Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.
During the season of 1940-41, the Ontario Juvenile Hockey Association and the Bantam and Midget Organization amalgamated to form the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA). By 1953 it became the largest minor hockey association in the world.
This talented group of young Orillia Legion hockey players won the OMHA Bantam A Minor League Championship in 1953, beating out Woodstock to win the President’s Trophy.
To advance to the finals Orillia had to compete with teams from Brampton, Lindsay, Midland, Owen Sound, Port Colborne, Waterloo and Woodstock. Orillia was the first team to win the President’s Trophy. That same year the Orillia Midget A minor team went to the finals, losing to the Port Colborne Lions in a hard-fought series.
It is interesting to note that in the 1952-53 season the small community of Coldwater was equally aggressive with its winter sports program with two teams entered in the OMHA.
The Coldwater Midget D team played in a 34-team loop and the Bantam D team competed with 23 teams from as far away as Apsley and Lucan.
