Story by Paul Svoboda
It’s a record that continues to stand the test of time.
Members of the 1975-76 OMHA juvenile AAA champion Belleville Jim’s Pizza hockey club gathered last weekend in Ameliasburgh to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their unique triumph. With AAA hockey now a regional entity in Quinte, the Jim’s juveniles remain the one and only Belleville team to ever capture a provincial banner at that level.
And if last weekend’s shindig often resembled a family reunion, it was with good reason, said team captain Roger Chapman.
“We were a bunch of guys who got along together, worked hard together and put together an unforgettable season,” he said. “We were like family.”
Players say a letter written to the team by general manager Bill Thompson at Christmas convinced them they could go all the way.
“I just knew what these guys were capable of,” said Thompson. “And they went out and did it.”
With solid goaltending, a stingy defence and three balanced forward lines that could all produce, the locals captured their regular season league pennant before emerging victorious from four straight playoff series. The crowning moment was a decisive four-game sweep of the Burlington Mohawks in the best-of-seven provincial AAA final. Overall season record was 56-6-2.
A highlight of the championship season was the defeat of a touring Swedish team on New Year’s Day before a near capacity crowd at Memorial Arena, with Jim’s forward Gordie Male scoring the game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds to go.
“I thought we played the Russians,” said Thompson, laughing. “But that was a really exciting game. I think it set the tone for the rest of the season and into the playoffs.”
Team roster: Tom Belch, Tony Bennett, Roger Chapman, Robb Chase, Mike Crawford, Mark Foster, Dave Giddings, Brian Hamilton, Paul Hayman, Marty Lowry, Ross McLeod, Gordie Male, Mark Meehan, John Merrill, Kelvin Pope, Al Portt, Ray Skelly, Paul Svoboda, Gary Thompson and Mike Willman. Staff: Keith Kaine, coach; Bill Thompson, GM; Howard Skelly, trainer.
NEED TO KNOW: Chapman and Male were teammates on the Belleville juvenile box lacrosse squad that won All-Ontario provincial “D” honours in 1975 … Other local OMHA champions in 1976 included Stirling, juvenile DD; and Wellington, midget D. Marmora was runner-up in the provincial bantam D finals.
