Long before 1972 and hockey became famously linked in Canada, before the 1980 U.S. Olympians put hockey on the map in America, Newfoundland had experienced its own "Miracle on Ice" and the bedlam that came about with "Henderson ... has scored for Canada!"
On the eve of St. Patrick's Day, 1960, all Irish eyes were smiling as St. Pat's did the unthinkable, slaying the mighty dragon that was St. Bon's to win the St. John's Senior Hockey League championship and the first Boyle Trophy for the green and gold what will soon be 50 years ago.
"Outside family moments," recalls Don Johnson, a gritty St. Pat's defenceman, "when that buzzer sounded, I felt a feeling that I'd never felt before, and one I've never felt since."
And imagine, Johnson wasn't even from St. John's.
It wasn't so much the win that stirred an entire city, but how St. Pat's went about it.
You see, back in the day, St. Bon's were the mighty Soviets. St. Pat's, Feildians, Guards and woeful Holy Cross were mere inferior underlings.
"St. Bon's?" says Derm Connolly. "I mean, you were talking about Rocket Richard and Teeder Kennedy and Mickey Mantle when you were talking about those guys.
"There were other great players in the senior league - (Bud) Duffett, (Stan) Breen and (Doug) Squires ... (Ian) Campbell ... Jackie Withers. But not like St. Bon's. They were the big stars in town. When they walked the streets, they were revered."
Consider this: St. Bon's had won 27 Boyle Trophies, including 16 straight between 1944 and 1960.
It was time when the religious wars were at their peak within the hockey arena, on the ball field or soccer pitch, or in the gym. It was often said an atheist was defined as someone who didn't cheer for one team or another at a local hockey game.
So needless to say, it was muttered by more than one Protestant - and even some of the Catholics - the reason for St. Bon's success was due to the fact they had their own rink - The Forum.
And nobody, but nobody skated on that ice only St. Bon's.
"Not a hope in hell," said Connolly of another team's chances of using The Forum.
The Blue and Gold iced a who's who of star power, led by the high-scoring trio of the Gillies brothers - Bill and Ted - and Bob Redmond. Hughie Fardy - the Doug Harvey of his time - anchored the defence.
Merv Green was incomparable in goal.
"Bill was a tiger, but there's no one," Connolly says, "I feared more than Teddy Gillies. He was the most exciting guy to watch.
"He could do anything with the puck ... an athlete's athlete."
And so in the Boyle Trophy final of 1959-60, it was but another mismatch - St. Bon's vs. St. Pat's, the Bluegolds' latest sacrificial lamb.
The rich Micks vs. the poor Micks.
St. Pat's had actually altered its lineup over Christmas that 1959-60 season, calling up several juniors to provide some spark. Among the additions were Connolly and Bell Islanders Mike Fitzpatrick and Dick Power.
Granted, St. Pat's had a pretty decent team, too, with Withers centering Lloyd Kelly and Jim (Aucker) Byrne, who recently passed away, on the first string. Connolly skated with Charlie Walsh and Joe Kenny and Fitzpatrick with Bart Ford and John Perry. On defence, Power, Johnson and Jim Malone anchored things.
In goal, Pat Barrington was more than dependable.
But the Irish were no St. Bon's and, in fact, virtually nobody gave St. Pat's even a remote chance of upsetting the unbeatable.
"Except the 20-odd fellas in our dressing room," Connolly said.
A lot has changed, and memories have faded in the 50 years since that memorable series. This much we know: the teams traded wins through the opening four games of the best-of-seven final, and St. Pat's won the critical Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead.
Game 6 was set for Wednesday night, March 16 - Paddy's Day eve - so if ever the stars were aligned for St. Pat's, this would be it.
A crowd Connolly is convinced numbered over 5,000 filled every nook and cranny inside Memorial Stadium that night. Hundreds, if not thousands more, lined up outside, up King's Bridge Road in a futile effort to get tickets.
Youngsters managed to crawl up on the beams supporting the Stadium's roof. In the press box, VOCM's Bob Cole prepared to call the game.
It was a tough, brutal series. But the mutual respect never waned.
"We were somewhere between love and hate," Connolly said of the teams. "But at the same time, it wouldn't stop us from going to the Pioneer (restaurant, on Portugal Cove Road) together afterwards."
Connolly doesn't remember details of the game, other than Joe Kenny's goal to open the scoring. Kenny passed away 14 years ago.
Here was Cole's call on the play:
"The faceoff will be inside the St. Pat's blueline, to the left of the goal. St. Pat's got the draw. They shoot it down the ice. Kenny's going in ... Fardy's trying to catch him. He's in all alone ... he falls ... he scores! Joe Kenny scoring for St. Pat's and he scored that one as he was lying on the ice! He raced in ahead of Fardy and Fardy knocked him down, but Kenny, as he was sliding towards the net, took a sweep at it and it caught the lower left hand corner with Merv Green coming out of the goal. It's an unassisted goal by Kenny at 7:30. It's St. Pat's 1-0."
Many of the St. Pat's players have a copy of Cole's broadcast. For most of the 60 minutes, Connolly says, the crowd drowns out the broadcaster.
After quelling a ferocious St. Bon's attack, the final buzzer sounded and the scoreclock read 4-2 in favour of St. Pat's. Fans quite literally poured out of Memorial Stadium to celebrate in the streets.
"When I went to work after Paddy's Day," said Johnson, who had arrived from Halifax to work at the Bank of Nova Scotia in December 1959, "everyone had the inside decorated green and gold.
"Big? It was beyond big," he said. "It was like the Regatta and the Challenge Cup and all the greatest sporting things in Newfoundland just happening at one time."
"Honestly," said Connolly "we were heroes. I walked down to the wharf, where I worked, and it was like God had walked down there.
"All of a sudden we were somebody."
St. Pat's won again the following year, ironically enough on the same day - March 16. This time the Irish beat Feildians in the final.
And while a win was a win, it couldn't quite match the victory over St. Bon's, which all but shattered the Bluegolds' run as a hockey dynasty.
"It's funny," said Connolly, "even after all these years, people still talk about it. It was only yesterday I banged into a fella and he said, 'You're the hockey player, right?' Now I'm about 5'4" and 220 pounds, so I sure don't look like a hockey player. But people remember.
"Fella fixed my furnace one time, and said, 'You're the hockey player, right?' And I was never in Teddy Gillies' shoes. How big was he?"
For one glorious night in mid-March 1960, Derm Connolly and the rest of the St. Pat's hockey team found out.
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The 50th anniversary of the St. Pat's Boyle Trophy win over St. Bon's will be celebrated Friday, Oct. 23 with the annual St. Pat's reunion dinner.
In addition to the 1959-60 team, the 60-61 Boyle Trophy champs will also be honoured.
The dinner, which is open only to ex-pupils of the school, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Royal Canadian Legion in Pleasantville.
