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An old Leaf fan remembers a great home-town “Senior A” team from yesteryear: the Windsor Bulldogs



In the late 1950s and early '60s where I was raised, in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, just across from the city of Detroit in the United States, NHL hockey loyalties were generally divided 3 ways:  you were either a Montreal fan, a Detroit fan or a Leaf fan.

Oh, the occasional kid at school cheered for the Bruins, but that was very rare.  (And that was well before Bobby Orr, so maybe they just loved an underdog…)

Personally, as a young Leaf fan, I never had such a thing as a “second favorite” NHL team.  There were only six teams to begin with and besides, I loved the Leafs and simply didn’t like any other team.  I just disliked some (like Montreal) more than others.

But living where I did, there was also a great and very personal hockey tradition.  And for many people, the local senior hockey team, the Windsor Bulldogs, was the next most popular team to cheer for after their NHL “affiliation”.  In fact, I would venture to say that for some people, the Bulldogs were “number one”.  (I plan to write another time about the night a touring Russian team came to town in 1962 or thereabouts and my Dad brought me to the game in the great old—and very cramped because it was a full house—Windsor Arena…)

It’s important to keep in mind that senior hockey was a big deal 50 years ago.  Long before NHL players were allowed to compete in international hockey competitions, and even before Fr. David Bauer developed Canada’s first national amateur teams in the 1960s, it was generally top Senior “A” hockey teams that represented Canada at major international events such as the Olympics and World Championships.  I believe the Barrie Flyers, for example, represented Canada on one occasion, but I’m not a hundred per cent certain.

I do know that the Whitby Dunlops (located just east of Toronto, for those not familiar with the Canadian geography) earned long-lasting fame for their victory in the World Championships in 1958, I think it was.  I was too young at the time to fully appreciate their accomplishment, though they had a wonderful team, which included former Maple Leaf forward Sid Smith (right), and future Boston Bruins coach and long-time General Manager Harry Sinden.

The Canadian team I do have fond memories of, for some reason, is the Trail Smoke Eaters.  They represented Canada in the 1961 World Championships.  I’ve written about them here in the past.   I remember playing a game of what I’ll call “hockey marbles” by myself on our family’s living room old hardwood floor (this was before my parents went and selfishly replaced the old area rug that left room for me to play, with wall-to-wall carpeting.)  I loved being Seth Martin, the Smoke Eaters goalie during these fantasy games.  (Interestingly, expansion later opened the doors for Seth Martin, as he played briefly with the St. Louis Blues.) For some reason- probably because I read about the Smoke Eaters in the local newspaper- I just liked that team.

But for me, the Bulldogs (I just had to edit out the word Spitfires and put Bulldogs back in because I sometimes want to call the Bulldogs the Spitfires...the old Junior A Spitfires of Glenn Hall and many other greats played for a time in Windsor as well, as a development team for the NHL Red Wings) were the team that resonated locally.  The Bulldogs had some former pros, including long-time NHL’er Real Chevrefils (seen at left in his days with the Bruins), who had been a 20-goal scorer with the Boston, and Joe Klukay, also a one-time NHL’er with strong offensive skills.

Along with some other solid players, those Bulldogs hosted and captured the Allan Cup in 1963, defeating Winnipeg in the finals after earlier downing teams from Quebec and the Maritimes.

The player I perhaps remember the most (other than the captain, Lou Bendo, who I believe went on to become a successful real estate agent in Windsor for many years) was goalie Wayne Rutledge. (See the great old game-photo of Rutledge in action with the Bulldogs in the early '60s, above.)  I didn’t realize at the time that he was younger than most of his teammates.  He joined the team as a 20 year old, played a few seasons before going on to play in higher-level pro leagues and eventually in the NHL with the LA Kings in the early expansion years.  (I’m trying to recall if he was a teammate of former Red Wing and Leaf great Terry Sawchuk, who played one season in LA after being picked up in the expansion draft by the Kings. Sawchuk finished his career a bit later with the Rangers.)

That was senior hockey in those days—an excellent caliber of hockey, with a few former solid pros, some very good local players and the occasional player on his way up to the NHL.

And while they haven’t been around for almost fifty years, I’ll always have a fond spot for my long-defunct "local" pro team- the Windsor Bulldogs.

