It was a strange time in my life. Kind of a “no man’s land” between
the past and the future. It was the summer between Grade 12 and my first year
of university, and I got a job with the Lethbridge Exhibition Board. I saw a
lot of things and I am always reminded of them when I think of two songs. Not
just any two songs, but two that dominated the “Catch a Rising Star” at the
1987 edition of Whoop-Up Days in Lethbridge.
Summer jobs
The summer of 1987 was an odd one, because I spent it doing a bunch of
different jobs. It started with my last few weeks at Gergely’s Greenhouse, then
I spent a week or so painting fences at my friend Dave’s place.
After that, I kind of moped around and killed time, hanging out, shooting hoops on an
outside court in Coaldale, and basically waiting for summer to end. It would be
the end of that phase of life, because I was heading off to university in the
fall.
One day, my friend Mat phoned. We had been friends since before school
began, riding the school bus together, and living on neighbouring farms. He was
going to Lethbridge to apply for a job at Whoop-Up Days. It was the annual fair
with a midway and grandstand show, put on I believe by the Lethbridge Exhibition
Board. Every summer they hired dozens of workers for the week, mostly as
parking attendants, to pick up garbage, and other jobs like that.
When we got to the Exhibition Pavilion, there was a huge line of
people just like Mat and I, high school kids looking to make a little cash.
Finally, we were at the front of the line, and I got called to sit in
front of a man with an English accent who asked me a few basic questions. Had I
swept, had I picked up garbage, and so on.
I honestly never went to get a job, as much as to have the experience, and hang out with Mat.
A couple days later I got a call from a fellow named Len from the
Lethbridge Exhibition board. He wanted me to start on Monday. I thought that
odd, because the fair wasn’t for a couple weeks.
It turns out, and I only found this out later, I was hired to replace
a guy on the regular crew, not to help out for Whoop-Up Days.
Battle of the bands
Our coffee room, and kind of base of operations, was underneath the
seats in the Exhibition Pavilion. We had lunch and a couple coffee breaks each
day. It was, I think part way through the week of Whoop-Up Days, that I heard
this familiar sound midway through the afternoon coffee break. We got free pop
from one of the cantinas, so I was sipping on a cool fountain Coke on a really
hot day, and I heard this song playing.
Back then I listened to a radio station called 1090 CHEC. They had
this countdown of the most requested songs every week night. Probably a month
earlier, I recall hearing two songs that were really cool, but I had never
heard of the bands who played them.
One was called “Please Hold Me” by a band called Credit, and the other
was a song called “Fantasy Child” by a band calling itself Barricade. Both
songs struck a chord and sat on those nightly charts for weeks.
It turned out they were both local bands from Lethbridge.
Well, during my coffee break, I heard “Please Hold Me.”
Oh that’s cool, I thought. Someone found a radio to listen to while we
worked. Well, break was over and I had to go through the pavilion.
There, standing on stage in street clothes were a bunch of guys
singing “Please Hold Me” and they weren’t lip synching. It had to be Credit. I
couldn’t stay to watch, but I wish I had, because they sounded good.
It turned out they were rehearsing for "Catch a Rising Star" which was sponsored by 1090 CHEC.
Barricade was there too.
Because I had to work, and I had some other things going on, I never
did seethat battle of the bands
and I’m not even sure who won.
Still, it was cool to see, even just for a minute, a band I had heard
on the radio. It was the first ever piece of live music I had ever heard too.
Parting thoughts
I‘m not sure how much success Credit had beyond those few months in
1987. As I write this, I think they may have won that talent contest, and
that may have been their peak.
Barricade is another story.
I was working in Fort Macleod in 2001, and I was previewing a
fundraising concert. I was set to interview one of the members of the band, a
guy who lived in Fort Macleod named Rob. He was at home that week, so I paid
him a visit to interview him at his place. While we were talking, we got on the
subject of his musical background.
He starts telling me about this band he was in back in the 1980s, and
how they even charted a song on 1090 CHEC. I asked what the song was.
“Fantasy Child,” he replies. It turns out, he was part of
Barricade.
He laughed and said they even had an old poster still hanging in the
place where his current band rehearsed.
So, the night of that fundraising concert, I’m walking back to the
office after the concert is finished. It was late and dark, and I see this vehicle slowly driving
parallel to me. Suddenly, the window opens and it’s Rob.
“Hey Rob,” he says. “Have this.”
It was a poster of Barricade.
Fourteen years later, but it was just as cool.
It reminded me of a unique summer in my life, when I had closed one
chapter and was about to open another.
Looking at that poster reminds me how cool that last summer was.
Quarterback J.C. Watts in his familiar number six with a new team, the Toronto Argonauts. He joined the Boatmen part way through the 1986 season after he was released by Ottawa.
When the Hamilton Tiger-Cats met the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL Eastern
Conference final back in 2013, it was the first time the two teams met in the
eastern final since 1986.
That game in 1986 was memorable for several reasons. It in fact was
not one game but two, the last time the league used the two-game, total-point format.
It also symbolized the last time Julius Caesar Watts played in the CFL, ending
six eventful years.
Disappearing act
When we left you, J.C.Watts had just about engineered one of the
greatest upsets in Grey Cup history, before falling just three points short in
the 1981 game. Watts was named offensive most valuable player of that Grey Cup,
and the future looked bright.
