Eishockey

The History of the Goodall Cup

1909-1951: How it all began

State Team 1909

Australia's first ice rink was not in Melbourne or Sydney ,but in Adelaide, where at the turn of the century the fancy of that fair city, and there demure ladies were able to indulge the fascinating pastime of skating on ice at Mr. H. Newman Reid's.

This plush and glittering establishment, with a pillar in the centre of its ice floor, was a masterpiece of Edwardian flamboyance. Even the seats around that troublesome pillar were covered with red velvet, this being very much to the consternation of those ladies who were unfortunate enough to make contact (however discreetly) with the damp ice and then turn to this mid rink haven for a moment's respite. Not only their faces were red when they finally attempted a graceful retirement from the rink.

Despite the atmosphere of gentility, or more likely because of it the young blades of the rink not content, they were looking for a outlet for their spirits when in 1904, a momentous notice appeared on the rink board; a notice convening a meeting of skaters interested in the introduction of a new form of amusement on ice.

The proposal was nothing more or less than that a game similar to land hockey should be played on the ice The rules to be adopted were based on the land game and the equipment was to be the same. The meeting was mot enthusiastic about the idea the game of "Hockey on Ice" began its Australian history.

Three men who more than anybody else deserve the honour of "Founders of Ice Hockey in Australia" were present at that meeting which marked the birth of the sport in this county; they were Mr. H. Newman Reid, himself his two sons Andy and Hal. These three later moved to Melbourne when Reid snr, was appointed manage of the Glaciarium when it opened in 1906.

Tales by the Reid boys of the game they had played in Adelaide fired the enthusiasm of the younger Melbourne skaters; with only a season of skating behind them in 1907 they persuaded Mr. Reid snr. to allot them ice time for an occasional scratch game. This was granted and by the time the American worship Baltimore arrived at the end of that season, the local boys felt confident enough to issue a challenge to the visitors to try conclusions with them on the ice.

The Americans were only too happy to accept, and so the first officially organised game of hockey on ice in Australia was on an International level. The match drew a capacity crowd and attracted considerable attention in the press of the day. The long defunct "Punch" gave a comprehensive coverage of the occasion. The Melbourne team was defeated, but the game had found its feel was now to become a permanent feature of the rink's activities.

In 1908 the good work was carried on; an Ice Hockey Club was formed, and it arranged several matches between its members; later in the season came the change to play against teams from the American Fleet which called into Melbourne during a world cruise.

Meanwhile the rink in Sydney was opened and the sport was being fostered there along similar lines to the Melbourne organization.

During the off season between the winters of 1908 and 1909 great strides were made by the Victorian administration, and when the rink opened in 1909 Victoria's first Ice Hockey Clubs were brought into being, they were Glaciarium, Beavers, Brighton and Melburnians.

Brighton and Melburnians were of rather restricted membership; Brighton was manned by members of the land hockey club of the same name and Melburnians were Old Boys of Melbourne Grammar.

This was certainly the year of progress, probably more than any year since, the land hockey sticks were replaced by a special type of ice hockey stick the rinks management had specially imported from Canada, the tennis ball (or hockey ball) gave way to soft rubber disc pucks which had been imported along with the sticks, then is was decided to adopt new rules.

The imported sticks were of the old MIC-MAC brand, heavy as lead and with a straight faced blade three inches wide. These combined with the pucks revolutionised the game and this in turn brought on the new rules.

These were based on English "Bandy" and Canadian Ice Hockey taking what the sponsors fondly hoped were the best from each. Seven men made up the team, placing's were: Forward, Left, centre, right, rover who wandered everywhere and Defence, Cover point, cover and goal.

Off sides were unknown, free hits were given for tripping and any obvious attempts to decapitate the opposition with the formidable MIC-MAC were generally penalised, but mostly the umpires, as they were then called, rarely felt it necessary to interfere with the more tender arts of pushing in the back, butt ending and the other thousand and one methods of hockey players develop of dealing with their fellow man> Truly the game was progressing.

However, despite their exposure to all this threat to their physical well being the players were still taking the ice in uniforms that make them look like a bunch of nudists alongside modern players. Shirts, shorts, gold stockings, no gloves, no protective equipment and figure skates was the order of dress in those trusting days.

