Sunday marks precisely 100 years because a hockey group from British Columbia won the Stanley Cup.
On March 30, 1925, the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League beat the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens 6-1 to secure their best-of-five collection, ending up being the last non-NHL group to elevate Lord Stanley’s mug.
Events will take place in the Victoria area over the weekend break to note the wedding anniversary, consisting of the display screen of the Stanley Cup at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre on Sunday mid-day.
Among those present will certainly be Bob Miles, whose grand-uncle was Harry “Hap” Holmes, a goaltender that won 4 Stanley Cups with 4 various groups, consisting of the Cougars.
Miles stated Holmes’s label of “Happy” or “Hap” was a within joke describing the reality that he never ever grinned.
His occupation started each time when goaltenders weren’t enabled to go down to the ice to make a conserve. He likewise utilized pads that were tiny in contrast to those utilized by modern-day netminders.
A 1925 write-up in the Saskatoon Phoenix kept in mind that Holmes made his very own pads out of “some canvas, a few maple splints, a couple of straps, and a bit of felt.”
“A goalie can’t be judged by the pads he wears, but rather by the pucks he stops,” Holmes stated.
Holmes really did not put on a mask or a safety helmet, yet he wore a cap on the ice to cover his hairless scalp, according to the Hockey News, “because lore has it that his shiny head made for an easy target for fans who wanted to spit tobacco juice on him.”
Cougars’ heritage kept in mind
After the Cougars’ triumph over the Canadiens, the group consumed sparkling wine bought from the Empress Hotel, according to a 1995 retrospective released in the Times Colonist, and the Stanley Cup was placed on “unguarded display” at a precious jewelry shop in midtown Victoria.
The Cougars, that played their home video games in an field in Oak Bay, went back to the Stanley Cup last in 1926, being up to the Montreal Maroons.
Following the loss, the organization liquified and numerous Cougars gamers were marketed to a brand-new NHL group in Detroit that was called the Cougars in honour of the inoperative Victoria franchise business, prior to inevitably altering its name to the Red Wings.
On The Island 5:42Learning concerning the heritage the goaltender that assisted the Victoria Cougars catch the Stanley Cup in 1925
CBC Victoria’s Alex Wauthy spoke with Bob Miles, the fantastic nephew of Harry ‘Hap’Holmes
Among the gamers that relocated to Detroit was goaltender Holmes, that was posthumously chosen right into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
Miles wishes for a “loud and proud” event of the Cougars in Victoria, something that would certainly make his quiet grand-uncle proud.
“Although his nickname was Happy and he never smiled, I’m sure he would be very happy to see the celebration going on this weekend in Victoria,” he stated.
