Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” brought to you by Auto Logic, the Logical Choice.
It was with much interest that I read Ken Hashizume’s story on our web page pertaining to the Orillia Terriers Reunion over the weekend.
The Terriers won the 1973 Allan Cup in hockey and spent the weekend reliving that experience.
As a 12 year old, I was at Game 1 of the Allan Cup that year in Orillia, where the Terriers pumped the St Boniface Mohawks, 12-2 if my memory is correct.
Orillia scored in the opening minute and I distinctly remember an Orillia fan hopping over the boards and sliding towards the Mohawks goal giving the netminder the ” thumbs down ” gesture.
You don’t forget something like that.
At the other end of the rink, Orillia’s netminder was Louie LeVasseur, a 23 year old who was said to be the inspiration for the Denis Lemieux character in Slap Shot.
And speaking of Slap Shot, Midland native Blake Ball, aka Gilmore Tuttle in the movie, was a Terrier that year. However, Ball, who really wasn’t acting in Slap Shot, played 22 games that year for Orillia but wasn’t in town for the Allan Cup, having departed for Syracuse in the EHL at some point that year.
There’s no doubt the weekend had lots of memories for the 1973 Orillia Terriers.
The opening goal, Louie LeVasseur and Blake Ball’s program profile are what I remember as a 12 year old in 1973.
I’m Fred Wallace