Kenora Thistles

Kenora Thistles
City Kenora, Ontario, Canada
League MNWHA, MHA
Founded 1894
Home arena Princess Rink (1894–1897)
Victoria Rink (1897–1907)
Franchise history
1894–1905 Rat Portage Thistles
1905–1908 Kenora Thistles
Championships
Regular season titles 1902, 1904, 1906, 1907
Stanley Cups 1907

The Kenora Thistles, officially the Thistles Hockey Club were an ice hockey team based in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1894, they were originally known as the Rat Portage Thistles (the town changed its name to Kenora in 1905), and competed for the Stanley Cup, the ice hockey championship of Canada, five times between 1903 and 1907. They won the Cup in January 1907, defended it that March, and lost it later that month in a challenge series; in 1908 the club disbanded. Composed almost entirely of local players, the Thistles are notable as coming from the smallest city by population to have won the Stanley Cup. Nine players—four of them homegrown—have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, while the Stanley Cup champion team was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

Though the city of Kenora is in Ontario, the Thistles competed in Manitoba-based leagues throughout its existence, owing to the city's proximity to that province. They joined the Manitoba Hockey Association in 1902, and won the league championship in three of their six seasons there. Though idealized during their existence "as a team of hometown boys who used to play shinny together on the streets of Rat Portage,"[1] they were unable to cope with the advent of professionalism in ice hockey during the early 1900s, which combined with an economic downturn in 1907 saw team unable to sustain its success, disbanding in 1908. The name "Thistles" has since been used for multiple senior, minor, and junior teams in Kenora.

Early years (1894–1902)

Town development

In 1836 the Hudson's Bay Company established a factory (trading post) north of the current city.[2] They named it Rat Portage, a translation of the Ojibwe language-name for the region: Waszush Onigum, which literally means "the road to the country of the muskrat."[3] Around 1850 gold was discovered in the region, and the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the region in 1877, followed by a sawmill in 1880. The town was incorporated in 1882, originally within the province of Manitoba.[2] Located near the Manitoba–Ontario provincial border, the region was contested between the two provinces until the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in favour of Ontario in 1884. However the closer proximity to Winnipeg, 210 kilometres (130 mi) away, and the rest of Manitoba meant Rat Portage had closer relations with the west than with the rest of Ontario, where the closest city was Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), 500 kilometres (310 mi) away.[2]

With the railroad connecting Rat Portage to Central and Eastern Canada, it grew quickly, going from only a few people prior to the railway link, to 5,202 in 1901 and 6,257 by 1908. It grew to support multiple industries, mainly lumber, mining, and fishing, but also milling, power development, and tourism.[4] An ice rink was built in 1886, the Princess Rink. It was replaced in 1897 by the Victoria Rink, which had more seats (1,000), and a larger ice surface.[5] The town's name was changed on May 11, 1905 to Kenora, which was derived from the first letters of the three neighbouring municipalities: Keewatin, Norman, and Rat Portage.[4][6] The change occurred due to the establishment of a new flour mill in town; sports historian John Wong has suggested that "the capitalists thought the town’s name would not be conducive to the sale of flour."[7]

Formation of the Thistles

The Thistles, circa 1901–02.

The first recorded ice hockey game played in Rat Portage was on February 17, 1893,[8] organized by the Hardisty brothers, who had recently moved from Winnipeg to take part in a minor gold rush in the region.[4][5] A club was formed in 1894, with a contest held to name it; the winning entry, Thistles, was chosen by Bill Dunsmore, a carpenter with Scottish heritage.[9] The initial funds for the team were donated by George Dewey, one of the wealthiest people in the town, and in recognition he was named honorary president of the club. Most of the players were from wealthy families or independently wealthy, as they had the means to both take time off work to play and cover the considerable expenses associated with ice hockey.[10]

