR as I sort out all the material from Ken and Tim Cecile. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

THE TEAM

The 1975 Chapleau MNR Manglers championship team. Back Tom Richardson, Larry Mahon (trainer and beverage scout), Ray Bonnenberg, Robin (Boggie) White, Darryl Ritchie, Esher Ritchie (coach extraordinaire), John McKee, Martin Healey, Ken LeClaire Front are Gary Black, Graham Bertrand, Randy Corston, Glen Cappellani, Joe Turner, Al Harris. Courtesy Ken LeClaire

 

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