Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” brought to you by your local Auto Logic….the Logical Choice.
Last week we passed the 25th anniversary of the Monday Massacre.
On Monday March 11th, 1991, the Owen Sound Platers nearing the end of a dreadful season played their final road game of the year at Cobo Hall in Detroit.
How bad was it ?
Netminder Sean O’Hagan was absent for a family funeral, injured defenceman Mark Strohack was listed as the backup goalie to starter Scott Ballantyne who was left on his own all night, and the expansion Ambassadors creamed the Platers 10-3.
………then it got worse !!
On the ride home, the bus stopped to let coach and GM Rob Holody off in his hometown of Guelph, leaving demoted former head coach Len McNamara in charge of the group, the very players who had underperformed in magnificent fashion for him.
Somewhere on Highway 6 going North, a sing-song broke out in the back of the bus.
I’ll admit, the players did a passable rendition of ” Yesterday ” and ” The Gambler “, but based on the game, the season and those participating in the sing-along, it was inappropriate and McNamara told them to zip it, which they did…….for a few miles.
Around Mount Forest, the Plater Karaoke Kings broke out again and when the bus stopped at a light in Mount Forest, a fuming McNamara bolted to the back and banished three players from the bus. ( There’s no need to mention Mark Strohack, Grayden Reid or Jason Skellett ).
A fourth player, possibly the road manager of the singers, protested on behalf of his teammates citing the winter conditions, which were pretty harsh to be walking from Mount Forest to Owen Sound in.
McNamara shouted at the 4th player ( and there’s no need to mention Jeff Perry by name ), saying, ” if you don’t like it, you can get off too. ” ……….And Jeff Perry departed.
A lot of things get washed away with the passage of time, but the image of 4 Platers trudging through the snow on Main Street, Mount Forest in the wee hours of the morning of March 11th, 1991 at the end of a lost hockey season is pretty vivid a quarter of a century later.
I’m Fred Wallace