The claim as 1909 as the big year in Australian Ice Hockey was complete when the first ever interstate was arranged in Melbourne . The newly formed N.S.W. Association sent across to Melbourne a young and enthusiastic team, which the Victorians ,from the lofty pinnacle of having played the game twice as long as there rivals (Victoria two years. New South Wales one year), felt there visitors were rather an inexperienced bunch and nobody was surprised when Victoria took the first interstate Honours .

The teams on that historic occasion commencing 31st August 1909 were :

Victoria :- Jackson, A. Reid, Purbrick, Woods, Blair, Smith and Heywood.

N.S.W.:- Turnbull, Cuthbert, Pike, Forsyth and Lane

N.S.W. won the first game 1-0

Victoria won the next two 1-0, 6-1

There was a new club in Melbourne Hockey in 1910 and the old one dropped out . Ottawa was the new comer, and the Glaciarium team finished up . Melbournians had a permanent Lean on the Premiership in these years , in fact they never lost a title pre World War 1

1910 saw the first visit by a Victorian Ice Hockey Team to Sydney. R Jackson was the touring Captain and his team was A. Reid, Woods, Blair, Walker Goodall ( Yes the cup man ) and MacGillicuddy. Victoria retained the interstate title That was won the year before , but it was a little harder this time.

Some new rules were introduced by the Victorian Association in 1911 to cope with the new type of sticks and the hard pucks that were now available . A most notable event of 1911 was the arrival in Sydney of Canadian Jimmy Kendall

Kendall by his ability and training revolutionised N.S.W. Hockey and the first practice of the Sydney team on it's arrival in Melbourne caused consternation among the Victorians selectors and team . Kendall's speed, Accuracy and tremendous force of shooting for goal had never been seen in Australia before.

In 1912 the Victorian Association shrunk to three teams : Brighton had dropped out

Brighton was reconstituted and the Association was again at full strength in 1913. Victoria had apparently been practising hard in the past two years , for, despite the presence of the astounding Kendall, they were able to surprise the visiting team and take the Interstate Honours 2-1

The first chapter of Australia's Ice Hockey History closed with the opening of the bigger conflict on Europe's battle grounds . The 1914 season was abandoned immediately war broke and it was to be many years before the game resumed again .......

1919-1930: Through the Roaring Twenties

Ice Hockey was much slower off the mark after World War 1 , Than most other sports . The Sydney rink had closed throughout the war and did not re-open until 1920. There had been some hockey in Melbourne in 1919 but was not on a really organised basis , in that year the Melbourne team made it's first appearance. It was virtually a replica of the old Melburnian club, but it had now adopted a simple title.

With the Sydney rink again operative in 1920, activity in Melbourne quickened also, Associations were formed again, and they had to start practically from scratch, irreplaceable records had gone astray during the war years, gear and equipment had simply disappeared and there was not even a copy of the rules in existence. Player to had drifted away. However ,unofficial games were arranged in Melbourne and the Bucks were a new team that year. All preparations were aimed at getting the game on a sound footing for the next season

In 1921 interstate games were resumed. The few pre-war players alive and capable were drafted into a team that included for the first time Ted Molony, who for thirty odd years, has played such a large part in shaping the destiny of the sport. Others in the team were G. landridge, C Webster, M Harris, R. Marks, V. Langsford, W. Rochex, and J. Goodall. The latter had not played since 1913. Jimmy Kendall was still the big bad wolf of N.S.W. Hockey as far as Victoria was concerned ,and his coaching gave N.S.W. the series.

However the story was different in 1922, club teams in Victoria were stronger than ever before, there several players of high standard available for the representative side which played N.S.W. in Melbourne, and they astonished N.S.W. by winning the series and the now famous Goodall Cup, presented by the man who was captain of the team that won it back that year. Also on this team was Morrie Bilsborrow, whose strength and agility made his bodychecking something to be feared by the N.S.W. team. Mr Bilsborrow was president of the now non existent club called the Pirates (late 80's the club folded) and a member of Victoria's selection committee.

Although they did not know it at the time ,Victoria's win that year was a memorable one ,it was not to be repeated for 25 years . The reason for the remarkable dominance of the Goodall Cup series by N.S.W. for almost the entire period between the 2 wars , is difficult to fathom , of course they had many fine players , but Victoria in the same period also had there share of men with plenty of ability, whatever the reason Victoria could not break through and the Cup stayed with N.S.W.

