A REGAL AFFAIR, Part 9: Team seemed destined to leave all along

On Jan. 10, 49 BC, Julius Caesar is famously quoted as saying “Alea iacta est.”

The die is cast.

And with Jim Piggott and the Brandon Regals, the die may have been cast before the team even took the ice for the 1956-57 Western Hockey League season.

In the Sept. 29 edition of The Brandon Sun, the Regals owner denied rumours the squad was moving to Saskatoon. While that may have seemed reassuring to less cynical ears in 1956, it sure seems like a sign of trouble with the passage of time.

“The rumours started with an article in the Hockey News by editor-publisher Ken McKenzie,” the Sun reported. “Back from a tour through the west, McKenzie wrote in his column that Piggott would probably “move that franchise to Saskatoon next season.” Another informed source had it that the team would shift to Saskatoon after Christmas.”

Cue the immediate denial of what came to pass 10 months later.

“There is certainly no truth to the rumours,” Piggott told the Sun. “I have no plans of taking the franchise from Brandon. Why this city has been wonderful to me. As long as the Brandon fans support the team, I’ll keep the Royals here.”

Piggott denied meeting with McKenzie, adding “I hope we operate the club in Brandon for many years to come — I’m completely satisfied with this city … they’ll have to run me out of town to get me to move.”

The rumours wouldn’t have been helped by the fact that Piggott brought Norm Couch with him to training camp. Couch managed the Saskatoon Quakers the year before and still looked after the Saskatoon arena.

As we’ve learned, if a team has to keep denying it’s going to move, it’s probably moving.

With the team in Vancouver in December, general manager Frank Boucher told The Sun’s sports editor, Henry Stothard, not to worry after a story appeared in the Vancouver Herald that the team was headed to Saskatoon.

“If there is any move to Saskatoon or any other place, I am completely unaware of it,” Boucher said, adding the only person who would know was the wealthy Saskatoon contractor and Regals owner Piggott.

He did say nobody was happy with home attendance because the team was losing money.

The Herald article went on to suggest the move could happen by mid-January.

Piggott wasn’t happy with the story, and called the Sun’s H.L. Crawford to complain.

“I’ll sue them if I can find out who started that report that I am dissatisfied with Brandon and thinking of moving the Regals elsewhere,” Piggott said.

Crawford noted there were also rumours the team was moving to Winnipeg, Minneapolis or Duluth.

He then noted a number of WHL clubs are underperforming at the gate and dissected some of the possibilities of where they could move.

“Saskatoon? It flopped on its big opportunities. Minneapolis? Too far, and already unable to face up to pro basketball, TV and wrestling competition. Moose Jaw? No rink. Regina? Couldn’t muster enough pro fans last winter to pay for hockey equipment. Lethbridge? Lost thousands on junior hockey — as did Brandon — and the sponsoring Sick’s Brewery finally gave up.”

He also pointed out attendance in Brandon compares more than favourably with Winnipeg, which has a metropolitan population more than 15 times as large, and that on a per capita basis, Brandon actually would lead the league in attendance.

Of course per capita attendance doesn’t pay the bills.

On Dec. 18, 1956, the Winnipeg Tribune hinted at the trouble on a story with the headline “Saskatoon may get game”

“There is a chance that a January 16 Western Hockey League game between Brandon Regals and Seattle Americans will be transferred to Saskatoon. The game is originally booked for Brandon but because of a heavy schedule at the Wheat City Arena, thought has been given to testing the Saskatoon and district population with some WHL action.

“Saskatoon dropped out of the prairie league at the end of last season but the game could be a feeler to determine fan reaction to a possible return of pro hockey in the Hub City.

“About 10 of the present league-leading Regals are former Saskatoon Quakers.

“A Saskatoon Star-Phoenix report quotes Jim Piggott, Brandon owner, as saying: “I’d like to try a game here at the (Saskatoon) Arena, but first of all, Brandon must agree to such a move and I’d also have to know if Saskatoon would want it. The Seattle team and president Al Leader would also have to agree.”

“Saskatoon in the meantime is apparently not sure whether its fans really want the game enough to support it. A suggestion has been made to open the ticket sales at an early date and close it about 10 days before the game. If the sale was good, the game would go on as scheduled. If not, the game would stay in Brandon.”

On Jan. 5, something had changed because Crawford had a very different tone. He noted the team, which had seven local co-sponsors, needed about $3,900 per game in revenue to break even, which would signal crowds of about 3,000.

“Mr. Piggott probably isn’t any more worried than those guiding other teams in the league, but how long can he stand to take the losses?” Crawford asked. “He has already said it and reiterated it several times that he will not move the club away from Brandon this winter. But can he or the co-sponsors take the kind of financial beating we are giving them this winter?”

Crawford then took readers out to the woodshed, imploring them to buy tickets while suggesting the players would appreciate it.

“There should be some civic pride left, at least enough to cover our hockey embarrassment,” he wrote.

On Jan. 16, the Regals played a home game in Saskatoon, and on Feb. 10, St. Paul hosted the club.

