1944 in Canadian football explained

The Hamilton Flying Wildcats were trying to defend their championship, but the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy team finished off a Cinderella season by returning the Grey Cup back to Montreal for the first time since 1931.^[1]

Canadian football news in 1944

The WIFU and the IRFU suspended operations for the duration of World War II.^[2]

In late August, the Winnipeg Rugby Club (aka Blue Bombers) suspended operations for the 1944 season. The team loaned its equipment to local high schools.^[3]

The Regina Roughriders disbanded in early October. Unlike the previous season, the 1944 Roughriders did not have servicemen available to the team. Regular practices were conducted but the team gave up on the season when they failed to recruit enough civilian men to field a team.^[4]

Regular season

Final regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points

Western Interprovincial Football Union

• NO LEAGUE PLAY

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union

• NO LEAGUE PLAY

Ontario Armed Services Football League! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts Hagersville RCAF Flying Tigers 6 4 1 1 74 46 9 Toronto HMCS York Bulldogs 6 4 2 0 80 54 8 Camp Borden RCAF Hurricanes 6 3 2 1 94 57 7 St. Thomas Hornets 6 0 6 0 18 109 0

Ontario Rugby Football Union! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts Hamilton Flying Wildcats 6 5 1 0 102 28 10 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 6 4 2 0 105 33 8 6 3 3 0 74 74 6 6 0 6 0 19 168 0

Quebec Rugby Football Union! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy 4 3 1 0 58 18 6 McGill 4 2 2 0 29 53 4 Verdun 4 1 3 0 17 33 2

• Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.

Manitoba Inter-Services Rugby League! Team !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! PF !! PA !! Pts No.3 Wireless School Bombers (Winnipeg) 4 4 0 0 58 16 8 No.1 Central Navigation School Pathfinders (Rivers) 4 3 1 0 62 16 6 Army Grenades (Camp Shilo) 4 2 2 0 53 47 4 No.18 Service Flying Training School Hurricanes (Gimli) 4 1 3 0 36 66 2 No.3 Bombing & Gunnery Mustangs (MacDonald) 4 0 4 0 12 76 0

Navy and Armed Services playoffs

• The Navy playoffs did not affect the Grey Cup playoffs. The Grey Cup was played between the ORFU winners (Hamilton) and the QRFU winners (St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy) despite the Toronto Navy team beating the QRFU champions. The OSFL did not participate in the Grey Cup playoffs.

Manitoba Inter-Services Rugby League

^[5]

^[6]

^[7]

• Bombers won the total-point series by 26-12. The MISRL did not compete for the Grey Cup.

Ontario Rugby Football League playoffs

• Hamilton will play the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy in the Grey Cup.

Grey Cup Championship

November 2532nd Annual Grey Cup Game A.A.A. Grounds - Hamilton, Ontario
St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy 7	Hamilton Flying Wildcats 6
St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy are the 1944 Grey Cup Champions

1944 Ontario Armed Services Football League All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.

• QB – LS Annis Stukus, Toronto Navy Bulldogs
• HB – LS Tom Waldon, Toronto Navy Bulldogs
• HB – LAC Ray Mullins, St. Thomas Hornets
• DB – LAC Doug Smylie, Hagersville RCAF Flying Tigers
• E – Sgt. Dick Groom, Hagersville RCAF Flying Tigers
• E – LS Al Upper, Toronto Navy Bulldogs
• FW – Sgt. Doug Pyzer, Camp Borden RCAF Hurricanes
• C – F/O Jake Gaudaur, Camp Borden RCAF Hurricanes
• G – LS Hank McMahon, Toronto Navy Bulldogs
• G – Cpl. Fred Lamoureaux, Hagersville RCAF Flying Tigers
• T – Flt. Lt. Mike Ozarko, Camp Borden RCAF Hurricanes
• T – F/O Al Langford, Hagersville RCAF Flying Tigers

1944 Canadian Football Awards

• Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (IRFU MVP) – no award given due to World War II
• Imperial Oil Trophy (ORFU MVP) - Joe Krol - Hamilton Wildcats

Notes and References

1. Web site: Grey Cup Memories: 1944. 2005-11-05. CFL.ca. en. 2019-10-12.
2. Web site: CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005). footballcanada.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170109113533/http://footballcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/FootballTimelines.pdf. 9 January 2017. 11 October 2019.
3. http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/WPT/1944/08/25/articles/125.pdf/iarchives{{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
4. http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/WPT/1944/10/03/articles/132.xml/iarchives?query=roughriders%2BAND%2Bdoctype%3Anewspapers%2BAND%2Byear%3A1944{{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
5. Web site: Casinos & Gambling in Manitoba.
6. Web site: The Winnipeg Evening Tribune 30-OCT-1944 : Digital Resources on Manitoba History . manitobia.ca . 6 June 2022 . https://archive.today/20130219195757/http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/WPT/1944/10/30/articles/183.xml/iarchives . 19 February 2013 . dead.
7. Web site: The Winnipeg Evening Tribune 13-NOV-1944 : Digital Resources on Manitoba History . manitobia.ca . 6 June 2022 . https://archive.today/20130219190100/http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/WPT/1944/11/13/articles/127.xml/iarchives . 19 February 2013 . dead.