The 1963

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

final was the 45th junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. ...

of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed against the

Abbott Cup The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey p ...

champions Edmonton Oil Kings of the Central Alberta Hockey League in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. In a best-of-seven series, held at Edmonton Gardens in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta. Edmonton won their 1st Memorial Cup, defeating Niagara Falls 4 games to 2. CAHA vice-president Lionel Fleury oversaw the 1963 playoffs in Eastern Canada, when the junior champions from the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association and the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association declined to participate and complained that the national deadlines did not allow adequate time to decide their leagues' champions. The CAHA was concerned about the quality of Memorial Cup competition due to the rapid expansion in junior ice hockey, and named Fleury chairman of a committee to investigate the imbalance the competition in Eastern Canada and find a solution to include all branches of the CAHA in the national playoffs. He opted to change the subsequent format of the playoffs from an elimination bracket into a round-robin format to reduce travel costs. CAHA president Art Potter oversaw the 1963 Memorial Cup final series. Niagara Falls' coach

Hap Emms Leighton Alfred Emms (January 12, 1905 – October 23, 1988) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, team owner, and general manager, during nearly 60 years in hockey. Emms played 17 seasons of professional hockey as a left winger and a defenc ...

made numerous petty complaints about the series and the CAHA, including the ice rink's dimensions and access to the other team's practices. Emms threatened that the Flyers would quit the 1963 Memorial Cup and accused Potter of being "strictly a homer" and dictatorial. Emms charged that his team was denied access to treatment for a player's broken leg, and that spectators and sportswriters in Edmonton treated his team poorly, and complained about a general lack of hospitality. Potter dismissed the charges and stated that the treatment of the Flyers matched their lack of courtesy and refusal to attend the Edmonton Sports Writers' Association dinner. The Canadian Press described the series as an "all-out war", the play of Edmonton to be "almost brutal", and that Edmonton seemed intent to end Eastern Canada's opinion that Western Canadian teams played "pantsy-waist hockey".; The CAHA debated the incidents in the series and approved a motion to deplore "the actions of any club official which degrade our game". Potter agreed that Emms was a good coach but that "his actions were childlike".

Scores

*Game 1: Niagara Falls 8-0 Edmonton *Game 2: Edmonton 5-2 Niagara Falls *Game 3: Edmonton 3-2 Niagara Falls *Game 4: Edmonton 5-2 Niagara Falls *Game 5: Niagara Falls 5-2 Edmonton *Game 6: Edmonton 4-3 Niagara Falls

Winning roster

Ron Anderson, Butch Barber, Tom Bend, Roger Bourbonnais, Jim Brown, Rich Bulloch, Jim Chase, Vince Downey, Jim Eagle, Ron Falkenberg, Doug Fox, Harold Fleming, Russ Kirk, S. Knox,

Bert Marshall Albert Leroy "Moose" Marshall (born November 22, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals, New York Rangers and New ...

, Max Mestinsek, Butch Paul, Gregg Pilling, Pat Quinn, Dave Rochefort, Glen Sather, Reg Tashuk. Coach: Buster Brayshaw

References

External links

Memorial Cup

Canadian Hockey League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memorial Cup 1963 Mem 1963 Memorial Cup Ice hockey competitions in Edmonton 1963 in Alberta

Scores

Winning roster

Further reading

References

External links