Leaf Time Machine: St. Michael's College keeps Irish ties strong

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If there’s a Hockey Night in Heaven, you know which game St. Patrick and St. Michael will be watching this Saturday.

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Paddy, on the eve of his feast day, will probably be wearing the special edition green sweater of the Toronto team that once bore his name, Mike in blue for his school that pumped so much talent into blue and white in its glory years.

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This month is the 101st anniversary of the St. Patricks winning the Stanley Cup, beating Ottawa for the O’Brien Cup NHL championship, then the Vancouver Millionaires, three years before a rebranding to Maple Leafs under new manager Conn Smythe.

“At the time, it had to be disappointing to the Irish to lose that connection to the name,” said Larry Colle, a school alumnus and co-author of the St. Michael’s 2008 centennial book ‘100 Years of Pucks and Prayers. “St. Mike’s had started in the 1850s as a way for Catholics to be more accepted in Toronto and one way was through sports and hockey.

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“It worked because one of the biggest bridges they built was with Smythe. He was an Orangeman and militant, but had deep respect for the Catholic priests and they for him. It was good for him to reach out to the whole Catholic community to link the Leafs and St. Mike’s and create acceptance.”

Upon his business group buying the St. Pats in February of 1927, Smythe’s initial development team focus was the junior Marlboroughs, from which stars such as Red Horner and Joe Primeau quickly moved up to the Leafs. But Smythe was already quietly paying the tuition to St. Mike’s for top talent.

The practice continued until the NHL draft was established in the 1960s. In one documented agreement, dated 1954, Smythe wrote Father Ted Flanagan promising $10,000 to the school to sign the best players possible with the understanding that “second to school spirit, they be indoctrinated with the Leaf spirit and sign with us with your assistance when requested.”

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No sale, transfer or release of the lads was permitted without the Leafs’ consent, though stern-minded staff such as Father David Bauer, made sure Toronto and other teams kept a respectable distance from affecting their studies.

“Lots of Protestant-raised players went there, too, such as Tim Horton,” Colle said. “The priests would say to Tim ‘it’s up to you to attend Mass’, they didn’t force it on him.

“Ireland is the roots of the school, but it has really expanded across all cultures and to much more diverse backgrounds.”

Perhaps you’ve seen the new recruitment ad featuring NHLer Wojtek Wolksi extolling the success of non-hockey alumni.

The 13 Cups won by the Toronto franchise had help from various junior incarnations of the Buzzers, Majors with the famous ‘M’ on the front of the jersey.

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Peter Fillman, a volunteer at the school for decades, who keeps meticulous records of those who went to the NHL via a Wall of Fame at St. Michael’s Arena, counts 61 Leafs of the 221 framed pictures. They start with Reg Noble, who scored the first goal in franchise history on Dec. 19, 1917, through the Jr. B team that Eric Lindros starred on, the OHL franchise in the ‘90s up to current alternate captain all-star Mitch Marner, who played six games for the Tier II Buzzers, though didn’t attend classes before joining the OHL’s London Knights. Long-time Leaf equipment manager Bobby Hastings, who was a student and worked with many school hockey teams, is also pictured.

Four Hockey Hall of Fame players stand out, Red Kelly, Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon and Horton, who all shared four Cups as Leafs in the ‘60s (Kelly and Ted Lindsay were Red Wings property, Kelly traded to Toronto in 1960).

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“You look at what they’ve all accomplished in life and with the Leafs,” Colle said. “They personified the school motto (from the founding Basilian fathers) ‘teach me discipline, goodness and knowledge’. Frank went to the Canadian Senate, Red played while serving two terms as an MP, Dave was understated, but (voted greatest Leaf of the franchise’s first century).”

Fillman appreciated watching young bull Lindros and later his younger brother Brett “run over everyone, including in practice”. But he thought Kelly deserved special recognition for maintaining his high compete level as a defenceman and forward for the Leafs, while commuting to Parliament in Ottawa, representing St. Mike’s and never forgetting his Irish roots.

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“Red was a Leaf coach, too. And we were proud when the Leafs rebuilt for the ‘70s that two of ours, Jim Gregory and John McLellan, were the GM and coach.

