In March 1925, one hundred years ago this month, the Victoria Cougars hockey team won the Stanley Cup, beating the Montreal Canadiens in 4 games. I wrote a song about that, and made a video to go with it. Link is at the bottom, but please read on before viewing!
Hockey is, of course, the national sport of Canada and we love it so much that what happened a century ago is still important to us. I expect that has a lot to do with the fact that hockey is not only the fastest game, but also the roughest and hardest to master – requiring one to know how to skate and handle a puck at the end of a long stick, while moving on ice at high speed, and avoiding being clobbered by others moving equally fast.
So we have a natural advantage here, winter, that provides us with ample opportunity to learn how to skate as children playing outside on ice will do. Victoria doesn’t have winter anymore, at least with outdoor ice, but we still have lots of arenas and skaters. One hundred years ago the climate was colder here, and even the west coast had frozen lakes and ponds. The first indoor artificial ice arena in the world was built right here in Victoria BC! The song tells the story of the battle for the Stanley Cup, which was epic even then.
The Stanley Cup is the oldest sports trophy in the world, and was donated by Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada. Now it belongs to the NHL, not by law but by dint of the fact that possession is ownership, or as they say, 9 tenths of the law. But the Cup will be returning here to Victoria soon, to celebrate the historic victory of the Cougars a century ago, before the Cup became the sole property of the NHL.
Of course the fact that the Cup has not been won by a Canadian based team since the Montreal Canadiens last won it a generation ago remains a sore point for Canadians, since we all consider the Cup to be our national property. Thus we remember when two great Canadian teams battled for it long ago.
A word about one of the players, Howie Morenz, the first “star” of pro hockey, in the day before stardom was as degenerated as it is now. He was known as the Stratford Streak, the fastest, highest scorer of his day. He inspired two pro teams in fact, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers, after their respective founders saw him in action and decided that they would bring pro hockey to their own cities. Morenz is today considered the 15th greatest player of all time. Quite the accolade!
In truth, the main interest I have in Morenz is the fact that my father, born in Montreal March 18, 1918, exactly 107 years ago today, caddied for Howie Morenz at a golf course one day as a teenager. So my Dad met the great Morenz, making me only 2 degrees removed from greatness…
And now, hockey fans, here is the soon-to-be-greatest hockey song of all time, “One Hundred Years Tonight”.
nathanguitars 