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The Beavers were welcomed home with a roar after their series victory against
Halifax Navy gave them the Maritime Senior Hockey League crown. The next task
for the Beavers would not be easy. The Ontario Hockey Association champions,
the Hamilton Tigers, were coming to town for a three games series. They would
be the next obstacle the Beavers has to face on the road to the Allan Cup.
Game One, played on Thursday, March 21, 1946, was one to be forgotten. The
Tigers mauled the Beavers in an 8 - 1 thrashing of the Saint John team. It was
the worst defeat that Saint John had suffered all season. However, they had
lost the first game against Halifax Navy 5 - 1 and many had counted them out in
that series too. Most of their problem had been the precision playing of the
Tigers. They could do no wrong in Game One of the Eastern Canadian Allan Cup
quarter-finals while the Beavers could not seem to do anything right. The only
bright spot for the Beavers in that game had been the fact that they never
stopped trying. They put "fighting heart" into the game right
up until the last seconds of the final period.
Game Two, on Saturday, March 23, 1946, was to be a different
story. Determined not to let the fans down, faced with the fact that this could
be the last game of the season, and inspired by the rumour that Hamilton had
canceled their Hotel reservations for that Saturday night the Beavers were
ready to do battle. During the game, the Beavers had accomplished what was
considered impossible in Ontario – scoring more than 3 goals on Hamilton
goaltender Art Child. Child had given up a minuscule 11 goals in his previous
16 games before the series with Saint John including six shutouts, but the
Beavers performed the impossible with two goals in each period. All the Tigers
could muster was five. In an amazing display of hockey, the Beavers had tied
the series. Incredible performances from goaltender Bill Giggey, and forwards
Steve Estabrooks, Walter Butler, and Eddie Price frustrated the Hamilton
players all evening and delighted the 5000 Saint John fans that had come to see
their Beavers win.
Now it was deadlocked in the three games series. Winner gets a trip to Ottawa to meet the Ottawa and District champions before meeting the Quebec representatives in the Eastern Allan Cup final . . .
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John and New Brunswick Community College - Saint John.