Kenora Thistles

Kenora Thistles. Stanley Cup Champions. , World Of Sport , Kenora Thistles Win Stanley Cup, The story roots in the early 1900's boom + bust expanding Northern America resource economy. Hockey was serious entertainment; fast and furious. Names like Roxy Beaudro, Bill McGimsie, Tom Hooper, Si Griffis and Tom Phillips rank with hockey's immortals; the local boys who capture the country's imagination with their innovative passing game and graceful skating. , "They are the finest type of hockey; fast and clean" , Ottawa Citizen , "Speed won , Phillips was magnificent" , Montreal Star , The amateur Rat Portage Thistles , Stanley Cup challengers in 1903 and 1905 , become the professional Kenora Thistles , Stanley Challenge Cup Champions in 1907 , and usher hockey into the modern era. , Professionalism was in the wind. The first all Pro hockey league debuts in Houghton, Michigan in 1904. Rat Portage changes its name to Kenora in 1905, thanks to Mayor Horswill. The Thistles join the Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL) in 1906. They take the Stanley Cup from the Montreal Wanderers January 21, 1907 in a two game series. They defeat the Toronto Professionals in an exhibition game four days later. At the end of the season, national veteran Thistle star Tom Phillips, announces he will join any team that pays him $1800. He scores in Ottawa. His cohorts also accept big city offers or retire. Consequently the Thistles drop out of the MPHL in 1908. The Allan Cup is introduced in 1909 as the top prize for senior amateur teams. , Fred 'Cyclone' Taylor , hockey's first superstar , says: "The Thistles, by skating fast, turned the game wide open and every senior team in the country changed to that pleasing style."