1955 - 56 WIHL Season This is the 1955 - 56 season of the Western International Hockey League : Semi Finals . " Best of 7 " Spokane Flyers beat Kimberley Dynamiters 4 wins to 1 . Trail Smoke Eaters beat Nelson Maple Leafs 4 wins to 1 . Final . " Best of 7 " Spokane Flyers beat Trail Smoke Eaters 4 wins to 1 . Spokane Flyers advanced to the 1955 - 56 British Columbia Senior Playoffs . History . From the WIHL League News March 1 , 1974 Volume II , Eleventh Edition 1955 - 1956 Flyers Dominated the WIHL By Jack " Buck " Kavanaugh Spokane ' s Flyers , under the capable eye of coach Roy McBride , won the DInah Shore - George Montgomery Trophy , emblematic of hockey supremacy of the WIHL , in 1955 - 56 . The Flyers enjoyed a good season and were in complete control of the league from the start of the hockey campaign , finished six points in front of the second place Nelson Maple Leafs . The WIHL returned to a balanced schedule , with each club playing 50 games , including interlocking games with the strong Okanagan Senior Hockey League . The Flyers had many bright spots on their roster in 1955 - 56 , with the brightest light the play of their sensational young rookie , Art " the dart " Jones . He not only won the rookie award by a wide margain , but also paced the league in the goal department with 44 goals , five more than his teammate Lorne Nadeau . Jack Lancien , Spokane ' s star defenceman , was unanimously chosen the winner of the Paul Kozak Memorial Trophy , as the league ' s best rearguard . Lancien , a 33 year old former pro , was a tower of strength on the Flyers blueline , and proved one point , that a defenceman doesn ' t have to be crude to win the respect of fans and players . He was a real leader , picking up only 13 minutes in penalties , and gathered 39 points , made up of seven goals and 32 assists . Coach Roy McBride received a big break , when the Kamloops Elks , and coach Kevin " Crusher " Conway , released goalie Johnny Sofiak . John Panagrot , Flyers regular netminder , up and quit the club , and the Flyers were quick in signing Sofiak . Panagrot played real well in the 24 games he played , earning two shutouts . Sofiak performed in the remaining 26 Flyer contests , picking up one shutout . Earl Betker , who had the league ' s best goal average , despite the fact the Dynamiters finished deep in the cellar , registered the league ' s only other shutout . Spokane King Pins The Flyers not only dominated the league with a record of 30 wins , against 20 defeats - - but had the best road record of eleven victories , and only lost six games at home in the ( Spokane ) Coliseum . Trail ' s Smoke Eaters won three games in Spokane , while the Kimberley Dynamiters failed to win a single game in the Coliseum , out of seven meetings . The Flyers locked horns with the Kimberley Dynamiters in one set of the WIHL semi - finals , and had easy pickings , winning four games to one . Trail ' s Smoke Eaters pulled off the biggest upset of the season by eliminating the second place Nelson Maple Leafs in five games . Spokane won the right to represent the WIHL in the Savage Cup playdowns , by beating the Smoke Eaters ( in the final - - Charlie ) . The Vernon Canadians , who had an easy time in capturing the Okanagan League title , defeated the Flyers for the British Columbia championship and went all the way , and won the Allan Cup . Hal Gordon was a standout in the Canadians ' net , and had a powerhouse defence in Orval Lavell , Willie Schmidt , Don McLeod and Tom Stecyk . Sherman Blair , George Agar and Art Hart formed Vernon ' s number one line , with Odie Lowe playing centre on another line with Frank King and Merv Bidoski . Johnny Harms , Art Davison , Don Jakes and Walt Trentini , Vernon ' s only local product , rounded out the team . Vernon ' s Canadians , coached by George Agar , were the toast of the Okanagan valley . Lots Of Scoring Punch The Flyers had plenty of scoring power in the regular season play , and managed to have five players in the top ten scoring parade . Lee Hyssop of the Nelson Maple Leafs , was the WIHL scoring king , with 94 points ; with Spokane ' s Frank Kubasek , a former pro and a Blairmore ( Crowsnet - - Charlie ) boy , runner up with 83 points . Other Flyers who managed to score at a fast clip were Art Jones with 44 ; Lorne Nadeau with 39 ; Kubasek , 38 ; Gino Rozzini , 25 ; Carl Cirullo , 24 ; Jack Miller , 21 ; Bruno Pasqualotto , 20 ; and Red Tilson , 19 . Tom Hodges , Spokane ' s young defenceman , had to take a back seat in the penalty race . He picked up 106 minutes in fines , far behind the league ' s bad man , " Terrible " Ted Leboida of the Dynamiters ' 165 minutes . Only two other players received over 100 minutes in penalties ; Gordon Andre of Kimberley , with 163 minutes , and Joe Conn of the Trail Smoke Eaters , with 105 minutes . Spokane ' s lineup in 1955 - 56 : John Sofiak , John Panagrot ( Goal ) ; Ralph Luke , Tom Hodges , Cy Whiteside , Dan McDougald , Jack Lancien ( Defence ) ; Frank Kubasek , Art Jones , Jack Miller , Gino Rozzini , Bruno Pasqualotto , Carl Cirullo , Doug Toole , Lorne Nadeau , Dave Gordichuk and Hugh Scott . Nelson Maple Leafs In Second Lee Hyssop , who played most of his minor hockey in Kimberley , paced the Nelson Maple Leafs to a second place finish , with a record of 26 wins and two ties , against 22 defeats . The slick Leaf forward had little trouble in winning the scoring crown with 94 points , made up of 33 goals and a league high of 61 assists . Coach Chuck Rayner had his Leafs flying high late in the season , but ran up against a rejuvenated Trail team in their semi - final series ; and bowed out in the fifth game of the best - of - seven affair . The Leafs had little trouble handling the Smoke Eaters in regular season play , winning nine of their fourteen meetings - - and with five of their victories coming right in Trail ' s Cominco Arena . The Maple Leafs introduced their rookie netminder , Gus Adams , who performed in 49 games for the Leafs and had a goal average of 4 . 