Chapleau Huskies coached by Buddy Swanson win Max Silverman Trophy as NOHA Intermediate 'B' champions in 1965

Names at bottom

Charlie Purich gives Keith J. 'Buddy' Swanson the credit for teaching him the "fine art of goal scoring" back in the 1960s when he was playing for the Chapleau Huskies. 

Charlie, back in those days, was also referred to as "the catalyst" of the Chapleau High School (CHS-TEEM), which played in the town league and against other competition.

In a recent exchange of email telling me that Laurentian University was reviving its hockey program and that he would be travelling to Sudbury on March 28 for a fundraiser and alumni game, Charlie  also advised that as he played for Laurentian in 1965, he could just be "the veteran" on the blades. Charlie still plays in a Hamilton Oldtimers' League and is the leading scorer on his team.

When Charlie told me that Buddy had taught him the fine art of goal scoring, I got back to him, asking if he would once again explain the "breakaway pass" he learned from his hockey mentor.

Charlie replied: "Speed toward the net.  At the last second a hard drift to the left while the goalie flops.  Continue to drift until the goalie is flat on the ice.  Lift the puck over him and through the space between the post and his raised stick.  Keith Swanson special.  A thing of beauty to see him perform that move."

Buddy Swanson

As so often happens when talk turns to Chapleau hockey, one thing leads to another, and Charlie's sister Pat (Purich) Russell sent me photos of medallions and a team photo of the Chapleau Huskies from 1965.

Coached by Buddy Swanson and managed by Jimmy Dillon in 1964, the Huskies won the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA) Intermediate "C" title but upped the ante in 1965, the first year there was artificial ice in the Chapleau Memorial Arena, and entered the Intermediate "B" category, playing for the Max Silverman Trophy.

The Huskies won the Max Silverman Trophy defeating the Espanola KVees in a two game total goals to count series played on the new artificial ice in the memorial arena. They had  defeated the Wawa Ironmen three games to one in the semi-final series.

Obviously, Buddy taught the fine art of goal scoring to many players, including Jim St. Amand, who was 19 at the time and scored four goals in the final two game series.

In the finals, the Huskies played without Earle Freeborn, Merrick Goldstein and Gerard Pilon, all of whom had suffered injuries in the Wawa series.

To honour the champions, the Township of Chapleau hosted a banquet for the Huskies in the Legion Hall. In his welcoming remarks, Reeve F.A. 'Nick' Card said the victory meant a "new beginning" for hockey in Chapleau with artificial ice in the arena. He paid tribute to the players on winning a championship in their first season playing on artificial ice. It also meant a longer hockey season.

Reeve 'Nick' Card

J.M. 'Jack' Shoup, the community's longest serving councillor ever and longtime chair of the Chapleau Recreation Committee proposed a toast to Mrs. A.W. "Mrs. Hockey" Moore, without whom the artificial ice project would never have been completed.

Jim Dillon, the manager of the Huskies, noted that Mrs. Moore had raised a total of $17,000, with $12,000 going to the project. It was "the nucleus" for artificial ice, he said, according to a a report in the Chapleau Sentinel.

Mrs A.W. Moore

Andre Rioux, a player on the Huskies, paid tribute to Buddy Swanson for his efforts in coaching the team to its success. In 1966-67, Buddy, with his friend Lorne Riley teamed up as manager and coach respectively - and then Buddy took over coaching duties when Lorne became ill - to launch the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies,and win the championship in their first year in the International Junior "B" Hockey League. They also won the NOHA championship.

At the banquet master of ceremonies Jim Lane read a telegram of congratulations from Mr. Silverman, who at the time was mayor of Sudbury. Mr. Silverman had coached, managed and owned the Sudbury Wolves, and been president of the NOHA.

Good luck to Charlie in the Laurentian University alumni game, and thanks to him, to Pat (Purich) Russell, and to Doug Greig, a special thanks for finding information on the 1965 champion Huskies. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Chapleau Huskies 1965. Winners of Max Silverman Trophy as NOHA Intermediate 'B' Champions Back:J.St.Amand,J.Babin,M.Goldstein,J.Bignucolo,D.Mizuguchi

Front: A.Bignucolo,C.Purich,J.Dillon-Manager,G.Pilon,K.Swanson-Coach,E.Freeborn,J.Grenon
Centre: A.Rioux,A.Madore,R.Bouillon,A.Martel,D.Futhey,R.Morin,A.Tremblay
 Absent:J.Hong,M.Mizuguchi,J.Paquette-Trainer (Courtesy Pat (Purich) Russell and Charlie Purich)

'Senseless acts' of hockey violence an issue in 1976 during controversial Northland Intermediate Hockey League playoff series between Chapleau Huskies and Timmins North Stars

Whenever the violence in hockey issue reaches a fever pitch as it has again recently with comments from Mario Lemieux, a star of the game and now owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, I go back to February 22, 1976, a Sunday afternoon at the McIntyre Arena in Timmins, where the Chapleau Intermediate 'A" Huskies were playing the Timmins North Stars in the Northland Intermediate Hockey League semi-finals.