11 comments:

  1. Great story and I was in the building for both games.When the Bulldogs beat the Russians they had a speedy winger named John Utendale who I got to know when he was living in Bellingham Washington and I played and coached with him.He was teaching at the University of Western Washington.He was a mentor as well as a modern thinker on how to teach/coach hockey.Montreal coming to play was a big deal and I was working down the street from the Cleary Auditorium at Varsity sports where they had a reception for the team.I had stick signed by the team.The Bulldogs were a terrific deal and you could get in for fifty cents and sit behind the goal.Frank Bathgate allowed myself and a goalie on my team to jump on the ice and skate with them.Blackjack Stewart the coach and asked Frank who his shadow was.The topper was being there the night they won the Allen Cup.GREAT MEMORIES and thanx for the story....Jack White

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to visit and post, Jack.

      Do you still have the stick the Habs signed? That must be a wonderful memory- and memento.

      So nice to hear form another old Windsor-area hockey fan, and someone who was in the building for the game against the touring Russians was back then.

      And yes, I remember the Allan Cup Bulldogs very well- what a fine team.

      (Quick aside: my Dad used to tell me stories of a former Red Wing defenseman, rugged guy, named Stewart- was that the same fellow?)

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    2. They called him blackjack stewart and he coached the windsor Bulldogs also and was Ted Lindsay`s boyhood hero....JackWhite

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  2. Hi, I also am from Windsor, but moved out west in 1959. I lived close to Riverside Arena back then.

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  3. I was an avid Bulldogs fan from the late 50's to the time they folded after the IHL 1963-64 season.

    I too attended the game against the Russians in November 1962 and distinctly remember Tom Walker's first goal 35 seconds into the game. Perfect pass from Grosse about 20 feet from the net and he made no mistake with it.

    In their last game in the IHL, the 6th in their series with the Ft. Wayne Commets in Windsor, they used a defenseman Norm Ryder who they had just picked up. They had asked the league president if he was eligible for the game and when they did not hear back prior to game time, they thought it was ok. Well, it wasn't and the league made the 'Dogs forfeit the game which they had one. That eliminated them from the series which they may have had a shot at winning if they were allowed to play game 7 back in Fr. Wayne.

    They were quite upset at the decision and decided to quit the league and return to the OHA Sr.A league. But he Galt Terriers wanted nothing to do with it and vetoed their return. Left without a league to play in, the 'Dogs folded and never played another game.

    Harry Z

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    1. Good of you to take the time to post here, Harry. I do remember the name Tom Walker and a number of the former Bulldogs I mentioned in the story. Warm recollections for sure.

      Thanks sharing a bit of history about how and why the Bulldogs ceased to exist. It was unfortunate- they were a very good team.

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    2. Michael,

      Yes, the 'Dogs were an excellent Sr. A team but Sr. A hockey was on the decline, partly due to the Eastern Professional Hockey League which started around this time. It was drawing away some very good Sr. players and each year the quality of the Sr. teams dropped a bit.

      The IHL was a decent league but for teams like Chatham and Windsor to compete with the money that drew good players to them they it was difficult. The average crowd at the 'Dogs games was below 3000 and that just wasn't enough to support a minor pro team.

      It's interesting to know why I just started to post on this site....last night I had a dream about an exhibition game that several of the 'Dogs players were playing in! Never had a dream like that before and don't have a clue what ever triggered it. But that got me looking on to the net to find as much as I could about them and it sure brought back many memories.

      Harry

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    3. I was young at the time, Harry, but remember that there was a lot of local coverage of the Bulldogs in the Windsor Star back then. The Star covered the Red Wings, of course, because we were so close to Detroit, but the Bulldogs still generated interest. And the old Windsor Arena was a classic old-time hockey arena, for sure. And I do remember Chatham being in the old Senior A loop- the Chatham Maroons, right?

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    4. Yes, the Chatham Maroons and they had some great teams as well. They had Ted Power, the captain who played centre. (continued to be involved in hockey around Chatham until his death in the past year) Also had George Aitken and Freddie Pletch who were very good and the year they won the Allan Cup, they had Caesar Maniago in goal who went on to play in the NHL for a few years.

      There was quite the rivalry between Windsor and Chatham and they didn't like each other one bit. Remember one game in their league final in 1963 when a stuffed bulldog was placed at centre ice before the teams came on for the warm-up. When Chatham came out first, Fred Pletch went to centre ice and with his stick, flipped the stuffed dog into the air. Thought the crowd in the arena at the time was going to lynch him :-))

      Harry

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    5. As you note, old-time rivalries existed in the minor leagues and the old Senior Leagues as well, Harry!

      I remember Maniago for sure- I've written about him here in reference to his being one of the few olden days NHL'ers who played for Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in the NHL. (VLM readers from those days may recall he gave up Boom Boom Geoffrion's 50th goal in 1960-'61...) Thanks Harry.

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    6. Chatham also had George Drysdale who became an original Fort Wayne Komet. He is still doing well and was at a Komet game this week.

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