Bobby McDonald scored in overtime to give the UPEI Panthers the 1985 Atlantic University Athletics Association (AUAA) men’s hockey title.
UPEI defeated Moncton in Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series at a packed Charlottetown Forum.
“It will probably go down as one of the most memorable games at the Forum and there were a lot of memorable games at the old Forum,” former UPEI Panther captain Doug Currie said.
Currie did not play in the game after suffering a concussion in Game 1, a win in Moncton on a late Randy Muttart goal.
UPEI had been eliminated by Moncton twice in the previous three years.
Head coach “Vince Mulligan did a fantastic job of putting our team together,” forward Danny Revell recalled. “Vinny loved his players and the feeling was mutual. He and (assistant coach) Mike Ready had a long history of winning and they made sure we were well prepared, especially for big games.”
The Panthers lineup had scoring talent led by the likes of Greg Gravel, who was league MVP the previous season, Ron Carragher, Norman Beck and Muttart. The defence with Rob Moffat and Darwin McCutcheon was tough and could move the puck and the goaltending duo of Tony Haladuick and Dave Reid was as good as the league had to offer.
“One of the biggest challenges we had was finally getting over the hump of beating Moncton,” said Beck. “We felt that we had the horses that year to finally overtake them and secure a championship, we just had to prove to ourselves that we could do it.”
Moncton was a perennial powerhouse with three top-notch lines led by future NHLer and conference MVP Claude Vilgrain.
Muttart’s late-game goal set the stage for Game 2 at the Forum that Saturday afternoon.
“The atmosphere in that old Forum was unbelievable – two talented teams who had so much respect for one another, but at no time did we ever show that on the ice,” said Carragher, who assisted on McDonald’s overtime goal. “The thick smoke, the loud standing room only crowd, the intensity was something I only wish everyone could experience.”
Lennie Kelly and the late Rory Beck, Norman’s brother, were among the Panthers alumni watching the game from the balcony of the Forum.
“The Forum was absolutely sold out and it reminded me of the old junior Islanders playoff games,” Kelly said. “The atmosphere was electric. There were so many plays that took you out of your seat but none more than Bobby’s OT goal.”
It was the first time UPEI had won the title. The Saint Dunstan’s Saints won the championship in 1964-65. Mulligan was a player on the ‘64-65 team and coached the ‘84-85 squad.
“After all these years it’s still a struggle to find the words to describe how emotional it was to win the AUAA championship in front of our home fans,” said Carragher.
The 1984-85 UPEI Panthers will be recognized before tonight’s UPEI game.
Compiled by Alf Blanchard, a member of the Friends of UPEI Hockey
