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.

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

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

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.

March 12:
Match No. 1: Daishin [15 – 0] Vortex Sapporo
Match No. 2: Mikage Gretz [1 – 8] Seibu Princess Rabbits
Match No. 3: Toyota Cygnus [7 – 1] Kushiro Bears
Match No. 4: Showa University Blue Winds [0 – 7] Road Construction Peregrine

March 13:
Match No. 5: [Vortex Sapporo 0 – 4 Mikage Gretz]
Match No. 6: [Kushiro Bears 1 – 3 Showa University Blue Winds]
Match No. 7: [Daishin 5 – 1 Seibu Princess Rabbits]
Match No. 8: [Toyota Cygnus 3 – 2 Road Construction Peregrine]

March 14:
Match No. 9: [Mikage Gretz 6 – 2 Kushiro Bears]
Match No. 10: [Vortex Sapporo 1 – 5 Showa University Blue Winds]
Match No. 11: [Daishin 1 – 3 Road Construction Peregrine]
Match No. 12: [Seibu Princess Rabbits 3 – 1 Toyota Cygnus]

March 15:
Match No. 13: [Kushiro Bears 5 – 2 Vortex Sapporo]
Match No. 14: [Mikage Gretz 7 – 3 Showa University Blue Winds]
Match No. 15: [Daishin 2 – 3 Toyota Cygnus]
Match No. 16: [Road Construction Peregrine 0 – 3 Seibu Princess Rabbits]

The Montreal Canadiens travelled to Ottawa on this date in 1931. The Habs were first in the Canadian Division with 52 points. The Senators were last with 21 and already out of the playoffs.

Eight of sixteen players on the Montreal roster were from Quebec. In addition they had five players from Ontario, two from Manitoba and one from Massachusetts. Aurel Joliat was from Ottawa and had played for the New Edinburghs and Aberdeens of the Ottawa City League.

Future Hall of Famers on the Montreal roster were Howie Morenz, Aurel Joliat, Sylvio Mantha and George Hainsworth.

The Senators’ Art Gagné had played three seasons for the Habs. Art Smith, Leo Bourgeault and Harold Starr would play for Montreal in future.

Montreal’s Johnny Gagnon spent the 1922-23 season as a Chicoutimi Bluet and a Quebec Bulldog. Shoresy.

First period: no scoring.

Second period: goal by Leduc (Montreal).

Third period: no scoring.

Final score: 1 – 0.

Montreal Senior Group:
Semi-finals, game two, February 16: McGill 9 – 1 Columbus
Exhibition game, February 23: Harvard 2 – 0 McGill (attendance 12,000)
Final, game 1, March 2: McGill 7 – 2 Montreal AAA
Final, Game 2, March 4: McGill 10 – 4 Montreal AAA
McGill win the Montreal Senior Group.

1930-31 Ottawa City League, final standings:

Cliff Pennington.

The Hull-Ottawa Canadiens visited the Kitchener-Waterloo Beavers on this date in 1961. The Canadiens were atop the EPHL table with 78 points, the Beavers third with 59.

The Beavers were the former Trois-Rivières Lions who had played in the Quebec Hockey League from 1955 till 1959 and in the EPHL in its inaugural season. In 1960 the Lions relocated to Kitchener in search of higher attendance figures. The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium had become available when the Kitchener Dutchmen ended their run there. The Dutchmen had been members of the OHA’s Senior A league, but played a shortened season in 1959-60 in order to represent Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where they won silver. Cliff Pennington was on that Olympic team.

Pennington was a hot property in 1961. He had scored 62 goals as a junior with the Flin Flon Bombers in 1958-59. He led the EPHL in scoring in 1960-61, despite being called up to the Montreal Canadiens. But he would go on to play only one complete and two partial seasons in the NHL, mostly with Boston.

The Beavers were affiliates of the New York Rangers. Clubs in that part of Ontario had been feeding the Rangers system for years. The Kitchener Rangers of the OHL reflect that history in their name and uniform.

There’s a Trois-Rivières Lions in the ECHL today.

First period: goal by Gray (Hull).

Second period: goal by Ronson (Kitchener).

Third period: goals by Ellett (Hull) and Stratton (Kitchener).

Final score: 2 all.

The Ottawa Senators visited the Detroit Falcons at the Olympia on this date in 1931.

Detroit entered the NHL in 1925 stocked with Victoria Cougars from the defunct WCHL. They played their first season at the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario while the Olympia was being built. They called themselves the Cougars for the first four seasons, then rebranded as the Falcons in 1930, and the Red Wings in 1932.

Which Victoria Cougars were still with Detroit in 1930-31? Only Winnipegger Frank Frederikson, and he was returning from spells with Boston and Pittsburgh.

There were several Ottawa players on the Falcons roster. Ebbie Goodfellow was a former Montagnard. Bert McInenly had played for the Rideaus, Shamrocks and Gunners. Stan McCabe was a Gunner and a Rideau in the Ottawa city junior league. Hal Hicks played for pretty nearly all the Ottawa teams between 1916 and 1926. John Newman was a junior Shamrock. Harvey Rockburn was a Tiger, a Gunner and a Shamrock.

The Senators’ goalie Bill Beveridge was a Detroit Falcon in 1929-30. He began as an Ottaa Shamrock in 1924-25 and finished off his career as an Ottawa Commando in 1944-45.

First period: goal by Herbie Lewis (Detroit).

Second period: no scoring.

Third period: goal by Goodfellow (Detroit).

Final score: Detroit 2, Ottawa 0.

Montreal Senior Group:
Game 29, February 9: Columbus vs Victoria
Game 30, February 9: Canadiens vs Montreal AAA
These last two games were not played, as the three playoff teams were already decided and because McGill wanted to fit in an exhibition game against Harvard. In pursuit of that potentially huge box office McGill agreed to waive their claim to first place and with it a bye through to the final. So the final standings were:

It’s the Winter Olympics. Let’s follow the Japan women’s team, who are ranked 8th in the world. They’ll play in Group B against Germany, Sweden, Italy and France.

Group stage:
2026/2/6 France [2 – 3] Japan
2026/2/7 Germany [5 – 2] Japan
2026/2/9 Japan [2 – 3] Italy
2026/2/10 Japan [0 – 4] Sweden

The five Group A and top three Group B teams advance to the quarter-finals.

The Japanese team has seven players from the Daishin roster, six from Peregrine, three from Seibu Princess Rabbits, three from Toyota Cygnus, two who play for Linköping, one for Luleå, and one for Järnbrotts HK.

[Japan finishes fourth in Group B, ninth overall, and misses the quarter-finals.]