But, as the 1982 season opened, J.C. Watts was not on the field. In
fact, he did not play at all in 1982. He wanted his contract re-worked,
including payment in U.S. dollars. He threatened to sit out the year, unless
his contract was re-done. Ottawa did not budge. Because he was under contract,
it meant Watts would play in Ottawa or not at all. So J.C. Watts did not play
football at all that year.
While you were sleeping
While he was gone, Ottawa finished with a record of 5-11 for the
second straight season. Chris Isaac had taken over at quarterback, with Jordan
Case and Kevin Starkey also seeing playing time. Isaac would throw for 3,408
yards and 18 touchdowns to win the CFL rookie of the year, beating out Mervyn
Fernandez of the B.C. Lions.
The Riders finished third in the East Division, setting up a re-match
of the 1981 East Division Final against the Tiger Cats on Nov. 14, 1982 in Hamilton.
Ottawa won that game 30-20 to advance to the East Final against Toronto on Nov.
21. It was Ottawa’s last ever win in the playoffs. The Argonauts would blow out
the Rough Riders 44-7, advancing to the Grey Cup, which they lost to Edmonton.
It was the last of the Eskimos’ five straight championships.
Auspicious return
Everything was ironed out for the 1983 season, as J.C. Watts re-joined
the Rough Riders, who were a much different team now. They were deeper at
receiver with the addition of Tyrone Gray from B.C. and Dave Newman from
Toronto, to go with the reliable Pat Stoqua. They also had one of the league’s
best running backs in Alvin “Skip” Walker.
Watts would lead the Rough Riders to an 8-8 record, the first year
they had been .500 or better since 1979, which was also their last ever winning
season. Watts had decent numbers, completing 175 of 358 passes for 3,089 yards,
18 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He also rushed 76 times for 552 yards and
five touchdowns.
The Rough Riders finished second in the East Division and hosted the
Hamilton Tiger Cats, who avenged two previous playoff defeats and beat Ottawa
by a score of 33-31. It was the last playoff game Ottawa ever hosted. Watts played
well in defeat, throwing for 303 yards and two touchdowns with no
interceptions.
The living years
The 1984 season saw Ottawa fall to 4-12, missing the playoffs for the
first time since 1970. Watts had another decent season though, completing 189
of 360 passes for 3,052 yards, 21 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also
rushed 61 times for 357 yards and one touchdown.
Ottawa rebounded in 1985, with a better season. They finished 7-9,
good enough for third in the East and qualifying for the playoffs. They lost in
the East Division Semi-final to the Montreal Concordes by a score of 30-20,
signalling the last playoff game J.C. Watts ever played for the Rough Riders.
He completed 236 of 439 passes for 2,975 yards, 12 touchdowns and 25
interceptions. He rushed 106 times for 710 yards and one touchdown, making him
the team’s leading rusher.
End of the line
The 1986 season opened with J.C. Watts again starting at quarterback
for the Ottawa Rough Riders. He would complete 66 of 127 passes for 864 yards,
seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed 31 times for 206 yards
and a touchdown.
Ottawa started with two wins before dropping six straight games to
fall to the bottom of the East. Deemed as ineffective, J.C. Watts was released
by Ottawa and replaced with Tom Burgess.
I recall seeing an interview with J.C. He said he had no hard feelings
but then smiled and said, “I’ll be cheering against Tom Burgess (in the next
game).”
He was picked up by the Toronto Argonauts, and reunited with coach Bob
O’Billovich, who had been an assistant in Ottawa during that magical 1981
season.
Watts made an impact early. Initially acquired to back up Condredge
Holloway, he came off the bench on Sunday, Sept. 7 after Holloway was injured.
Watts proceeded to rally the Argos from 17 points down to defeat Hamilton by a
score of 25-23.
Again in Week 19, on Sunday, Nov. 2, he rallied his team late. Playing
Montreal, the Argos scored two last-minute touchdowns 39 seconds apart to pull
out a 25-21 victory. Watts ran the first one in from six yards out, then threw
a 13-yard pass to Paul Pearson.
By season’s end, Watts had led Toronto to a 6-5 record over the
remainder of the year, to finish 10-8 overall, good enough for first place in
the East Division. He completed 108 of 182 passes for 1,477 yards, five
touchdowns and five interceptions. He rushed for 35 times for 227 yards and
four touchdowns.
The CFL, sensing the imbalance between West and East, changed the
playoff format that season. Instead of the top three teams in each division
making the playoffs, the top two automatically qualified. If the fourth-place
team in one division had a better record than the third-place team in the other
division, the fourth-place team made the playoffs. Unlike the system today,
where that team crosses over, back in 1986 the team stayed in their own division.
That meant Edmonton played Calgary and B.C. played Winnipeg in the West, with
the winners playing for the West Division title. In the East, Toronto played
Hamilton in a two-game, total-point East Final with the winner going to the
Grey Cup. It was the first two-game, total point playoff since 1972.
The first game was in Hamilton on Nov. 16, and the Argonauts beat
Hamilton by a score of 31-17, as Watts ran for two touchdowns and threw for
another.
Game 2 was one week later, on Nov. 23, in Toronto, and Hamilton had to
win by at least 15 points. Hamilton evened the aggregate score at 49 points each
on the last play of the third quarter. In the final 15 minutes, Hamilton kicked
a field goal, Toronto responded with a touchdown, but Hamilton scored last as
quarterback Mike Kerrigan hit Ron Ingram for a six-yard touchdown with 1:42 to
play. There would be no last-minute heroics by J.C. Watts as the Tiger Cats won
by a score of 42-25 to win the series by a total score of 59-56.
