ALLIANCE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

The Penticton Vees had the unenviable task of representing Canada at the 1955 World Championships. The previous year Canada suffered a startling setback, as the East York Lyndhursts were downed by the upstart team from the Soviet Union.

The Lyndhursts were the unfortunate victims of the inevitable. Canada's policy of sending a top amateur team to represent Canada against national teams at the World Championships was about to undergo strict scrutiny as the Russians, who were still relative newcomers to the game, upset the Canadians 7-2.

The Lyndhursts remain in a degree of infamy ever since the loss, and every senior team that was sent to the World Championships in the following years knew their destiny would see them become immortal - either as national heroes or in infamy.

The Vees had a particularly tough task since they were the first team selected and try to win back the title.

The Vees were led by the controversial Warwick brothers. The trio - led by Bill, Dick and player/coach Grant - were gruff customers. Before the World Championships they were either loved or hated in the Okanagan Valley. The town was split on their influence, as their arrival saw several popular established players leave due to a personality clashes. But the Warwicks' crash and bash style proved to be the exact strategy needed to slow down the Russians in 1955.

Other key players included team captain George McAvoy, goaltender Ivan McLelland, borrowed players Jack Taggert (Kamloops Elks) and Jim Middleton (Kelowna Packers) and Hal Tarala.

Canada rolled through the tournament, crashing and banging much to dislike of European officials. But the team remained undefeated, scoring 61 goals in 8 games, while giving up only 6. They ended the tournament playing in what effectively became the gold medal game, as Canada faced the only other undefeated team in the tournament - the Russians.

The crowd of 1200 in Krefeld Germany included approximately 1000 Canadian military servicemen who drowned out the calm crowd with the "Go Vees Go" chant. The chant helped inspired the Canadian team into a hard hitting affair.

The team particularly keyed in on Vsevolod Bobrov. The original "Russian Rocket" was compared by some to the incomparable Maurice "Rocket" Richard. But Bobrov would not be a factor in this game as Canada kept him in check. Big hitter Hal Tarala clocked Bobrov with a clean hit early in the game that wowed the crowd.

Mike Shabaga opened the scoring for Canada on a nice deke of Russian goalie Nikolai Puchkov. But the Russians continued to fight, and with some considerable power play chances swarmed Vees goalie Ivan McLelland. McLelland was virtually unbeatable from in close, which is where the Russians liked to try to score. Canada likely couldn't have had picked a better goalie for this game.

Early in the second period, Canada was dominating the play despite playing on the penalty kill. Jack McIntyre had a good chance to score just seconds before a flukey shot by Bill Warwick caromed off of a discarded stick and into the net. That goal seemed to really deflate the Russians.

Shabaga and Warwick would each notch second goals in that game before George McAvoy nailed a heavy shot from the blueline to end the scoring. The goal was a nice reward fro the rugged McAvoy, as he was a defensive stalwart in this game. McAvoy saved a goal when he smeared Yevgeny Babich with a big hit.

As the game ended Canadians in the crowd swarmed over the boards to congratulate the players. Canada had once again capture World Championship gold, and did it by convincingly defeating the upstart Russians. The Penticton Vees could return home, and would be greeted as champions.

Little did hockey fans know then just how intense this new hockey rivalry would become over the years.

I'm using a rather old camera, with a rather old and tired autofocus system, not terribly accurate in the best of situations, which makes it surprising to me how well it actually seems to work. I tend to leave it on the centre autofocus point, under the possibly misguided belief that the centre point on the 10D is better than the other ones. This means that I have the unfortunate tendency to centre subjects in the frame. I don't know if it works particularly well here, but I don't mind it.

Strobist: One 580 on either side of the ice, pointed at the goalie, set at something like 1/2. Used non-rechargable batteries which were dying quickly.

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