In 1949 the new Chatham
Memorial Arena was opened. In that inaugural season, the
Chatham St. Clair Maroons of the International Amateur
Hockey League represented a return to senior hockey in
Chatham after a ten year absence. The team was made up of
young players, many in their early 20's and some still
teenagers, from all over Ontario including five players
from Timmins. Fred Liddy of St. Clair Radio sponsored the
uniforms and under the guidance of team
owner/player/coach/ manager Bob "Rosy" Stoddart,
the team quickly captured the hearts of the fans and
ultimately captured two championships that season.
The road to the I. A. H.
L. and the Eastern U. S. Amateur Championship:
After finishing 4th in the regular season, the Maroons
played Detroit Auto Club, second place finishers, in a
best-of-five semi-final. Approximately 2500 Chatham fans
journeyed to Detroit to see Chatham win the first game 5-3
at Detroit's Olympia Stadium and over 2800 fans saw
Chatham win game two 5-4 at Memorial Arena. The Maroons
went on to win the semi-final 3 games to I and earned the
right to meet the regular season champion Sarnia Sailors
for the I. A. H. L. championship
The final went the full seven games with Chatham
winning the last game 4-3 in Sarnia on Bill Booth's goal.
With this victory the Maroons won the Turner Memorial Cup
emblematic of the league championship and they earned the
right to compete for the Eastern United States Amateur
Championship, Delirious fans in cars met the bus returning
to Chatham and an enthusiastic celebration took place on
King Street in the early hours of Sunday, April 17. That same day, the Maroons were off to Toledo, Ohio to
begin the best-of-three series against the Buckeyes. After
winning the first game 54 on Bill Booth's three goals,
they returned to Chatham to play the second game the
following night, Monday, April 18. Before 3,329 fans at
Memorial Arena, Ed Didone and Vic Niemi scored second
period goals and Monty Reynolds was outstanding in goal as
the Maroons won 2-1 to become Eastern U. S. Amateur
Champions. Unfortunately, due to financial problems
Chatham could not meet Spokane, Washington for the U. S
Amateur Championship Team members were Bill Becker, Bill
Booth, George Chin, Pat Cooney, Ed Didone, Lou Frapporti,
Vic Neimi, Al O'Hearn, A] Plouffe, George Rebstock, Monty
Reynolds, Paul Sironen, Bob Stanton, Earl Towers, Frank
Uniac, and Bob Stoddard (owner/coach). Many members of the
team remained in Chatham after their playing days and
became valuable members of the community.
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