Forty years can be a long time, but for the former members of the Victoria MacDonaldB次元官网网址檚 Bread junior lacrosse team, memories of the 1976 Minto Cup championship season arenB次元官网网址檛 too far away.
A group of players and staff from that national championship team, as well as team owners John and Rhoda MacDonald, were on hand to be honoured on the 40th anniversary of their win in a special ceremony held before SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 junior Shamrocks game at The Q Centre.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 kind of emotional. ItB次元官网网址檚 an honour to come out here and meet the guys and recognize that 40 years is a long time,B次元官网网址� said Gerry Cadwallader, a rough-and-ready player who could also score and later played for the senior Shamrocks. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 hard to believe itB次元官网网址檚 gone by that fast.B次元官网网址�
Playing home games out of what was then the Esquimalt Sports Centre (now the Archie Browning Sports Centre), the team went 21-6-1 in the regular season that year to win the five-team Pacific Junior A Lacrosse League. They later swept the Bramalea Excelsiors 4-0 in the Minto Cup series.
Despite having such amazing offensive talents as Kevin Alexander, who scored 101 goals and totalled 217 points B次元官网网址� a record that still stands B次元官网网址� in 28 games; Bob Cool, who tallied 70 times and racked up 176 points, and Tej Labh, who notched 55 goals, the team was a collection of players who all played key roles, Cadwallader said.
B次元官网网址淭here were no stars on our team from our point of view; everybody contributed and everybody believed we were going to win.B次元官网网址�
Teammate Joe Mottishaw echoed that sentiment.
B次元官网网址淲e acted like a team, we werenB次元官网网址檛 individuals,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e were a true team and everybody stuck together (through) thick or thin. You went after one of us, you went after all of us.B次元官网网址�
The MacDonalds team, nicknamed the Bakers, were a collection of players who had come up through the ranks in the Esquimalt, Victoria and Saanich minor lacrosse associations. Juan de Fuca had yet to be established by that time.
B次元官网网址淚t was kind of a cool group B次元官网网址� when we all came together we all got along great,B次元官网网址� recalled player Roy Sinden, a longtime Kelowna resident who travelled to Colwood for the ceremony . B次元官网网址淲e used to play against each other, as kids, and now here we were playing together as young adults.B次元官网网址�
Joked Cadwallader of looking back today: B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e still 19 in our minds.B次元官网网址�
He noted that some players from the team still keep in touch, but he expected that this mini-reunion would help further in that regard.
Giving a sense of just how special that collection of players were, the MacDonaldB次元官网网址檚 Bread team fell to 13-15 the following year and watched arch-rival Burnaby Cablevision capture the Minto Cup. Many of the players from the championship Victoria team had graduated out of junior and a handful, including Alexander and Cool, won a Mann Cup in 1983 with the senior Shamrocks.
The Victoria junior club, renamed the Esquimalt Legion, won the cityB次元官网网址檚 last Minto Cup in 1988 after being runner-up the three previous years. Area teams have been runner-up three times since then, most recently the junior Shamrocks in 2008.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
