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Jiggs McGee · 05-15-2023, 08:44 PM

DECEMBER 30 , 1946

DEFENSE LEADS DETROIT MOTORS TO TOP SPOT

After missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons the Detroit Motors have taken over top spot in the North American Hockey Conference thanks to the best defense in the league. Led by the outstanding play of 23 year old goaltender Henri Chasse, who already has notched 4 shutouts, and veteran rearguard Shel Herron the Motors have surrendered the fewest goals against this season and at 26 points hold a 1 point lead on the defending champion Boston Bees.

The defense-first attitude for Detroit has been one born out of necessity as the Motors lack the big-time offensive performer that most other teams seem to possess at least one of. Boston, for example, has a mighty first line led by Tommy Hart, Wilbur Chandler and Jacob Gron who have comined for 56 points this season as well as a strong season from second line winger Joe Morey, who is among the league leaders with 18 points. There is some cause for concern in Boston as Chandler has gone 5 games without a point and Gron -the 23 year old second year star with 21 points in 19 games- hurt his back in Friday's loss in Brooklyn and there are fears he might miss signifcant time.

The Toronto Dukes have finally climbed out of the basement as it appears the trade that sent Larry Albers to New York two weeks ago has had the desired shake-up effect. Since the move the Dukes, who had the best regular season record a year ago, have gone 4-2 and overtaken New York for 6th place. The Shamrocks have struggled since the trade but it is hard to blame Albers, as the 27 year old pivot has 7 points in 5 games with the Greenshirts. As for the Dukes, the player they acquired in the deal -23 year old defenseman Philippe Dubois- was injured in his third game with the club and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.

CHICAGO IS THE NEW CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE

Forget Philadelphia, Brother Acts Lead Cougars, Packers

There have been some great brother acts as teammates through the years led by the 4 Barrell boys (Tom, Fred, Harry and Dan) who helped the Brooklyn Kings to dominance in the mid-thirties or the Cleaves brothers (George and Jack) who teamed in Pittsburgh for a stretch but no city in recent memory has seen brother acts as key contributors to not one, but two of its major sports teams. That is until the city of Chicago stepped up with baseball's Jones boys uniting with the Cougars now that the war is over while the Burns brothers have long since excelled for the hockey Packers.

The Fort William born duo of Tommy and Wes Burns joined the Packers in time for the 1940-41 season and have starred ever since. Tommy, a 26 year old centericeman, is four years younger than his big brother and has blossomed into one of the best players in the sport. His 113 goals since joining the Packers as a 20 year old is the second most scored by any player over that span and he was rewarded for a tremendous 57 point campaign a year ago with his first McDaniels Trophy as the North American Hockey Confederation's Most Valuable Player. This season he is off to an exceptional start with 6 goals and 14 points in just 5 games.

Big brother Wes Burns, 30, is not quite the dominant force that Tommy has become, but he pairs exceptionally well with his brother and scored 50 points a year ago -a career best for the captain of the Packers. The duo is actually a trio as they like to joke that their longtime right winger Marty Mahoney, a 25-year-old Edmonton native who debuted along with the brothers in 1940, is actually a long-lost Burns brother. The way the three anticipate each other's moves on the ice you would almost believe it was true. The Chicago Packers have never won a Challenge Cup, and not reached the Cup Finals since 1931, but the Burns brothers -both the actual brothers and honourary sibling Mahoney might just change that one day.

Much the same can be said at Cougars Park where a pair of brothers are at the forefront of a collection of dominant pitchers. Donnie and Johnnie Jones grew up in Minnesota, really not all that far away from the Thunder Bay home of the Burns family. Neither began his pro baseball career in the Windy City but both were acquired by the Cougars through trades in 1939. Each made a brief big league debut in the summer of 1941 -just months after the Burns boys began to delight ice fans at the city's Lakeside Auditorium. Unlike the Burns boys, the Jones brothers ended up putting sports on hold as each served in the US Army before both were reunited in the Cougars rotation last season and each excelled to the point where the pair was invited to participate in the mid-season All-Star Game. They have a lot of company, most notably two-time Allen Award winner Pete Papenfus, but Donnie and Johnnie Jones are part of a deep pitching staff that is being counted on to lead the Cougars to their first World Championship Series victory since 1931 -just a few months before the Packers last reached the Challenge Cup finals.

Philadelphia might be known as the City of Brotherly Love, but all of Chicago would love to see both sets of brothers bring long-awaited ice and diamond crowns to the Windy City.

