Allan Cup Champions, representing Canada at the 1962 World Championships

The city’s first Canadian senior hockey championship was won by the Galt Terriers, who peaked at exactly the right time under unusual circumstances.

The team was based at Galt Arena Gardens, a venerable rink that had seen outstanding hockey in years past, including some talented Jr. A franchises (the Galt Red Wings and the Galt Blackhawks), as well as the Preston Rivulettes womens team).

Their 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Maroons at Galt Arena Gardens on April 26, 1961, secured the coveted Allan Cup for a team in only its second year of existence.

That win was the Terriers 19th in their final 20 games of the 1960- 61 season. The Terriers had defeated the pennant-winning Windsor Bulldogs in four straight games to bring the city its first OHA cham- pionship since 1921. They defeated first the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA) champions, Rouyn- Noranda Alouettes, and then the Maritime champion Amherst Ramblers, without losing a single game, en route to the Canadian finals.

Fan support, which had been a problem during the regular season, was exceptional as the Terriers advanced throughout the post-season, with close to 40,000 spectators in attendance at Galt Arena throughout the playoffs.

All of this was accomplished by a team which, during the regular season, frequently played road games with as few as 10 or 11 players. Most remarkable of all was the fact that the Terriers could play so well after being forced into a 23-day layoff when other teams folded just before the playoffs.

The Galt Terriers, as Allan Cup winners, were selected to represent Canada at the 1962 World Championships in Colorado Springs, where they finished second to Sweden.

In attendance for part of the championships was American president John F. Kennedy.

This Terrier organization and the success it had would form the backbone of a highly successful Cambridge Hornets organization in the ensuing decade.