It didn’t help the local situation in late February when Winnipeg Warriors general manager Jack Perrin appeared on a radio show and suggested Brandon was too small to host a team and the league would be better off in Minneapolis than the Wheat City.

That drew an angry rebuke from Boucher as the team planned its Booster Night.

“Let him come up to Brandon on Saturday night and find out for himself whether or not this city is too small for the league,” the Brandon GM said. “Local fans will be paying $5 each to get into the rink that night and it should convince him once and for all that Brandon, despite its size, can compete with the larger cities when it comes other supporting hockey.”

On Feb. 9, Piggott announced Saskatoon fans would get another chance to see the Regals when a game with Calgary Stampeders was switched from Brandon to the Bridge City.

The Minneapolis Star ran a story on Feb. 11, 1957 after the game in St. Paul. It was a 5-2 Regals win over the Winnipeg Warriors in front of a capacity crowd of 7,421 fans, giving the club its ninth straight victory.

“The enthusiasm is there but not the population,” Boucher said of Brandon. “We average about 2,000 per game but that is not enough. Jim Piggott, our owner, hasn’t committed himself about moving, but I plan to talk with some possible sponsors here. St. Paul is a good hockey town and has a good rink.”

On Feb. 28, the team played a second home game in Saskatoon.

Two days earlier, Boucher had to refute rumours that playoff games wouldn’t be in Brandon. His word choice certainly left some things open for interpretation.

“Our present planning calls for all playoff games to be played in Brandon,” he said. “Neither I, nor Jim Piggott (Regal sponsor) nor anyone else has made any preparation for moving the games away … The only thing that could change the playoff site would be disinterest among Brandon fans and we are not even thinking of that now.”

On March 1, a well-attended meeting of Brandon hockey fans was held at the YMCA youth hall, with Boucher delivering the bad news.

If Brandon wanted the Regals back for 35 games in the 1957-58 season, they had to guarantee Piggott a return of $4,000 per game, or $140,000 for the season. He also suggested Brandon could host 20 games for a guaranteed $80,000, with the other 15 games held in Saskatoon.

One fan suggested “half a loaf of bread is better than none,” and numerous proposals were made on how the money could be raised.

The comments and suggestions included getting the City of Brandon to kick in, hiring an advertising manager, reducing the number of trips to the West Coast to save money, holding a booster night and hockey festival, reducing ticket prices and getting city stores to stay open until 8 on game nights so that more out-of-town folks would come in for games.

A Canadian Press story on March 5 outlined that St. Paul had applied for admission to the WHL, and that a decision was expected during the league final when the teams were out west.

A Minnesota group headed by Severn Mortinson gave the league a cheque of $7,500 as a good faith bond. The city had an 8,000-seat arena ready.

On March 6, Boucher met with the Citizens’ Hockey Committee, saying Piggott had withdrawn his demand for revenue guarantees and that Brandon could plan for at least half the home games next winter.

Instead, the owner wanted to see a plan to sell season tickets over the summer.

“I feel confident that some arrangement can be made at the meeting which will assure that there will be professional hockey in Brandon next season,” Boucher said.

On April 18, between Games 1 and 2 of the league final, the Sun ran a short story showing that 76,104 people had attended regular season games, up from 58,776 a year earlier. Those figures included the two near-capacity games in Saskatoon and a game in St. Paul.

League attendance was down 40,000, with Winnipeg’s attendance dropping by 67,000 fans.

Overall, Calgary drew 157,660 people, followed by Edmonton (109,207), Winnipeg (99,482), Seattle (93,455), Vancouver (93,409), Victoria (91,831) and New Westminster (88,876).

Also that day, the Edmonton Flyers said they were withdrawing from the league and wouldn’t renew the contract of Bud Poile, which led to speculation they wanted more equitable sharing of revenues.

In June, the Montreal Aces of the Quebec Hockey League, who beat the Regals for the Edinburgh Trophy, announced they were suspending operations after three years of heavy losses.

On July 2, 1957, Sid Hartman reported in his news and notes column The Roundup that the decision had been made.

“St. Paul won’t have its own hockey team in the Western League this year but Saskatoon and other teams may play up to 18 league games across the river this year.”

But the word certainly hadn’t spread.

On July 20, 1957, Maurice Smith of the Winnipeg Free Press interviewed Regals player-coach Don Raleigh. Raleigh wasn’t sure if he was going to be invited back, and was also unsure of rumours of the team splitting its home games between Brandon and Saskatoon.

While he was intent on retiring from his playing career, he was unsure how a split season would even work.

“You know it’s going to be a tough job handling the Saskatoon-Brandon club this coming season … With 20 home games planned for Saskatoon and the other 15 at Brandon it actually means the club will be playing 50 of its 70 games on the road because you have to declare the games at Brandon road games.”

As speculation swirled, the official decision was finally near.

On July 29, the Free Press had a two-paragraph brief with some massive implications.

“The directors of the four Prairie Clubs of the Western Hockey League will meet today for the purpose of completing the Prairie schedule for the coming season.

