Category Archives: Years Competed

1930 - 1949, 1950 - 1969, 1970 - 1989, 1980 - 1989, All, Male, Skiing

JOHN KEITH

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The alpine skiing career of John Keith spans across a period of 36 years of competition under the colours of the Collingwood Collegiate Ski Club and the Collingwood Ski Club.  It started back when he was a teenager.  He won his first downhill title in 1948.  The very next year he was earmarked as a comer when he took the top honours in the Ontario Junior High School championships.

After that the silverware came by the carload. He added two more medals in high school competition in the combined and downhill competition in the combined and downhill competitions.  His 1950 achievements included an important victory by winning the Dr. W.M. Blakely Trophy, emblematic of the Collingwood Ski Club championships in the men’s class “A”.

The same season he placed second in the Ontario high school downhill race and also in the Ontario Intermediate competition.  He was also a member of the Ontario team in the Canadian Junior Ski Championships.

In 1951, John won the Dr. W.M. Blakely Trophy and was runner-up in the men’s slalom and downhill races and the senior combined competition held in London, Ontario.

As a member of the Beaver Valley Ski team in 1961 he won another medal as the team went to the finals in the Southern Division Adult Ski Championships.

With John Keith, skiing became a family affair as attested in four Beaver Valley Family Cup Championships, with John, David and Andrew, in 1979, 1984, 1985, and 1986.

John finished his competitive skiing career with sparkling Beaver Valley titles for men over the age of 45 in 1984, and again in 1986.

The brilliant on-hill exploits of John Keith earned him a special niche in Collingwood’s Sports Hall of Fame on June 11, 1986.

 

1900 - 1929, 1930 - 1949, 1970 - 1979, All, Football, Hockey, Male

JACK PORTLAND

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We can name a half dozen Collingwood boys who could be classed as “all round athletes” but from a national standpoint the honours must go to Big Jack.

As a hockey player he starred for ten years in the N.H.L. with Montreal, Boston and Chicago.

His name will be found on the Stanley Cup, alongside such greats as Eddie Shore, Bill Cowley, Dit Clapper, Cooney Weiland and the Kraut line of Schmidt, Bauer and Dumart. That was the team of 1939, considered to be Boston’s greatest. That year the Bruins lost only ten games in a 48-game schedule and defeated Toronto four games to one in the Stanley Cup final.

His professional hockey career was cut short by at least five years when World War II intervened. After three years service with the Canadian Army, Jack never returned to the N.H.L.

Pro football lost him because hockey was his first love. He turned don three football offers before signing with Canadians. Jack represented Canada at the 1932 Olympiad at Los Angeles and the 1930 British Empire Games at Hamilton in the high jump event. We always thought he should have competed in the decathlon. He could run 100 yards in ten seconds, toss the javelin, heave the shot put, run the half mile, long jump and triple jump and, of course, set records in the high jump.

He finished his great athletic career back in his home town by playing for the Collingwood Shipbuilders and coaching the Collingwood Greenshirts to their first of four O.H.A. Junior “C” championships.

Jack Portland qualifies for the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in just about any category you care to mention.

1930 - 1949, 1980 - 1989, All, Baseball, Male

STAN SWAIN

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They called him “Possum” when he was a nipper and the moniker stuck  throughout his fine athletic career in the fields of hockey, football, baseball and hockey. Born in Collingwood, he was a son of the late Herb Swain, one of this town’s best baseball pitchers for over a twenty year span.

He first gained recognition as a plunging halfback on the Collingwood Collegiate
Junior Football team in 1929. That year the juniors played eight games going undefeated by lop sided scores.

In 1933 and 1934 he was a key player with the C.C.I. seniors, Central Ontario
Secondary School Senior Finalists.

His baseball career started in 1931 with Collingwood. Thornbury lured him away in
1932 but he was back in Collingwood in 1934. His baseball career reached its crescendo in 1935 when the Collingwood Shipbuilders won the Ontario Intermediate “A” championship. Stan was the team’s second baseman, the key man in the Shipbuilders famed double play combination.

In 1936, he went to Penetang but came back to play with Meaford in 1940 and
Collingwood in 1941.

