Category: Hockey
Stampeders at Quakers, October 5, 1953
The 1953-54 Western Hockey League was made up of seven clubs: the Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Flyers, New Westminster Royals, Saskatoon Quakers, Seattle Bombers, Vancouver Canucks and Victoria Cougars. Each team played 70 games, plus as many as three playoff series.
The Quakers had their home ice at Saskatoon Arena, built in 1937 and demolished in 1989, with seating for 3,300. The Stampeders played at the 7,475-seat Stampede Corral which was built in 1950 and demolished in 2021. The Quakers were affiliated with the New York Rangers, the Stampeders with the Chicago Black Hawks.
During the 1953-54 season Saskatoon had two player-coaches: Alex Kaleta, formerly of the Black Hawks and New York Rangers, and Doug Bentley, the Black Hawks’ star left winger from 1939 till 1952 and a future Hall of Famer. The Stampeders’ head coach was Frank Currie. In the 1930s he played for Richmond Hawks and Earl’s Court Rangers of the British National League, for the Montreal Royals during the war, and the Edmonton Flyers after the war.
October 5th was opening night. Saskatoon hosted the Stampeders.
First period: goals by Kobussen (Saskatoon) and Scott (Calgary).
Second period: no scoring.
Third period: goals by Senick (Saskatoon) and Kobussen.
Final score: Saskatoon 3, Calgary 1.
Eldred Kobussen was born in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan. He played for various AHL clubs in the 1940s and early 1950s before moving to the WHL where he played for Seattle, Saskatoon and the Brandon Regals.
George Senick was from Saskatoon and played professionally from 1947 till 1966, including 13 games with the New York Rangers in 1952-53.
Archie Scott spent nearly his entire career with the Calgary Stampeders.
Sources: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix (October 6, 1953) at Google News Newspapers; and hockeydb.com.
SDE at HV71
The SDHL is in its second week of play. The PWHL doesn’t start until after the Women’s Worlds in November. By then the Swedish league will have played eight rounds.
Today SDE visit HV71. Last season SDE finished fourth and made it to the playoff semifinals. HV71 finished tenth but evaded relegation by beating Leksands in the playout. SDE won all four meetings with HV.
But in their first games this week SDE lost to Djurgården, and HV beat Linköping in overtime.
European clubs are not shy about using acronyms for names. SDE stands for component clubs Stocksunds IF, Danderyds SK and Enebybergs IF. HV71 stands for Huskvarna/Vätterstads 1971. SDE is the only SDHL club not affiliated with a SHL men’s club, which makes it easier to follow them online, because you don’t have to wade through all those pages about the men’s squad.
The SDE roster includes five Canadians players, forwards Sarah Davies, Laurence Frenette, Alyson Hush and Alexia Moreau, plus defender Teghan Inglis.
HV71 has three Canadians: goalie Stephanie Neatby and forwards Kennedy Bobyck and Katia Pelowich.
Read a Hockey News article on SDE as a developer of PWHL players.
[SDE win 3 – 2 in overtime.]
Walter Cup Finals
Ottawa and Montreal in action in the 2025 semi-finals. Source.
It’s the finals of the 2026 Walter Cup: Montréal versus Ottawa. This is the first time that two Canadian teams have made the Walter Cup finals. In Year One of the PWHL the finalists were Minnesota and Boston; last year Minnesota and Ottawa. The last time two Canadian teams met in the Stanley Cup finals was 1989. The last time Ottawa and Montréal played for the Stanley Cup was 1908, back in the challenge cup days.
The best-of-five series so far:
2026/5/14 Montréal 3, Ottawa 2
2026/5/16 Montréal 2, Ottawa 1
[2026/5/18 Ottawa 2, Montréal 1]
[2026/5/20 Montréal 4 – 0 Ottawa]
The PWHL is expanding to twelve teams. The new cities are Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and reportedly San Jose.
Nova Scotians in the PWHL: Jill Saulnier (Boston), Carly Jackson (Seattle), Blayre Turnbull (Toronto), Allie Munroe (Toronto).
Newfoundlanders in the PWHL: Abby Newhook (Boston), Maggie Connors (Toronto).
