The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2002, Page 28

112
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 57 #3
centrate and go home and practice what he
had seen the elders doing in the hockey
games from that time. Frank from the very
beginning was a “winner,” and the rink
that his father built for him and the lads of
the neighbourhood was one of the
strongest factors in his early hockey educa-
tion.
The Icelanders Combine - In 1909
Winnipeg was beginning to shake off its
small town feelings and was rapidly blos-
soming into a big city. It was then that the
Icelandic boys decided to bury the hatchet
and combine to wage a joint war against the
other leagues and teams in the city that
were rapidly coming into being. So the
Falcon Hockey Club, a combination of
both older clubs, came into being at a meet-
ing held in the home of Big Sam Johnson
on Portage Avenue West. Emil Goodman,
veteran of many a hockey battle himself,
was the sponsor of the name “Falcon.” In
1910-11 along with the Monarchs,
Winnipegs, Kenora and Brandon, the
Falcons formed the Manitoba Independent
League and played intermediate hockey.
The First Falcon Line-up - The original
Falcons found George Johannesson in the
net, Connie Benson and Steve Dalman in
front at point and cover-point; Bill
Halderson, rover; and Ole Erickson, Allan
Johannesson and Steve Finnson on the for-
ward line rounding out a team which fin-
ished the season tied with the famous
Monarchs. Hopes for entering the City
League by virtue of a play-off were rudely
shattered when the Monarchs were pro-
moted into the City Senior League.
Disappointed, but undaunted, the
Falcons aided in maintaining an
Independent League comprised of them-
selves, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk and the
Winnipeg A.A.A.. In this manner the
Icelandic Club pioneered senior hockey
embracing teams from outside the city and
continued in this attitude throughout the
next several years, always with the ultimate
aim of gaining entry into the (Winnipeg)
J3j£M

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