“Those days in Orillia were some of the happiest days of our lives,” said player/coach Doug Kelcher of the Allan Cup championship on home ice in 1973
On this day 50 years ago, Orillia was in hockey heaven. And the community center on Pentang Street was the center of the universe.
In the spring of 1973, long before the internet and social media, it was the Orillia Terriers who dominated conversations at local cafes as they chased the holy grail of senior hockey.
It was a time when the Allan Cup was almost as coveted as the Stanley Cup, when senior hockey was just a notch below the NHL; where the level of play was – some would say – better than that of some NHL teams.
And during that time, the Orillia Terriers were as good as anyone else. And in 1973 they were better than everyone else.
But the memorable season started rather unfavorably.
In September 1972, after a so-so start to the season, Terriers coach Joe Kane shocked his players and team management by leaving the team during a midweek practice session.
“I remember we just played at Owen Sound and I think we were probably 4-2 or something like that,” defenseman Doug Kelcher told me a few years ago.
“In the middle of practice – I remember it was a Tuesday night – Kane stops everything and says, ‘Nobody’s listening to me.’ And then he looks at me and says, “Doug, you’re the new coach.”
“And he went away.”
Kelcher, then a Toronto high school teacher, had no idea about the move and no idea why Kane chose him to lead. But Kelcher did just that and became the game coach for the terriers.
“I remember driving home from practice with (teammate Mike) Draper and (Gary) Milroy and we all thought he was coming back,” said Kelcher.
Kane did not return. And Kelcher led his team to an excellent 31-13 record as Orillia finished second in the hard-fought Ontario Hockey Association Senior A division, just behind the strong Barrie Flyers.
While Kelcher was the coach, the team was made up of veterans and executives. He downplays his own role in the team’s somewhat surprising success.
“We didn’t fight internally like some teams did,” Kelcher said. “Tom Polanic was our captain and he was a huge help, as was Tom McCarthy (now deceased). It was a great group of guys who just got along and played well together.”
In addition, the team’s confidence in its role, he emphasized.
“Don Stoutt was the president of the team and ran the off-ice stuff and he really isolated me from all the crap that was going on,” Kelcher said. “For me as a coach he was great; very, very helpful.”
For the terriers, the path to the Allan Cup would be via their eternal rival at Barrie. In a tough Ontario Championship playoff series, the teams were tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven series before the deciding Game 5 in Barrie.
“I remember we played in Barrie on Good Friday and we won game 5 mainly thanks to (goalkeeper Jean-Louis) Levasseur. He was great in that game,” Kelcher recalled
Back home in Game 6, the Terriers were keen to take out the rival Flyers in front of their adoring home fans at the Community Centre. The tight game went into overtime. The tension in the old barn was palpable. Ironically, it was Kelcher – a home defender who rarely scored – who scored the winner in extra time.
“That was the biggest win we’ve ever had,” said Kelcher. “Barrie was Canada’s second best team in my opinion and we didn’t want to go back there for Game 7. Who knows what might have happened then? We knew if we could get past them we would have a chance to win the Allan Cup.”
After finally managing to beat their arch-rivals, the Terriers faced a best-of-five playdown with Thunder Bay for the Eastern Canadian Championship. The Terriers won the series at Thunder Bay in the fifth and deciding game.
Orillia then hosted the Allan Cup – a best-of-seven series against the St. Boniface Mohawksm Manitoba. After the Terriers easily won the first game 12-2, the Mohawks surprised the home side and won Game 2 6-4.
“At home everyone expected us to win, so we were under a lot of pressure,” said Kelcher. “After that second game, Jimmy Keon, who I think was injured in the first game, told us we had to get it together. He sat on the bench for the rest of the Allan Cup and did a great job.”
As are the players. Again, Levasseur upped his game and the Terriers dominated the next three games (27-8 aggregate) to win Orillia’s first – and only – Allan Cup.
“The atmosphere was just electric,” Kelcher recalls, describing how people crowded into the arena and found places to watch that weren’t marked on the seating charts. “All games were sold out. I think it was a real pride for the city to win the Allan Cup.”
It meant a lot to the players, he said.
“Those days in Orillia have been some of the happiest days of our lives,” said Kelcher, who is friends with many of his teammates who celebrated with tears and champagne on that memorable evening of May 13, 1973 at the community center. “The city really was.” behind us. It was a great place to play.”
Also among the crowd that night was Bill Watters, a native of Orillia, who was a star University of Toronto football player at the time. He followed his home team through regular updates from his mother. When he learned they had a chance to win the title on home ice, he made sure they were in.
All of Orillia appeared to be in attendance that night, along with NHL superstars Bobby Orr and Dave Keon, whose brother Jim played for the Terriers.
“Bobby Orr, who I think is the greatest player of all time, was sitting next to me and Keon, one of the greatest Leafs of all time, was in Orillia to watch the Terriers win the Allan Cup,” recalled Watters. “Winning an Allan Cup is something all Orillians have been proud of and will continue to be proud of.”
It was also one of the true hockey highlights for Claire Alexander, who went on to play for the Leafs.
But back then, Alexander was widely known as the “milkman” as he delivered milk to 192 households on his daily tour while playing in Orillia.
From left: Ken “Jiggs” McDonald, Doug Kelcher, Gary Milroy and Mike Draper look at memorabilia from an Orillia Terrier meeting a few years ago. Dave Dawson/OrilliaMatters file photo
Ken “Jiggs” McDonald, an NHL Hall of Famer broadcaster who started at CFOR in Orillia, said Alexander enjoyed his time in Orillia.
“No matter where he played, he always had Orillia in his heart,” McDonald said at a Terriers meet a few years ago.
It was at this reunion that it became clear what Orillia meant to the players.
“I’ve said many times that as a player you never get a chance to say thank you to people,” Alexander said, noting that the Terriers quickly went their separate ways after winning the Allan Cup. “This is my chance to say thank you to the school.” Teachers, the police officers, my family
“You all mean so much to me. Without you we are not what we are. I thank you with all my heart. Orillia will be in my heart until I leave this earth, I promise you.
And for those who grew up in Orillia in those halcyon days, those players and that memorable run will never be forgotten.
Allan Cup champions included John Louis Levasseur, Mike Draper, Doug Kelcher (Coach), Tom Polanic, Grant Moore, John McWilliams, Gary Milroy, Jim Keon, Ron Clarke, Jim O’Brien, Clare Alexander, Gary Marsh, Ernie Miller, Ray Dupont, Garrie Vaughan, George Vail, Charlie Cipolla, and Henry Monteith.
Don Stoutt was team president while Al Beausoleil was the team’s manager. Peter Leman was the team’s coach while Billy Harris was the assistant coach.