1955-56 WIHL Season

This is the 1955-56 season of the Western International Hockey League:
==Standings==
Regular Season 	GP	W 	L 	T	GF	GA	Pts
Spokane Flyers 	50	30	20	0	- 	- 	60
Nelson Maple Leafs 	50	26	22	2	- 	- 	54
Trail Smoke Eaters 	50	24	25	1	- 	- 	49
Kimberley Dynamiters	50	19	30	1	- 	- 	39
.
==Semi Finals==
Best of 7
*Spokane 5 Kimberley 1
*Spokane 6 Kimberley 5
*Kimberley 4 Spokane 1
*Spokane 3 Kimberley 0
*Spokane 3 Kimberley 1
Spokane Flyers beat Kimberley Dynamiters 4 wins to 1.
*Trail 6 Nelson 0
*Trail 5 Nelson 1
*Nelson 2 Trail 1
*Trail 6 Nelson 1
*Trail 3 Nelson 1
Trail Smoke Eaters beat Nelson Maple Leafs 4 wins to 1.
==Final==
Best of 7
*Spokane 7 Trail 2
*Spokane 6 Trail 5
*Spokane 3 Trail 2
*Trail 8 Spokane 7
*Spokane 7 Trail 5
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.
==Game Ads==
55-56WIHLSpokaneGameAd.jpg|Spokane
55-56WIHLFSpokaneGameAd.jpg|Final @ Spokane
==See also==
List of WIHL Seasons
Category:1956 in hockey
Category:WIHL seasons