Brian Chapman : My First Great Goalie

It was a lucky day for a rookie coach when a young freshman named Brian Chapman walked into my office in September of 1963. He wanted to know if I was interested in a good goalie for my newly acquired team, the Sir George Williams Maroons. Chappy was a colorful character, not your typical preppy college student on the Sir George campus. He was from a tough neighborhood in Toronto and it was the YMCA connection that attracted him to social studies in Montreal. I was to find out soo that he was quite the hockey player.

In his first season he led the young Maroons to an upset victory in the league finals and an even bigger upset over the senior league champs (University de Montreal) in the National Semi-Finals. He wore this lone ranger type mask that only covered his eyes and on one occasion the mask was more hinderance than help. In an exhibition game against the UdeM Caribins, he took a high shot which resulted in a 42 stitch gash around his eye. He was fearless and I'll never forget Chappy often challenging Ken MacRury, the hardest shooter on the team to try and scrore taking slapshots from about 15 feet in front of the net.

Chappy was a body builder and he was living at the YMCA next door to school. One day he came into my office to show me some great pictures one of the other residents at the Y had taken of him in various semi nude poses. I think I shook him up a little when I mentioned that the Y was a favorite place for males of the alternate lifestyle.

Chappy graduated in 1967, but he had to be one of the greatest goalies in our history. His 1st year he received honorable mention All Star in the National Championships...he was a Peranial League All-Star and was voted co-MVP with Bob Berry his final season. He led the Maroons and Georgians to four League and National Final appearances and he had to be one of my most unforgettable players.