There was no owner of the club or financial backer, and local businesses never financially supported it, aside from Dewey's initial donation; it was a community effort, with officers elected to make decisions for the club.[11] As a result, the club was strained financially, and would be throughout its existence. In March 1894 the club hosted a benefit concert to raise funds; it proved a success, though a similar attempt the following year did not bring in as much money. Even so, concerts were held yearly until 1903.[10]

Initially the games were only played within the club, but the players quickly grew tired of this, so in 1894 they were admitted to the Manitoba and Northwest Hockey Association, and entered the second-tier intermediate level.[12] Though based in Ontario, the Thistles joined the Manitoba league because they were much closer to the teams in that league.[2] In their first season playing in the Manitoba league they won twelve games, showing they could easily compete at that level.[13]

In January 1896 a game was held in Kenora between the senior team and a junior-aged team, aged 12–16.[14] The junior players, many of whom were related to players on the senior team, felt they could compete with the older team, and subsequently won, handily defeating their opponents.[15] In a 1953 newspaper article on the match Lowry Johnston, who was on the senior team, explained that "They were just too fast for us."[16] A legend developed that the senior team quit hockey after that match, letting the junior players take their place in the Manitoba league.[17] While it may not have been as instantaneous as suggested, many of the players on the junior team soon joined the senior team and would hold major roles on the Thistles.[16]

Bolstered by the addition of the younger players, the Thistles finished second in the Manitoba intermediate league in 1899–00, and won the league title in 1900–01, greatly outscoring their opponents.[12] When they started the 1901–02 season with a lopsided 12–0 victory, the club's executives were concerned, as they felt if the games were not competitive people would not come watch them, meaning less revenue.[16] Believing the team was strong enough to move up, they applied to join the senior Manitoba Hockey Association, which had two teams that season, both in Winnipeg: the Victorias and the Winnipeg Rowing Club.[18] To prove they could compete, the Thistles played an exhibition match against the Victorias, one of the best teams in Canada and a previous winner of the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of ice hockey in Canada. The Thistles fared well in the match, but the two Winnipeg teams decided against allowing them to join the league, arguing the Thistles applied too late in the season.[19] Returning to the intermediate league, the Thistles, who were weakened by injuries to several players, finished in a tie for second overall.[19] After the season ended Tommy Phillips, one of the best players on the Thistles, moved to Montreal to attend McGill University.[20]

Admission to the Manitoba Hockey Association

League play, 1902–1905

Prior to the 1902–03 season the Thistles were admitted to the senior league, along with the Brandon Wheat Cities and the Portage la Prairie Plains.[12] However the two Winnipeg teams, still concerned about the distance to Rat Portage, opposed their inclusion (and that of Portage la Prairie), stating they would only play against Brandon, who had won the intermediate championship in 1902. Thus the two Winnipeg clubs left the league prior to the start of the season and formed their own two-team league, the Western Canada Hockey League.[19] Playing in the new three-team senior league, the Thistles won the championship and thus were allowed to issue a challenge for the Stanley Cup, held at the time by the Ottawa Hockey Club (also known as the Senators).[12]

For the 1903–04 season the Thistles again competed in the Manitoba league, which remained at three teams. Prior to the start of the season the team was invited to join the Western Canada Hockey League, which still only had the two Winnipeg clubs. While they downplayed the Thistles importance previously, the Winnipeg clubs were impressed by the Thistles play during the Stanley Cup challenge, and considered it financially viable to add the team; however the Thistles declined the offer and remained in the Manitoba league.[21] Brandon won the league championship, and earned the chance to compete for the Cup against Ottawa, who won the series and retained the Cup.[22]

1903 Stanley Cup challenge

Donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, the Stanley Cup was originally awarded to the top amateur team in Canada, who would accept challenges from other teams who won their respective leagues.[23] From its start until 1912 it was almost only won by teams from Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ottawa.[24] Ottawa had won the Cup in 1903 after finishing the 1903 Canadian Amateur Hockey League season tied for first with the Montreal Victorias, and played a two-game total-goal series for the league championship (the Montreal Hockey Club, who had held the Cup, finished third in the league and therefore lost the right to keep it).[22]