Code:

 NAHC  STANINGS
TEAM                  GP  W  L  T PTS
Detroit Motors        20 11  5  4  26
Boston Bees           19 11  5  3  25
Montreal Valiants     18  9  6  3  21
Chicago Packers       20  8  7  5  21
Brooklyn Eagles       21  7 11  3  17
Toronto Dukes         21  6 12  3  15
New York Shamrocks    19  6 12  1  13
     SCORING LEADERS 
NAME             TEAM  GP  G  A  PTS
Tommy Burns      CHI   20 12 15   27
Quinton Pollack   BKN   21 15  9   24
Sam Coates       BKN   21  7 16   23
Orval Cabbell    NY    19 13  9   22
Bobbie Sauer     TOR   21  9 12   21
Jacob Gron       BOS   19  5 16   21
Tommy Hart       BOS   18 11  9   20
Wes Burns        CHI   20 10  9   19
Glen Whitley     MON   18 10  8   18
Joe Morey        BOS   19  9  9   18
Mahlon Klein     TOR   18  5 13   18
Larry Albers     NY    20  4 14   18
     GOALIE LEADERS
NAME             TEAM  W L T  ShO  GAA
Henri Chasse     DET  11-5-4   4   2.45
Norm Hanson      CHI   8-7-2   2   2.61
Pierre Melancon  BOS   7-5-3   1   2.81
Tom Brockers     BKN   7-10-3  1   2.86
Millard Touhey   MON   6-5-3   0   3.09
Etienne Tremblay  NY   5-10-1  1   3.51
Gordie Broadway  TOR   5-12-1  0   3.63

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

TUESDAY DECEMBER 17
In their first game after trading away their disgruntled second line center Laurel Albers, the Toronto Dukes doubled Boston 4-2 for their first win in nearly a month and just their third victory on the season. Dick Klein got the game winner on a power play with just 57 seconds remaining in regulation before Bobbie Sauer sealed it with an empty net goal. Perhaps frustrated by Toronto's tight-checking and his third straight game without a point, Boston scoring leader Tommy Hart was involved in his second fight in 3 games. The other game saw Henri Chasse turn aside all 19 shots he faced to lead the Detroit Motors to a 3-0 win over Brooklyn.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 19
A busy Thursday evening with action on three fronts including Brooklyn, where the Eagles avenged the Tuesday loss in Detroit with a 5-2 win over the Motors behind a 3 point night from defenseman Ryan Kennedy. The newest member of the New York Shamrocks made his presence felt as former Toronto Duke Laurel Albers scored with just over a minute remaining to allow the Shamrocks to salvage a 5-5 tie with the Bees in Boston. Albers scored twice and also added an assist while Joe Morey had a hat trick for the Bees to raise his season goal total to 9. Finally in Montreal, Claude Skinner had a goal and 3 assists to pace the Valiants to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Packers.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 21
A second straight victory for the Toronto Dukes as they beat Brooklyn 5-2 with 5 different goal scorers. The Dukes have 5 points in their last six games and may finally be easing into the form they showed last year when the finished with the best regular season record in the league. In the other game George Anderson scored twice to lead Boston to a 4-3 win over Montreal.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 22
The Toronto Dukes winning streak ended at two with a 6-3 loss on home ice to the Brooklyn Eagles. Ferdinand Markle paced the Brooklyn side with a goal and two assists. Three third period goals including Graham Comeau's game-winner with 2:40 remaining gave Detroit a 3-2 win on enemy ice in Boston while in New York Moose Vezina's 4 assists helped the Chicago Packers past the Shamrocks 6-2.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 25
A busy Christmas day with 3 games on the holiday slate. Jocko Gregg and Orval Cabbell provided the scoring while Etienne Tremblay made 30 saves as the New York Shamrocks blanked Chicago 2-0. Veterans Doug Yeadon, Arnold Singleton and Shel Herron each had two points to lead Detroit to a 5-3 victory over the Dukes in Toronto while Boston needed third period goals from Jacob Gron and Larry Dees to escape Brooklyn with a point in a 3-3 draw.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 26
A wild first period saw 8 goals scored in the opening twenty minutes including 5 by Montreal as the visiting Valiants came away with two points following a 6-5 victory in Chicago. Claude Skinner had is second 4-point game in a week after scoring 3 times -all in the opening stanza- in this one for the Valiants.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 27
Tom Brockers earned his first shutout of the season as the veteran goaltender led the Brooklyn Eagles to a 5-0 win over his former team in Boston. Ian Doyle had 2 goals and 2 assists while Sam Coates chipped in with 3 points for the winners.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 28
A pair of 4-3 results from the two Saturday night games. In Brooklyn the visiting Montreal Valiants were victorious despite Quinn Pollack scoring his league high 15th goal of the season for the Eagles. A few miles away at Bigsby Garden the Toronto Dukes pulled even with the New York Shamrocks for 6th place after the Dukes held on for a 4-3 victory giving both clubs 13 points on the season with a rematch on the docket in Toronto for the next night.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 29
The Toronto Dukes escaped the NAHC cellar with a 2-1 win over the New York Shamrocks. Mahlon Klein scored both of the Dukes goals including the game winner, unassisted, with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game. Toronto is 4-2-1 over its last 7 games and now has 15 points on the season - two more than the last place Shamrocks, who are 1-6-1 in their last 7 outings.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Burns' Cold Streak Slows Packers -- After an impressive hattrick in a 5-5 tie with the Toronto Dukes, Packers superstar Tommy Burns has failed to find the back of the next in five consecutive contests. In those five games, the Packers have dropped three, tied one, and won one to drop to a tie for third in the NAHC. Tommy still leads the league with 27 points, as he added three assists in those five games, but he's dropped to third in goals (12) and assists (15). Despite the recent struggles, the Packers still lead the league in goals scored (73) and differential (+16), as the Chicago skaters have scored anywhere from 12 to 20 more goals then the other three playoff teams. -Archie Irwin/Chicago Daily News

OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK

CC Los Angeles is the slight favourite to beat Detroit City College in the East-West Classic, the biggest of the collegiate football New Year's day games.
No surprise as Pat Chappell, quarterback of the champion Kansas City Cowboys, is named the best Offensive Player in the inaugural season of the Continental Football Conference. Chappell and the Cowboys beat the New York Gothams 20-14 in last weekend's title game.
For the second week in a row the top ranked collegiate basketball team in the nation went down to defeat. Last week it was Liberty College. This time it was Carolina Poly that fell to Central Carolina 48-43. Coast outfit Rainier College is the new number one.
The Boston Bomber, Roy Crawford, improved to 23-2 with a unanimous decision over Robby King in a heavyweight bout.
Pope Pius XII's annual Christmas message was that the threat of a new war hangs over a deluded and unhappy world in which the Atlantic Charter has become merely a forgery of its original principles because of "compromises and solutions based on strength and on the prestige of political power."

Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

05-15-2023, 08:44 PM	#14
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	December 30, 1946 DECEMBER 30 , 1946 DEFENSE LEADS DETROIT MOTORS TO TOP SPOT After missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons the Detroit Motors have taken over top spot in the North American Hockey Conference thanks to the best defense in the league. Led by the outstanding play of 23 year old goaltender Henri Chasse, who already has notched 4 shutouts, and veteran rearguard Shel Herron the Motors have surrendered the fewest goals against this season and at 26 points hold a 1 point lead on the defending champion Boston Bees. The defense-first attitude for Detroit has been one born out of necessity as the Motors lack the big-time offensive performer that most other teams seem to possess at least one of. Boston, for example, has a mighty first line led by Tommy Hart, Wilbur Chandler and Jacob Gron who have comined for 56 points this season as well as a strong season from second line winger Joe Morey, who is among the league leaders with 18 points. There is some cause for concern in Boston as Chandler has gone 5 games without a point and Gron -the 23 year old second year star with 21 points in 19 games- hurt his back in Friday's loss in Brooklyn and there are fears he might miss signifcant time. The Toronto Dukes have finally climbed out of the basement as it appears the trade that sent Larry Albers to New York two weeks ago has had the desired shake-up effect. Since the move the Dukes, who had the best regular season record a year ago, have gone 4-2 and overtaken New York for 6th place. The Shamrocks have struggled since the trade but it is hard to blame Albers, as the 27 year old pivot has 7 points in 5 games with the Greenshirts. As for the Dukes, the player they acquired in the deal -23 year old defenseman Philippe Dubois- was injured in his third game with the club and will likely miss the rest of the regular season. CHICAGO IS THE NEW CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE Forget Philadelphia, Brother Acts Lead Cougars, Packers There have been some great brother acts as teammates through the years led by the 4 Barrell boys (Tom, Fred, Harry and Dan) who helped the Brooklyn Kings to dominance in the mid-thirties or the Cleaves brothers (George and Jack) who teamed in Pittsburgh for a stretch but no city in recent memory has seen brother acts as key contributors to not one, but two of its major sports teams. That is until the city of Chicago stepped up with baseball's Jones boys uniting with the Cougars now that the war is over while the Burns brothers have long since excelled for the hockey Packers. The Fort William born duo of Tommy and Wes Burns joined the Packers in time for the 1940-41 season and have starred ever since. Tommy, a 26 year old centericeman, is four years younger than his big brother and has blossomed into one of the best players in the sport. His 113 goals since joining the Packers as a 20 year old is the second most scored by any player over that span and he was rewarded for a tremendous 57 point campaign a year ago with his first McDaniels Trophy as the North American Hockey Confederation's Most Valuable Player. This season he is off to an exceptional start with 6 goals and 14 points in just 5 games. Big brother Wes Burns, 