GAME TIME: Bad Joe Hall and the dawn of the Wheat Kings

While Brandon’s local hockey teams had played in a variety of leagues over the first five years of the sport’s existence in the city, they formally became the Brandon Hockey Club in 1898.

They played in junior, intermediate and senior levels at the time, and quickly had some hockey legends in the lineup.

The senior’s teams players included Art Ross, whose namesake trophy is still handed out to the National Hockey League’s scoring champion, future legendary New York Rangers executive Lester Patrick and a lesser known Brandonite named Joe Hall.

Hall is best remembered for his death on April 5, 1919 at age 37 during the Spanish flu pandemic while participating in the Stanley Cup final. His Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans were tied 2-2 with one tie when Hall died, and with a number of other Canadiens also ill, the deciding Game 6 was cancelled.

Seattle declined to accept the cup due to forfeiture and it wasn’t awarded that season.

Hall had moved to Winnipeg to play pro in the fall of 1907, just as a new professional league was formed in Manitoba. But they only wanted four teams and five applied.

That forced them to hold a play-in game between two of the teams, Hall’s Maple Leafs and the Shamrocks.

Morris Mott, who played 199 National Hockey League games is a professor emeritus of the history department at Brandon University. He has written the definitive history of the early decades of the game, which appeared in the Manitoba History Journal.

“He was whacking guys and it was penalties here and penalties there,” Mott said of Hall. “He got in a fight, he whacked a guy over the head with a stick. He got suspended for the year, so OK fine, he jumps on a train and starts playing for a team in Montreal. That was one of the problems in pro hockey in those days, the leagues didn’t have any agreement on players so they were always moving.”

Hall, who was nicknamed Bad Joe and is buried in Brandon, was quickly becoming a top player. He won the Stanley Cup once with the Kenora Thistles and twice with the Quebec Bulldogs., His defensive partner with Quebec was Chicago-born Harry Mummery, who also grew up in Brandon.

Hall’s influence lasted decades after his untimely death. He was unhappy with his skates in 1905, so he went to see his neighbour, Brandon shoemaker George Tackaberry, to see if he could design something better.

Tackaberry crafted his leather skates with a reinforced toe, and they were terrific.

“He would tell guys, ‘Hey, you should get your skates from this guy George Tackaberry in Brandon,’” Mott said. “Sure enough, he kind of became a skating boot specialist.”

When he died in 1937, his wife Helen sold the patent to CCM and the boots became known as “Tacks,” which are still on the market.

It was one of many ways the game was evolving from its early roots.

In a cartoon that ran in the Dec. 30, 1924 edition of the Sun, a goalie is pictured with a recognizable goal stick, leg pads and two thick gloves on his hands, although neither looked like a blocker. Goaltending equipment had apparently already emerged as an issue.

“When Charlie Gardiner came out on the ice with his big pads, it recalled the protest laid by the Falcons last year. Herb Stuart’s goal stick which they claimed was too large. Connie Johanneson then introduced a hockey stick that was a foot longer than the usual hickory carried by the other players. But Connie has his trimmed down now, and Gardiner will have to get his pads within regulation width of 14 inches or more protests are sure to follow.”

The local teams were informally called the Brandon Wheat Cities, which sounds an awful lot like a team we now know.

Accepted wisdom suggests the Brandon Wheat Kings began operations in 1936 when a local group formed a junior team, but a Brandon Sun story proves a team by that name started up much earlier.

The first mention of the Wheat Kings took place in print on Jan. 23, 1928 in a feature headlined SPORTS GOSSIP.

The article read:

“The Thunder Bay clubs have engaged an outside referee to handle all future games at Fort William and Port Arthur. They have selected Harold Farlow, of Toronto, to do the bell ringing. Billy Kean thought he had the job too and journeyed to the head of the lakes Saturday morning, but returned on the next train.

Fort William team got a harder battle here than in Winnipeg according to the coach of the Thundering Herd. This is from the Fort William Times-Journal: “Jack Silver, coach of the Thundering Herd, reporting the results of the games his boys played with Manitoba Varsity and the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday and Thursday nights of this week, stated this morning that the game with Varsity was a hard-checking affair, while the match with the Wheat Kings was much more open and saw a much faster and more spectacular brand of hockey.’’

