More than a half-century later, Claire Alexander remembers the moment vividly.
The Orillia Terriers defenceman, who would later graduate to the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, was assessing his options after playing a year of pro hockey in the old Eastern League. He had also played junior in Kitchener for the Rangers.
The Collingwood native, who turns 78 next week, had already played for the old Collingwood Kings senior team. That club had folded and his senior options were to move to the Owen Sound Downtowners, Orillia, or to Barrie and play for the Flyers.
It was a tough call as all three teams, but especially the Terriers and their arch-rival Flyers, had significant appeal.
“I told Al Beausoleil that I had (options) in Barrie,” Alexander recalled of a meeting with the then-Terriers president. He had ruled out going to Owen Sound to play for the Downtowners, so it was down to Orillia or Barrie.
“He picked up the phone and got someone on the other end and said, ‘he’s coming here, we just signed him,’ then he slammed the phone down. I thought, ‘OK, I guess it’s Orillia.'”
Alexander played a leading role on a strong Terriers squad that won the Allan Cup in 1973. Many surviving members of that squad gathered at a pub in Toronto on Monday to commemorate the victory 50 years ago at the Orillia Community Centre, but also just to reminisce.
Alexander and Terriers goaltender Gerry McNamara, who would be instrumental in him later signing in Toronto with the Maple Leafs, were among them. Not everyone could be there. Some members have passed away, including hard-rock D-man Tom Polanic, who died in 2019.
Mike Draper and player/coach Doug Kelcher had planned to attend, but caught COVID last week and had to isolate. They are recovering.
The Terriers won the Allan Cup by defeating Thunder Bay in the Eastern Canada final and then St. Boniface in the championship series at home. Before that, the team’s most difficult series, as it often was, came against the Flyers, who had won the league the year before and had finished first in the regular season.
The Terriers gutted out a series victory, closing it out in overtime in Game 6 at home.
“They were wars,” Alexander said of games against the Flyers, who won the Allan Cup in 1974 after having lost in the national final in 1972.
The Allan Cup, which was in attendance as well on Monday, is still contested, but senior hockey died out in the area within a decade or so of the Terries' national championship. The business model could no longer be supported as the NHL expanded and required many young prospects, or “in-betweeners” such as Alexander to play within their minor league set-up.
For players a bit older than recent junior grads who had jobs and families, or who were just tired of long bus journeys incumbent with the old minor leagues, senior hockey was a much better fit. The problem was the wider hockey world no longer fit senior hockey.
And so the towering, offensive-minded blueliner with a booming slapshot – Alexander still commands a physical presence – was convinced by Leafs brass to give pro hockey another shot. McNamara was working as a scout for the Leafs at the time and later became the club’s general manager.
Though he acknowledged the difficulty it put his wife, Susie, through in raising a young family and is eternally grateful for her support, it’s tough to argue with what Alexander was able to do when he left Orillia.
Upon signing with the Leafs, he was sent to their Central league affiliate in Oklahoma City, but was soon playing for the big club. He also saw time with the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers of the old WHA, who had a young teenager in their lineup named Wayne Gretzky.
After Edmonton, he left for Europe where he played in Germany and Switzerland. Upon retirement, he returned to Canada and was soon coaching the Leafs' affiliate in St. Catharines, where he and Susie remain and where they raised their three children that includes the Olympic rower, Buffy-Lynne Williams.
As remarkable as his individual story has played out, Alexander grows more appreciative over time.
“You don’t make it on your own,” said Alexander, gesturing toward the room of his former teammates, some present, some not physically there, others having passed away. “In Orillia, it was these guys … (and) in Oklahoma City I had another group of great teammates that helped me along ... so many people in Collingwood helped me — teachers, coaches, trainers, everyone."
Alexander then lowered his hand to just below waist height to make one last point:
“Since I was a little boy of four years old, all I dreamed of was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and it came true."
