Oil Kings and The Memorial Cup—Bridesmaids No Longer —Page 2

1 | Page 2

Bill Hunter, who had taken over from LeClerc as the general manager of the Oil Kings, had assembled a great team. With Al Hamilton patrolling the blue line, and Ron Anderson still with the club, the Oil Kings were ready for the series. Other players, such as Ross Perkins, and Garnet "Ace" Bailey added both talent and grit to the lineup.

Other players that were recruited for the final included Jim Harrison. At the time, Memorial Cup rules allowed participating teams to draft a few players for the final from teams in their district. Hunter nabbed Harrison, the scoring star of the Estevan Bruins, for the Oshawa series.

The real star of the Oil Kings, however, was goaltender Don McLeod.  A goalie who could get into hot streaks and single-handedly win a series.

Entering the Memorial Cup, the Oil Kings received great news—Orr was nursing a nagging groin injury. He would play in the series, but was not the same slashing, passing defender who had led the Generals to the finals at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Oil Kings took the opener by a 7-2 count, and even though the Generals took the next two games, the Oil Kings stormed back to take the series in six. McLeod continually stoned the Oshawa attack in the deciding game, which the Oil Kings took by a 2-1 count.

Within a decade of winning the 1966 Cup, the Oil Kings would leave Edmonton for Portland; but the two victories in the 1960s rank with the Oilers’ five Stanley Cups, the Flyers’ Allan Cup and the Mercurys’ Olympic gold as some of the most-cherished hockey memories in Alberta’s capital.

As a tragic footnote to the 1966 champion team, Bailey was killed on September 11, 2001, when his Los Angeles-bound flight was hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists and crashed into New York’s World Trade Center.

[back] [top]