Oddly enough, the Sun didn’t make a habit of referring to the hometown team as the Wheat Kings, generally only using the team’s nickname when they were running reports from elsewhere. Otherwise it was always just the city name.

A good example came on Dec. 11, 1925 in a story that hinted at how far the sport had come in the city from its early days in the 1890s.

With the wordy headline “Brandon Hockey Club Admitted to the Saskatchewan Hockey Body and League Is Assured” — followed by an equally long subhead “Only One Dissenting Vote in Entire Executive of S.A.H.A .; Four Clubs to Meet and Draw up Schedule and Playing Conditions; Local Officials Well Pleased With Result” — the story outlined the team’s efforts to join a league in Saskatchewan.

“Regina, Dec. 11 — By an overwhelming vote Brandon this morning was declared a member of the Saskatchewan amateur hockey association. Out of the nine members of the executive who passed judgment, only one delegate opposed their entry. While Brandon is now officially affiliated with its neighboring province it is still necessary for the southern league, comprised of Regina, Melville and Moose Jaw to hold a meeting and endorse the admittance of the Wheat City and approve the plan of extending their field to four teams.”

The decision actually foreshadowed another move west for the Wheat Kings, who left the Manitoba Junior Hockey League to join the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for the 1964-65 and 1965-66 seasons.

The MJHL was originally formed for the 1918–19 season, with Brandon finishing as runner-up in 1922, 1923 and 1930. In 1933, the Brandon Native Sons won the league with a team that included legendary goalie Walter (Turk) Broda, and the next year lost in the final to the Kenora Thistles.

At the time, the Wheat Kings were the senior team and played in the Manitoba Senior Playoffs, while the Native Sons competed in the MJHL.

The reason for the confusion regarding the team’s name likely comes from their actual junior starting date.

The Wheat Kings joined the MJHL for the 1936-37 campaign, and the way that came together is simply amazing.

The Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association held its annual meeting on Oct. 17-18 in Brandon to decide who would be playing in the MJHL that season.

They were accepted, and on Nov. 13, 1936, former professional goalie Herb Stuart was signed to a one-year contract and named the team’s first coach. Stuart originally came to Brandon in 1920 to play for the senior team, and after a distinguished pro career, he returned to the team that lost in the Allan Cup final to Toronto Varsity in 1935.

He didn’t have much time to put together his team.

“The Brandon junior hockey club will open its season at the Arena on December 11 — if there is ice in the Arena,” The Brandon Sun reported on Nov. 23, 1936. “According to tentative plans already completed, the Wheat City club will play before home fans as they launch their first drive for a league title, if mild weather forces a cancellation of the opener, the club will travel to Winnipeg and the return game played here later.”

On Dec. 4, the Sun reported the team had cut down to 15 players, although it was unknown which 10 would dress for the opener. They included two goalies, four defencemen, three centres and six wingmen.

“A thumb-nail sketch of the 15 players follows:

Jack Eley — 5 feet 7 ins. in height, weighs 142 lbs., commonly known as “ Pete” and he performed with the juvenile Maple Leafs last year and has shown up well in practice.

Pete Slobodzian — 6 feet tall and 170 lbs. Pete, better known as “ Slob,” hails from Dauphin and is the subject of much good-natured kidding on the part of the players. A good rusher and uses his body to advantage.

Morris Pechet — 5 ft. 9 ins. tall and 160 lbs., teams with Slobodzian on the defence. Morrie is a very fast skater and good puck-carrier. He comes from Carberry and was on the Portage Terrier roster last season.

Glen Sutherland — Centre. “Suds” is 5 ft. 10 ins. tall and weighs 155 lbs. He shoots from the left side and is a heady player. A fast, powerful skater, Glen should go a long way in hockey and much is expected of him this season.

