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Richmond’s Lacrosse Memories

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As crafted by Stan Shillington, we recall the 1971 Minto Cup Champion Richmond Roadrunners:

Cinderella stories are the tales of make-believe, not reality.  It couldn’t happen ~ BUT IT DID!

Coach Ron Phillips waved a magic wand over his Richmond Roadrunners, turning a team on the verge of collapse into the 1971 Canadian Junior Lacrosse Champions.  Feisty, tough defense, quick offensive breakouts – that was his recipe for success.

Sportswriter Cleve Dheensaw, in his book “Lacrosse 100”, observed:  “There aren’t too many sporting events, from Junior to Senior, from amateur to professional, from the NHL to the Olympics that can match the sheer cliff-hanging drama, emotion and excitement of Richmond’s Minto Cup Victory”.

The Minoru Arena was jammed for the 1971 season opener, but the crowds dwindled as the Roadrunners dropped the first five games.  It wasn’t long however, before the young players bought into the Phillips’ recipe ~ wins began to mount and with them. The crowds began to grow.  Excitement reverberated throughout the arena, now dubbed “the zoo”.

Richmond won 14 of the next 19 games to finish second to Burnaby Cablevision, a team loaded with stars.  Richmond disposed of New Westminster in four games in the semi-finals for the right t o meet Burnaby for the BC Title.  All games were moved to New Westminster’s Queens Park Arena to accommodate the crowds that swelled from 1,550 at the first game to over 4,500 for the incredible seventh –game overtime victory for Richmond.

Eastern Canadian teams had captured nine consecutive Minto Cups and the Peterborough PCO’s were determined to extend the monopoly to ten.  Coach Phillips countered the Eastern power by adding New Westminster scoring ace Walt Weaver and Burnaby net minder Ted Gernaey to his club.

It mattered not that New Westminster was the CLA-ordered venue – the fiercely loyal Richmond fans merely turned Queens Park Arena into ‘the zoo’.  Block-long lineups formed hours before each game.  Three of the seven contests were settled in overtime – in short, “fans” became the abbreviation of fanatic and fantastic.

The two combatants split the first six games; PCO’s tying the series with a 13-11 overtime, sixth game victory.  Over 5,000 squeezed into Queens Park for the seventh and final game.  They weren’t disappointed.

Down by two goals entering the third period, Walt Weaver fired three bullets past PCO’s Greg Thomas to tie the game and push it into yet another overtime session  Weaver’s hot hand continued, scoring two more goals to give the West a 13-11 victory and the National Championship.

Both teams were given a deafening, five minute standing ovation.

Ted Gernaey, who stood Peterborough on its head with incredible saves, was named the Jim McConaghy Medal Winner as the series Most Valuable Player.

Richmond’s lineup included future Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famers Dave and Brian Tasker, Dave Durante and Ron Pinder.