The Victorian Ice Hockey Association began to find it's feet as an administrative body in 1922, new clubs (Royals & Thistles ) were formed and a regular competition organised . Ted Molony became the first player in Australia to discard figure skates for tubes .

The next year saw a big step forward on the national level, while the Victorian team was visiting Sydney for the Goodall Cup series ,a central body was formed to control the game on an Australia wide basis Players were now receiving equipment from Canada and some were beginning to wear protective padding and gloves

Clubs names were changed in Victoria ,Thistles Royals and Yukon became respectively Essendon, St Kilda, and Brighton, These three with Melbourne made up the competition , which went to Melbourne for the second successive year

The following year 1924,Melbourne dropped out Essendon began a three year run of successes, There were only three teams playing from 1924 to 1929 when the Hawthorn club was founded.

In 1923 the following practice arrangements were made by the association with the rink management , Essendon practiced on Monday night ,Tuesday was St.Kilda, Thursday was Brighton's turn and Friday Melbourne . Games were played at 10.15 on Wednesdays ,2 20 minute periods. Because of late night shopping night on Fridays, St.Kilda gave the undertaking that any of the Melbourne team unable to attend their own practice session would be able to have a run on the Tuesday.

Actually Melbourne had been given the Friday night practice because most of it's members were former public schoolboys and there was little likelihood of them being employed as such menial tasks as counter salesmen, which was rather a practical approach to snobbery

Present day players will envy the set up that allowed for practice of a night and they will be amazed to read that men of the twenties were not at all happy about it , no sir ,Sunday morning was the only proper time for training and to this end they agitated for years . The rink management was as equally persistent in their stand that it was night practice or nothing, as you mat guess it was night practice .

This question of practice was a very important one ,Ice Hockey was a game that demanded the utmost in Physical fitness from a man ,especially with the number of games to be played each season, why in the seasons 1924-25-26 the fixtures called for each club to play as many as 3 games in a season . To meet that sort of schedule a man had to be at his best.

If nothing else , all this proves you can't win ,the old-timers had that night practice, but did not get the games , the moderns have the Sunday drudgery, but they can never complain about their game schedule.

The twenties drew to a close with N.S.W. still dominating the interstate scene, in 1929 a new club Hawthorn had joined the Victorian Association , apart from a break when he refereed in 1926 Ted Molony had been Captain of the Victorian team since 1925, the tragic economic depression was sweeping the world and entertainment was something people listed very low on their budgets. One bright spot in the Hockey world was the presence of several youngsters who were to make a name for themselves.

1931-1940: A Time for carefree Hockey

The early thirties were remarkable for the development in the strength and character of Australian Ice Hockey . The stalwarts who revived the sport immediately after WW1 and then stayed in the game to carry it through the latter years of the twenties , where nearly all ready to stand aside for the up and coming batch of youngsters who had come into the game .

Names that where to become part of Ice Hockey's history were beginning to appear in the team lists of both Victoria and New South Wales. By 1932 the Victorian team included Ellis Kelly, Harold Hoyne, Cliff Napthine, ( His brother Mil joined him later) and Bert Cullen. Ted Molony was in his eighth year as Captain. Percy Wendt, Widdy Johnston and Ken Kennedy were in the N.S.W. team that came to Victoria that year.

Within a few years the changes that were even greater , in 1936 Ted Molony captained the Victorian team for the last time , his record of service as leader of the state side is one that will probably never be challenged , Ted was the first appointed in 1925,breaks in 1926and 1934 were the only occasions he didn't lead the side after that year.

The Victorian team of 1937 was remarkable for the service it's members were to give the game in every capacity. Of the eleven men on that team at least six of them became coaches later in there careers. Two of them eventually became secretaries of the Association, and all have acted at one time or another not merely as club delegates but as executive officers of the Association

This group which is beginning to sound like a bunch of legendary characters ,were really in those days a gang of carefree, and at times irresponsible, young men getting full value of enjoyment from there Hockey . There names are Ray Sullivan, Bertie White, Harold Hoyne, Alf Massina, Dick Bungey, Colin Mitchell, Johnny White, Ellis Kelly, The Napthine twins and C. Butler.

Changes in the Victorian domestic set up were very few during these years. One new team made a brief appearance in 1934 when Ellis Kelly reformed the old Melbourne club, but they lasted only one season. Essendon dominated the championships in the early years of the decade and Hawthorn became the power in the latter years.