Watts finished the two games with four passing touchdowns and 12
rushes for an average of 7.3 yards.
He would retire at the end of that season and never play professional
football again. He finished as the third leading rushing quarterback of the
1980s, with 2,312 yards on 346 carries for an average of 6.7 yards, only
trailing leader Ken Hobart who had 4,632 yards on 383 carries for a 7.6-yard
average, and Matt Dunigan who had 3,271 yards on 542 carries for a six-yard
average.
The last time we saw J.C. Watts at a CFL game was in 1995, when the
Birmingham Barracudas played the Baltimore Stallions in an exhibition game at
the Orange Bowl in Miami. It was set to be a precursor for CFL expansion into
Miami, and the start of a team called the Manatees. Watts was there because
proceeds from the game were for the Oklahoma City Relief Fund.
Watts, now a U.S. Congressman representing Oklahoma, was there to receive the
cheque.
Parting thoughts
J.C. Watts would go on to serve as a Republican Congressman for the
state of Oklahoma. At one point, he was in such high esteem, he gave the
response to President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address. It was always
a bit surreal to hear Congressman J.C. Watts, because he will always be that
scrambling quarterback to me.
If there is one word that describes J.C. Watts it’s: electric. You never
knew what he was going to do when he had the ball. His career stats reveal
almost as many interceptions as touchdowns, but also those huge rushing totals.
Third highest in the 1980s, and he played less than half the decade.
He truly was one of the most unique players to come north in some
time. It is sad that he went quietly into the night without a send-off, or a
retirement party or anything.
He may not have ended with a bang, as I think all players would like
to, but he sure gave us a lot of memories along the way.
Actor Bobby Hosea who played in the CFL from 1979 to 1981.
He may be best remembered by most people as the actor who played O.J.
Simpson in the TV movie, but I remember him as a hard-hitting defensive back
with the Saskatchewan Roughriders when they were trying to gain respectability
in the 1980s.
Recently, I saw an old episode of “Bones” on DVD, and Bobby Hosea
was making a guest appearance. It took a bit of digging because Wikipedia is
pretty thin on information, but Bobby Hosea the actor used to be Bobby Hosea
the Canadian Football League player.
Bobby Hosea in his Montreal Alouettes uniform.
Part-time job
Bobby Hosea played three seasons in the CFL. He joined the Montreal
Alouettes in 1979, where he played 13 games and intercepted two passes,
returning them a total of 24 yards. He also returned two punts for 10 yards.
The Alouettes made the Grey Cup that year, but lost to the Edmonton Eskimos by
a score of 17-9.
It was in Montreal, that much was made of the fact that, although he
was a football player, he also did some modelling and acting on the side. The Montreal Gazette did kind of an odd piece that included Hosea. You can actually read it for yourself right here:
The next season he suited up with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Hosea played
in 15 games, had two more interceptions that season for 24 yards, returned two
kick offs for 32 yards, and returned three punts for 22 yards.
His final season was his best defensively. In 1981, he played all 16
games andintercepted four passes
for 30 yards. He returned one kick off for three yards and returned one punt
for nine yards.
The most memorable episode of his career came in a 30-26 loss against
Hamilton on Oct. 4, 1981 at Taylor Field in Regina. The Roughriders were in the
hunt for a playoff spot, after years of futility. With three minutes and seven
seconds left and Hamilton leading 23-12, Saskatchewan stopped the Tiger Cats
short on a key second down play. Hosea got into a shoving match with Tiger Cat
slotback Gordie Paterson then punched him. He was flagged for rough play and
ejected from the game. The penalty gave Hamilton a first down. Theyt would proceed to go down the field and score a touchdown that turned out to be the
winning points. The incident marred a solid game for Hosea where he intercepted a Tom
Clements pass. To his credit, after the game Hosea apologized to Bud Riley,
Hamilton’s defensive coach.
The next day CFL Comissioner Jake Gaudaur fined Hosea $300, but chose
not to suspend him because he had no previous record of bad conduct.
Life after football
Bobby Hosea would also play for the Los Angeles Express and
Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League, but at age 28 decided
he had taken enough of a beating and retired from football.
His first credited appearance on the screen was in a TV movie called
“Her Life as a Man”. Before the end of the decade he would make appearances in
movies, as well as TV shows such as “Benson”, “Perfect Strangers”, “Knots Landing”,
“The Twilight Zone”, “21 Jump Street”, and “227”.
Parting thoughts
I have always been interested in connections. When you really look at
things, the world can become a very small place. I’m also absolutely fascinated
by the number of people with connections to the CFL.
Bobby Hosea would go on over the next 30 years to appear in some major
movies such as “Independence Day”, and “61*”. He also made a name for himself
playing high-profile killers and accused murderers such as the title character in
1995’s “The O.J. Simpson Story” and John Allen Muhammad the title character in
“D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear” (2003). His latest claim to
fame is coaching football, and teaching kids a safe way to tackle.
But back in the 1980s, he was a fresh and pretty faced defensive back
for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It just shows, all roads run through the CFL,
and there is life after football.
Kent Nilsson would score the first goal in Flames' history in an exhibition game in Lethbridge.
Recently I attended my first Calgary Flames home game at the
Saddledome. It’s odd, because I have seen the Flames play live before, just
never at home.
The very first time was a memorable one for me, because it was the
first game in the history of the franchise.