30, is not quite the dominant force that Tommy has become, but he pairs exceptionally well with his brother and scored 50 points a year ago -a career best for the captain of the Packers. The duo is actually a trio as they like to joke that their longtime right winger Marty Mahoney, a 25-year-old Edmonton native who debuted along with the brothers in 1940, is actually a long-lost Burns brother. The way the three anticipate each other's moves on the ice you would almost believe it was true. The Chicago Packers have never won a Challenge Cup, and not reached the Cup Finals since 1931, but the Burns brothers -both the actual brothers and honourary sibling Mahoney might just change that one day. Much the same can be said at Cougars Park where a pair of brothers are at the forefront of a collection of dominant pitchers. Donnie and Johnnie Jones grew up in Minnesota, really not all that far away from the Thunder Bay home of the Burns family. Neither began his pro baseball career in the Windy City but both were acquired by the Cougars through trades in 1939. Each made a brief big league debut in the summer of 1941 -just months after the Burns boys began to delight ice fans at the city's Lakeside Auditorium. Unlike the Burns boys, the Jones brothers ended up putting sports on hold as each served in the US Army before both were reunited in the Cougars rotation last season and each excelled to the point where the pair was invited to participate in the mid-season All-Star Game. They have a lot of company, most notably two-time Allen Award winner Pete Papenfus, but Donnie and Johnnie Jones are part of a deep pitching staff that is being counted on to lead the Cougars to their first World Championship Series victory since 1931 -just a few months before the Packers last reached the Challenge Cup finals. Philadelphia might be known as the City of Brotherly Love, but all of Chicago would love to see both sets of brothers bring long-awaited ice and diamond crowns to the Windy City. Code: NAHC STANINGS TEAM GP W L T PTS Detroit Motors 20 11 5 4 26 Boston Bees 19 11 5 3 25 Montreal Valiants 18 9 6 3 21 Chicago Packers 20 8 7 5 21 Brooklyn Eagles 21 7 11 3 17 Toronto Dukes 21 6 12 3 15 New York Shamrocks 19 6 12 1 13 SCORING LEADERS NAME TEAM GP G A PTS Tommy Burns CHI 20 12 15 27 Quinton Pollack BKN 21 15 9 24 Sam Coates BKN 21 7 16 23 Orval Cabbell NY 19 13 9 22 Bobbie Sauer TOR 21 9 12 21 Jacob Gron BOS 19 5 16 21 Tommy Hart BOS 18 11 9 20 Wes Burns CHI 20 10 9 19 Glen Whitley MON 18 10 8 18 Joe Morey BOS 19 9 9 18 Mahlon Klein TOR 18 5 13 18 Larry Albers NY 20 4 14 18 GOALIE LEADERS NAME TEAM W L T ShO GAA Henri Chasse DET 11-5-4 4 2.45 Norm Hanson CHI 8-7-2 2 2.61 Pierre Melancon BOS 7-5-3 1 2.81 Tom Brockers BKN 7-10-3 1 2.86 Millard Touhey MON 6-5-3 0 3.09 Etienne Tremblay NY 5-10-1 1 3.51 Gordie Broadway TOR 5-12-1 0 3.63 LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS TUESDAY DECEMBER 17 In their first game after trading away their disgruntled second line center Laurel Albers, the Toronto Dukes doubled Boston 4-2 for their first win in nearly a month and just their third victory on the season. Dick Klein got the game winner on a power play with just 57 seconds remaining in regulation before Bobbie Sauer sealed it with an empty net goal. Perhaps frustrated by Toronto's tight-checking and his third straight game without a point, Boston scoring leader Tommy Hart was involved in his second fight in 3 games. The other game saw Henri Chasse turn aside all 19 shots he faced to lead the Detroit Motors to a 3-0 win over Brooklyn. THURSDAY DECEMBER 19 A busy Thursday evening with action on three fronts including Brooklyn, where the Eagles avenged the Tuesday loss in Detroit with a 5-2 win over the Motors behind a 3 point night from defenseman Ryan Kennedy. The newest member of the New York Shamrocks made his presence felt as former Toronto Duke Laurel Albers scored with just over a minute remaining to allow the Shamrocks to salvage a 5-5 tie with the Bees in Boston. Albers scored twice and also added an assist while Joe Morey had a hat trick for the Bees to raise his season goal total to 9. Finally in Montreal, Claude Skinner had a goal and 3 assists to pace the Valiants to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Packers. SATURDAY DECEMBER 21 A second straight victory for the Toronto Dukes as they beat Brooklyn 5-2 with 5 different goal scorers. The Dukes have 5 points in their last six games and may finally be easing into the form