The Thistles travelled to Ottawa for the series, which would be two-games and decided on total goals scored. Relatively unknown outside of Manitoba and Western Ontario, there was little coverage in the press regarding them prior to the start of the series.[25] The attendance for the games was rather low due to the series coinciding with an opening session of the Canadian Parliament, which was a social affair at the time; while the matches between Ottawa and Montreal, held just days prior, had around 3,000 spectators, the Thistles' games saw 1,500 and then 1,000 viewers.[19][26] Ottawa won the first game 6–2, with media summaries suggesting that the Thistles were nervous and unprepared for the skill of Ottawa.[27] Ottawa won the second match, and retained the Cup, 4–2, though the Thistles were credited in the press for being vastly improved, though overall lacking "the finer points of the game."[27][26]

There was a mixed reaction from the Thistles towards their first Stanley Cup challenge. Due to the small crowds it was considered a financial loss, with the team losing around C$800, a considerable sum.[26] However it was seen as an important step for the team, as it showed they could seriously compete with the best teams in Canada.[28] Team captain Tom Hooper stated that while they "were comparatively inexperienced, and ... consequently a little nervous," they were "not in the least discouraged" and planned to "be better qualified to play them when [they] come after the puck next year."[26]

1905 Stanley Cup challenge

The Ottawa Hockey Club with the Stanley Cup in 1905. The Thistles played Ottawa for the Cup in 1903 and 1905, losing both times.

Prior to the 1904–05 season the two Manitoba leagues merged as the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA).[29] The Thistles were bolstered with the addition of Phillips (who had returned to the town for his dying father) and goaltender Eddie Giroux, the only player not from Rat Portage. Giroux moved from Toronto for the chance to play ice hockey and with the promise of a job in the lumber industry.[30][31] The Thistles easily won the league championship, and once again challenged Ottawa for the Stanley Cup.[32]

Again played in Ottawa, this time in a best-of-three series, the Thistles were much more respected by the media compared to 1903, regarded as "serious contenders for the Cup".[33] Attendance for the series further highlighted the heightened status of the team, with the games having between 3,500 and 4,000 spectators, and hundreds more waiting outside; there were also thousands across who congregated to hear live telegraph reports of the games.[34] There was also considerable mention of the home-grown nature of the team, which was becoming rare as ice hockey teams began to use professionals.[35][36]

The Thistles won the first match 9–3, utilizing a new style of play: with forward passing forbidden in ice hockey at the time, conventional strategy had been for teams to shoot the puck into the opposing end and skate after it (thereby losing possession of the puck). The Thistles instead emphasized skating and passing the puck to move it forward (though forward passing was not allowed at the time), and thus keep control.[37] This strategy was aided by their point and cover-point (early names for defencemen) lining up on the ice side-by-side rather than one in front of the other, as was common.[32] However Ottawa came back to win the remaining two games, 4–2 and 5–4, and again retained the Cup.[38] Though the Thistles lost the challenge, they were praised, with newspapers in particular noting the speed of the players : the Montreal Star claimed the Thistles were "not only the fastest that has ever come from the West in search of the cup, but the fastest that has ever been seen anywhere on ice."[34] After the series the team played exhibition matches in Montreal and Toronto before heading west, games which saw thousands of spectators.[34]

Stanley Cup champions

League play, 1905–1907

1905–06 Kenora Thistles (from left: Billy McGimsie, Matt Brown, Roxy Beaudro, Tommy Phillips, Eddie Giroux, Tom Hooper, Si Griffis.)