Left Wing and a Prayer
The definitive (or perhaps only) history of the Ottawa Nationals. Source.
Ottawa Charge at Boston Fleet
The Ottawa Charge visits the Boston Fleet. Boston sits second in the standings with 58 points. Ottawa is fourth with 39 and still working to secure a playoff spot.
Previous results:
2025/12/27 Boston 2, Ottawa 3
2026/1/11 Ottawa 2, Boston 1
2026/2/28 Boston 3, Ottawa 2
Boston’s top scorer is Alina Müller with 21 points. Ottawa’s is Brianna Jenner with 23.
Zoe Boyd is the only Boston player to have played for the Charge. Emma Greco is the only Ottawa player to have played for the Fleet.
Which Ottawa Charge players have been made into a bobblehead? Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, Gwyneth Philips.
Which Boston Fleet players have been made into a bobblehead? Megan Keller, Aerin Frankel, Alina Müller.
[Ottawa 2, Boston 1 in OT]
Auroraliiga finals:
2026/3/28 Kiekko-Espoo 5, HPK 2
2026/3/29 HPK 1, Kiekko-Espoo 2
2026/3/31 Kiekko-Espoo 2, HPK 4
2026/4/3 HPK 3, Kiekko-Espoo 2
2026/4/5 Kiekko-Espoo 3, HPK 2
2026/4/8 HPK 1, Kiekko-Espoo 5
Zhenskaya Hockey League finals:
2026/4/7 Ufa 2 , Tornado 1
2026/4/9 Ufa 1, Tornado 0
2026/4/12 Tornado 2, Ufa 5
2026/4/14 Tornado 0, Ufa 1
Hull versus The Soo, April 13, 1961
It’s the 1960-61 EPHL playoffs. Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds visit Hull-Ottawa.
The regular season ended March 19th with Hull in first place, Kitchener second, the Soo third and Kingston Frontenacs fourth. Under the screwy playoff logic of the day, first and second place met in one semi-final, and third and fourth in the other. Sault Ste. Marie won their series in five games. It took the Habs seven to eliminate Kitchener.
The 1960-61 Thunderbirds were a farm team of the Chicago Black Hawks. The Black Hawks, who had finished third in the NHL, were currently tied at two wins apiece with Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals, and would go on to win the Cup. In both 1959-60 and 1960-61 the EPHL playoffs went on longer than the NHL’s.
Past and future NHLers on the Thunderbirds roster were Eddie Kachur, Cliff Schmautz, Pat Stapleton, Merve Kuryluk, Dusty Blair, Matt Ravlich, Milan Marcetta, Alain Caron, Bob Wilson, Doug Robinson, Murray Hall, Denis DeJordy and Roy Edwards. The Thunderbirds’ top scorer in 1960-61, Fred Hilts, never played in the NHL.
This was Game One of the finals.
First period: goals by McCreary (Hull) and Rousseau (Hull).
Second period: goals by Smith (Hull) and Schmautz (Soo).
Third period: goals by Schmautz (Soo), Pennington (Hull), Gray (Hull), Kuryluk (Soo) and Skov (Hull).
Final score: 6 – 3.
The Hull-Ottawa Canadiens went on to win the Foley Memorial Trophy in seven games.
Sceptres versus Charge at Calgary
Flames versus Blues. Source.
Ottawa and Toronto meet up in Calgary for one of the PWHL’s Takeover Tour road games. These are staged by the league to broaden the popularity of the women’s game, and to size up potential expansion cities. So while the scores matter to the teams, the attendance figures matter to the league. (See below.)
Ottawa comes into the game in 4th place with 33 points. Toronto is 5th with 31. Both teams are after the fourth and final playoff spot.
Ottawa’s leading scorers are Rebecca Leslie and Brianne Jenner, both with 19 points. Toronto’s leading scorer is Daryl Watts with 17.
Toronto Sceptres players who have played for Ottawa: Savannah Harmon, Daryl Watts, Kristin Della Rovere.
Ottawa Charge players who have played for Toronto: Jocelyne Larocque, Rebecca Leslie, Alexa Vasko.