The Huskies were in their first NIHL season, had squeaked into the fourth and last playoff position but were ahead of the North Stars, the first place finishers three games to one.

For those readers who will not remember those days, I was the coach and manager of the Huskies as well as serving as reeve of Chapleau.

At the opening faceoff I noticed that the North Stars were starting the game with five defencemen on the ice which for a moment seemed strange to me, I started with the line of Pat Swanson, David McMillan and Jamie Doyle who were leading the series in accumulated points. At the first stoppage of play I changed lines putting out George Swanson, Jean Claude Cyr and Raymond Larcher.

Then it began. George headed into the North Stars defensive zone where he received injuries that resulted in him leaving the game and being taken to hospital for treatment of a broken shoulder.

Within five minutes Dave McMillan took a high stick to the face, fell to the ice, was bleeding and was taken to the dressing room. No penalty was called and he did not return to play in that game.

It didn't take me long to figure out that the North Stars game plan was to intimidate us, although in a report on the game in the Timmins Daily Press, it was described as "aggressive tactics."

In the third period, Doug Prusky suffered a broken ankle after being attacked by a Timmins player who received a minor penalty for interference. Doug was taken to hospital. Richard Lacroix suffered a leg injury in the third period and insults were hurled at other players.

The Huskies lost the game 9-6 which resulted in a Daily Press headline "Stars Hammer Chapleau..." the understatement of all times.

I went to St. Mary's Hospital after the game and saw Doug and George.

I talked with Bill Moffat, the manager of the North Stars and advised him that I would consider the possibility of having criminal charges laid. Needless to say I was furious, but also deeply concerned about my players so I decided to stay in Timmins overnight and assess the options.

In due course I sent a night letter to the Attorney General of Ontario, Roy McMurtry, seeking advice on the possibility of undertaking criminal proceedings against a player or players of the Timmins North Stars as a result of the alleged incidents in the game.

I also advised James Aspin, secretary manager of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association and Donald Dewsbury, president of the NIHL, and returned to Chapleau, where the municipal council would address the matter before a sixth game was played at the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena.

After much debate, in which I did not participate, council agreed that the game could be played, but with a large police presence. That happened, and more than 1,400 fans packed the arena for the game.

Despite a truly valiant effort by the Huskies, we lost the series, and to this day, I have the utmost respect and admiration for each of those players who did their best to win it.

When we returned to Timmins for game seven, large banners greeted us, mostly focused on me.

Why did I take such action?

Here is what I said 36 years ago on February 26, 1976: "I believe I had no alternative. While I recognize that hockey is a physical contact sport, the point is reached when senseless acts of violence can no longer be tolerated without taking action.

"There are those who will dismiss the incidents as an aggressive brand of hockey, but when two players are hospitalized with serious injuries, and others forced to leave a game, and verbal abuse occurs, then I would submit that a most serious situation has developed."

William McMurtry, the brother of the attorney general, had written a report on violence in hockey in 1974. I have looked again at the major recommendations and don't think much has changed.

Three members of the North Stars were subsequently charged with assault but were found not guilty.

Notwithstanding the situation that developed at the end of the first year in the NIHL, the team held its first awards banquet with Doug Prusky as master of ceremonies, and honoured several players.

Goaltender David McAdam was named Most Valuable Player having played in all the 32 regular season games and the playoffs. In making the presentation, Keith "Buddy" Swanson said "every hockey team has a backbone and on this team it is David McAdam." He won the Wesmak Lumber Trophy.

Jamie Doyle, who was in his first year at Wilfrid Laurier University, and travelled home to play was named Most Valuable Player in the Playoffs. Jamie had 14 goals and 12 assists, including a league record six goals in a single game. Jim Young, the Timmins goaltender told me later, that "Jamie turned on the red light behind me so many times that I hada  sunburn on my neck."

Richard Lacroix, the team captain and leading scorer was named Rookie of the Year -- all players were eligible and rookies. Richard was another player who never missed a game all year. Ross Barlow and Steve Ward had donated a trophy. Richard also won the Leading Scorer award with 33 goals and 18 assists, the fourth highest in the league.

Ted Swanson, another player who also never missed a game was presented the Sportsman Hotel Trophy as Best Defenceman by Jack Houle.

