1962 - 63 Trail Smoke Eaters The Trail Smoke Eaters represented Canada at the 1963 World Championship . Cross - Canada Tour . Jan 29 4 - 1 Spokane Comets @ Trail International Tour . Feb 15 4 - 4 ( 1 : 0 , 1 : 1 , 2 : 3 ) Canadians in Europe @ Geneva Newspaper Story . From : The WIHL League News January 4 , 1974 Volume II , Seventh Edition 1963 Smoke Eaters - - Had Their Problems By Jack " Buck " Kavanaugh The Trail Smoke Eaters won the Allan Cup in 1962 , and in doing so had the distinct honour of representing Canada at the World Hockey Championship , which was being played in Stockholm , Sweden , in March of 1963 . The Smoke Eaters didn ' t enjoy the same luck they did in 1961 at Switzerland , when they won the World Championship , and had to settle for a fourth place finish . Coach Bobby Kromm had to go along without many of his 1961 stars , when Cal Hockley , Darryl Sly , Claude Cyr and Michel Legace passed up the overseas trip . To strengthen his Allan Cup squad Kromm sought the services of Gary Collins , a 27 - year old ex - pro , and Ted Maki , a 23 - year old kid from South Porcupine , Ontario , who had played for the Galt Terriers in 1960 - 61 , the year the Terriers won the Allan Cup . Despite his young age , Maki played in two European tournaments . Reno Zanier , a Trail native , returned to his home town from Fort Wayne , to act as back - up goalie to Seth Martin , and saw limited service in Europe . After a disastrous exhibition tour across Canada , Bobby Kromm sent an S . O . S . message to the CAHA for more reinforcements , and in late February Bobby McKnight , the playing - coach of the Galt Terriers , and Bob Forhan , a slick forward from the Kitchener - Waterloo Tigers , joined the Smoke Eaters in time to participate in the World Championship finals . Poor Showing Across Canada Due to lack of early season competition , the Smoke Eaters found the going rough in their exhibition series across Canada - - in fact , they lost their last six games . On January 29 , 1963 , nearly 4 , 000 fans gathered in the Memorial ( Cominco ) Arena to say goodbye to their Smoke Eaters . Bobby Kromm ' s boys made it a good farewell by trouncing the Spokane Comets , then a pro WHL team , 4 - 1 . It was on to Powell River , where the Smokies posted an easy 10 - 2 victory over the Regals , an intermediate " A " team . Walt Peacosh was Trail ' s big gun in their win , with three goals and four assists . Next stop was Vancouver , where the Smokies took on the Canucks , a WHL pro squad , and lost a 7 - 2 verdict , with Ron Hutchinson scoring twice for Vancouver . It was on to Saskatoon , where the Smokies sneaked by the Quakers 8 - 7 in a free - wheeling game before over 5 , 000 fans . Hal Jones paced the Smokies with a pair of goals and five assists . The roof then fell in on the Smoke Eaters , and they dropped six in a row . The Winnipeg Maroons started the losing string by lacing the Smokies 5 - 2 before 7 , 100 fans . The Kitchener - Waterloo Tigers beat the Smokies 6 - 4 , with Bob Forhan , who later would join the Trail team , scoring four goals for the Tigers . Ted Maki , who was sent to the Smokies from the Tigers just two weeks previous , potted two goals for the Smokies . The Chatham Maroons sneaked by the Smoke Eaters 4 - 2 with the Maroons ' final goal scored in an empty net . Windsor ' s Bulldogs defeated Trail 3 - 2 before nearly 3 , 000 fans , and it was by far the Smoke Eaters best showing - - but only to have goalie Wayne Rutledge come up with a sparkling performance for the Bulldogs . The Toronto University All - Stars played outstanding hockey and stopped the Smoke Eaters 3 - 1 , in a game that saw coach Bobby Kromm blow his top . Kromm said he was quite concerned about his team ' s showing and asked the CAHA for help . In their last showing on February 12 , before going to Europe , the Smoke Eaters lost 4 - 3 to the Halifax Tartans . The Smokies flew back to Montreal to catch their plane for Europe , and Kromm then said he needed four more players to bring back the World Championship . European Exhibitions The Smokies landed at Geneva , Switzerland , where they were held to a 5 - 5 tie , by a pick - up team of Canadian players playing in Europe . Trail moved over to Czechoslovakia for a five game exhibition series with the Czechs , and managed to come out on top , winning three of the five games . Trail had little trouble in beating the USA National team in a warm - up game at Goteborg , Sweden , turning the Americans back 6 - 1 . In their final exhibition game in Sweden on March 5th , Trail trounced the then World Champion Swedish Nationals 5 - 2 , in one of the roughest games ever played in Sweden . Bobby Kromm has hit over the head by a piece of ice thrown by a fan , and suffered a badly gashed head , and had to be carried to the dressing room by the police . The Canadian players , apparently thinking Kromm was being arrested , rushed off the ice to help him . A free - for - all , involving both teams , broke out in the second period , and it took over half an hour to restore peace . Over 17 , 000 saw the game , with Canada serving 21 minutes in penalties , and the Swedes only two minors , despite the big brawl . The Smokies , in their two final games before the big tournament , defeated the Finnish Nationals 8 - 2 in Tampere , Finland ; and again 7 - 2 at Helsinki before 15 , 000 fans . World Championship Trail won their opening game 6 - 0 over West Germany , with Seth Martin turning in a sparkling performance . Addy Tambellini paced the Smoke Eaters to an easy 11 - 5 triumph over East Germany by registering the hat trick . Trail ' s third straight win was at the expense of the Americans , with the score 10 - 4 . The Americans jumped into an early 2 - 0 lead , but soon faded . Trail and the Czechs locked horns in a real thriller that had 16 , 000 fans sitting on the edge of their seats . The Czechs tied the game late in the final period , with the Smokies playing one man short . Canada had little trouble in their fifth game , lacing Finland 12 - 2 , with Bob Forhan banging in four goals . The Stockholm Arena was sold out and the hockey fever was at its peak when Canada and Sweden met head - on , with the Swedes coming out on top 4 - 1 . Sweden took a 1 - 0 first period lead , with Canada deadlocking the score at 1 - 1 after the second frame . Sweden moved ahead early in the final period and added two more insurance markers , when Canada threw defensive hockey aside , and sent five men on the attack looking for the equalizer - - but only to have it backfire wth the Swedes walking right in on Martin . The victory took the steam out of the Trail team , for in no way now could they win the Championship . The final game of the tournament meant little to Canada , but it meant everything to the Swedes . Russia and Sweden were deadlocked with 6 - 1 records , with Sweden beating the Soviets 2 - 1 , but only to lose to the Czechs 3 - 2 on the final day . The Soviets had to beat Canada by two goals or more in the final contest of the tournament , in order to defeat Sweden - - and they did just that by edging Trail 4 - 2 . The Reds had two men in the penalty box during the final minute of the game , when Jackie McLeod , home free with only four seconds to go , hit the goal post - - and with that over 17 , 000 Swedish fans fainted . See also . Canadian Team Overseas Exhibition Tours