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Port Arthur Bearcats facts for kids

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Port Arthur Bearcats
Medal record
Representing Canada Canada
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games/World Championship
Silver 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Team

The Port Arthur Bearcats were a famous amateur ice hockey team from Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada. This city is now part of Thunder Bay. The team played from the early 1900s until 1970. Before they were known as the Bearcats, people sometimes called them the Port Arthur Ports or the Port Arthur Hockey Club.

History of the Port Arthur Bearcats

Canadian Ice Hockey Team, 1936 Winter Olympics
The Canadian men's national ice hockey team at the 1936 Winter Olympics. Many players were from the Port Arthur Bearcats!

The Port Arthur Bearcats were a very strong team. In 1911, they played against the Ottawa Senators for the famous Stanley Cup. This was a big challenge game on March 16, 1911, but the Bearcats lost 13–4.

By 1915, the team was playing in the Thunder Bay Senior A Hockey League (TBSHL). Because Port Arthur is in Northwestern Ontario, it was easy for the Bearcats to also play in the Manitoba Senior A Hockey League (MSHL) at different times. They also played in other leagues like the Port Arthur Senior Hockey League (PSHL).

Winning the Allan Cup

The Bearcats were one of the best amateur teams in Canada. They played in the national Allan Cup championship finals seven times between 1925 and 1942. The Allan Cup is a trophy for the top amateur ice hockey team in Canada.

The Bearcats won the Allan Cup four times! They lifted the trophy in 1925, 1926, 1929, and 1939. When the Allan Cup was a competition between teams from Eastern and Western Canada, the Bearcats represented Western Canada.

Representing Canada at the Olympics

After the 1935 Allan Cup champions, the Halifax Wolverines, stopped playing, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) chose the Bearcats to represent Canada. This was a huge honor! They would play for Canada at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The Bearcats played incredibly well at the Olympics and won the silver medal for Canada. After the Olympics, the team stayed in Europe for exhibition games. They returned to Canada later than expected. Because of this, they were not allowed to play in the 1936 Allan Cup playoffs.

The Bearcats were chosen again to represent Canada at the 1940 Winter Olympics. The CAHA even approved money for their travel to Europe. However, the 1940 Winter Olympics were cancelled. This happened after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, starting World War II.

End of an Era

The team stopped playing in 1943 and 1944 because of World War II. The Bearcats returned for the 1945–46 season. They continued to play until 1970.

In 1970, the cities of Port Arthur and Fort William joined together. The Fort William Beavers team then joined with the Bearcats to form a new team called the Thunder Bay Twins. This new team also did very well, reaching the Allan Cup finals six more times and winning five of them! The Thunder Bay Twins team stopped playing after being runner-up in the 1991 Allan Cup.

Together, the Port Arthur Bearcats and their successor, the Thunder Bay Twins, competed in 13 Allan Cup championships. They won a total of 9 championships!

In 1987, the 1936 Olympic silver medalist Bearcats team was honored. They were inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. In the winter of 1961–62, the Bearcats also went on an exhibition game tour in Europe.

Famous Players

Many talented players played for the Port Arthur Bearcats. Some even went on to play in the National Hockey League (NHL)!

1936 Olympic Team Roster

These are the players who won the silver medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics:

  • Gus Saxberg
  • Maxwell Deacon
  • Hugh Farguharson
  • Kenneth Farmer-Horn
  • James Haggarty
  • Walter Kitchen
  • Raymond Milton
  • Francis Moore
  • Herman Murray
  • Arthur Nash
  • David Neville
  • Alexander Sinclair
  • Ralph St. Germain
  • Bill Thomson

NHL Alumni

Thirty-one players who were once part of the Port Arthur Bearcats (or their earlier names like Ports or Hockey Club) later played in the National Hockey League:

See also

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