1963-1964 Bridgetown Hawks
BACK ROW (L-R): Lionel Kennedy, Donnie Fox, Dave Nesnick, Paul Wilhelm, Lawrence Bishop (Coach), Peter White (Trainer). FRONT ROW (L-R): Lloyd Bonang, Donny Bezanson, Ed Gillis, Eric Bezanson, Bruce
Watt (helmet), Raymond Longley, Leo Kaulbach. NOT PICTURED: Amos Stevens, Jr. Laundry, J. C. Spence, Bill Buntain.
It is often said that adversity breeds champions. This championship team faced more than its share in winning a Nova Scotia championship.
To begin, 1963-64 was an anomalous year in Nova Scotia hockey heritage. For a number of reasons, there were no divisions in that year separating the various talent levels. There would be only one Intermediate Champion crowned in 1964.
Second, Bridgetown played in the Western Valley Hockey League against teams from St. Anne’s University, Digby, and Cornwallis. This was a well-established league where home town pride and regional dislikes meant that a team needed to be able to protect itself from the opposing players and quite often the opposing spectators.
Third, these were all working men and attendance at games was not always certain. Several times that year the Hawks iced a team with only 8 skaters, and one or two players would have to play the entire game.
Fourth, small town pride reared its head in another form when several players from other local towns were asked to play on the team. This was a very unpopular move with some, including the local press, and the team took its licks in weekly columns in the Bridgetown Monitor.
As Don Cherry loves to tell us, Hockey in the “good ol’ days” was a much more rough and tumble version than what we see today. In 1963, on- (and off-) ice fights were common, and a championship team could be expected to be as proficient at fighting as they were at scoring goals and playing strong defense. This clearly was the case for the 1963-64 Bridgetown Hawks.
After winning the WVHL playoffs, the Hawks began provincial play-downs by facing off against the South Shore Champions, Bridgewater. In a two game total goal series, Bridgetown lost the first game 4 – 1 but rebounded strongly to win game two by a score of 16 – 4, winning the series 17 – 5.
Their next opponent was Stellarton. In the Stellarton rink, Bridgetown defeated the home team 7 – 4. Due to soft ice, Bridgetown’s home game had to be shifted to Berwick and although Stellarton won, they had played an ineligible player and had to forfeit.
This propelled Bridgetown to the Provincial Championship series against Cape Breton in a best of three series. Bridgetown won the first two games and were crowned Provincial Champions.
Returning home to Bridgetown it was obvious that the season long attacks by the press had done its work. There was no victory parade for these provincial champions. Just a quiet return to their everyday lives and shared memories of a hard fought championship for which they battled at every level.