The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2002, Page 25

Vol. 57 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
109
matched them at almost every turn and still
retained the extra ounce of punch and the
confidence that the winning habit instills.
Young Jack Swanson rushed along the
right wing and was sent hurling by a solid
body check from big Henry Thompson.
Knocked unconscious at the moment his
head struck the fence, Jack fell back, his
head coming in contact with the ice with
such force as to put him out for half an
hour and opening a cut requiring seven
stitches. Byron, Snidal and Peterson swept
down the ice time after time but could not
pierce the Viking defence, and the great net
minding of Fred Olsen was just enough to
turn the tide in the Vikings’ favour. Their
forwards working with the determination
that would not brook defeat, the team
finally came through with the win.
While they did not succeed in winning
the league once, great credit is due the IAC
Club for their continuing endeavours and
persistance, year after year, in striving for
the elusive victory.
After the 1902 season, the old-timers of
the original IAC and Viking teams hung up
their sticks and interest lagged. It was some
two years later before the old feud was
revived with the IACs turning out winners
of the Hanston Trophy on the ice in the
1905-6 season. But from then until 1909
there were many repetitions of the former
famous duels. Readers may recollect the
names of some of the players of that peri-
od. Defence stars were Sam Laxdal and
Steve Dalman.The latter was able to take
more punishment in the scant protection of
hockey outfits of that day than possibly
any man now playing hockey. In goal one
of Slim Halderson’s brothers, John, played
a mighty good game while two other
brothers, Bill, at rover and Chris, at left
wing almost made the team a family affair.
Alex Johnson was a good forward and Eric
Jorundson, left wing, and the writer at cen-
tre provided two ambitious youngsters
eager to live up to the reputation of the
team. “Baldy” Walter Wilson played with
the Vikings of that time, although he also
played later with the IAC.
An outstanding player for courage and
stamina was “Ole” Erickson. He suffered
one of the few major injuries ever incurred
by a hockey player in Manitoba. During a
game with Brandon, a player accidentally
struck him in the face with his stick. Ole
skated over to Bill Halderson and asked,
“what is the matter with my eye, Bill?”
When he left the ice his plight was not
made known to his team mates, but in the
dressing room afterwards we felt that a
tragedy was being enacted. True enough,
we found out later Ole had had his eye
gouged out. Another example of this
courageous player was that of playing
throughout the game with a clean fracture
of his little finger without telling a single
person about it.
“Cully” and His Pro-Career - It
was in this two-team Icelandic
league that “Cully” Wilson began
his hockey career. Later when he
joined the Monarchs, after serving
with the Vikings and the Falcons,
Cully played a brilliant rugged game
and soon drew the attention of the
professional moguls. He was one of
the first of all local players to join
the monied ranks afield and he
served for some sixteen years with
great distinction with professional
clubs from coast to coast. He runs a
mighty close race for the title of the
most bescarred of all players, but
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