The 1905–06 season saw Kenora (as the town had been renamed) easily win the championship, setting up another challenge for the Cup, scheduled for January 1907.[39][40] Due to fears that teams were covertly paying their players, the Winnipeg Rowing Club, which had been expected to play in the MHA, withdrew; as ardent followers of amateurism (Canadian sporting rules made anyone who played against a professional a professional as well) the club could not take part, and had been replaced by the Winnipeg Hockey Club. The other teams in the league denied the accusations, with the Thistles stating it was "ridiculous."[41] Despite these denials, it is quite likely that there were paid players in the league: sports historian R.S. Lappage has noted that by this point "it was generally recognized that most eastern teams were paying their players, and it would be reasonable to expect that teams of the M.H.L. [the Manitoba league; sic] had to pay their star players to retain their services."[41] Offers had been made as early as 1903 to players from the International Hockey League (IHL), based in Michigan and the first openly professional ice hockey league in the world.[36]

Prior to the start of the 1906–07 season the issue of professionalism again came up for the Manitoba league. While most of the teams in the league felt it should turn professional, the two Winnipeg teams (the Victorias and Winnipeg Hockey Club) were against this move and left the league.[42] Though the league was now openly professional, the Thistles continued to remain a homegrown team, despite rumours prior to the season that there would be a major overhaul of the roster.[43]

To accommodate the Thistles challenge against the Wanderers in January, which saw the team gone for nearly a month, modifications to the regular season schedule had to be made: as the Thistles were popular team and likely to draw large crowds, the other teams wanted a double round-robin format (two home games, two away games against each team). However the Thistles were against this, and only wanted to play one home and one away game against the others, as they would be gone for nearly a month for their Cup challenge. Ultimately a compromise was reached where the Thistles would play one home and away game, while the other three teams would play two home and two away. As this would lead to an unbalanced schedule (the Thistles would have six games played while the others ten), scores in the games not including the Thistles would be combined for the purposes of the league standings, so all teams would be credited with six games played.[44]

January 1907 Stanley Cup challenge

An early ice hockey team poses for a photo. Eight players, all seated around a trophy on a pedestal, are dressed in wool sweaters with a thistle emblem. They wear skates and hold ice hockey sticks. Behind them stand four men in suits.
The Kenora Thistles posing for a photo with the Stanley Cup in 1907. They held the Cup for two months, the shortest for any Cup champion.

As champions of the Manitoba league in 1906, Kenora earned the right to challenge for the Stanley Cup, which was now held by the Montreal Wanderers. However the season had ended too late for the series to be held in 1906, and was thus postponed until January 1907, during the league's regular season play.[40]

The Thistles left for Montreal and the Cup challenge on January 12, 1907. Taking advantage of the new professionalism of their league, the club hired two players from Brandon: Art Ross and Joe Hall, considered two of the best players in the Manitoba league. It is unclear how much they were paid for the series, but ice hockey historian Eric Zweig has speculated it to be quite substantial (though Hall did not play any games for the Thistles).[45] This marked the first time that the Thistles specifically brought in players to play for the team and confirmed their status as a professional club.[28] The Wanderers, by contrast had five professional players and four amateurs on their roster (the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, where the Wanderers played, allowed professionals starting in the 1906–07, so long as each players' status was defined by the team).[45]

Though the Thistles hired two players, the media again emphasized that they were mainly all locals, and noted that the Wanderers had hired multiple players, most notably Hod Stuart, who had played previously for a professional team in Pittsburgh.[46][47] Even so, the consensus was that the Thistles were the favourites to win the Cup.[48] The first game of the two game, total-goal series was held on January 17 in Montreal and Phillips scored all four Kenora goals in a 4–2 victory.[30] The second game, on January 21, saw Phillips record a further three goals, as Kenora won 8–6, giving them a 12–8 series win and the Stanley Cup.[49] As per tradition, the Thistles engraved their name onto the Cup; unlike previous winners, who wrote on the sides of the bowl, they wrote inside the bowl: "Thistles of Kenora 12 Wanderers 8 / Montreal Jan 17th & 21st 1907."[50]