North to Calgary
The Atlanta Flames had twice made the playoffs when I started watching
hockey. Back then, in the late 1970s, the first round of playoffs was called
the elimination round and consisted of a best-of-three series. Awaiting the
winners of this elimination round were the four division champions, who
received a first-round bye.
One year, the Flames lost to Detroit and the other year to Toronto. They
were not that good a team, but obviously good enough to make the playoffs back
then. Those games against the Flames were the only ones I ever saw Atlanta
play.
A year removed from the NHL merger with World Hockey Association, that
saw Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Hartford enter the league, rumours began to
swirl about the Atlanta Flames moving to Calgary.
It was a strange time because, and few people will admit it now, but
after the WHA-NHL merger, there were a lot of Albertans who were Edmonton Oiler
fans because they were the closest team. That lasted exactly one year.
I recall rumours that Canadian actor Glen Ford was going to buy the
Flames, then a group from Calgary led by the Seaman brothers, and of course
Nelson Skalbania, who at the time was a bit of a sports entrepreneur in the
same vain as Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington.
Then, one day on CBC Calgary, they announced the rumours were true.
The Atlanta Flames were re-locating to Calgary, led by Skalbania and the
Seamans. The name was not yet determined, and there would be a contest to
decide. Eventually, the Flames' name was retained, and they would play out of
the Calgary Corral on the Stampede grounds until a new arena could be
constructed.
The Flames also began to transform their roster, making trades primarily
to acquire draft picks, that turned into the future of the team.
Making history
Eventually, training camp opened and soon the exhibition season. Much
to my surprise, and delight, the Calgary Flames were opening their schedule in
Lethbridge, at the Sportsplex, home of the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge
Broncos.
So, the very first game in the history of the Calgary Flames franchise,
would be in my own backyard – and I wanted to go.
My parents were game, and my sister had moved back to Southern
Alberta. Since she lived right in Lethbridge, she picked up the tickets. We
were set.
The game
I am lucky enough to say I saw the Calgary Flames play their first
ever game, and the legendary Lanny McDonald play, in the same game. The funny
thing was, he wasn’t playing for Calgary.
The Flames’ opponent in that exhibition game was the Colorado Rockies
(not the baseball team), led by Lanny McDonald, who had grown up in Southern
Alberta and played his junior in Medicine Hat. He had some great seasons with
the Toronto Maple Leafs until he ran afoul of controversial owner Harold
Ballard, who summarily dispatched him to Colorado – the Siberia of the NHL.
Recently, I got some of the details of the game from the Lethbridge
Herald on microfiche at the Lethbridge Public Library. The two sports reporters
of the time, the incomparable Randy Jensen and Dave Sulz, did a great job of
coverage.
The game was in fact the first in the history of the franchise. The
two teams faced off on Sunday, Sept. 21, and tickets were $7 for adults, and $5
for children and seniors. They ended up packing 5,292 people into the
Sportsplex for the game that night.
There was some local flavour too. The Flames dressed recent Lethbridge
Bronco defencemen Ralph Andreesen and Jay Soleway. Already on their roster was
Earl Ingarfield Junior, who was from Lethbridge, and whose father was one of
the best players to come from Lethbridge. Playing for the Rockies were former
Lethbridge Bronco Ron Delorme, and of course Lanny McDonald, who had actually
played some of his junior hockey with the Lethbridge Sugar Kings, in addition
to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The biggest cheer was reserved for McDonald when he skated on the ice
too.
The game was awesome. Kent Nilsson opened the scoring for the Flames,
before Bobby Crawford tied it for the Rockies. Denis Cyr, who had been the
Flames top draft pick in the 1980 entry draft, gave Calgary a 2-1 lead, before
McDonald set up Paul Gagne for the tying goal. The score stayed 2-2 into the
first intermission.
Calgary broke the game open in the second period, as Guy Chouinard
scored what proved to be the game winner, followed by Ingarfield, which drew another cheer, and Don Lever, the
former Vancouver Canuck, who was set up by Nilsson to make the score 5-2 after
two periods.
Bob Gould would score the lone goal of the third period, to make the
final score 6-2 for the Flames.
Pat Riggin and Rejean Lemelin split goaltending duties in net. The two
would platoon with Daniel Bouchard who was the starter at the beginning of the
season, but was traded to Quebec for Jamie Hislop part way through the year.
It was an auspicious start for the NHL’s newest franchise.
Parting thoughts
It’s funny that players such as Kent Nilsson, Willi Plett, Guy Chouinard, Pat Riggin
and Rejean Lemelin became household names once the Flames moved to Calgary. But
in that first game, they were all unknown, because few of us had seen the
Atlanta Flames play more than a handful of games at most.
Yet, that first season was magical for the Flames, beyond just Kent
Nilsson being nicknamed the “Magic Man”.
They tied their first official game, 5-5 against the Quebec Nordiques on Oct. 9, 1980 at the Corral . I recall watching it on Channel 7, as Ed Whalen called he action, fresh off a stint announcing "Stampede Wrestling". It took some getting used to listening to him call hockey, then seeing him on Saturday afternoons call wrestling.
Nilsson would lead the Flames in scoring with 49
goals and 82 assists for 131 points, and was the lone Flame to play in the 1980 NHL all-star game. He became the first European player to
record 100 or more points, and his 82 assists and 131 points are still
franchise records.
The Flames averaged 7,217 fans at the Corral and finished with a record of 39-27-14. They would make the
playoffs, finishing third in the Patrick Division with 92 points, and fourth in the Campbell Conference. They ousted
Chicago in the first round, sweeping them in three games, then beat
Philadelphia in the second round in seven games to advance all the way to the
Stanley Cup semi-finals. They would fall in six games to the Minnesota North
Stars, who in turn lost the Stanley Cup final to the powerhouse, defending
Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders.