[Toronto 2, Ottawa 1]
Previous results:
2025/12/4 Toronto 3 – 1 Ottawa
2025/12/23 Ottawa 4 – 3 Toronto
2025-26 Takeover Tour attendances:
2025/12/21 Chicago 7,238
2025/12/27 Edmonton 10,264
2025/12/28 Dallas 8,514
2026/1/3 Hamilton 16,012
2026/1/3 Detroit 9,624
2026/1/11 Halifax 10,452
2026/1/11 Quebec 14,624
2026/1/18 Washington 17,228
2026/1/25 Denver 11,612
2026/3/15 Denver 15,512
2026/3/22 Winnipeg 15,225
2026/3/25 Chicago 10,006
2026/3/28 Detroit 15,938
SDHL finals:
2026/3/22 Frölunda 1 – 4 Brynäs
2026/3/24 Frölunda 0 – 2 Brynäs
2026/3/27 Brynäs 6 – 2 Frölunda
Swiss Women’s League finals:
2026/3/21 Zug 7 – 1 Bern
2026/3/22 Bern 0 – 4 Zug
2026/3/25 Zug 6 – 3 Bern
2026 University Women’s Hockey Championships
Waterloo and Guelph both play in the OUA West. Source.
March 19:
QF #1: Manitoba Bisons 1 – 3 Concordia Stingers
QF #2: Guelph Gryphons 2 – 0 Waterloo Warriors
March 20:
QF #3: Montreal Carabins 4 – 3 UBC Thunderbirds
QF #4: Ottawa Gee-Gees 1 – 2 UNB Reds
March 21:
Consolation #1: Manitoba Bisons 0 – 2 Waterloo Warriors
Consolation #2: UBC Thunderbirds 2 – 0 Ottawa Gee-Gees
SF #1: Concordia Stingers 2 – 1 Guelph Gryphons
SF #2: Montreal Carabins 5 – 1 UNB Reds
March 22:
Fifth-place game: Waterloo Warriors [2 – 7] UBC Thunderbirds
Bronze-medal game: Guelph Gryphons [1 – 2] UNB Reds
Championship: Concordia Stingers [2 – 5] Montreal Carabins
Meanwhile, the NCAA Division 1 women’s championship is going on.
Round One, March 12:
Minnesota Duluth 0 – 1 Yale
Princeton 1 – 4 UConn
Franklin Pierce 0 – 4 Quinnipiac
QF, March 14:
Yale 1 – 6 Ohio State
Northeastern 4 – 2 Minnesota
UConn 0 – 3 Penn State
Quinnipiac 0 – 6 Wisconsin
SF, March 20:
Ohio State 5 – 0 Northeastern
Penn State 3 – 4 Wisconsin
Final, March 22:
Wisconsin [3 – 2] Ohio State
Sudbury at Hull, March 19, 1961
The Sudbury Wolves visited the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens for the final game of the 70-game schedule. The Hull Habs were secure in first place with 91 points, but had gone two games without a win. Coach Glen Skov had them resting up in Wakefield.
The Wolves were fourth with 63 points, only 1 point ahead of Kingston, and needed a win to guarantee a playoff spot.
There have been Sudbury hockey teams named Wolves for over a hundred years. The EPHL’s Wolves started out in 1951 in the Northern Ontario Hockey Association and were active until the EPHL shut down. The current OHL Sudbury Wolves have been around since 1971.
Past and future NHLers in the 1960-61 Sudbury roster were: Silvio Bettio, Tom McCarthy, John Sleaver, Ken Girard, Jim Pappin, Cummy Burton, Gene Achtymichuk, Jack Hendrickson, Jack Martin, Myron Stankiewicz, Jack Price, Gene Ubriaco, Dave Amadio, Rich Healey, Bill White, Gordon Strate, Ernie Roche, Gary Jarrett, Al Millar, Gordon Turlik, Gerry McNamara and Cesare Maniago.
First period: goals by Morton (Sudbury), Bettio (Sudbury).
Second period: goals by Skov (Hull), Gray (Hull), Stankiewicz (Sudbury), Mortson (Sudbury).
Third period: goal by Mortson (Sudbury).
Ottawa Citizen: “Canadiens were so bad in the third period that it wasn’t until the 18th minute that Maniago had to make a stop.”
Final score: 5 – 2.
