1957 Memorial Cup
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The 1957 Memorial Cup final was the 39th junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). The Flin Flon Bombers won their first Memorial Cup championship by defeating the Ottawa Junior Canadiens four games to three in a best-of-seven final series held at the Whitney Forum and the Regina Exhibition Stadium. CAHA second vice-president Gordon Juckes oversaw the scheduling and discipline for the national playoffs.[1]
Prior to the playoffs, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) requested permission for its champion to be allowed three additional players on its roster if the team reached the Western Canada final. When the request was approved by a vote of Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) branch presidents, the Flin Flon Bombers and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) objected despite a ruling by CAHA president Jimmy Dunn that the decision was made according to the CAHA constitution.[2]
The Winnipeg Tribune reported that the decision had "started the old country-city mud-slinging campaign". Flin Flon Daily Miner editor Harry Miles wrote that, "Jimmy Dunn in Winnipeg [was] shovelling new players into the Winnipeg junior club with reckless abandon", and implied that Winnipeg had long dominated amateur sports in Manitoba and that the decisions of various sports associations made it more difficult for Flin Flon to compete.[3] When supporters of the Bombers hanged Dunn in effigy, he responded by saying "All I hope is that the effigy looked like me. I'd hate to think they had hanged somebody else by mistake".[2]
The Bombers defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings four wins to two in their best-of-seven semifinal series, and the Fort William Canadians defeated the Winnipeg Monarchs four wins to three with one tied game in the other semifinal. The SJHL requested permission for the Bombers to add players to its roster for the Western Canada final which was declined in a vote by CAHA branch presidents.[4][5] In the best-of-seven final, the Bombers defeated the Canadians in four consecutive games to capture the Abbott Cup as champions of Western Canada and advance to the Memorial Cup final.[5]
Eastern Canada playoffs
The Ottawa Junior Canadiens participated in the Eastern Canada junior playoffs as an independent team which played exhibition games instead of scheduled league games. The Junior Canadiens won the first two games of the semifinal series by scores of 9–3 and 14–0 over the Ottawa Shamrocks, and the best-of-five series was aborted. In the Eastern Canada final, the Junior Canadiens defeated the Guelph Biltmores with four wins and a tie in a best-of-seven series to capture the George Richardson Memorial Trophy and advance to the Memorial Cup final.[5]
