HEADLINES FROM MANN CUP'S PAST


1961
Vancouver -- Vancouver won the Mann Cup Monday night but lost a coach.

Coach Bobby Marsh announced his plan to retire in the midst of last night's victory celeration at Kerrisdale Arena. Vancouver had just beaten Brampton Ramblers 9 - 8 to win the best-of-seven Canadian lacrosse final in straight games.
1961Bob Babcock and Bill Barbour
Bob Babcock
and
Bill Barbour
 Marsh said this team was the best balanced to represent the west in the past 12 years. "We didn't have a weak link from goal out," he said.

Marsh, who coached the club to a first place finish in his rookie year and to second this season, said it's been a real experience.

Bobby was also proud of Bill Barbour, who received the Mike Kelly Memorial Award, awarded annually to the outstanding player in the series. Marsh rates Barbour one of the top players in Canada today. He was top man in the playoffs with nine goals and nine assists.

This was Brampton's best effort of the series. Brampton players were breathing fire when they hit the floor last night. They still were mad at themselves for failing to score in last Saturday's 13 - 0 loss.

It was learned the younger players were completely humiliated after returning to their hotel rooms. The veterans vowed it would never happen again. It didn't as Brampton scored at the 1:12 mark of the first quarter and were in it all the way from there on in.
1967
Vancouver -- Vancouver won the Mann Cup Friday but they only played 44 minutes of lacrosse to complete the dee over the east's Brooklin Redmen 5 - 2 before a packed house at Kerrisdale arena.

After coming on the floor for the sixth game looking like gangbusters, Vancouver took a 3 - 1 lead and then played catch outside Brooklin's zone defence for all but four minutes of the second period and the last part of the opening session.

Vancouver coach Jack McKinnon defended his club's tactics saying, "We used it earlier than we intended because of injuries." Early in the game Gary Stevens left the floor with an injured ankle.

Brooklin coach Fred Whalley said there was nothing in the rule book against a zone defence. "We intended to break the zone earlier, but a penalty made us wait longer. I wanted to wait until I felt we had to break to win."

At the conclusion of the game, Vancouver's John Cervi and Brooklin's John Davis shared the honors for the Mike Kelly award as most valuable to his team in the series.



1988
Whitby Ont -- Four third period goals and a strong goaltending effort by Ted Sawicki last night gave the Brooklin Redmen an 11 - 6 victory over the Coquitlam Adanacs and the Mann Cup lacrosse championship, for the third time in four years.

The defending champions took the best-of-seven finals 4 - 2.

"We did a lot of things differently tonight," said Brooklin coach Peter Vipond. "The main thing was getting our running game going."

Kevin Van Sickle and Jim Meredith each scored two goals for the Redmen.

Bob Rezansoff was the sparkplug for Coquitlam, scoring thee goals. Jody Twa had two and Paul St. John added the other.

"We proved one thing tonight -- that is you can't give them a big lead." said Adanac coach Frank Nielsen.

"Back home, we always had the killer instinct, but we didn't have it in the Mann Cup. That's experience, something Brooklin had and they used it to their best advantage."

The Adanacs, however, won't go home without a trophy. Goalie Bill Thomas won the Mike Kelly award, emblematic of the Mann Cup's most valuable player.



1989
New Westminster -- The Mann Cup is coming home!

With a lop-sided 10-4 victory in game six, the New Westminster Salmonbellies proved themselves the number one lacrosse team in Canada on Wednesday night.

And from the hoopla and cheers on the floor and in the dressing room late, the taste of champagne from the solid gold Mann Cup trophy was indeed sweet for the Bellies.

"The manner in which we won was great," said team president and co-coach K.C. Cook, whose club prevented the Brooklin Redmen from capturing a third straight national title.

The Mike Kelly Memorial Award for the most valuable player at the national championship went to big Ben Hieltjes, the 6' 4" New Westminster born and raised sniper who scored two goals and two assists in the final game, plus a total 19 points over the series.

The most heroic performance was that of Dave Durante, the 37-year-old Salmonbellie veteran who established several all-time Mann Cup records during the 1989 series.

Durante upped his previous most Mann Cup assists record to 65, played his 47th national championship game on Wednesday (beating the previous most games mark by 3), and moved ahead of Wayne Goss, Paul Parnell and Bob Allen to take third place on the ladder with 100 points exactly.

On the Redmen's side of the ledger, Gary Gait, Greg Van Sickle, Kevin Van Sickle and Derek Keenan scored. Gait, the OLA MVP and leading scorer in his rookie year, added five goals in game five, and led the Brooklin squad with 18 points over the six games.


1993
Strongly suggesting that there is a dynasty in the making in southern Ontario, Brampton Excelsiors captured their second straight Mann Cup Canadian senior 'A' lacrosse championship in convincing fashion Tuesday night.

The polished OLA winners defeated the game but clearly out talented Coquitlam Adanacs 14 - 9 to win the series four games to one--a repeat performance of their five-game Mann Cup victory over the New Westminster Salmonbellies in 1992.

Excelsiors' superstar John Tavares was a unanimous choice as the Mann Cup MVP for the second straight year. He led all scorers with 15 goals and 13 assists in the series.

The Excelsiors excelled in virtually every aspect of the game throughout the series. They combined a slick-passing, fast-breaking offense with solid defensive play in front of goaltender Bill Gerrie, who wasn't tested often Tuesday but nevertheless made some outstanding saves.

Bill Callan led the Adanacs with goals and three assists Tuesday while Neil Doddridge had three tallies and one assist and Troy Cordingley a goal and three assists for Brampton.

It was the sixth Mann cup victory in the Excelsiors' 118-year history. The WLA champion Adanacs made their second Mann Cup appearance in the franchise's 29-year history.



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