He commenced his hockey career with the East End Fishermen in the old Collingwood Junior Hockey League and played five years with the Collingwood Juniors before going back to Penetang to play Intermediate in 1936. He finished off his hockey career with Kirkland Lake Bird Goldmine and Omega in 1937-38-39 in Senior O.H.A. Stan starred at basketball at the C.C.I. for 5 years. The 1933 senior team went to the Central Ontario Secondary School Senior basketball final.

1900 - 1929, 1930 - 1949, 1970 - 1979, All, Baseball, Male

WILLIAM “HUCK” CAESAR

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Huck Caesar was only a lightweight in physical proportions but he was “giant” on a baseball diamond. He never weighed any more than 135 pounds soaking wet
but he hit more balls for extra bases than any other Collingwood ball player we ever saw or knew.

He covered centre field like a blanket and ran the bases like a gazelle. As tough as leather, his active playing career lasted thirty-seven years and he spent two decades of the amazing career on Collingwood baseball, softball, hockey and lacrosse teams. He was the driving force on the great Collingwood baseball team of 1935, winners of the John Ross Robertson Trophy and the All- Ontario Intermediate baseball championship – the only Collingwood ball team to win a provincial intermediate title.

Born in the village of Proton in 1903, Huck moved to Alliston with his parents in 1908. He made the Alliston team at age fifteen and helped the club win three
league titles in 1924-25-26.During his career, he played in several hundred tournaments for various teams.

The Bank of Toronto moved him to Havelock in 1926 where he played baseball and hockey. Collingwood claimed him in 1927, but this town had no baseball club that year and Huck signed Creemore and later played with Thornbury for six years.

During his stay in Collingwood he helped organize the Senior Softball League where he managed and starred with the Bankers, five-times champions. He played
intermediate hockey for the Shipbuilders in the thirties and even took a crack at lacrosse, when that game made a brief comeback in the depths of the depression.

When intermediate baseball went into a decline in Collingwood in the late thirties, he played five years with Meaford and helped that town with the Ontario championship in 1939.

Huck left Collingwood in 1947 but he kept playing baseball and was with the Watford intermediate champs in 1947 and 1948. He was still playing at fifty-five and after his retirement, he wound up his diamond career by coaching his home town Alliston team to Ontario Midget title in 1957.

1900 - 1929, 1970 - 1979, All, Athlete, Male

TOM FOLEY

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Very few old timers are alive to-day to recall the rowing exploits of Thomas “Iron Man” Foley.

The glamorous days of the great waterfront regattas are long past but seventy-five years ago rowing was the number 1 sport in this neck of the woods.

Foley built his own sculling shell and he learned the rudiments of the game without benefit of a professional coach. But he met and defeated some of the greatest scullers of his days-Jack Gaudaur, father of the president of the Canadian Football League, Matt Bisley, Mel Herman, Ben Dempster, Billy Gerioux, Frank Gaudaur, Billy Hamilton and Bob Kennedy- the rowing giants of the eighties and the nineties.

Jack Gaudaur, winner of the famed Diamond Sculls and a consistent winner in the Henley-On-The-Thomas classic, met Foley twice. Foley beat him in Midland and Jack reversed the decision in Orillia on Dominion Day, 1896.

Bob Kennedy was the American champion seven years in a row and Tom Foley beat him twice in one afternoon.

At the height of his career he hung up his oars. He was in the process of raising a large family and building a successful leather tanning business and he could not afford the time to train. It was Ned Hanlon,Canada’s greatest oarsman, who said. “Foley could have won a world title had he stayed another three years”.

Tom Foley died May 4th, 1939. We have always regretted that many of his trophies were destroyed in the fire which swept through the Huron Institute about 25 years ago.

1930 - 1949, 1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Hockey, Male

ALBERT KIRBY

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If there ever was a Lady Byng Trophy for amateur hockey players, Ab Kirby would have won it ten years in a row.

Through a career of twenty years in O.H.A. competition, Kirby’s penalty record could be written on the head of a pin. Here was a player who exploded the Leo Durocher theory that “Nice guys finish last”.

Collingwood born Albert Kirby played on championship teams in the junior, intermediate and senior O.H.A. series with Barrie, Collingwood and Owen Sound
and he was always up there with the scoring leaders.

