Game 153
Maple Leafs 4, Canadiens 1
Saturday, November 12, 1938
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Harvey “Busher” Jackson was the Busher of old at Maple Leaf Gardens on Saturday night, as he sparked the Leafs to a decisive 4-1 victory over Les Canadiens of Montréal.
Displaying form and finish that was reminiscent of his palmy days on the Conacher-Primeau-Jackson line, he turned the hat trick with three goals, and also assisted in Toronto’s other goal, which was registered by Gus Marker.
The renowned Flying Frenchmen flew in hard battling style over the Gardens’ ice while providing a thrilling spectacle for 10,773 cash customers, but they had nobody on their lineup who could fly to the payoff place and get results like Jackson did. It was the Leafs’ first win on home ice, and it also was their second win of the week over the very much rebuilt Habitants. The high powered combination of Canadiens and Maroons scored only one goal on Turk Broda in the two games.
A parade of penalties in the rather scrappy and loose first period had lessened both teams’ scoring chances, and the last minute was showing on the clock when Babe Siebert, the Canadiens’ burly defence star, chopped down Bill Thoms to such an extent that the Leafs’ centreman had to leave the ice for repairs. The fans roared in protest when Siebert escaped without a penalty, but it turned out to be an incident that backfired on Siebert and his mates.
Apps came out to take Thoms’ place on the line with Jackson and Marker, and this trio clicked for a goal on their first rush. The alert and hustling Marker, who played another grand game against the team that didn’t want him this season, started the pretty three way play, Marker to Apps to Jackson. And the Busher made the red light blink at 19:36.
There were only two seconds left on the clock when the same trio struck again. This time it was Marker who beat goaler Cude with a fine shot as he whirled in from the right boards after Apps and Jackson had baffled the Frenchmen’s defence with their passes.
The Canadiens netted the only goal of the second period, the Leafs being held out by Cude’s finest work of the night. It was just past halfway in the period when Toe Blake, the aggressive Canadien wingman, was uncovered right in front of the Leafs’ net as he got his rebound and banged it past Broda, who had been forced to sprawl while making a save on Blake’s first shot.
It was the Leafs’ only costly defensive lapse in the week’s two games against the Montréalers. Big Red Goupille, sub-defenceman, made the rush and pass that gave Blake his scoring chance. Because of his roughhouse tactics, Goupille was somewhat of a storm centre all evening, but he played quite a game nevertheless.
Early in the third period, considerable desperate driving by the Canadiens had the fans in a dither, and there were plenty of times when the one goal lead did not appear to be very big. Wearers of the bleu, blanc and rouge were swarming through and over the home team. But the tide turned when Cude had to dive and smother the puck on Chamberlain’s short shot. The Leafs changed their front line as the faceoff was made near the Canadiens’ net, and Thoms won the faceoff. His pass to Jackson was backhanded into the cage by the busy Busher at 8:25.
The Leafs refused to lie back on a defensive stand and be bottled up after that, and they got a break when referee Ion did a long delayed bit of thumb waving at Goupille, who had been trying to take Kampman apart without the least success. Goupille had just parked himself in the penalty pew when Fowler broke away with Thoms’ pass from the faceoff near the Leafs’ net. The eager Jackson, who couldn’t be kept out of anything when he was on the ice, accompanied Jimmy on the rink-long rush. And it was Jackson who rifled Fowler’s pass into the twine for the final goal at 15:01. The Canadiens never got organized for any real threats before the game ended.
On Thursday when the Leafs and Canadiens played in Montréal, referee Ion did not issue a penalty. But, Saturday’s first period was only a very few minutes old before Hamilton of the Leafs was given the gate, and before the tussle was over, five Leafs and three Canadiens had served sentences.
Ion is rated at the top of the refereeing corps by this writer, but a lot of us have seen him turn in many jobs that were done far better than the one on Saturday.
Little Johnny Gagnon created much laughter and also some serious head wagging in the Canadiens’ dressing room before the game by piping up with: “Eef we don’t win dis third start, some of us are goin’ down to New Hav-un and be sayin’, ‘Hello, Pete, my ole frand. You remembaire me, Pete? I always spoke well of you, Pete, when we used to play togethaire.'” The Pete referred to is Pete Lépine, the former Canadien centreman, who now is managing the Canadiens’ farm club at New Haven in the Inter-Am. League.
Bob Gracie of the Canadiens got quite a tongue lashing from the crowd in the south end of the Gardens when he made a one-handed catch of a rebound off the screen behind the Leafs’ net, and then tried to throw the puck into the cage. Somebody jiggled Robert’s arm and spoiled his aim.
Nick Metz finished the game with his face looking like a high powered advertisement for an adhesive tape factory. In the first period a Canadien’s high stick nicked Nicholas on the nose; later another Frenchman’s flail gashed him in a corner of his mouth. And, no penalties were given.
The fans got their prize chill early in the third period, when with the score only 2 to 1 for the Leafs, Toe Blake hurdled through the Toronto defence to get Haynes’ pass and go right in to have Broda at his mercy. But in the excitement, Blake’s caddy must have given him a niblick instead of a driver – and he lofted the rubber high over the cage.
Lester Patrick, manager of the New York Rangers, attended the game. He is very keen about his latest experiment of having five forwards go on a sustained goal hunt even when the opposing team is not shorthanded.
With the electric organ hooked up to the battery of loudspeaker horns above the sportimer, Saturday night’s musical program was a much improved one.
The fans, unfortunately, could not be privileged to get in on the interesting and unprecedented scenes in the Leafs’ dressing room after the game, when the first twenty members of The Globe & Mail Junior Hockey Club experienced the thrill of their young lives. The kids shook hands with the Leafs, with manager Smythe, coach Irvin, King Clancy and Lionel Conacher. They had their pictures taken, and there was such a happy commotion going on that trainer Tim Daly was almost stopped in his tracks and rendered nearly speechless for the first time since his boxing days. “I never seen nuthin’ like it around here,” Daly finally managed to say.
Story originally published in The Globe & Mail, November 14, 1938
BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR GOAL – 19:36 – Jackson (Apps, Marker)
TOR GOAL – 19:58 – Marker (Apps, Jackson)
TOR PENS – Hamilton, Horner, Marker
MTL PENS – Evans, Gracie
2nd Period
MTL GOAL – 11:23 – Blake (Goupille)
TOR PENS – Hamilton, Kampman
3rd Period
TOR PP GOAL – 06:36 – Jackson (Fowler)
TOR GOAL – 08:25 – Jackson (Thoms)
MTL PEN – Goupille
GOALTENDERS
TOR – Broda (W)
MTL – Cude (L)
ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: Turk Broda. Defence: Jimmy Fowler, Reg Hamilton, Red Horner (C), Bingo Kampman. Forwards: Syl Apps, Murph Chamberlain, Bob Davidson, Busher Jackson, Pep Kelly, Norm Mann, Gus Marker, Nick Metz, George Parsons, Bill Thoms.
MTL – Goaltenders: Wilf Cude. Defence: Walter Buswell, Stewart Evans, Red Goupille, Georges Mantha, Cy Wentworth. Forwards: Toe Blake, Herb Cain, Johnny Gagnon, Bob Gracie, Paul Haynes, Rod Lorrain, Armand Mondou, Babe Siebert (C), Lou Trudel, Jimmy Ward.
TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 2-2-0 (.500)
MTL – 0-3-0 (.000)
ATTENDANCE
10,773
Two Solitudes 