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Junior Miners Research Paper

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During the 1955-56 Cape Breton Junior Hockey League (CBJHL) season, fans who can remember remark that the Glace Bay Junior Miners went from the “outhouse to the penthouse.” In the process, the team was fittingly dubbed the “Cinderella” Miners. The three-team CBJHL consisted of the Junior Miners, the Sydney Eastmount Millionaires and the Northside Franklins. Xavier Junior College of Sydney had started the campaign but later folded.

For the longest time, the Glace Bay club couldn’t win a game. Consequently, fan support at the Miners Forum was slipping. Finally, in December, the Miners defeated the Franklins 7-1, but the team went on another long losing streak. Finally, in mid-January, to no one’s surprise, the arena’s board of directors, which was the club’s sponsor, ended it’s association. …show more content…

On January 31, 1956, with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Junior Miners at long last won their second game. The regular season ended with the Millionaires in first place followed by the Northside. Bringing up the rear was Glace Bay who, according to reports, managed just two wins. All clubs, however, qualified for the postseason. More on the playoffs later.

A key performer for Glace Bay was Fred Courtney, originally from Donkin. In spite of playing for the cellar-dwelling Junior Miners, Courtney won the league scoring crown and did so in fine fashion. Heading into the team’s last regular-season contest at the Miners Forum, he trailed leader Greg MacIntosh of the Millionaires by five points. However, the flashy winger struck for a pair of goals and added four assists in a 11-9 loss to the Franklins to overtake MacIntosh by a single point. Not surprisingly, Courtney was voted the circuit’s MVP.

A little while back I had the privilege of sitting with Courtney at his kitchen table in Glace Bay, and he talked about the 1955-56 Junior

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