Still, it was an amazing first year in the NHL, and it all began in
Lethbridge.
He may have been a well-known, established actor but the first time I
saw Omar Sharif wasn’t in “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Doctor Zhivago”, or “Funny
Girl”, it was in a comedy called “The Baltimore Bullet”.
I was recently thinking about when I first saw Omar after I heard he
passed away from a heart attack at age 83.
Summer vacation
For the first half of the 1980s I spent a part of each summer in
Brooks visiting all my cousins there, and they in turn would come to our farm.
One summer my cousin Fred was on the farm.
About a week earlier, I had read an issue of “TV Guide” that previewed this
movie called “The Baltimore Bullet” and it sounded really interesting.
Back then, TV was one of the centres of my life, but I thought I’d
miss it for sure because Fred and I were always doing things.
Then, I saw this commercial and asked if he was interested in watching the movie. He was always in to watch a movie, so we tuned to Channel 13 and watched the movie.
It was a great movie, I do remember that. Omar was awesome as the
suave, sophisticated villain too.
Parting thoughts
Omar Sharif had a stellar career. He garnered an Oscar nomination for
best supporting actor for “Lawrence of Arabia” in 1962 and won Golden Globes
for best supporting actor in a motion picture and new star of the year – actor,
for the same movie. He also won a Golden Globe in 1965 for best actor in a
motion picture drama for “Doctor Zhivago”.
He would go on to act right through the 1970, 1980s, 1990s, into the
21st Century and had his last film lead role earlier this year in
2015.
Yet, for someone who grew up in the 1980s where TV was limited to
three channels, and later the latest releases on VHS tapes, the first time I
ever saw Omar Sharif was as a suave, confident pool shark in “The Baltimore
Bullet”. He was the perfect foil for James Coburn who was slick and likeable,
and even cocky.
I won’t tell you how it ends, but Omar Sharif was definitely worth the
price of admission – he always was.
Mario Gosselin tending goal for the 1984 Canadian Olympic team.
It could have been because of the style he played, or the big games he
played in, but likely the reason Mario Gosselin was one of my favourite goaltenders
of all time was simple: he showed up to play for his country at a time when it
really was a sacrifice to play for the Olympic team.
Sarajevo calling
Gosselin played his junior in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League,
and was a draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques. He was from Thetford Mines, I
always remember that, and was the only one from that town ever to play in the Olympics.
He was just 20 years old when he answered the call to play for Team
Canada. Back then, it was a full-time, on-going commitment. Professionals were
not even allowed in the Olympics, much less the NHL shutting down for two weeks
allowing the best to play.
Instead, aspiring Olympians had to forsake playing pro, live on
hamburger and macaroni and cheese, and play all sorts of exhibition games
leading up to the Olympics.
The Canadian Olympic team had turned a corner by 1984 though. Dave
King had become coach, and he had already tasted success by coaching Canada to
its first ever World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal in 1981. He set his
sights on Olympic gold, and was even able to persuade some of the players from
his junior championship team to come over to the Olympic team.
However, he still needed to anchor that team. Strong goaltending was
essential, and that was most evident in the world champion and Olympic gold
medal favourites from the Soviet Union. Tending goal for them was perhaps the
greatest international goalie in history, Vladislav Tretiak. If Canada hoped to
compete with the likes of the Soviets and the Czechs, they would need strong
goaltending.
Enter Mario Gosselin.
He joined the Olympic team for the 1983-1984 season and would remain
for two years, sharing the goaltending duties with Darren Elliott.
Gosselin played 36 games for the Olympic team, but almost didn’t play
in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, the absurd entity it was,
was strict on ensuring athletes were amateurs. Gosselin had signed a
professional contract, and two countries including our old friends from the
United States, wanted him ruled ineligible. However, the IOC ruled that because
Gosselin had not played a professional game, he was eligible for the Olympics.
He emerged as one of the stars of the tournament, backstopping the
Canadians to four straight victories to open the tournament. The medal round
was more complex then, but the net result was that Canada won no games in it,
finishing fourth in the tournament and out of the medals. It was still a solid
accomplishment for a team that had not come that close to a medal in decades.
Turning pro
Mario Gosselin had been selected 55th overall by the Quebec
Nordiques in the 1982 NHL entry draft.
He joined the Nordiques after the Olympics. He made his NHL debut on
Feb. 26, 1984, shutting out the St. Louis Blues by a score of 5-0. It was an
incredible debut. He would appear in three games that season, finishing with a
2-0 record.
Mario Gosselin in a familiar stance in goal for the Quebec Nordiques in the mid and late 1980s.
Rookie season
1984-1985 season would be Gosselin’s rookie season with the Nordiques.
He would appear in 35 games and finish with a 19-11-3 record.
Quebec finished
second in the Adams Division, setting up a date with Buffalo in the first round
of the playoffs. The Nordiques won the best-of-five series 3-2, advancing to
play Montreal in the Adams Division final. The Nordiques finally got the monkey
off their back, defeating the Canadiens 4-3. I recall watching that series
closely as Gosselin was excellent in net. The win set up a showdown in the
Wales Conference Final against the Philaldelphia Flyers. The Nordiques stayed
close, splitting the first four games, but the Flyers took control to win the
next two games, and the series 4-2.