Upon their return to Kenora later in January, the Thistles were warmly received; a reception at the Opera House saw each player given a commemorative cup by the city, among other gifts.[47] However the dire financial situation of the team meant that the celebratory banquet charged admission, unusual for similar events at the time.[28] There were signs of financial improvement though, as the owners of the Victoria Rink, where the team played, stated their intention to build a 4,000 to 5,000 seat replacement rink, which would make it the largest rink in Western Canada and dwarf the 1,000 seats at the Victoria Rink. This was suggested as a solution to the team's financial issues, as they would earn a portion of each ticket sold.[47][28]

March 1907 Stanley Cup challenge

The Montreal Wanderers in Winnipeg for the March 1907 Stanley Cup series. They would defeat the Thistles then, regaining the Cup after two months.

Almost immediately after winning the Stanley Cup, the Thistles were challenged by the Wanderers, who won the ECAHA championship, for a re-match. However William Foran, one of the Cup trustees, told the Thistles they had to first win the Manitoba league title.[51] Brandon and the Thistles finished in a tie for first, so a two game total-goal series was played to decide the league championship; Kenora won both games, 8–6 and then 4–1. Though this series determined who would play the Wanderers for the Cup, it was not initially regarded as a challenge series, and only later confirmed as such by the Cup trustees.[52]

The Thistles also signed three new players, as the league season and Cup challenge had seen three of their regular players injured (Hooper, McGimsie, and Phillips).[53] Fred Whitcroft, who had been playing in Peterborough, Ontario, was signed for the rest of the season for a reported $700.[54] To further bolster the team for the Cup challenge, the Thistles also signed Alf Smith and Harry "Rat" Westwick, both from the Ottawa Hockey Club; each player made their debut in the final game of the league season, and played in the series against Brandon.[55] The latter two signings drew protests from the Wanderers, who argued that as Smith and Westwick had spent the entire season with Ottawa in the ECAHA they should not be eligible for Kenora, as players had to play the full season with their team. The Thistles countered by arguing that the Wanderers themselves had brought in Hod Stuart and Riley Hern back in January. Foran defended the choice to allow Stuart, noting there had been no protest in January, and stated that Stuart and Hern spent the season with the Wanderers they were eligible.[56][57]

A further issue occurred when Foran told the Thistles the series would be played in Winnipeg and not Kenora (owing to the larger arena in Winnipeg, and thus greater revenue from tickets), that it would begin one day after the Thistles finished their series with Brandon, and that it would be a best-of three game series. The Thistles were irate, as they wanted to host the series themselves, have a three-day break prior, and play a two-game, total-goal series.[53] They discussed the matter with the Wanderers, and instead agreed to a two-game series in Winnipeg, and that Kenora could use both Smith and Westwick, which Foran consented to.[58]

With the details of the series settled, the first game was held on March 23, which the Wanderers won 7–2. The Thistles won the second match, on March 25, 6–5, but lost the series 12 goals to 8.[59] Reports of the Thistles in the media noted how reliant the team was on their three imported players, and noted that the Thistles could no longer be portrayed as a homegrown team.[60] The Thistles' time as Stanley cup champions ended after two months.[30]

Demise of the Thistles

After losing the Stanley Cup, the Thistles saw major changes in the team's composition. Prior to the 1907–08 season three players, Billy McGimsie, Roxy Beaudro, and Eddie Geroux all retired, while Tommy Phillips joined the Ottawa Hockey Club after being offered $1,500 for the season.[61][62] The team brought up four junior players, all under twenty-years-old, and were not expected to be as competitive as previous versions of the team. This was apparent after the first game of the season, which the Thistles lost 16–1.[60] The club forfeited the next two games before withdrawing from the league completely, arguing they could no longer compete at that level. They attempted to join the New Ontario Hockey League, which had teams in Port Arthur and Fort William, but were refused. Instead the Thistles played exhibition games for the rest of the season before folding.[63]

