FLASHBACK 1958: Blumenhof Black Hawks are first HTHL champs

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This article was published 29/01/2023 (874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Blumenhof Black Hawks came back from a one-game deficit to win two straight games, becoming the first champions of the brand new Hanover-Tache League, organized just three months earlier.

The team was awarded the L.A. Barkman Trophy Friday night, after defeating Shakespeare, 7-3 in the deciding game of the best-of-three series.

With the score tied 3-3 at the 14-minute mark of the third period of the final game, Blumenhof star John Penner led an offensive attack that earned him a hat trick in 2:30 minutes and gave his team the win. John Kornelsen added an extra goal to make the final score 7-3.

Scoring came in bunches in the game, as three first-period goals were also scored within two minutes. Albert Rempel scored the first one for Shakespeare from a scramble in front of the net, and Ruben Plett retaliated with a pair for Blumenhof.
Victor Friesen gave Blumenhof a 3-1 lead in the second frame, but an answering Shakespeare goal by Harry Kehler, and another in the third by Ed Kehler tied it up.

Fifteen penalties were handed out by referees Denver Wiebe and Jake Rempel.

The first game of the final series, played Monday, March 10, was a close one, with lots of thrills for the fans. Shakespeare started the scoring early in the first period on a scramble in front of the Blumenhof net. John Wohlgemuth came right back to tie the score a few minutes later.

After a five-goal second period, Shakespeare was up by a score of 5-2, which John Kornelsen reduced by one before two more Shakespeare goals by Harry Kehler and Ed Kehler clinched the opener for Shakespeare.

Blumenhof marksmen John Kornelsen, John Wohlgemuth and Vic Friesen brought their team within one goal of a tie, but the final bell stopped the game with Shakespeare on top, 7-6.

In the second game the Blumenhof team was out for revenge and produced a 6-1 victory, after playing to a 1-1 first period tie on goals by Blumenhof’s Johnny Wohlgemuth and Shakespeare’s Albert Rempel.

John Kornelsen and Ruben Plett gave Blumenhof a 3-1 lead by the end of the second, and Ernie Penner, John Kornelsen and John Penner added counters in the last frame to account for the 6-1 score.
Blumenhof’s high-scoring forward, John Penner, suffered a dislocated shoulder in the game. All three games were played at the La Broquerie arena.

Earlier in the playoffs, the arena had been the scene of a brawl which resulted in the suspension of the Ile des Chenes Elks, who had finished league play atop the standings.

After finishing league play in first place and splitting the first two games of the semi-finals, and leading 5-2 in the deciding game, Ile des Chenes Elks was suspended by the HTHL for its role in the brawl and Shakespeare was awarded a berth in the finals against Blumenhof.

The deciding game of the semis at La Broquerie was stopped after a free-for-all broke out. Players left the penalty box to enter the fray and all efforts by referee Roland Gauthier of La Broquerie to stop the fight were of no avail and he finally called the game.
After reviewing Gauthier’s report, HTHL President Henry Penner announced the decision to suspend Ile Des Chenes for the rest of the season, which meant Shakespeare would advance to play Blumenhof in a best-of-three final for the L.A. Barkman trophy.

It was a difficult decision for the staunch advocate of organized rural hockey, who had spearheaded the organization of the Hanover Tache Hockey League, which was launched without fanfare, Jan 2, 1958. The new loop included teams from Shakespeare, Carmichael, Ile des Chenes, New Bothwell, East Steinbach and Blumenhof.

Ile des Chenes was a late entry and was admitted to the league after Kleefeld withdrew after one game. Halfway through the schedule it appeared to be a two-way race between the front-running Ile des Chenes team and Blumenhof.

Midway through that first season, L.A. Barkman, who was well known in hockey centres in the Southeast, stepped forward to sponsor an HTHL championship trophy.