they showed last year when the finished with the best regular season record in the league. In the other game George Anderson scored twice to lead Boston to a 4-3 win over Montreal. SUNDAY DECEMBER 22 The Toronto Dukes winning streak ended at two with a 6-3 loss on home ice to the Brooklyn Eagles. Ferdinand Markle paced the Brooklyn side with a goal and two assists. Three third period goals including Graham Comeau's game-winner with 2:40 remaining gave Detroit a 3-2 win on enemy ice in Boston while in New York Moose Vezina's 4 assists helped the Chicago Packers past the Shamrocks 6-2. WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 25 A busy Christmas day with 3 games on the holiday slate. Jocko Gregg and Orval Cabbell provided the scoring while Etienne Tremblay made 30 saves as the New York Shamrocks blanked Chicago 2-0. Veterans Doug Yeadon, Arnold Singleton and Shel Herron each had two points to lead Detroit to a 5-3 victory over the Dukes in Toronto while Boston needed third period goals from Jacob Gron and Larry Dees to escape Brooklyn with a point in a 3-3 draw. THURSDAY DECEMBER 26 A wild first period saw 8 goals scored in the opening twenty minutes including 5 by Montreal as the visiting Valiants came away with two points following a 6-5 victory in Chicago. Claude Skinner had is second 4-point game in a week after scoring 3 times -all in the opening stanza- in this one for the Valiants. FRIDAY DECEMBER 27 Tom Brockers earned his first shutout of the season as the veteran goaltender led the Brooklyn Eagles to a 5-0 win over his former team in Boston. Ian Doyle had 2 goals and 2 assists while Sam Coates chipped in with 3 points for the winners. SATURDAY DECEMBER 28 A pair of 4-3 results from the two Saturday night games. In Brooklyn the visiting Montreal Valiants were victorious despite Quinn Pollack scoring his league high 15th goal of the season for the Eagles. A few miles away at Bigsby Garden the Toronto Dukes pulled even with the New York Shamrocks for 6th place after the Dukes held on for a 4-3 victory giving both clubs 13 points on the season with a rematch on the docket in Toronto for the next night. SUNDAY DECEMBER 29 The Toronto Dukes escaped the NAHC cellar with a 2-1 win over the New York Shamrocks. Mahlon Klein scored both of the Dukes goals including the game winner, unassisted, with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game. Toronto is 4-2-1 over its last 7 games and now has 15 points on the season - two more than the last place Shamrocks, who are 1-6-1 in their last 7 outings. AROUND THE LEAGUE Burns' Cold Streak Slows Packers -- After an impressive hattrick in a 5-5 tie with the Toronto Dukes, Packers superstar Tommy Burns has failed to find the back of the next in five consecutive contests. In those five games, the Packers have dropped three, tied one, and won one to drop to a tie for third in the NAHC. Tommy still leads the league with 27 points, as he added three assists in those five games, but he's dropped to third in goals (12) and assists (15). Despite the recent struggles, the Packers still lead the league in goals scored (73) and differential (+16), as the Chicago skaters have scored anywhere from 12 to 20 more goals then the other three playoff teams. -Archie Irwin/Chicago Daily News OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK CC Los Angeles is the slight favourite to beat Detroit City College in the East-West Classic, the biggest of the collegiate football New Year's day games. No surprise as Pat Chappell, quarterback of the champion Kansas City Cowboys, is named the best Offensive Player in the inaugural season of the Continental Football Conference. Chappell and the Cowboys beat the New York Gothams 20-14 in last weekend's title game. For the second week in a row the top ranked collegiate basketball team in the nation went down to defeat. Last week it was Liberty College. This time it was Carolina Poly that fell to Central Carolina 48-43. Coast outfit Rainier College is the new number one. The Boston Bomber, Roy Crawford, improved to 23-2 with a unanimous decision over Robby King in a heavyweight bout. Pope Pius XII's annual Christmas message was that the threat of a new war hangs over a deluded and unhappy world in which the Atlantic Charter has become merely a forgery of its original principles because of "compromises and solutions based on strength and on the prestige of political power." Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 05-15-2023 at 09:01 PM.