Gosselin played in 17 of the 18 games,
finishing with a record of 9-8. He was the winning goalie in all nine games
Quebec won too.
Battling for playing time
The 1985-1986 season found Mario displaced as the starting goaltender
by Clint Malarchuk. Still,
Gosselin played in 31 games, with a record of 14-14-1. The Nordiques finished
first in the Adams Division, but were swept 3-0 in the opening round by Hartford.
Gosselin got into just one game, playing 40 minutes but allowing five goals.
This proved to be Goselin’s most successful season. He finished second
in fan balloting for the NHL all-star game in Hartford. The top vote getter was
Pelle Lindbergh of the Philadelphia Flyers who had backstopped his team to an
appearance in the Stanley Cup final the year before, that also included a
victory over Quebec. Lindbergh died in a motor vehicle accident eight or so games into the season. Consequently,
on Feb. 4, 1986, Mario Gosselin started for the Wales Conference all-stars, and allowed just one goal in 31 minutes of action. The Wales Conference ultimately won 4-3 in overtime.
Off the bench
Malarchuk was firmly entrenched as the number-one goaltender in the
1986-1987 season. Gosselin did appear in 30 games, for 13-11-1 record and a
team best goals against average of 3.18.
The Nordiques played role reversal
with Hartford as Quebec finished fourth and the Whalers were first in the Adams
Division, setting up a first-round re-match from the previous year. Now,
however, the NHL had moved to a best-of-seven in the first round. Quebec
emerged victorious, winning 4-2. They advanced to play Montreal in the division
final against Montreal, but again the Canadiens won in seven games.
Malarchuk
proved ineffective, going 0-2 in three appearances. Gosselin, on the other
hand, proved he was a money goalie, going 7-4 in 11 games.
Back on top
The Nordiques pulled a blockbuster trade that included sending
Malarchuk to Washington. Gosselin was again handed the number-one job for the 1987-1988 season. In 54
games, he went 20-28-4 with two shut outs. However, Quebec missed the playoffs.
End of an era
Gosselin again saw the most action of the Quebec goaltenders in the
1988-1989 season, going 11-19-3 in 39 games. Once more, the Nordiques missed
the playoffs. After the season, they decided to go in a different direction and
did not renew Gosselin’s contract. The end of the decade brought the end of
Mario Gosselin’s time in Quebec, as he signed a contract with the Los Angeles
kings.
The years after
Gosselin played one year in L.A. then bounced around from Hartford to
the minors and back again, playing sporadically in the NHL until his retirement
after the 1993-1994 season. He had been hampered by injuries throughout his
career, and it was a knee injury that finally forced him to retire. His last
game was on Nov. 27, 1993 against the Florida Panthers.
Parting thoughts
Back in the mid-1980s, CTV signed a contract with the NHL to start
broadcasting games, mostly on Friday nights. It also gave them the broadcast
rights to the Canada Cup. What I distinctly remember about those broadcasts,
beyond breathing relief they had found a legitimate play-by-play man in Dan
Kelley, to replace Ron Reusch, was that we got to see more Nordique games. That’s
when I got to appreciate how good a goalie Mario Goselin was.
However, two
things shortened his career. One was injuries that seemed to dog him. The other
was he was a butterfly-style goaltender. That meant he went down a lot.
Eventually NHL shooters learned to beat the “Goose” they just had to shoot high as he went down.
Yet, none of that is the real reason I loved Mario Gosselin. Instead,
the reason I so liked him was he chose representing his country over playing
professionally. Back then, being on the Olympic team was a full-time
commitment, unlike today where it’s a few weeks during a break in the middle of
the NHL schedule. He played for Team Canada for two years at a time where he
was not allowed to earn any money from playing hockey. I will always have a
special place in my heart for those true Olympians.
Carey Price and Martin Brodeur may be better goalies, but I would be
surprised if either of them would give up their pro contracts
to live hand to mouth for a year or two while playing for the Olympic team.
Al Bruno, coach of the Hamilton Tiger Cats from 1983 to 1990, when he led his team to a shocking upset of the Edmonton Eskimos in the Grey Cup at B.C. Place in Vancouver.
It may have been one of the biggest upsets in Grey Cup history, but in
a lot of ways it was a long time coming. When the Hamilton Tiger Cats hoisted
the Grey Cup in 1986, it was the culmination of three years of hard work and
futility. The recent death of Al Bruno, who coached that team, brings back all
those memories of sorrow that turned to joy.
Stepping in
It was late in the 1983 season when Al Bruno, who had been Hamilton’s
director of player personnel, was named head coach after the Tiger Cats fired
Bud Riley. He finished the season with two wins, a loss, and a tie, giving the
Tiger Cats an overall record of 5-10-1, tied with the Montreal Concordes for
third in the East. However, a tiebreaker meant Hamilton was good enough for
third place in the East Division and a date with the Ottawa Rough Riders in
Lansdowne Park in the nation’s capital. Ottawa led late, but Hamilton’s Keith
Baker returned a punt deep into Ottawa territory, setting up the winning score
for Hamilton, who won 33-31. It was the last playoff game Ottawa ever hosted.
The win put Hamilton into the East Division final against the Toronto
Argonauts, who had gone to the Grey Cup in 1982, losing to Edmonton, and
finished first in the division in 1983. The Argos prevailed by a score of
41-36, and went on to beat B.C. for the Grey Cup with a thrilling 18-17 win.
Hamilton’s playoff success was a sign of things to come.