But the emphasis was on Interstate Hockey in those days , the approach of most senior players to club matches was at times slightly irreverent to say the least, the Napthine twins whose sense of humour was developed to a degree commensurate with their hockey ability, caused many a minor incident with their practical joking at the expense of rink managements, opposition teams and team mates. When they were playing for different clubs, there were many occasions when it was suspected that they had switched identities to suit there social engagements, this suspicion was confirmed when one of them played a grand game one night ,but was later found to be at a ball while the game was being played. The social affairs of the players were often a source of worry for the rink manager, who never quite got used to players turning up in complete evening dress at 9.45 for a game scheduled to start at 10.00. To make matters worse they would be out of the rink and back at the festivities a quarter of an hour after the game had finished.

Perhaps the most historic escapade of the Napthine twins was the memorable occasion when they decided that N.S.W. had held the Goodall Cup too long (15 years at this stage ). To remedy this they "took care" of it after the presentation dinner in Sydney following the interstate series, and to the great delight of their team mates produced the trophy from there luggage when the train was well out of Sydney and on its way home to Melbourne

During the summer months preceding the 1938 season the greatest bombshell ever to stir up the quiet backwater in the ice skating world hit Sydney with a wallop. Restaurateur and sportsman ,Jimmy Bendriot, was going to open a rink at the Showgrounds, and what was even more stunning, he was all set to bring a Canadian Ice Hockey team to Australia

By a coincidence Canadians were also in the limelight in Victoria . They were Hugh (spot) Lloyd and George Hewitt and they revolutionised Victoria's Style of Hockey by showing our fellows how to play the blue line game correctly.

Meanwhile the Canadian Bears had arrived in Sydney . They were actually four boys from Kenora, Ontario, all top class Hockey players , especially Russell (doc) Carson.

Matches against the Sydney teams in which rugged incidents captured the press and created arguments that shrewd promoter Bendriot had anticipated ,lead up to the big moment when a challenge was thrown out to an Australian team . The N.S.W. Association by this time were quite sure that Mr Bendroit's boys were not quite as "Lilywhite " as they thought Amateurs should be , so they put a ban on the propose game against Australia. This only served to produce valuable publicity for the fixture and finally an Australian team did play against the Bears at the Ice Palais. Victorian reps in this side were Ellis. Kelly, Johnny White, "spot" Lloyd and Colin Mitchell.

They were all suspended by an irate Australian council . but through an oversight they were not penalised for matches, but weeks and their sentences ran out during the summer months long before the next winter, which was to be almost as hectic in Melbourne as the previous one had been in Sydney.

The reason for Melbourne's excitement was the opening, by Mr. Harry Kleiner, of the St. Moritz rink at St. Kilda. The Victorian Association were far more fortunate in their experience of handling arrangements for the two rinks than their Sydney colleagues.

The final decision on presentation was in favour of the inter-rink matches and the now famous clashes between the Glaciarium Rangers and the St. Moritz Bombers were staged. The Bombers boosted by the arrival in Melbourne of Russ Carson and George Barlok, two members of the Canadian Bears who had decided to stay on in Australia when the rest of the team returned home, were rarely beaten in the two years these games were played (1939 and 1940). These two find players also added to the strength of the Victorian side.

As was the case in the First World War, hockey players were quick to join up and several were decorated for their devoted and heroic service to their country, but a tragic note that saddened all who knew him, was the telegram received to announce the death of Hughie Lloyd in an aircraft training accident.

1946-1955: The post war boom

When Ice Hockey was ready to be resumed after World War II, the position regarding players was the best it had ever been. A ready made pool of youngsters was waiting to join the returning servicemen in what were to become the boom years of the game. This very satisfactory state of affairs existed mainly because of the Sunday morning practice sessions organised by Ted Molony at the Glaciarium throughout the war.

In view of their service to the sport in the respect, it is difficult to understand the Glaciarium management's decision not to have hockey in that rink when the Association became active against in 1946. St. Moritz offered to accommodate all who wanted to play and the competition was resumed that year with four new teams, Western, Southern, Northern and Eastern Suburbs. All had memberships equal to the entire Association in pre-war years and the game was set for its boom period.

