The 1963

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

final was the 45th

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

championship of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

(CAHA). The

George Richardson Memorial Trophy The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971, by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. It represented the Eastern Canada junior hockey championship, and a berth in the Memorial Cup final versus the Abbot ...

champions

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. ...

of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrador, ...

competed against the

Abbott Cup The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey pl ...

champions

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers. ...

of the

Central Alberta Hockey League The Central Alberta Hockey League (CAHL) is a defunct senior amateur hockey league that operated in Alberta, Canada from 1956 to 1966. The creation of the CAHL coincided with the folding of the original Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WCJHL). ...

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. In a best-of-seven series, held at

Edmonton Gardens The Edmonton Gardens was the first indoor hockey arena built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was originally built as Edmonton Stock Pavilion in 1913, and held 5,200 spectators after its 1966 renovations. It was home to the World Hockey Associat ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta. Edmonton won their 1st Memorial Cup, defeating Niagara Falls 4 games to 2. CAHA vice-president

Lionel Fleury Lionel Fleury (December 25, 1912July 12, 1997) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1964 to 1966. Under his leadership, the Canada men's national ice hockey team trans ...

oversaw the 1963 playoffs in Eastern Canada, when the junior champions from the

Quebec Amateur Hockey Association Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association declined to participate and complained that the national deadlines did not allow adequate time to decide their leagues' champions. The CAHA was concerned about the quality of Memorial Cup competition due to the rapid expansion in junior ice hockey, and named Fleury chairman of a committee to investigate the imbalance the competition in Eastern Canada and find a solution to include all branches of the CAHA in the national playoffs. He opted to change the subsequent format of the playoffs from an elimination bracket into a round-robin format to reduce travel costs. CAHA president Art Potter oversaw the 1963 Memorial Cup final series. Niagara Falls' coach

Hap Emms Leighton Alfred Emms (January 12, 1905 – October 23, 1988) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, team owner, and general manager, during nearly 60 years in hockey. Emms played 17 seasons of professional hockey as a left winger and a defenc ...

made numerous petty complaints about the series and the CAHA, including the ice rink's dimensions and access to the other team's practices. Emms threatened that the Flyers would quit the 1963 Memorial Cup and accused Potter of being "strictly a homer" and dictatorial. Emms charged that his team was denied access to treatment for a player's broken leg, and that spectators and sportswriters in Edmonton treated his team poorly, and complained about a general lack of hospitality. Potter dismissed the charges and stated that the treatment of the Flyers matched their lack of courtesy and refusal to attend the Edmonton Sports Writers' Association dinner. The Canadian Press described the series as an "all-out war", the play of Edmonton to be "almost brutal", and that Edmonton seemed intent to end Eastern Canada's opinion that Western Canadian teams played "pantsy-waist hockey".; The CAHA debated the incidents in the series and approved a motion to deplore "the actions of any club official which degrade our game". Potter agreed that Emms was a good coach but that "his actions were childlike".

Scores

*Game 1: Niagara Falls 8-0 Edmonton *Game 2: Edmonton 5-2 Niagara Falls *Game 3: Edmonton 3-2 Niagara Falls *Game 4: Edmonton 5-2 Niagara Falls *Game 5: Niagara Falls 5-2 Edmonton *Game 6: Edmonton 4-3 Niagara Falls

Winning roster

Ron Anderson, Butch Barber, Tom Bend,

Roger Bourbonnais Roger Maurice Bourbonnais (born October 26, 1942) is a retired ice hockey player. Career Bourbonnais played junior hockey for the Edmonton Oil Kings from 1960 to 1963. In his final year with the Oil Kings, he served as the team captain a ...

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

, Rich Bulloch, Jim Chase, Vince Downey, Jim Eagle, Ron Falkenberg, Doug Fox, Harold Fleming, Russ Kirk, S. Knox,

Bert Marshall Albert Leroy "Moose" Marshall (born November 22, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals, New York Rangers and New ...

, Max Mestinsek, Butch Paul,

Gregg Pilling Gregg Pilling (born September 25, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He was named coach of the year by the International Hockey League in 1977–78 season, after he led the Fort Wayne Komets to the Fred A. Hu ...

, Pat Quinn,

Dave Rochefort David Joseph Rochefort (born July 22, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey center who appeared in one National Hockey League game for the Detroit Red Wings during the 1966–67 season, on March 28, 1967 against the Chicago Black Ha ...

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

, Reg Tashuk. Coach: Buster Brayshaw

References

External links

Memorial Cup

Canadian Hockey League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memorial Cup 1963 Mem 1963 Memorial Cup Ice hockey competitions in Edmonton 1963 in Alberta

Scores

Winning roster

Further reading

References

External links