Game 065
St. Pats 3, Canadiens 1
Wednesday, February 25, 1925
Aréna Mont-Royal, Montréal, Québec
“They tattooed and frapped us from the drop of the hat, but we won the game, and that makes up for all the abuse we got,” said Paul Ciceri, vice president of the St. Pats hockey team, when he got home this morning from Montréal, where the Irish brigade took another game from the Canadiens.
“There were 13 in our party last night, but we beat them 3 to 1, hoodoo and all. This Canadien gang started right in to carve us from the drop of the hat, but the boys took it all for the same of victory. When we got the first goal in the first period and the boys were getting peppered, they came to the room fighting mad, and were inclined to go right back and battle, but coach Eddie Powers cooled them out and showed them where the best revenge was to beat them out of the game. They went right back in there, and they took all the Canadiens could hand out. It was mighty tough, but they stuck.”
“The crowd was terrible. They threw everything they could find lying around loose at the referee, Eddie O’Leary of Ottawa, and the St. Pats team had to have police protection going off the ice. When we went through the alley, some of the crazy fans took a few passes at the boys. Bert Corbeau was particularly singled out. He got a couple of swats, but there was no real damage done. While the boys are pretty well bruised up, we have no injuries.”
Ciceri says that Sprague Cleghorn was the chief troublemaker, and says that at one time, he pulled Morenz back on the defence and went up to the faceoff to see if he could not stop Mike Neville, the Three Rivers and London recruit.
Ciceri is very lavish in his praise of Neville’s performance. He says that he is a real find. He went the full 60 minutes last night, and Ciceri insists that he not only outbattled, but outplayed, Morenz, the Canadiens’ mid-ice star. Ciceri says that every man the St. Pats tossed out turned in great hockey, but he is very sticky on Neville’s performance.
The Canadiens were without Aurèle Joliat, their star goal getter, and they missed his stuff around the nets. Billy Coutu got the Canadiens’ only goal, while Dye and McCaffrey were responsible for all three St. Pats goals. Dye landed the first goal in nine minutes. He shot that after Headley had knocked him off his balance with a heavy body check.
There was no score in the second period, but halfway down the third stanza, McCaffrey passed to Dye for the St. Pats’ second goal. Then the Canadiens landed their initial counter on a quick rush from the faceoff. McCaffrey landed the St. Pats’ third counter on a lone rush.
Commenting on the Canadiens’ defeat by the St. Patricks in their National Hockey League fixture here last night by a score of three to one, Le Canada, the French morning paper, says in part:
Joliat’s absence was keenly felt by the Red, White and Blue. They seemed disorganized, and it took several minutes before they could get down to work. As a matter of fact, it was only in the third period that they seemed to gather themselves. The Irish had a lead of a couple of goals, and the Canadiens only then began to work really hard in an effort to equalize. Coutu obtained one counter, and for a time it looked as if another overtime period would have to be played. But McCaffrey quickly put an end to the Canadiens’ hopes in adding one more tally for his team.
It might be said that the Torontonians won their game in the first period. Several minutes after the opening of the game, the players began to play the man instead of the puck. The Canadiens were the strongest, and referee O’Leary had to net with some severity to indicate to them that he had no intention of tolerating any roughhouse.
One goal means a lot in hockey, and after the St. Pats acquired their initial tally, they started in on the defensive.
After the game, the spectators criticized the Toronto men on their way to the dressing rooms. This enraged the Queen City players, and several of them threatened the fans with their sticks. Happily, the police intervened and no one was hurt.
Story originally published in The Toronto Daily Star, February 26, 1925
BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR PP GOAL – 09:00 – Dye (Neville)
MTL PENS – Boucher, S. Cleghorn, Morenz
TOR PEN – Corbeau
2nd Period
MTL PENS – Boucher, S. Cleghorn
TOR PENS – Corbeau, Neville
3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 07:50 – Dye (McCaffrey)
MTL GOAL – 07:30 – Coutu (Boucher)
TOR GOAL – 12:50 – McCaffrey
TOR PEN – Neville
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Roach (W)
MTL – Vézina (L)
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: John Ross Roach (C). Defence: Bert Corbeau, Hap Day, Albert Holway. Forwards: Babe Dye, Bert McCaffrey, Mike Neville, Reg Reid, Rod Smylie.
MTL – Goaltenders: Georges Vézina. Defence: Sprague Cleghorn (C), Billy Coutu, Fern Headley, Sylvio Mantha. Forwards: Billy Boucher, Odie Cleghorn, Johnny Matz, Howie Morenz.
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 17-9-0 (.654)
MTL – 15-9-2 (.615)
Two Solitudes 