CUAC athletes were among the city’s best

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/11/2020 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

My last Memories of Sport column examined the history of the Canadian Ukrainian Athletic Club, which made a major impact on sports in Winnipeg from 1925 into the ’70s.

This week, some of the best individuals and teams who represented the North End organization will be recognized.  

The senior men’s baseball team coached and managed by Stan and Nick Shaley had great success in the early 1940s, winning the city championship four straight years. The team also won four more titles between 1947 and 1954. In addition to Stan Shaley, those with connections to CUAC who have been inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame include Jack Raleigh, Harry Barchuk, Peter Thomson and Barry Swanton.  

On the ice, CUAC entered the North Division of the junior hockey league in 1939 and the juvenile league in 1941. The hockey program later was expanded with midget and bantam A and B teams. Johnny Arondeus, a Manitoba Lacrosse HOF coach, was a leading scorer in the first two junior seasons. Cal Gardner started the 1941 season with the juveniles before moving up to the juniors, and Nick Mickoski played in 1944-45, the junior team’s last season. Both went on to play in the NHL and be inducted into the Manitoba Hockey HOF. The 1944-45 team was coached by Walter Monson, who led Winnipeg Monarchs to the Canadian junior championship the next season.

CUAC won provincial midget and bantam B hockey championships in 1957 and took another midget title in 1967 by beating the Flin Flon Bombers. On Facebook, golf pro Sandy Kurceba, and Dan Johnson, a founder of Special Olympics Manitoba, have both commented about the intense competition their community club hockey teams had with CUAC during the 1960s. Kurceba remembered the battles between his Bronx Park team from East Kildonan and CUAC and remarked on the ability of Wayne Chernecki, one of the best multi-sport athletes to come out of the North End.

Johnson, whose River Heights Cardinals beat CUAC for the city juvenile championship in 1967, described every game as “a death match.” Johnson scored five goals in the 4-1 and 4-3 victories. He said that his team had “great respect” for the CUAC players. The teams were coached by two future Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame inductees, Ross Parke for River Heights and Greg Lacomy for CUAC.

In 1968, CUAC won its first juvenile championship by beating Orioles from the West End for the city title and then Brandon for the provincial crown. The lineup included Gerald Barron, Steve Klowak, Ray Boyko, Barry Presley, Barry Field, Steve Kraichy and goalies Dave Shewchuk and Mike Makar. In 1969, CUAC lost to Northwood, a North End rival, in the semi-finals. Kraichy said that most of the players on both teams attended Sisler High School, so the next day at school wasn’t a good one for the losers. In the city final, Northwood lost to Orioles, who then took the province over Brandon.

Twenty women who wore CUAC Blues colours have been inducted into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame. Alumni Olive (Bend) Little, Evelyn (Wawryshyn) Moroz, Mary Shastal and Doris Shero also played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Along with Shero, Lesia Dowhanyk and Elva Waslyk starred when the senior girls won the provincial basketball championship in 1949. Manitoba Sports HOF honoured builder Harold Mauthe, who coached girls basketball at CUAC early in his coaching career.

Manitoba Hockey HOF president Don Kuryk, who played at CUAC, recently stopped by the Sinclair Park Community Centre at Church Avenue and Arlington Street. He said no CUAC memorabilia was on display in the club’s former facility.

Can anyone tell us what happened to it?

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com