One step closer
The 1984 season would be a chance for Al Bruno to start the season as
head coach. In his first full season, he would have mixed success.
The Tiger Cats started with a win over Montreal and a tie with
Saskatchewan. That 1-0-1 start quickly descended into anarchy as Hamilton
dropped six straight games. It took another date with the Montreal Concordes to
snap that losing streak.
However, two more losses followed and the Tiger Cats were 2-8-1 when
they hosted my beloved Calgary Stampeders. It should have been a breeze.
Apparently the Stampeders thought so too, losing 29-26.
That win was a sign of things to come. The Tiger Cats lost by a
touchdown to Edmonton the following week, but that would be their last regular
season loss. They reeled off three straight wins against Saskatchewan, Ottawa,
and Toronto to finish the season 6-9-1 and one of the hottest teams going into
the playoffs.
Hamilton finished with the same record as Montreal, but took second
place on a tie breaker, setting up a showdown in Hamilton in the East
Semi-final.
The Tiger Cats won that game, setting up a re-match with the defending
Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts in the East Final in Toronto. This time, it
was Hamilton who prevailed, by a score of 14-13, to punch their ticket to
Edmonton for the Grey Cup.
Awaiting them in Alberta’s capital was the Winnipeg Blue Bombers,
champions of the West and the consensus best team in the league. Earlier in the
year the two teams had traded quarterbacks, so it was a chance to see who got
the better deal: Winnipeg with Tom Clements or Hamilton with Dieter Brock? The
Bombers proved it. After Hamilton took an incredible 14-3 lead after one
quarter, Winnipeg exploded for 27 points in the second quarter and another 10
in the third while shutting Hamilton out the entire second half. By the time
the smoke cleared, Winnipeg had won the 72nd Grey Cup going away, by
a score of 47-17.
Although they got bombed at Commonwealth Stadium, Hamilton was still a
step closer to the Grey Cup than the year before.
Even closer
Dieter Brock bolted for the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, leaving
Hamilton searching for a starting quarterback.
They found their replacement in the form of a man who had lit it up
throwing the ball in college football at Idaho, but as a pro bounced around the United
States Football League. As prolific a passer as Ken Hobart had been, it would
be his legs that carried the Tiger Cats back to the Grey Cup game.
Once again, it was an up and down season. Hamilton started with
three straight losses before winning against, you guessed it, Montreal.
However, that was followed up with three more losses before a second win over
Montreal. So, halfway through the season, the Tiger Cats had two wins against
the Concordes and were winless against the rest of the league.
What soon became apparent was Al Bruno’s team were much better
finishers than starters. After losing to Edmonton to start the second half of
the season, Hamilton reeled off three straight wins against Toronto, Ottawa,
and Calgary, before losing to the Eskimos again to fall to 5-8. They would not
lose again to close out the season, with victories over Saskatchewan, Ottawa,
and Calgary to finish at 8-8, good enough for a share of first place with
Montreal. However, the Tiger Cats were awarded first on a tie breaker.
They were inching closer and closer to that Grey Cup championship.
After Montreal defeated Ottawa by a score of 30-20 in the East
semi-final, they travelled to Ivor Wynne Stadium to play the Tiger Cats in the
East Final. On the line was a trip to the Grey Cup in Montreal. The Tiger Cats
quickly extinguished any hopes the Concordes had of hosting a Grey Cup, blowing them out by a score of 50-26.
Awaiting them in Montreal were the B.C. Lions, champions of the West
who dispatched the defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers by a score
of 42-22.
Hamilton had been led all year by Hobart who used his legs as much as
his arms, rushing for 928 yards, a record for quarterbacks at the time. Keep in
mind the league still played 16 games, unlike the 18 they play now. He also
passed for 2,522 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He was also named
the most valuable player of the East Division, and was runner-up for league
most valuable player to Mervyn Fernandez of the B.C. Lions.
The Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead after one quarter and extended
that to 13-0 before Hobart went to work. He threw touchdown passes to Ron
Ingram and Johnny Shepherd to give Hamilton a 14-13 lead with 1:35 left in the
half. However, disaster struck. B.C. quarterback Roy Dewalt hit Ned Armour on a
59-yard touchdown pass then James “Quick” Parker knocked the ball loose on the
ensuing Hamilton possession, giving the Lions the ball with a chance at a late field
goal. B.C. kicker Lui Passaglia made no mistake and the Lions led 23-14 at the
half.
The Lions kicked two more field goals in the third quarter while the
defence shut out the Tiger Cats, making it 29-14 after three quarters. Hamilton
kicker Bernie Ruoff booted a field goal to start the fourth quarter, before
Passaglia kicked a single. Dewalt then hit Jim Sandusky for a 66-yard bomb and
a 37-17 lead. Again, Hobart did not give up, eluding the B.C. pass rush and
hitting Steve Stapler for a 12-yard touchdown late, narrowing the gap to 37-24.
But that was as close as Hamilton would get, and it was B.C. who won the Grey
Cup, dashing Hamilton’s hopes again.
Still, the Tiger Cats, by finishing first in the East, had inched a
step closer to the Grey Cup.
Over the hump – in spectacular fashion
The two-time defending Eastern Division champions came into the 1986
season with high hopes. They would again utilize a rookie quarterback, this
time it was Mike Kerrigan, to turn their season around.
They once more started slowly, losing four of their first five games,
before beating Saskatchewan then Montreal back to back for a 4-5 record halfway
through the season. The 1986 season was the first year the CFL played an
18-game schedule.
