I’ve been watching Ron MacLean on television for more than 25 years. A couple of years ago, I got in touch with him for a segment I was doing for my book The Big Book of Hockey for Kids. He was very friendly and extremely helpful, not to mention very complimentary of my past work!

When I found out in October that Owen Sound would be a host city for one of the Sunday night broadcasts of Hometown Hockey, I got in touch with Ron, and while it was already too late to produce a full segment for the broadcast, I have stayed in contact and he and producer Travis Formosa invited me to come on the air for a very quick discussion of the 1924 Memorial Cup champion Owen Sound Greys, which took place during the second-period intermission of last night’s game.

(Thank you to James Milks for the photograph.)

I had never actually met Ron in person until last night, and I must say that he could not have been nicer. As I said to him (and I hope this doesn’t embarrass him), it’s always a treat when the people you admire turn out to be even nicer in “real life” than you imagined they would be.

The story I had originally pitched to Ron was about the fact that so many of the 1924 Greys had actually grown up in Owen Sound. Three of them (future NHLers Butch Keeling and Teddy Graham, plus star goalie Hedley Smith, who was just 16 years old in 1924) grew up within a few blocks of each other on the same street. All three attended the Victoria School (which was also on the same street), and were all coached by Henry Kelso (for whom Kelso beach in Owen Sound is named … and who also lived on the same street!).

(Butch Keeling is in the center of the back row; Teddy Graham is seated to the left in the middle; Hedley Smith has the pads on in front; Cooney Weiland is to Smith’s left as you look at the photo.)

But watching the broadcast before I arrived at the “truck” it was obvious that the story we had to tell was just how ravenously the fans of Owen Sound had supported the Greys back in 1924. Huge crowds turned out in the streets during the playoffs to get the scores of the game by telegraph outside the local newspaper office, and a crowd of 8,000 (in a town of 12,000) turned out to greet the team in a parade from the CNR train station a few blocks to the Market Square. The old newspaper reports are quite remarkable.

Those who saw the broadcast last night know that I had to talk pretty fast to get the story in! So, here are some things I did not get to discuss:

– The Greys were 22-2-2 during the 1923-24 season.
– one of their losses and both of their ties came in the second game of total-goal series when they already had big leads after the first game.
– The Greys were the only team in their division in the 64-team OHA junior circuit in 1923-24, and played exhibition games against other OHA teams all season before embarking on the regional playoffs.
– Ralph “Cooney” Weiland was one of the few non-locals on the team, coming to Owen Sound in 1922 to attend school. He led the team with 68 goals in 25 games!
– Butch Keeling had 62 goals in 26 games.
-The Greys outscored their opponents 204-69 during the season.
– They defeated the Calgary Canadians to win the Memorial Cup in a two-game series played in Winnipeg, winning the first 5-3 and tying the second 2-2 to take the series 7-5.
– Hedley Smith faced 49 shots in the second game, stopping all 24 he faced in the third period alone to preserve the victory. (I mentioned that last night, but it’s worth repeating!)