14

Frank Stahan - Lake Shore Blue Devils Defense
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

15

Hal Cooper - Lake Shore Blue Devils Right Winger
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

16

Joe Brown - Lake Shore Blue Devils Player
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

17

Joe Grabowski - Lake Shore Blue Devils Player
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

18

Mel Snowden - Lake Shore Blue Devils Player
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

19

Johnny McCreedy - Lake Shore Blue Devils Right Winger
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

20

Scotty McPhail - Lake Shore Blue Devils Player
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

21

Stew Smith - Lake Shore Blue Devils Player
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

22

Ray Milton - Lake Shore Blue Devils Player-Captain
Circa 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

23

In the photo taken outside the New Liskeard train station, the townspeople arrived in force to celebrate with the Blue Devils. Scotty McPhail (left) and Joe Brown (right) hold the Allan Cup for the camera while the rest of the team members pose for the photograph. Many of the players can be seen wearing large hats after they defeated the Calgary Stampeders to win the Allan Cup. As Doc Ames said in 1963, "The Western boys were good sports [about losing] and gave us their big Stetsons, which we proudly wore home".

This image at the New Liskeard train station was a similar scene found in many northern towns. Plenty of fanfare accompanied the team on their journey home as they stopped in the small communities that dotted the railway to Swastika, and the drive from Swastika to Kirkland Lake.

Doc Ames remembered the following many years after the event :
"At every station people came out to cheer and meet the new champions. Our greatest reception was, of course, at home when we arrived at Swastika. Here we were met by the band and hundreds of supporters. We were loaded on the fire truck, with Lex Cook and myself on the front fenders, our arms around the Allan Cup, the rest of the team behind us on the truck, all wearing the Western Sombreroes (sic) we had given to us by the Calgary Stampeders after our last game. We then headed in a triumphant cavalcade through the streets of Kirkland Lake, ending up in front of the Town Hall for a civic reception." *


* Quote from the Lake Shore Blue Devils Allan Cup Senior Canadian Hockey Champions 1940 article in the Booster Club program included at the end of this chapter - page 35.

24

Lakeshore Blue Devils - Allan Cup Champions
1940
New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Hockey Heritage North Archives

25

For every Winter Olympic Games from 1920 until 1964, the Allan Cup winning team for that Olympic year went to the Games to represent Canada. World War II cancelled the 1940 Olympic Games, but had they taken place, the Allan Cup winning Lake Shore Blue Devils would have represented Canada in front of the world.

The team disbanded the following year. Some players went on to play professional hockey, while others enlisted to fight in the Second World War.

26

The members of the Lake Shore Blue Devils team were given various items of appreciation from the people of Kirkland Lake for their hard work.

As Doc Ames recalled during the 23rd anniversary of the team's Allan Cup win, they had received "many gifts such as travel clocks, jackets, gold chain and miniature skate, and medals. One gift that stands out in my memory was a beautiful Waltham pocket watch from the employees of Lake Shore Mines, where we all worked. It had the names of all members of the team engraved on the inside of the back of the watch, and our own name on the outside of the back of the watch". *


* Quote from the Lake Shore Blue Devils Allan Cup Senior Canadian Hockey Champions 1940 article in the Booster Club program included at the end of this chapter - page 35.

27

Lake Shore Blue Devils Allan Cup Medal
Circa 1940
Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Commemorative medal donated by G. Monahan
Hockey Heritage North Archives