Father Bauer and the Great Experiment by Greg Oliver

Author:Greg Oliver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2017-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

CARL BREWER AND THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Upon returning from the World Championships in Yugoslavia, Father Bauer was asked how close his Nats were to converting their bronze medals into something shinier. “A defenceman, an offensive-minded defenceman, and a forward who could score goals,” was the priest’s appeal. God works in mysterious ways, as they say, and his prayer was answered, at least in part.

The return of high-scoring forward Gary Dineen, out of action to concentrate on his studies for a year, certainly fit one request. On August 30, 1966, Dineen wrote to Toronto Maple Leafs GM Punch Imlach:

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for your invitation to Leaf camp, which was forwarded to me out here at U.B.C. After due consideration I have finally decided to remain amateur for another year and a half, and only after the completion of the ’68 Olympics will I consider turning professional. I have been offered a position with a national investment house, and I feel the practical education I’ll receive at this firm will be a great asset to me in the future.

May I express my sincere best wishes for an enjoyable and successful campaign for the Leafs next year. I remain,

Yours sincerely,

Gary Dineen

Imlach replied a week later, September 6, 1966, and was his typically acerbic self:

Dear Gary,

I am very sorry to hear that you are not considering attending our training camp. I think you are making a mistake, as next year the expansion can probably use you and I feel that playing touch hockey is not going to develop you along the professional lines.

I also realize that I am competing against the National Hockey team as far as money is concerned and that your affiliations run in another direction.

Yours very truly,

G. Imlach

Dineen wasn’t the only one having issues with Imlach.

Carl Brewer, the cerebral, high-strung defenceman, frustrated into a frenzy by the general manager’s dictatorial bearing, sat out the 1965–66 NHL season rather than wearing the blue and white. He enrolled at the University of Toronto and worked on a bachelor of arts degree.

On September 6, 1966, at a private luncheon in Toronto’s Albany Club hosted by Alan Eagleson, Brewer’s lawyer and a Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario legislature, Brewer expressed a desire to have his amateur status reinstated so he could suit up for Canada’s national team. Also at the luncheon were Danny O’Shea, who would suit up for the Nats, and Bobby Orr, who used the Nats as a brief negotiating tool while “the Eagle” worked out a deal with Boston Bruins GM Hap Emms. Even Sports Illustrated noted that the Nats were a possibility for Orr in a feature story. “I’d have to say the chances of Bobby playing for the national team were probably 20 percent at best, but it would have been 100 percent if Hap had continued to be stubborn,” said Eagleson in 2015.

Coach Jackie McLeod was hoping that the heavenly gift of Brewer was indeed going to happen. “I don’t see how they (Toronto) can deny him of his rights,” McLeod said from his Swift Current home.

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