The Thistles were unable to compete with the rising professionalism that was developing in ice hockey: as a small town they were unable to build a large enough rink, let alone attract the crowds to fill it, to raise revenue. The promise of a larger arena, stated in the wake of the club's Stanley Cup championship, would have been impossible to realize, as it would have required the entire town to attend games in order to sell out.[28] Compounding the issue was a major economic downturn in the region starting as early as 1905, with mining in particular seeing a major collapse.[28] That this coincided with the establishment of professional ice hockey leagues across Canada at this time (along with the Manitoba league, the ECAHA turned fully professional in 1907, while the Ontario Professional Hockey League was established the same year, and in 1911 the Pacific Coast Hockey League began in British Columbia) meant the Thistles had to compete with a multitude of teams for players, and the higher salaries offered to players.[64] As a result, sports historian John Wong has suggested that it was "doubtful that the hockey club could compete with clubs from larger cities for the services of top-rate players and still remain financially viable."[11]

Legacy

Kenora remains the smallest town to win the Stanley Cup, and is the smallest town to win a North American major professional championship. The Thistles' two months as Stanley Cup champions is also the shortest amount of time one team has possessed the Cup.[65] Four of the homegrown Thistles (Si Griffis, Tom Hooper, Billy McGimsie, and Tommy Phillips) were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, while all five of the players signed for their 1907 Cup challenges (Art Ross and Joe Hall from January; Alf Smith, Harry Westwick, and Fred Whitcroft) would also be inducted.[66] The January 1907 Stanley Cup champion team was itself elected to the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.[67]

During their existence the Thistles were romanticized in the press "as a team of hometown boys who used to play shinny together on the streets of Rat Portage."[1] That the majority of their success came from players from the town itself was respected.[4] Further, the players remained active in the community outside of hockey: most took up local jobs, while in the summer several played a variety of other sports, notably rowing (Griffis competed at the 1905 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta) and baseball.[68][38] The team also helped promote Kenora to a wider audience: as a booming town at the turn of the century, town officials were excited for the publicity the Thistles' success brought.[51] Sports historian Stacey L. Lorenz has noted that "Although Kenora’s experience of professional hockey was brief, the Thistles’ early twentieth-century Stanley cup challenges [illustrated] some of the key issues surrounding community identity, town promotion, and the amateur-professional controversy in [that] period."[69]

Since the original team's demise in late 1907, the nickname Thistles has been used for many ice hockey clubs in Kenora, including the town's amateur, junior, and senior-level men's teams.[70]

Stanley Cup challenge series results

March 1903 vs Ottawa Hockey Club

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
March 12, 1903Ottawa HC6–2Rat Portage ThistlesDey's Arena
March 14, 1903Ottawa HC4–2Rat Portage Thistles
Ottawa won best-of-three series, 2–0

March 1905 vs Ottawa Hockey Club

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
March 7, 1905Rat Portage Thistles9–3Ottawa HCDey's Arena
March 9, 1905Ottawa HC4–2Rat Portage Thistles
March 11, 1905Ottawa HC5–4Rat Portage Thistles
Ottawa won best-of-three series, 2–1

January 1907 vs Montreal Wanderers

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
January 17, 1907Kenora Thistles4–2Montreal WanderersMontreal Arena
January 21, 1907Kenora Thistles8–6Montreal Wanderers
Kenora won total-goal series, 12 goals to 8

March 1907 vs Brandon Wheat Cities

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
March 16, 1907Kenora Thistles8–6Brandon Wheat CitiesWinnipeg Auditorium
March 18, 1907Kenora Thistles4–1Brandon Wheat Cities
Kenora won total-goal series, 12 goals to 7

March 1907 vs Montreal Wanderers

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
March 23, 1907Montreal Wanderers7–2Kenora ThistlesWinnipeg Auditorium
March 25, 1907Kenora Thistles6–5Montreal Wanderers
Montreal won total-goal series, 12 goals to 8