90 . Fritz Koehle was Nelson ' s second leading point getter with 60 points , made up of 29 goals and 31 assists . Bud Andrews , who saw action both with Trail and Nelson , paced the league in the hat trick division , with four three - goal performances to his credit . Andrews finished with 34 goals , Herb Jeffrey , 27 ; Joe Bell , 19 ; Wendy Keller , 19 ; and Red Koehle , 15 . What had to be a big disappointment for the Leafs was the showing of Vic Howe , the 25 year - old brother of Detroit ' s Gordie How . The ex - pro from Saskatoon was expected to give the Leafs the much needed scoring punch , but only managed ten goals in 29 games . Trail Finishes Strong Jimmy Morris had a frustrating season as coach of the Trail Smoke Eaters , and it wasn ' t until playoff time did they manage to get rolling . The Smokies had the horses to win it all , but ran into salary disputes , which caused trouble in the Smokies ' quarters . In the playoffs they shook hands and let bygones be bygones , and made short order of the Leafs , before bowing out to Spokane in the WIHL finals . The Smokies had a record of 24 wins , one tie and 25 losses for 49 points - - good for a third place finish . Seth Martin and Reno Zanier shared the Smokies goaltending duties , with Martin having a goal average of 4 . 69 , compared to Zanier ' s 5 . 36 . The Smoke Eaters played well away from home , winning nine games , and had the best record against the Okanagan League , winning five of their eight games . Mike Shabaga ' s 72 points was high in the Smokies scoring column with 25 goals and 47 assists . Norm Lenardon was right on Shabaga ' s heels with 70 points , 32 of them goals . Gerry Penner had 30 goals , Bobby Kromm , 22 ; Frank Turik , 20 ; Mort Sapplywy , 20 ; and Ray Demore , 19 . Dynamiters In Cellar The Kimberley Dynamiters occupied the basement suite most of the season , with a record of 18 wins , two ties and 30 losses , for 38 points . Norm Larsen resigned as coach of the Dynamiters late in the season , with Johnny Achtzener moving up from the general manager ' s post to take over the reins . Larsen , despite the fact he had a knee injury , continued on as a player . The Dynamiters managed to finish with four players right up in the thick of the scoring parade . Cal Hockley held down third spot with 81 points ; Buzz Mellor picked up 77 points , and Larsen and Claudie Bell 72 points apiece . Hockley had 37 goals , Mellor , 38 ; Larsen , 35 ; Bell , 30 ; and Gerry Barre 24 . The Dynamiters potent line of Hockley , Mellor and Bell paced the league in goals , collecting 103 ; with Spokane ' s powerful trio of Kubasek , Nadeau and Miller close behind with 98 goals . Kimberley did top the league in one department , and that was in penalties . They served a total of 619 minutes in penalties , and to break it down , they played a man short for over ten full games . Ted Lebodia was the loop ' s badman with 165 minutes in fines ; with Andre not far behind with 163 minutes . During league play a total of 32 major penalties were dished out , with Andre picking up seven of them , and Lebodia four . The Dynamiters had a disastrous road record , only winning two games on foreign ice all season . They played three of their home games on Cranbrook ice , and managed to win all three ; and drew excellent crowds . Here ' n There Gordon " Moe " Young was the playing coach of the Kelowna Packers in 1955 - 56 , after serving Trail for four seasons , two of them as coach . The WIHL hired two outside ( non - BCAHA officials - - Charlie ) referees to handle games in 1955 - 56 . George Cullen , who officiated football in the Western International Football Union at Regina , was referee - in - chief ; with Tommy Dunn his assistant . It was a costly experience and lasted only one year . Bill Hyrciuk was the Kamloops Elks leading scorer , and managed two goals and four assists over the Dynamiters in Kimberley . In 1955 - 56 the Dynamiters ' swing through the Okanagan League , with stops at Kamloops , Vernon , Kelowna and Penticton , cost the club $ 1 , 950 - - which included transportation , hotels , meals and lost - time wages . It costs that much today to keep a date in Cranbrook , if you include lost - time wages from the injury . Since the Savage Cup , emblematic of the senior hockey championship of B . C . , was first played for in 1912 - 13 , Trail has won the cup 16 times , Kimberley eight , Nelson five and Spokane five . See also . List of WIHL Seasons