It was 1967 and 450,000 U.S. troops were in Viet Nam, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title for refusing to enlist in the U. S. Army, the first heart transplant took place in South Africa, G. M. introduced the Chevy Camaro and Lulu hit the charts with “To Sir with Love”. A new car cost $14,250, average income was $7,500, gas was 33 cents a gallon and a movie ticket was $1.25.
In March of that same year, the Westmeath senior team of the Laurentian Hockey League won the Doughtery Cup. Here is the story.
Westmeath and Micksburg had advanced to the finals, beating out the other teams; Foresters Falls, Beachburg, Cobden and Queen’s Line. The games were held in the Beachburg arena until the ice became too soft; there was no artifical ice in the arena. Bryson Buchanan would scrape the ice between periods with his tractor cutting down the slush ice. When the ice became too soft, the series was moved to the P.M.C. in Pembroke. Art Bogart was manager of the P.M.C. and he split the gate receipts 60/40, 60 for the P.M.C. and 40 for the teams. In those days he was often referred to as 60/40 Boggy. The series had quite a following, up to 900 to 1000 fans came to watch the games.
Micksburg had taken the first three games and the team was confident that they would win the 4th game and take home the Cup. So sure of a victory that a party was already planned with plenty of food prepared. Westmeath coach, Archie Blackwell, had a plan to advance to the 7th game. His plan worked and Westmeath tied the series. It was now down to the wire. Who would win the seventh game?
Micksburg had some excellent players; Mickey Donnelly and Ray Steege to mention two. Mickey Donnelly was a great stick-handler and Ray Steege had an extremely powerful shot. Blackwell’s plan was to keep Donnelly and Steege covered so when they were on the ice he sent out a cover to prevent them from having too many opportunities to score a goal against Bill Jeffrey. The slogan was “stay with Steege”
Bill Laronde was one of Westmeath’s players on the 3rd line; however, he had a weak shot. Emmet Ethier, Westmeath’s top defenseman, dubbed him “tap-tap Laronde”. The final game went scoreless until the third period. Low and behold, tap-tap Laronde popped the puck past the Micksburg goalie. The game ended shortly and Westmeath went home with the Dougherty Cup; Micksburg went home to cold beans. The winning team had a dinner and reception in the Westmeath arena to celebrate their victory. Bill Kutschke, of C.H.O.V. in Pembrode, was the guest speaker.
The Westmeath team consisted of mostly young players, age 17 to 40. Brian Tate was the youngest at age 17 and Emmett Ethier was the oldest at age 40. His brother Frank and Sylvester Dupuis were a couple of years younger than Emmett. Emmett Ethier would drive up from his Kingston job to play. He was a tremendous defenseman, very solid on his skates. It was unwise for a player to attempt to stickhandle around Ethier. Many tried and several went over the boards. They then began to shoot before encountering Ethier at the blue line. Emmett Ethier had an opportunity to try out for an N.H.L. team; however, circumstances regarding transportation prevented him from making the try-out. He was N.H.L. material.
One of the Westmeath players was Patrick McCann. His family had left Montreal and moved to Westmeath. He was an excellent player and played the first line with Lorne Spotswood and Brian Tate. Spotswood and Tate would feed McCann the puck and many scores were made.
The second line of Frazer Barr, Bill Couturier and Frank Ethier scored many goals but those players kept Donnelly and Steege from scoring. The 3rd line, consisting of Sylvester Dupuis, Pat Kelly and Bill Laronde was quite a bit weaker but Blackwell used the line on occasion.
Westmeath had a strong defense; Lorrain (Fatty) Gervais, Emmett Ethier, Bernard Ethier and Bill Robinson. Frank Ethier, who was a great stick-handler, often filled in on defense.
The senior team continued on for several years; however, the team never won the cup again.