One of the high points in his great career came in 1939 when the helped the
Collingwood Shipbuilders win the O.H.A. Intermediate “A” title. In sixteen games he scored sixteen goals and assisted on sixteen others. He went through the entire series without drawing a single penalty.

This shifty little centre man never weighed any more than 135 pounds (soaking wet)
but he held his own with the hard bumping giants of that era. One of the best
stick handlers of his time. Ab never had to resort to rough play. He was a
gentleman on and off the ice. Like his long-time team mate, Eddie Bush, Ab learned his hockey basics on the East End mill ponds.

He made the Collingwood junior club at age fifteen in 1934 and the following
season went to the Barrie Colts. Barrie won the O.H.A. Junior “B” title and Kirby scored 30 goals in the regular season. He picked up seven goals in the five-game final series against St. Michael’s College.

He was back in Collingwood in 1938 but had to sit out most of the season after
MIDLAND PROTESTED HIS ELIGIBILITY UNDER THE RESIDENCE RULE.

Re-instated in ,1939, he played for the Collingwood Shipbuilders under the coaching of former N.H.L. star, Bern Brophy, and the Shipbuilders won the championship. Kirby played on a line with Alvie Wilson and Greg Coulson.

Ab scored six goals and had three assists in the five-game final against the Port
Colborne Incos. In 1940 he moved up to senior company with St. Catherine’s with
Collingwood team mates Don Jeffery and Dick Tracey. That team went to the
O.H.A. Senior “A” final against the Toronto Goodyears.

Kirby added a senior championship medal to his collection when he helped the Owen
Sound Trappers win the Ontario Senior title in 1947.

But he came back to his home town in 1951 when Jack Portland came back from a
ten-year N.H.L. career, coached the Shipbuilders and took them to the O.H.A.
Intermediate “A” semi-final round.

He finished his career with Eddie Bush and the Shipbuilders in 1952 and 1953 when
the Collingwood club won back to back provincial Intermediate “A” championships.

Ab did not confine his athletic endeavours to hockey. He was a better than average
baseball and softball player and had a hand in coaching midget hockey and baseball teams. He was Brit Burns’ assistant coach when the Collingwood Juveniles won the O.M.H.A. championship in 1956.

Along-time director in the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association, he served two years as president.

1950 - 1969, 1970 - 1989, 1990 - 1999, All, Baseball, Male, Track & Field

PAUL PURSIAINEN

Paul, nicknamed “Percy” was born in Rouyn, Quebec on March 29, 1930, living in Collingwood from 1945 to 1960. Alongside his wife, Isabel, they have three children Douglas, Constance and Patricia. Paul was a graduate of Collingwood Collegiate.

Paul favoured the warmer weather to excel in his sporting career. Throughout the greener months, his accomplishments were numerous on the baseball diamond and track & field pitch. As a member of the Collegiate Track & Field Team, Paul established a long list of school records including;
Senior Long Jump – 20’ 6”, Senior Pole Vault – 11’ 4 ½”.These records, alongside numerous invitational titles culminated in 1950 when Paul was the All Ontario (OFSAA) Senior Pole Vault Champion.

Upon the completion of the Track & Field season, Paul’s baseball career began to materialize from his early days in the Collingwood Shipyard Town League (Softball) in conjunction with his numerous Fastball teams. As a pitcher in both disciplines, Paul took home many team titles including: 1952 – Collingwood Shipyard League (Softball), 1953 & 54 – Coop Insurance League Champs (Softball), 1955 & 56 – Allenwood Georgian Bay Rural Champions and MVP (Fastball), 1957 & 58 – Minesing Barrie Senior League Champions (Fastball), 1960 & 61 – North Bay League Champs (Fastball), 1963 – Northern Ontario Intermediate A Champs and All Ontario Finalists (Fastball), 1978, 81 & 84 – Alliston Softball Champions. Paul’s fastball career featured a No Hitter, 1 – One Hitter, 13 Championships and 2 MVP awards.

Paul became a member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 12, 1998 in the Players’ category

1930 - 1949, 1950 - 1969, 1990 - 1999, All, Baseball, Hockey, Male

PETE SWITZER

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Born in Collingwood on November 14, 1930, Peter’s accomplishments in baseball and
hockey were quite impressive given his relative short career. A graduate of Victoria Public School and Collingwood  Collegiate, Peter and wife, Grace have two children Bill and Janet. A lifelong citizen of Collingwood, Peter’s untimely passing in 1973 at the early age of 43 continue through the athleticism of his son Bill and Bill’s daughter – Jodi.