Mitch Pechet — Left wing, younger brother to Morrie and has two years of junior hockey ahead of him. He played well with Sutherland and Sneider in practice. Mitch is 5 ft. 8 ins. tall and weighs 150 lbs.

Bill Sneider — “Hud”, another of last year’s juvenile club, is a vastly improved right winger. He watches his check like a hawk and can score goals. Owes much of his development to Jimmy Casey who worked with him as a midget and a juvenile,

Ludic Check — “ Pap”, the smoothest skater on the club and one of the finest opportunists around the goal-mouth ever developed here. He scores many goals but rarely back-checks. He weighs 150 pounds and stands 5 ft. 9 inches in height.

Stan Murphy —- Fast-skating leftwing from Souris. Played intermediate last winter. “ Murph” is 5 feet. 11 ins. tall and weighs 155 pounds.

Ian Lowe — Commonly called “ Primeau.” He is a sturdy right-winger and packs the hardest shot on the club and possesses an effective backhand shot as well. Comes from Bradwardine and is an all-round athlete.

Pat Petrucci — “ Fuzz” is a chunky centre player with a very potent poke-check. He played in intermediate ranks last winter and showed up well. He weighs 155 lbs. and is 5 ft. 8 ins.tall.

Jim Bonk — A speedy skater who patrols the right boards. Played with juvenile Maple Leafs last winter.

Earl Brown — Light-weight left-winger. “Bubs” is 5 ft. 7 ins. tall and weighs 143. He is a speedy skater and played juvenile here two winters ago.

Pete Palidwar — Defence. A sturdy body-checker. Pete is quiet and unassuming. He performed in Edmonton last winter and weighs around 155 pounds.

Ivan Wilson — A 170-pound defenceman from Cartwright. He is very willing and should develop into a good prospect.

Jack Bain — Goal. Jack has been with the Maple Leafs for the past two seasons and is showing up well in practice sessions.”

Since the ice wasn’t ready, the Brandon Juniors, as the Brandon Sun still called them, headed into Winnipeg for the first game in franchise history on Dec. 5, 1936 against the St. James Canadians at the Olympic Arena. It was also the first game in which new rules took effect that allowed hitting in any zone.

Accompanying the team in their parade of autos that day were Secretary Wally Brannon, trainer Jack Mannay, and referee Jimmy Casey, plus the following players: Goal, Jack Eley; defence Morris Pechet, Pete Slodozian and Ivan Wilson; forwards Glen Sutherland, Bill Sneider and Mitch Pechet, Ludic Check, Stan Murphy and Jim Bonk.

It proved to be a good trip, with Brandon winning 7-2 in front of a crowd of about 250 people.

Check scored the first goal in the team’s junior franchise history six minutes, three seconds into the game, and he, Sutherland and Sneider gave the team a 4-1 first-period lead.

Mitchet Pechet added a goal in the second period, and Check scored his hat-trick goal 9:32 into third period, with Murphy completing the scoring. Eley made 21 saves as the team showed off its new threads.

“Neat and natty in their new purple and gold uniforms, Brandon juniors outscored St. James Canadians 7-2 in the opening struggle in Manitoba’s north division,” the Sun reported. “The new outfits arrived just after the club departed for Winnipeg and were hurriedly shipped to the Olympic rink. The sweaters are purple with a six-inch band of gold at the shoulders. Numbers and letters are also gold and there is no number 13.”

The three cars had trouble on the trip home — what kind of trouble isn’t detailed — and the trip took six hours.

The Wheat Kings stayed in the MJHL until the end of the 1953-54 season — winning the league in 1939 before it took a five-year hiatus for the Second World War and then earning championships again in 1947, 1949 and 1950 — dropping out for four seasons from 1954 to 1958 and playing intermediate instead.

It rejoined the MJHL in 1958-59 and won titles in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964 before its two-year run in the SJHL.

The Wheat Kings had one more season in the MJHL before going in the Western Canada Junior Hockey League for the 1967-68 season. They’ve been there ever since in the subsequently renamed Western Hockey League.

» This is the final story in a four-part series looking at how The Brandon Sun covered the earliest days of hockey in the city.

pbergson@brandonsun.com