Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters

For the Biltmore Mad Hatters of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, see Guelph CMC's.

The Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1940 to 1942, and 1947 to 1960. The team was often known as the "Biltmores" and sponsored by the Guelph Biltmore Hat Company, and played home games at the Guelph Memorial Gardens.

Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters
City	Guelph, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey Association
Operated	1940 (1940)-42 & 1947-1960
Home arena	Guelph Memorial Gardens
Parent club(s)	New York Rangers
Franchise history
1947-60	Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters
1960-63	Guelph Royals
1963-Present	Kitchener Rangers
Previous franchise history
1936-40	Guelph Indians
1940-42	Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters
Championships
Playoff championships	1952 Memorial Cup Champions

History

The Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters were a brief note in junior hockey history, but left an impression on the game during 13 years of operation. The team that was sponsored by a local manufacturer in the Royal City would capture a national championship, several provincial titles, and send four men on to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The team was founded as the Guelph Indians for the 1936-37 season. After four seasons, the Guelph Biltmore Hat Company became the team's sponsors. After two more seasons of play, the team was put on hiatus for World War II. The team was resurrected in 1947 as a farm team for the New York Rangers of the NHL and coached by former Rangers forward Alf Pike until the end of 1954. Eddie Bush, a former NHL defenceman, would take over the coaching duties from 1954 onwards.

The Biltmore Hat Company rewarded any player scoring three or more goals in one game the choice of hats at their factory, bringing new meaning to the term "hat trick."

After running into financial trouble in 1960, new ownership renamed the team the Guelph Royals, after the city's nickname. Three years later the team moved becoming the Kitchener Rangers, taking the name of the parent club from the NHL.

Championships

The Mad Hatters won the Memorial Cup in 1952 as national junior ice hockey champions of Canada, and the George Richardson Memorial Trophy as eastern Canadian champions the same year. Guelph won the J. Ross Robertson Cup three times as OHA champions.

J. Ross Robertson Cup

• 1942 Lost to Oshawa Generals
• 1950 Defeated Windsor Spitfires
• 1952 Defeated St. Catharines Teepees
• 1957 Defeated St. Catharines Teepees

Memorial Cup

• 1952 Defeated Regina Pats

George Richardson Memorial Trophy

• 1950 Lost to Montreal Junior Canadiens
• 1952 Defeated Montreal Junior Canadiens
• 1957 Lost to Ottawa Junior Canadiens

1952 Memorial Cup

The Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters played in the best-of-seven series for the Memorial Cup of 1952 versus the Regina Pats, the Abbott Cup champions of Western Canada hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan.

Guelph that year broke the OHA record for single season scoring with 341 goals in a 54-game schedule, which was 34 goals more than the previous mark. Ken Laufman set on OHA record at the time with 139 points. Guelph defeated the Montreal Junior Canadiens in a six-game series for the Eastern Canadian final.

The Mad Hatters won the first game on home ice at the Guelph Memorial Gardens by a score of 8 to 2. The rest of the series would be played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Guelph won the next two games 4 to 2 and 8 to 2. The Biltmores completed the series sweep in game four posting a 10 to 2 triumph to win the Memorial Cup.

Players

Four alumni of the Mad Hatters have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Andy Bathgate, Rod Gilbert, Harry Howell and Jean Ratelle. Players who also had impressive NHL careers are Dean Prentice and Ron Murphy.

Award winners

Red Tilson Trophy
Most Outstanding Player in the OHA

• 1955-1956 - Ron Howell

Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy
Scoring Champion of the OHA

• 1951-1952 - Ken Laufman, 139 points
• 1956-1957 - Bill Sweeney, 106 points

NHL alumni

• Paul Andrea
• Andy Bathgate
• Frank Bathgate
• Danny Belisle
• William Chalmers
• Wally Clune
• Jim Connelly
• Bob Cunningham
• Herb Dickenson
• Marc Dufour
• Lorne Ferguson
• Lou Fontinato
• Bruce Gamble
• Rod Gilbert
• Gerry Goyer
• Aldo Guidolin
• John Holota
• Harry Howell
• Ron Howell
• Al LeBrun
• Joe Levandoski
• Tony Licari
• Willie Marshall
• Clare Martin
• Shep Mayer
• Bill McCreary, Sr.
• Sandy McGregor
• Roland McLenahan
• Mike McMahon, Jr.
• Hillary Menard
• Ron Murphy
• Bob Plager
• Dean Prentice
• Jean Ratelle
• Leo Reise, Jr.
• Doug Robinson
• Leon Rochefort
• Eddie Shack
• Glen Sonmor
• Ron Stewart
• Bill Sweeney
• Gilles Villemure

Yearly results

Played as Guelph Indians, 1936-40.

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
1936-37	Data unavailable.
1937-38	Data unavailable.
1938-39	14	7	5	2	15	0.536	30	38	2nd Group 1
1939-40	20	10	8	2	22	0.550	88	61	4th OHA
1940-41	16	11	5	0	22	0.688	85	75	2nd OHA
1941-42	24	13	11	0	26	0.542	100	115	3rd OHA
1947-48	36	12	23	1	25	0.347	144	168	8th OHA
1948-49	48	20	26	2	42	0.438	169	221	7th OHA
1949-50	48	26	18	4	56	0.583	189	157	4th OHA
1950-51	54	31	16	7	69	0.639	256	194	3rd OHA
1951-52	54	37	13	4	78	0.722	341	197	2nd OHA
1952-53	56	22	32	2	46	0.411	212	244	7th OHA
1953-54	59	26	31	2	54	0.458	248	268	6th OHA
1954-55	49	32	15	2	66	0.673	211	158	2nd OHA
1955-56	48	25	20	3	53	0.552	262	195	3rd OHA
1956-57	52	37	12	3	77	0.740	237	143	1st OHA
1957-58	52	13	34	5	31	0.298	137	223	7th OHA
1958-59	54	23	18	13	59	0.546	220	226	3rd OHA
1959-60	48	19	21	8	46	0.479	197	185	6th OHA