“Pat Quinn was here, with that big Irish jaw of his, but he belonged to Detroit and the Wings wouldn’t let him play anything but football for us.”

Kelly, who died in 2019, traced his ancestry to the O’Kellys in 1850s’ Western Ireland. It’s estimated one million emigrated from the potato famine around that time, mostly to North America, thousands arriving in Toronto.  Some made it no further than quarantined ‘fever sheds’ on the waterfront at Bathurst Street.

The St. Patricks sports organization had run many amateur hockey clubs in the area since the turn of the last century, such as a senior amateur team in the OHA. So, when the NHL Arenas were sold to the Pats’ group for $5,000 in December of 1919, the new monicker was a call to the Irish diaspora to help fill 8,000-seat Mutual Street Arena.

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Managed by Charlie Querrie and coached by George O’Donoghue, they won the ‘22 Cup in a series that began March 17.

Twelve years later, the new Gardens was crammed full to fete Francis Michael (King) Clancy, the Leaf franchise leprechaun, whom Smythe obtained from Ottawa. The first such tribute game for a pro athlete ever staged in town, the pre-game ceremony before a St. Patrick’s Day game versus the Rangers had parade-type Irish-themed floats; a harp, a duidin pipe and potato.

Clancy, dressed in a gold crown and flowing white beard, doffed his special robe to reveal a green and white shamrock game sweater, which he refused to remove until a protest by Rangers’ boss Lester Patrick.

When religious and political differences from Ireland carried to these shores, word got out to Catholic families with hockey and scholastic aptitude that St. Mike’s was the place to send their sons. Rival NHL teams griped that it seemed every priest in the country had become a scout for the Leafs.

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There were Gardens double headers including the Marlies and St. Mike’s up to the ‘60s. Colle has helped organize St. Mike’s reunions where NHL stars are special guests; Keon (in the only such Toronto appearance he made when estranged from the Leafs), Mahovlich, Mike Walton, brief Leafs Gerry Cheevers and Arnie Brown.

“I remember in the ‘60s going to games and they’d play ‘McNamara’s Band’ as St. Mike’s came out on the ice,” Colle said.

So, a hearty ‘slainte’ to the list of Irish Leafs; may they be Corrigan, Curran, Darragh, Dorey, Finnigan, Haggerty, Hannigan, Kennedy, Maloney, Murphy, O’Byrne, O’Flaherty, O’Reilly, O’Neill or Sullivan.

ONCE A LEAF

Featuring one of the more than 1,100 players, coaches and general managers who have played or worked in Toronto since 1917.

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C/LW  Kent Manderville

Born: April 12, 1971 in Edmonton, Alta.

Years with the Leafs: 1991-95

Games played: 136 (8 G, 15 A,23 pts.), 102 PIMS

Sweater number: 18

THEN

Manderville was quick to credit Cliff Fletcher for two fortuitous moments in his career, drafting him in Calgary when ‘The Silver Fox’ was Flames’ general manager, and trading for him three years later as Leaf boss in the 10-player Doug Gilmour mega-deal.

“He was a giant in the game, but someone who added the human touch,” said Manderville. “An incredible person to have in your corner. He was not dogmatic in any way. During the (1994) NHL lockout he was trying to find middle ground with the players.”

Early in the second round of the ’89 draft, Fletcher snagged Manderville from small-but-mighty Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask.

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“I’d graduated the same time as the Flames won the Cup and as the draft, which I couldn’t attend. So, I took a Greyhound bus to Calgary to meet Cliff. He (nonchalantly) introduces me to Lanny McDonald, Joe Nieuwendyk and I’m just in awe.

“I was going to Cornell University the next year, he told me just have fun and he’d see me soon.”

They reunited in Toronto when Manderville left the school after two years to play with the Canadian Olympic team (he’d won two world junior golds), which took silver in Albertville, France, on a team with a smattering of Canadian NHL team player loans.