Peter’s tutelage in the Collingwood Minor Hockey system returned great dividends for
the town. A member of the formidable Collingwood Greenshirts Junior C team he played a large role in 2 – OHA Championships in 1949-50 and 1950-51. In 1951-52,  he was a member of the Collingwood Shipbuilders – Intermediate A Ontario Champions. His provincial championships were not limited to hockey as Peter was a member of the All Ontario Baseball Association Midget B Champs – Collingwood Cubs.

Peter’s successful playing career is recognized by his induction as a member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 12, 1998 in the Players’ category.

1900 - 1929, 1930 - 1949, 1970 - 1979, All, Hockey, Male

LAWRENCE”DUTCH”CAIN

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He was the most artistic body checker ever to perform for a Collingwood hockey
team and must be ranked with the best hitting defensemen of anytime-professional or amateur.

Bon in Newmarket but a resident of Collingwood for forty years, Dutch was the kingpin on the 1935 Collingwood Shipbuilders, winners of the O.H.A. Intermediate “A” championship.

Dutch played hockey under the principle that a good body check should be heard and not seen. There never was a better demonstrator of that principle.

“The bigger they are, the heavier they fall!” said Dutch, and during his career he dropped tons of hockey beef over scorers of arena ice surfaces throughout Canada and the United States.

He weighed only 155 pounds but the answer to his great hitting ability was in the
timing. Dutch never ploughed directly into the path of an onrushing forward. All he needed was a piece of him.

Cain played junior hockey in his native Newmarket and was a member of the Owen Sound Greys, Memorial Cup champions of 1924-25. That was quite a team-Cain, Cooney Weiland, Butch Keeling, Teddy Graham, Hedley Smith and Fred Elliot. The team picture of the Greys is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Weiland Graham and Keeling went on to stardom in the N.H.L.

In the following years, up until 1928, Dutch played with Eveleth and Calumet in the old Central League. Calumet won the title in 1927.

A few years ago Cain was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Minnesota. Dutch returned to Canada in 1928 to help South Porcupine win the Northern Ontario senior title and then played on championship teams in the Eastern League with Baltimore Orioles and the Bronx Tigers. He was selected as the most valuable player in the league in the season of 1934-35.

He moved back to Collingwood in 1932 and was about to call it a career when he was
lured back into uniform by the late Walter Robinson, then coach of the Collingwood Shipbuilders. Dutch teamed up with big Jack Portland on the defense. Portland
was a good pupil and went on to a ten-year career in the N.H.L. his last season in 1935 was a winner.

Teaming up with playing-coach Bern Brophy, he helped Collingwood win the Intermediate title for the sixth time since 1910. He died the day after the founding of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.

1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Baseball, Hockey, Male

CHARLES FRYER

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In Collingwood, Charlie Fryer was known as an all-round athlete, but he was best known in baseball and hockey.

The only position Charlie played on a baseball field was pitcher, and later in the fifties after pitching spectacularly with the Collingwood Chev-Olds baseball club, Charlie would continue to show his excellence by being invited to the spring training camp of the St. Thomasclub in the Inter-County baseball league, not making the club due to injuries.

As a hockey player, Charlie was no stranger to championships, having been a defenseman on six all-Ontario championship teams.

Charlie eventually worked his way up to be captain of the Collingwood Greenshirts that won three consecutive all-Ontario Junior “C” titles in 1952-53-54.

As well as playing for the Greenshirts, Charlie while still junior age, was called up to play on the intermediate Shipbuilders team.  Again, his play and leadership style helped win two more Ontario championships.

Charlie has been a referee of minor and recreational hockey for 30 years.  He is carded to referee CMHA finals, OMHA, the Central Ontario Hockey League and Western Ontario Hockey League.

When he finished playing hockey and baseball, Charlie returned to Collingwood where he was assessor for the town form 1960 -1987, leaving that position due to health reasons.  During that time, Charlie stayed involved in the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association coaching Midget and Juvenile teams.