Port Arthur Bearcats
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The Port Arthur Bearcats were an amateur men's senior ice hockey team based in Port Arthur, Ontario, now part of the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur were champions Canadian Amateur Hockey Association four times, and were chosen twice as represent Canada as the Canada national men's ice hockey team at international competitions.
The Port Arthur team played several season without a nicknames over its history, with several generic names applied to the team including the Port Arthur Ports, Port Arthur Hockey Club, and the Port Arthur Seniors. The original Bearcats became the Port Arthur Shipbuilders in 1942, and operated for two more seasons.
There was a revival in 1946 with a new Port Arthur Bearcats club that operated until the merger of Port Arthur and Fort William and creation of the Thunder Bay Twins in 1970.
[edit] Championships
Port Arthur played the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup in a 1911 challenge, losing 13–4 in a one game showdown on March 16, 1911. Port Arthur won three Allan Cup titles during the 1920s, as Canada's senior ice hockey champions. After their 1929 Allan Cup title, Port Arthur represented Canada at the 1930 World Ice Hockey Championships, winning a gold medal and the World Championship by defeating German team 6–1, in Berlin, Germany. Port Arthur was again chosen to represent Canada at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Port Arthur won the silver medal at the 1936 tournament, finishing runners-up to Great Britain. Port Arthru won its fourth Allan Cup in 1939.
[edit] NHL alumni
Twenty-five alumni from Port Arthur also played in the National Hockey League:[1][2][3][4][5]
- Cliff Barton, Bill Brydge, Marty Burke, Lorne Chabot, Art Chapman, Bob Connors, Danny Cox, Jimmy Creighton, Gus Forslund, Gord Fraser, Alex Gray, Jim Haggarty, Edgar Laprade, Norm Larson, James Jarvis, Frank Nighbor, Bud Poile, Al Pudas, Charlie Sands, Red Spooner, Butch Stahan, Bill Thomson, Alex Wellington, Phat Wilson, Steve Wojciechowski
Three alumni from Port Arthur Shipbuilders also played in the NHL:[6]
- Pete Backor, Dick Kotanen, Norm Larson
Seven alumni from the revived Port Arthur Bearcats also played in the NHL:[7]
- Bart Bradley, Steve Hrymnak, Dick Kotanen, Jim McLeod, Rudy Migay, Gord Wilson, Benny Woit