Good luck to Mario Lemieux.
"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," as Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Kar wrote in 1849. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Chapleau Jr B Huskies of 66-67 win championships (Part two of Buddy Swanson story)

NOTE: Keith 'Buddy" Swanson died on May 7,2011 in Chapleau. May he rest in peace.

Continuing the story of the champion 1966-67 Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies, Keith "Buddy" Swanson told me that the team's "40th reunion in 2007 was very nostalgic for all of us and clearly showed that the bonds we made will never be broken." And so it should be Buddy. You, Lorne Riley, Tom Welch, the executive, the Chapleau hockey fans, and most importantly the players are all part of a great moment, not only in hockey but in the history of Chapleau.

Here is the final part of the story of the first year of the Junior "B" Huskies Buddy takes us through the playoffs -- first the International Junior "B" League series and then on to the Northern Ontario Hockey Association final. Here is the story:

The Wawa Travellers had won four of the six regular season games against us, and we had not beaten them in Wawa. True to form, the Travellers took the first two matches at home and took a commanding 3-0 series lead in Game 3 in Chapleau. The Huskies scraped through to win game 4 at home and headed to Wawa for Game 5 where the never-say-die Huskies upset them for their first win on Wawa ice, then came right back the next day and tied the series at home before a huge crowd. That set the stage for the 7th and deciding game in Wawa on Thursday, March 23rd in front of raucous 1,406 screaming fans, including hundreds from Chapleau.

The deciding game turned out to be a rout after the first period and the Huskies, led by right winger George Swanson’s five goals, won 13-3! There was no time for gloating as we began the final series against the Sault Michigan Indians on Saturday at home and lost 9-5 but came right back in game two and won 8-2. The following week proved to be the most pivotal of all. The Indians won game 3 in overtime. Game 4 was a barn burner that included the Huskies playing with only 3 defencemen (Goldstein,

Laframboise and Ted Swanson) due to injury to Gerry Boucher.

Huskies tied the game with the goalie out in regulation time and then fell behind by two goals in the 10 minute overtime period but again clawed back into it and with the goalie removed a second time and with seconds remaining tied the game 7-7, on a goal by Mickey Jurynec.

There was no provision for sudden-death overtime in the NOHA rules adopted by the League unless it was the deciding match of the series. So we went home down two games to one with one tie. Huskies tied the series at home and back in Pullar Stadium, in front of 1,400 fans, John Loyst completely frustrated the Indians in a spectacular 3-0 shutout win.

The 7th game was set for Saturday, April 15. The NOHA and League Executive stipulated there would be no 8th game and if the Indians won game7 in regular time or 10-minutes overtime, the two teams were to play a 20-minute sudden-death overtime period for the championship. Supported by an arena jam-packed with the largest crowd ever, 1,026 fans, the Huskies never faltered and won 5-2 to capture the series 4-2-1 and earn the Mac Nicholson trophy emblematic of the League champions.

But the job wasn’t done. After a couple of weeks off the Huskies then entertained Kapuskasing in a two game goals-to-count series on April 22 and 23. The rust showed in the first game Huskies won in overtime followed by a 7-2 win in game 2 for an aggregate total of 11-5 to capture the Colin Campbell trophy.

In all, the Huskies played 39 games in ’66-67, winning 23, losing 13 and tying 3. They were a high scoring team with 248 goals to their credit and Mickey Jurynec, George Swanson, Richard Morin and Raymond Larcher finishing in the top 10 in league scoring. It was a fabulous season indeed!

At the closing banquet the popular NHLer Eddie Shack was the guest speaker thanks to Gord Wilson of Richmond Hill and former Chapleau boy and well known businessman Roy Steed. Corky Bucci won the Most Valuable Player award.

I asked Buddy if he could pick the player who highlighted the season. Here is his reply:

In closing Michael I can’t pick one player who highlighted the season. They were all so dedicated and hard working and a pleasure to work with. However like a lot of teams that are only as good as their goalie, John Loyst was the most important player acquisition. We also had to overcome several injuries including those to Reg Bouillon, Greg Vaughan, Bruce Fortin and Gerry Boucher. During the year MVP Corky Bucci moved to North Bay, John Babin to Toronto and Bruce Pellow to Sudbury but Bucci never missed a game and Pellow and Babin made the effort and got back when we really needed them.

Trainer Andre Rioux drove John Loyst back to Timmins after every game. The executive did a marvellous job on the financial aspect of it and finished with a small profit for the future. Most of all the Chapleau fans were fantastic right from the start.

Buddy's final comment: "The Huskies tradition must never be lost."

Thanks Buddy for being the person you have been in the life of Chapleau, and for sharing your memories of the first year of the Junior "B" Huskies.

My email is mj.morris@live.ca