After one season the Glaciarium again entered the hockey arena and the two new clubs were formed with headquarters in that rink, they were the Wildcats and Black hawks; the teams at St.moritz changed their named to Monarchs (from Southern), Demons (from Eastern), Tigers (from Western), Red Arrows (from Northern) . This was 1947 a season to remember ,for that year Victoria won the Goodall Cup after 25 years of being in the wilderness. This photograph shows that team but missing is one Egan "frosty "Miller the first top line European to Play in Australia. Egan played in the Olympic competition before the war for Austria, His presence had a great deal to do with its success. Probably more important was the affect Winter had on Victorian Hockey generally, through his coaching of the Black hawks, who were undefeated that year. With Jack Tuckerman a student of Ice Hockey ,Winter was responsible for much of the ground work in the play we see today from such stars as Noel Derrick ,Rom Amess and Dave Cunningham. 1947 was also Al Sengotta's first year in Australian Hockey, and he also played in the Victorious team against N.S.W. The indestructible Ray Sullivan was another of the line up while Colin Mitchell was making his last appearance for the state Russ Jones, another of the brighter young set, Russ Carson, Warwick Harrison, Johnny Whyte and "Chook" Tuckerman completed the team, which played under Ellis Kelly as coach and Sid Hoirt as Manager.

In 1949 the Glaciarium decided to present their own competition and to this end the Victorian Ice Hockey League was formed , The Black hawks and the Wildcats were joined by a new club , The golden Bears , formed by Goalkeeper Clarrie King and coached by Al Sengotta . Both the Association and the league prospered , probably because of the competitive nature of the set up, some of the best club Hockey Victoria has ever seen was played that year. Crowds favoured neither competition ,but there were generally good attendances at either rink. To attract players the Glaciarium assisted club funds with a weekly allowance from which sticks, Jerseys and equipment was bought for the players. The loss of several players from the previous year's winning team was a blow to the Associations Goodall Cup prospects and N.S.W. regained the trophy after a close fought series.

The Commonwealth Government's Immigration plan was starting to bear fruit by the time Hockey started in 1949and many Europeans were looking for a game of Hockey. The St.Kilda 14ft Sailing club decided to form a Hockey team and enter it into the association as the Pirates. After a few games they received a tremendous boost when one of the best stick handlers Australia's ever seen came down from Bonegilla to play with them. This was Sandor Miklos who a short while later was joined by fellow Hungarian Tommy Endrei.

The passing of these two was a revelation to the ever eager to learn youngsters who haunted the ice rinks in those days. This year there was a double interstate success for Victoria, the Association regained the Goodall Cup and late in the season the League team went to Sydney and also beat N.S.W.

The League dropped the ill starred Knights in 1950 and formed the Raiders, it was a team mostly composed of New Australians, A term which was then just coming into use. Tommy Endrei crossed from the association to play with the Raiders. Miklos at the same time went to the Black hawks, Czechoslovakians Jan Kurzwell, Miro Roznetinsky, Joe Lachman and Mourjir Zachar were others to join the raiders, along with Carol Martin. Meanwhile Frank Chase, a Canadian with much experience in England had been bought to Australia by Mr Kleiner of St.Moritz to act as rink Coach. In Sydney the retirement was announced of one of the greatest all round skaters of all time, Jimmy Brown. Not only was Jimmy a stand out as a Hockey player, but he was also a world class speed skater.1950 was a bad year for the Association as it again lost the interstate series and the league was steadily gaining larger crowds. However the Association did gain admittance to the Olympic Federation and long range plans were discussed regarding the possibility of a touring Australian team.

The next year 1951, the association became the strongest it has ever been. The Glaciarium decided to drop their League and ordered teams in that rink to join the Association. The Raiders Immediately started to dominate the Hockey Championship and they have the amazing record of being champions of either league or Association every year since their formation. Steps by the Association to have only four teams in each rink brought about the winding up of the "Red Arrows" after the 1953 season. An unexpected closure recently was that of the "Bears" who were a good strong club. In retrospect it is safe to say that never at any stage of its history has Ice Hockey been on such a good footing as it enjoys today. This is largely due to the splendid work of the present executive whose tireless application to the needs and worries of the Association is proving a great power in overcoming the stumbling blocks which slowed progress in the past years and when their time comes to hand on
responsibilities of caring for the well being of Ice Hockey we may be sure that everything will have been done to take advantage of the future which looks so full of opportunity for our Sport