1940/41 Brantford Lions Junior B Ontario Champions

1998 Honouree Team, Hockey

The Brantford Junior B team were titans in the 1940/41 season. Most games they played in they regularly cleared 10 goals and only suffered their first loss about halfway through the season against Simcoe. Brantford was regularly at least five men down due to commitments to other teams but still maintained one of the highest point records that season. Jim Lowe was the team captain most of this season. The Lions nursed a very intense rivalry against the team from Etobicoke during this time partly due to Etobicoke’s coaching staff, but mostly due to the hard loses the Lions suffered against Etobicoke during the previous year.

On January 3, 1941 the Etobicoke Junior B team came to Brantford to play the Lions. This was expected to be an emotional game as several veteran Brantford players were, at the time, coaching and acting as support staff for the Etobicoke team. The Lions defeated Etobicoke 11 to 2. So many goals were scored in quick succession that onlookers were quoted as saying, “…the Goal Judge behind the Etobicoke net would make a good Christmas tree decorator with all the red lights he switched on.” Both teams walked in with a solid win streak, but only the Brantford Lions maintained one.

This game had special significance due to the record setting attendance of over 1,200 people. There were so many attendees that the game had to be postponed to compensate for the massive line up at the ticket stalls! It was then decided that tickets should be able to be purchased ahead of time.

The Brantford Lions defeated many other teams around southern Ontario. Many rinks at the time did not have standardized sizes so some games were rougher than others, especially games against the team from Waterloo. During the last season, Waterloo was their toughest opponent.

The Brantford Lions entered the playoffs in third place within the league. Brantford ended up settling the season long rivalry against Etobicoke in the playoffs when they knocked the Etobicoke team out of the running in their final game of the year.

1940/41 Brantford Lions Junior B Ontario Champions Team Roster

Tommy Ivan, Jim Lowe, Ken Pigeon, Bruce Strongman, Tom Wilson, Roy McNicol, Scotty Linn, Fred Plumley, Mickey McGuire, Len Snider, Jack Aslin, Jack Butcher, John Bailas, Leo Reise, Sam Kennedy, Bill Campbell, John Horeck, Jim McGuire (Stick Boy).