Game 044
Canadiens 8, St. Pats 7
Wednesday, March 8, 1922
Arena Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Strange things happened at the Arena last night, and as a result, the faithful fans – and they were few – who attended went away muttering to themselves. At the end of the first period, the Canadiens were leading the St. Pats by the most unusual score of 8 to 1, and they just lasted long enough in the remaining sessions to close the season with an 8 to 7 victory.
The reversal of form, to say the least, was remarkable. In the opening period the St. Patricks showed little interest in the proceedings, and the visitors “proceeded” to make hay while the sun shone. They outchecked, outplayed, outskated and outbrained the badly rattled team wearing the colours of the local club, but in the last forty minutes the shoe was on the other foot.
One minute after the game commenced, Boucher scored for the Canadiens, and in thirty seconds Coutu beat the defence and drove the puck past Roach. Odie Cleghorn came back with another in rapid fire order, and the crowd began to groan. Six minutes later Berlinquette got one, and then Noble scored for the St. Pats. It was only a flash in the pan, however, and Odie Cleghorn, Sprague Cleghorn and Bouchard tallied four times before the intermission.
In disgust, manager O’Donoghue benched “Red” Stuart, who was checking very poorly, and when the next period began it was apparent that the Irish were out to overtake the invaders. From then until the end of the game, the play was fairly interesting, and as the locals gradually cut down the lead the fans showed their appreciation. With eight minutes to play, they were only one goal behind, but the Frenchmen put up a stout resistance, and prevented any further tallying.
Harry Cameron played splendidly from beginning to end, and Corbett, Denneny, Reg Noble and “Babe” Dye were also prominent. Dye added three goals to his total, and finished the season with thirty counters. He is one ahead of Cyril Denneny of Ottawa, and one behind Broadbent of the same team. Ottawa, however, entertain Hamilton at the capital tonight, and their two leading sharpshooters should get a few more goals.
The visitors are gradually weeding out the veterans, and were very strong when Boucher and Coutu were on the ice. The latter is a fast skater, a persistent backchecker and tricky on the attack. He started a feud with Reg Noble in the first period, and showed poor judgment there. Noble is one of the cleanest men in the sport, but a bad one to trifle with. In the next session Boucher, in trying to sidestep Noble, lost his balance and crashed heavily into the boards, hurting his ankle so severely that he retired for the rest of the game.
This year will perhaps mark the passing of “Newsy” Lalonde, one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Always a keen businessman, Lalonde has proved the financial wizard of pro lacrosse and hockey, and the years have been kind to this Cornwall veteran who broke into senior company nearly twenty years ago. Today he is a wreck of what he once was, but he still retains his expert knowledge of the tricks of the sport, and is a valuable man in emergencies, but as a regular, Lalonde has passed along. Lalonde has many times aroused the ire of the fans by rough play but, always courageous, the men who criticized him could not help but admire him.
There is another veteran on the Montréal team, Bert Corbeau, who is slowly losing his effectiveness, and may be an absentee from the Canadien lineup when the next campaign gets underway. In the last half dozen games, he has been used as a substitute, and the good playing of Coutu on the Canadien defence has justified the change. Manager Dandurand intimated here last night that he will probably release or trade Corbeau.
The St. Patricks did not need to win, as far as the standing is concerned, and they showed little life in the early stages, but when they started to hit their stride, it was a different story. The visitors believe that the Irish will give Ottawa a great argument for the championship, and manager Dandurand thinks that they will win the honours.
The locals scored three goals in the first three minutes of the second period, Dye getting two and Cameron one, while Denneny assisted in two. The Frenchmen were caught off their guard, as they anticipated no such “comeback,” but they settled away in a hurry and defied the best efforts of the locals to score again before the intermission.
In the last twenty minutes, play was all in favour of the losers, Dye, Denneny and Noble scoring. Cameron and Stuart started two of the successful attacks. Stuart had entirely recovered his form, and was one of the most effective men in action.
Story originally published in The Globe, March 9, 1922
BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL GOAL – 01:00 – Boucher
MTL GOAL – 01:30 – Coutu
MTL GOAL – 03:00 – O. Cleghorn
MTL GOAL – 08:00 – Berlinquette
TOR GOAL – 10:00 – Noble
MTL GOAL – 10:45 – O. Cleghorn
MTL GOAL – 15:00 – S. Cleghorn
MTL GOAL – 16:00 – Boucher
MTL GOAL – 17:20 – S. Cleghorn
2nd Period
TOR GOAL – 00:45 – Dye (Denneny)
TOR GOAL – 01:30 – Cameron (Denneny)
TOR GOAL – 03:00 – Dye
3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 05:00 – Dye (Cameron)
TOR GOAL – 07:30 – Denneny (Stuart)
TOR GOAL – 11:30 – Noble
Penalties
MTL – Coutu
TOR – Noble, Randall
GOALTENDERS
MTL – Vézina (W)
TOR – Roach (L)
ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Georges Vézina. Defence: Sprague Cleghorn (C), Bert Corbeau, Billy Coutu. Forwards: Louis Berlinquette, Edmond Bouchard, Billy Boucher, Odie Cleghorn, Newsy Lalonde.
TOR – Goaltenders: John Ross Roach. Defence: Harry Cameron, Billy Stuart. Forwards: Lloyd Andrews, Corb Denneny, Babe Dye, Reg Noble (C), Ken Randall, Rod Smylie.
TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 12-11-1 (.521)
TOR – 13-10-1 (.563)
Two Solitudes 