Once more, Hamilton was a second half team. After losing to arch-rival
Toronto, they tied Saskatchewan then beat Calgary and Ottawa to reach the .500
mark for the first time all season. That was short-lived, with back-to-back
losses to Edmonton, dropping their record to 6-8-1. That would be the last time
they lost all season. They closed out with three straight wins, over B.C.,
Toronto, and Ottawa, for a 9-8-1 record, good enough for second place in the
East. Arch-rival Toronto was one-half game better for first place.
The CFL, sensing the imbalance between West and East, changed the
playoff format that season. Instead of the top three teams in each division
making the playoffs, the top two automatically qualified. If the fourth-place
team in one division had a better record than the third-place team in the other
division, the fourth-place team made the playoffs. Unlike the system today,
where that team crosses over, back in 1986 the team stayed in their own
division. That meant Edmonton played Calgary and B.C. played Winnipeg in the
West, with the winners playing for the West Division title. In the East,
Toronto played Hamilton in a two-game, total-point East Final with the winner
going to the Grey Cup.
The first game was in Hamilton on Nov. 16, and the Argonauts, led by
quarterback J.C. Watts, beat Hamilton by a score of 31-17. Game 2 was one week
later, on Nov. 23, in Toronto, and Hamilton had to win by at least 15 points.
Kerrigan had a great game and the Tiger Cats won by a score of 42-25 to win the
series by a total score of 59-56.
Hamilton was off to their third straight Grey Cup, this time at B.C.
Place in Vancouver. Once again, Hamilton was a heavy under dog, facing the
Edmonton Eskimos who had defeated Calgary then B.C. The Eskimos came into the
game double-digit favourites, having swept the season series with Hamilton,
and everyone expected them to hand the Tiger Cats their third straight
heartbreak in the national final.
Boy was everybody wrong.
The game was never really close. Hamilton always had a good
defence, but on Nov. 30, 1986, they turned in one of the best performances in
recent memory. They were led by pass rusher Grover Covington, linebacker Ben
Zambiasi, and a ball-hawking secondary featuring Mark Streeter and Howard
Fields. They would sack Edmonton quarterbacks Matt Dunigan and Damon Allen a
total of 10 times, and tie a Grey Cup record by forcing eight turnovers.
Hamilton opened strong as Covington knocked the ball loose from
Dunigan and the Tiger Cats recovered. Kerrigan took advantage immediately, hitting
Steve Stapler for a 35-yard touchdown pass.
The next big play I remember vividly. Edmonton was backed up deep and
forced to punt. Streeter got in and blocked Tom Dixon’s punt and Jim Rockford –
who had played with Oklahoma and J.C. Watts back in the 1981 Orange Bowl –
recovered the ball in the end zone for another touchdown. Kicker Paul
Osbaldiston later kicked his first of five first-half field goals to make the score
17-0 after one quarter. I never liked the Eskimos and was lapping this game up.
The hits kept on coming, as Osbaldiston added four more field goals in
the second quarter, benefitted by great field position provided by the defence,
including an interception by Fields. The defence allowed a total of minus-one
yards offence in the first half as Hamilton took a 29-0 lead into the dressing
room at halftime.
The game looked over.
It was. Kerrigan connected on another touchdown pass, this one for 44
yards to Ron Ingram. That upped the score to 36-0. Finally, Edmonton showed
signs of life as they blocked a punt setting up a touchdown by Allen to make
the score 36-7 after three quarters. Part way through the fourth quarter, Allen
hit Brian Kelly for a touchdown then the quarterback ran the ball in for a
two-point conversion, making the score 36-15. That was it for Edmonton.
Osbaldiston tacked on his sixth field goal of the game in the last minute of
the game, tying a Grey Cup record.
When the final gun sounded, Hamliton had won 39-15, earning their
first Grey Cup since 1972. They also avenged a 48-10 loss at the hands of the
Eskimos in the 1980 Grey Cup, the only other time the two teams ever met in the Grey Cup.
Mike Kerrigan was named the games most valuable player on offence,
Grover Covington was the most valuable player on defence, and Paul Osbaldiston
was named the most valuable Canadian. Covington finished the game with three
sacks while Zambiasi recovered two fumbles, and recorded a sack and six
tackles.
Coach Al Bruno finally had his Grey Cup championship.
Parting thoughts
The Tiger Cats would finish third in the East in 1987 and 1988, losing
in the East semi-final both years. They would return to the Grey Cup in 1989,
where they lost to Saskatchewan in what many observers describe as the greatest
Grey Cup game in history. A year later, 12 games into the season, the Tiger Cats
were sitting at the bottom of the division with a 4-8 record, and Al Bruno was
fired, never to return to the sidelines in the CFL.
He finished with a career record of 56 wins, 55 losses, and three ties
from 1983 to 1990. His record is deceptive, because if there was one thing Al
Bruno could do, it was win when it counted. Year after year his teams started
slowly, but finished strong. He did benefit from playing in a weak division,
which in part accounts for his four appearances in the Grey Cup, but he did win
one Grey Cup as a 12-point under dog, and came within a last-second field goal
of winning a second.
With two straight losses in the Grey Cup championship, the Hamilton
Tiger Cats were poised to be the 1980s CFL equivalent of the Buffalo Bills. It
would be an interesting irony given how close the two cities are
geographically.
However, Al Bruno prevented that from ever happening.
Instead, he engineered one of the most shocking and decisive upsets in
Grey Cup history.
