Let’s head back to March 1973 and revisit a spirited game for the Ladner Fishermen in their Delta Senior Hockey League semifinal game against the Ladner Hotel Bruins.
The Fishermen eliminated the Bruins with a 5-2 victory at the South Delta Rec Centre, winning the series two-games-to-one and setting the stage for a best-of-five finals against the Pillars Inn Totems.
The Optimist reported that two events in the third period of the second game against the Bruins turned the series around for the league champion Fishermen.
First, Fishermen’s goalie Pete Guichon stopped a penalty shot by Bruins forward Larry Cagna.
Shortly afterward, Bruins goalie Ron Tamboline misjudged an easy shot from the left wing by Perry Gates.
“We never quit, mind you,” said defenceman Ken Bates in the Fishermen’s dressing room after their victory.
In the final game, the Fishermen led 3-0 by halftime.
Although they made some menacing gestures in the third period, they were too far out of it by then to make it stick, the Optimist reported.
The Fishermen would go on to win a “humdinger” of series against the Totems to take their third straight Vic Fisher Cup.
John McNeill’s officiating reportedly kept that boisterous series well in hand.