“At this meeting, owner Jim Piggott of the Brandon Regals, will decide where his club will play their home games. All or part may be played in either of three cities, Brandon, Saskatoon or St. Paul, Minn.

Many Brandon fans may have been certain the team was leaving, but they couldn’t have been prepared for what came next.

Piggott announced he was leaving the Wheat City to split the team’s home games between St. Paul and Saskatoon, because what could possibly go wrong with the same team playing in cities located 1,475 kilometres apart.

Incidentally, he was the same guy who not two years earlier said splitting the team between Regina and Saskatoon wouldn’t work.

On July 30, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix announced the decision.

“CALGARY (CP) — The former Brandon Regals of the Western Hockey League will operate out of Saskatoon and St. Paul, Minn., during the 1957-58 season, it was decided at a directors’ meeting of the WHL Monday.”

The story said 18 games would be played in St. Paul and 17 in Saskatoon, noting games played in the latter the year before were a success.

“In dividing their home games between Saskatoon and St. Paul, it is believed Regals will solve some of the financial troubles. The U.S. city also moves back into professional hockey but in a simpler way than having to build up an entire new team.”

Piggott said he was leaving Brandon because there wasn’t the population there to support the Western League brand of hockey. He had no kick about the fans of the Brandon area, he said, except there was not a sufficient number of them to make it feasible for a professional team to operate there.

Saskatoon previously had a WHL team from 1951 to 1956. He said the city would have an average of one game per week, with 15-game ticket packages available.

Then he added a doozy.

“The Saskatoon contractor said his Regals, champions of the WHL last year, were busy lining up another contender and expected the team to be as strong or stronger than in 1956-57.”

File that thought away.

Piggott wasn’t done with Brandon just yet. On July 31, the Free Press said Piggott wanted to be paid on the way out the door.

“A spokesman for the Citizens Committee which sponsored the professional Brandon Regals’ hockey club here last winter, said Tuesday that the group is awaiting an added statement from owner Jim Piggott of Saskatoon before paying its share of the operating deficit incurred by the club.

“It was announced Monday the Regal owner had decided to operate his club on a split schedule between Saskatoon and St. Paul Minn., next season.

“The spokesman said the Citizens Committee received a statement from Piggott in July, naming a sum of $25,000 as the club’s 1956-57 deficit. He said the local group had agreed to pay more than half of the year’s losses, but had asked Piggott for a detailed audited statement, of receipts and expenditures on which to base such a payment.

“He said, ‘We have never indicated we do not intend to pay the money. We have asked for a detailed statement and have not received one to date.’”

With the benefit of seven decades of hindsight, it’s clear it was never going to work, and there must have been people in the city at the time who also understood that fact.

So why was the team so important to local citizens in 1957, and why did some very smart people fail to accept that the worst-drawing team in the WHL probably wasn’t going to stay?

In an unsigned editorial on April 23, 1957, the day before Game 3 of the league final, The Sun made the case for why the team needed to be in the city under the headline “The Best Kind of Publicity.”

“Brandon’s best publicity medium for 1957?

There is only one answer to that question. The Brandon Regals in a walk. It is safe to say that thousands of citizens in the vicinity of Seattle, Wash., have consulted maps to find out exactly where the city is located.

“The name Brandon has been on the tongues of thousands of people at the Pacific coast, and it is a good bet that over the prairies, we get a lot of attention from people only remotely interested in hockey. Columns and columns of copy on Regals have appeared in newspapers all over Canada. Radio and TV communications have likewise played an important part in publicizing Brandon’s good name.

It is the kind of publicity money cannot buy. The space and time devoted to the Regals surge to the Prairie championship, and a two-game lead in the final series, have been tremendous. And never at any time has there been any derogatory remark made concerning the club or its players.

“Of course there has been some good-natured muttering about the “luck” of the Regals in winning the majority of the “close” ones. But luck always gets a big assist from the desire-to-win, and this is one asset the Brandon club has in great quantity.

“The deportment of the team, on and off the ice, has been a shining standard as well. It has been mentioned many times, but bears repeating, that the clean-cut pattern of the Regals play this winter has won the admiration of fans everywhere.

“Playing the puck and not the man has done so much to deflate the coaching methods of so many pro clubs that a “team has to be rough and rugged” to get anywhere in today’s tough schedules.

“Chambers of Commerce across Canada recognize this type of publicity as right up at the top of promotional material. The Edmonton Eskimos, the Montreal Canadiens, and to probably a lesser degree, the Brandon Regals, are mentioned by more people at more times, at less cost than all the other fine interests we have in these communities.

“That is why it is important to us that we keep the Regals here next winter. It requires no large outlay on our part. Simply an indication that you will be a season ticket holder when the next schedule unfolds in October. That’s not much to pay for the kind of publicity the Regals bring us today, is it?

“Let’s do something about it now.”

» This is the ninth instalment in a 10-part series chronicling the unlikely story of Brandon’s only professional hockey team, their mid-season move to the city, their brief stay and why the Regals eventually left after the 1956-57 season. Tomorrow, a look at what came next for Brandon sports, the Regals and the WHL.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com