The unknown element in the Gilmour trade, Manderville did well at the start, but a demotion to St. John’s for what was supposed to be a few weeks turned into most of the regular season. He and forward Mike Eastwood were recalled just as the eventful ’93 playoffs began.

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“We’d already lost Game 1 in Detroit (6-3), then Game 2 (6-2, when he took the warmup in case Mark Osborne couldn’t play). It was a very quiet flight home.”

Certainly, that night the Leafs wished to stay clear of smouldering coach Pat Burns. None had cars handy at the airport as the team had flown to Detroit from its Collingwood getaway, thus club business manager Bob Stellick had set up limousines.

“Bob gets to Easty and I, and says ‘your hotel is right next to Burnsie’s place, just go with him’.

“We were petrified and thought the driver couldn’t get downtown fast enough. Pat wasn’t a chatty Cathy, but he wasn’t in as dark a mood as we expected. He asked if I’d played centre in St. John’s. I lied and said ‘yeah, lots’. So, in Game 3 there I am, matched against (Hall of Famer) Sergei Fedorov.

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“From that point, we all found a way, whether it was our stars or the under-rated guys, Bill Berg, Peter Zezel, Bob Rouse. One game in St. Louis I was so sick, but just popped Sudafeds all day. No way was I coming out.

“We’d created such a team environment. And there was Dougie, worn out doing everything he could for us, looking like a ghost by the end.”

Manderville played 18 of those 21 games in 42 days, three seven-game series that ended in defeat to the Kings. He played 67 games the next season and 12 of the 18 in the ’94 post-season as the Leafs returned to the conference final, but lost again.

As Fletcher’s core was gradually dismantled post-lockout, Manderville was traded to the Oilers for Peter White and played 10 more years with four teams, including the final Hartford Whalers’ entry as they morphed into the Carolina Hurricanes, ending with his four seasons in Finland.

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NOW

Manderville chipped away at his degree, taking one undergrad course at Duke while playing in Raleigh, eventually becoming an Ottawa-based Chartered Financial Analyst.

“I went into wealth management, my motivation being a lot of guys weren’t handling theirs the right way. There are unique needs a player has, which I recognized after we lost Steve Chaisson (a Canes’ pal killed in a 1999 car crash, leaving his wife and three kids), a wonderful guy and teammate.

“Salaries were going up, but how do you protect it, how do you educate? It’s not top of mind for a lot of players, but I’ve been there. Just because there’s a big dollar sign beside a player’s name, they might not get a fair shake, so I wanted to be a buffer for them.”
Manderville’s company, Integrated Planning, has half its clientele in the hockey world, the rest small business owners and retirees, many with cross-border interests.

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Married to former women’s star Kim Ratushny, Kent’s son, Ethan, is a senior forward playing at Colgate University and daughter Emma is in her third year at Queen’s.

 FAVOURITE LEAFS MEMORY

The kinship on those Leaf teams included lots of practical joking. While Gilmour was the king of pranks, Mike Foligno was pretty sly, too.

“Burnsie changed his lines by giving you this subtle touch on the back (rather than always shouting),” Manderville said. “One game, there’s a stoppage in play and Mike reaches behind a couple of guys and taps me. I always had springs in my skates anyway and jumped right over the boards.

“Then I hear Burnsie yelling ‘Mandy, what the f**k are you doing?’, looked back to see him turning red and Foligno laughing so hard.

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“We had a reunion a few years ago at a game in Toronto, a great night, great stories. Such a tight team and interesting group of personalities. You almost didn’t appreciate it at the time, because I thought it would always be like that for me in the NHL.

“I think it was Wendel Clark who told me of all the teams Pat coached, he only had one picture on display at his house — the ’93 Leafs.”

THE WEEK IN LEAFS HISTORY

Tuesday will mark 95 years since the Leafs’ first playoff win over an American-based club, 3-1 against the Detroit Cougars, forerunners of the  Red Wings, at the Olympia … On March 21, 1951, the first test of a Hockey Night In Canada telecast took place, seen only by CBC employees in Toronto, as the hometown Leafs shut out Montreal 2-0 … Keon turns 84 on Friday.

[email protected]

X: @sunhornby

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