Port Arthur Bearcats
Port Arthur Bearcats (also Port Arthur Senior Bearcats) was a senior men's hockey club of Port Arthur, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay), named in Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame profiles from the 1930s to the 1970s. The profiles record that it reached the Allan Cup final in 1935, supplied eight players and the coaching staff of Canada's team at the 1936 Winter Olympics, won the Allan Cup in 1939 and won the first Ahearne Cup in 1962.[1][2][3]
Allan Cup
The 1936 Olympic profile says "the Port Arthur Senior Bearcats" lost the 1935 Allan Cup final to the Halifax Wolverines.[2] The 1938–39 team (Port Arthur Bearcats (1938–39)) won the Allan Cup, beating the Montreal Royals at the Montreal Forum after series against the Geraldton Goldminers, the Red Lake Thunderers, Stonewall, the Saskatoon Quakers and the Kimberley Dynamiters.[1] Later players were also in Allan Cup finals: Bill McKenzie played in the 1942 and 1944 finals[4], and Bud Poile was added to the club as a pickup player for the 1942 final against the Ottawa Flyers.[5] Weikko Koivisto won four straight city titles with the Bearcats from 1939 to 1943.[6]
1936 Olympics
After the Halifax Wolverines could not field a team for the 1936 Winter Olympics, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association built the Canadian side from eastern players and eight Bearcats players plus the coach, the trainer and the manager. The team won the silver medal.[2] The Bearcats staff on that team were coach Albert Pudas, manager Malcolm Cochran and trainer W. "Scotty" Stewart. The team is on the wiki as Canadian Olympic Hockey Club (1936).[7]
1961–62 and the Ahearne Cup
The 1961–62 club won the first Bunny Ahearne Cup by beating Sweden's Djurgaarden 5–3 on 3 January 1962, at the end of a 15-game tour of Czechoslovakia, Germany and Sweden (10 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie). Rudy Migay, Steve Hrymnak and Lee Fogolin Sr. were on the bench, and Bob Kilgour was in goal for the final.[3] Fogolin coached the Port Arthur Senior Bearcats from 1960 to 1964.[8] Fred Page helped arrange the tour,[9] and George Gwozdecky was the club's president and a club doctor.[10] The team is on the wiki as Port Arthur Bearcats (1961–62).
Later years
Mike Kostick managed the Fort William Beavers to the 1970 Thunder Bay Senior Hockey League title, which ended a long run of titles by the Bearcats.[11] The Thunder Bay Twins were formed in 1970 by amalgamating the Senior Bearcats and the Beavers.[12] The profile of Benny Woit has him playing for the Senior Bearcats from 1972 to 1975, which is after that amalgamation, so the profiles disagree about when the Bearcats name ended.[13]
Other Bearcats
Other Hall of Fame profiles mention different clubs with the same nickname. The Port Arthur West End Bearcats were a minor and junior side, and a Thunder Bay Bearcats AAA midget team won bronze at the 1988 Air Canada Cup.
- Possibly the same as Port Arthur Seniors; the Hall of Fame profiles count the Seniors' 1920s Allan Cup wins together with the Bearcats' 1939 win, but they do not say the two were one club.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Port Arthur Bearcats Senior Hockey", team profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/team-profile/455d68f3-e436-4ff7-9e2a-30b89bc28818 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Canadian Olympic Hockey Club (NWO members)", team profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/team-profile/635fda0c-183f-4a59-ba99-019f91d6f862 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Port Arthur Bearcats Senior Hockey", team profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/team-profile/c6aed80a-ecd1-4a53-a843-1d61282e6df9 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Bill McKenzie", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/32266d77-3e41-4058-8ef3-a64b6a4831fe (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Norman 'Bud' Poile", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/33b5569c-0570-4940-844d-249658966780 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Weikko Koivisto", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/98dd8e0c-a4e1-4c1e-853e-bed34c76a133 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Albert 'Puddy' Pudas", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/12c958aa-97a9-46da-8e5c-d0e8ec875c1a (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Lidio 'Lee' Fogolin", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/38755f8f-ed23-44f3-94c5-97425bcf7576 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Fred Page", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/356b925d-6dab-4805-a559-97182e0a4776 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Dr. George Gwozdecky", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/45a7b2cd-21b2-4a34-8c32-d95933fc4a68 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Mike 'Fosh' Kostick", builder profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/47019c51-258e-4ee5-843f-fa9f6351efea (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Thunder Bay Twins Senior Hockey", team profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/team-profile/22f51f95-6bfc-473f-88c0-785c0a7b5a0b (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.
- ↑ "Benny Woit", athlete profile, Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/athlete-profile/dd33f370-91d7-4ac7-888a-099342c14d11 (accessed 31 October 2026). Archived copy on datum.locker.