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lappage 1988, p. 94
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wong 2006, p. 177
  3. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2079
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lappage 1988, p. 79
  5. 1 2 Wong 2006, p. 178
  6. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, p. 64
  7. ↑ Wong 2006, p. 190, note 37
  8. ↑ There are conflicting dates for the first game: Wong cites a contemporary newspaper report of the game, while Lappage cites a letter published in 1953. See Wong 2006, p. 177 and Lappage 1988, p. 79, and Wong 2006, p. 187 regarding further details on the discrepancy.
  9. ↑ Lappage 1988, pp. 79–80
  10. 1 2 Wong 2006, p. 181
  11. 1 2 Wong 2006, p. 185
  12. 1 2 3 4 Wong 2006, p. 179
  13. ↑ Historian R.S. Lappage notes they won twelve games, but does not mention how many games were in the season; however at the time leagues would play roughly 10–15 games in a season, so the Thistles would have been one of the stronger teams. See Lappage 1988, p. 80
  14. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, p. 11
  15. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, pp. 11–16
  16. 1 2 3 Lappage 1988, p. 80
  17. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, pp. 16–17
  18. ↑ Lappage 1988, pp. 80–81
  19. 1 2 3 4 Lappage 1988, p. 81
  20. ↑ Zweig 2012–2013a, pp. 9–17
  21. ↑ Wong 2006, p. 180
  22. 1 2 Diamond 2000, p. 55
  23. ↑ Diamond, Zweig & Duplacey 2003, pp. 15–16
  24. ↑ Diamond, Zweig & Duplacey 2003, pp. 21–23
  25. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2081
  26. 1 2 3 4 Lorenz 2015, p. 2082
  27. 1 2 Danakas & Brignall 2006, p. 35
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wong 2006, p. 183
  29. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, p. 37
  30. 1 2 3 Zweig 2007
  31. ↑ Two other players, Matt Brown and Si Griffis, were both born in St. Catharines, Ontario and moved to Rat Portage at a young age; Lorenz 2015, p. 2082
  32. 1 2 Lappage 1988, p. 83
  33. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2084
  34. 1 2 3 Lorenz 2015, p. 2085
  35. ↑ Lorenz 2015, pp. 2083–2084
  36. 1 2 Wong 2006, p. 182
  37. ↑ (Zweig 2007)
  38. 1 2 Lorenz 2015, p. 2083
  39. ↑ Zweig 2012, p. 298
  40. 1 2 Lorenz 2015, p. 2086
  41. 1 2 Lappage 1988, p. 86
  42. ↑ Zweig 2012, p. 295
  43. ↑ Lappage 1988, p. 87
  44. ↑ Zweig 2006, pp. 7–8
  45. 1 2 Zweig 2001, p. 18
  46. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2089
  47. 1 2 3 Lappage 1988, p. 89
  48. ↑ Lorenz 2015, pp. 2087–2088
  49. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, pp. 83–96
  50. ↑ Diamond 2000, p. xii
  51. 1 2 Lorenz 2015, p. 2090
  52. ↑ Zweig 2001, pp. 17–20
  53. 1 2 Lappage 1988, p. 90
  54. ↑ Lappage 1988, pp. 89–90
  55. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2091
  56. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2092
  57. ↑ Coleman 1964, pp. 145–146
  58. ↑ Zweig 2001, p. 20
  59. ↑ Coleman 1964, p. 137
  60. 1 2 Lappage 1988, p. 92
  61. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, p. 108
  62. ↑ Kitchen 2008, p. 159
  63. ↑ Lappage 1988, p. 93
  64. ↑ Wong 2006, pp. 184–185
  65. ↑ Danakas & Brignall 2006, p. 111
  66. ↑ Zweig 2001, p. 17
  67. ↑ Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame 2018
  68. ↑ Lappage 1988, p. 82
  69. ↑ Lorenz 2015, p. 2098
  70. ↑ Kenora Thistles

References

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