[legendsport]

April 4, 1921: Vancouver, BC:

Jack Barrell trudged down the tunnel of the Yeadon Arena, weary to the bone, with a gash above his (blackened) left eye, his brain aswirl with a mixture of high emotion.

The Toronto Dukes had just won the Challenge Cup!

For Jack, the 1920-21 hockey season had been a rollercoaster ride. It started off strangely when the Dukes "loaned" him to the struggling Quebec Champlains. Though Bert Thomas had personally assured Jack that this had nothing to do with his baseball career - and in fact this came on the heels of Jack informing Thomas that he was ending his flirtation with baseball - Jack felt that this was indeed punishment for his past transgressions.

That loan turned out to be a one-game affair. Jack, angry and bitter, had played like a demon in his lone game with the Champs, scoring twice in a wild affair with the Montreal Valiants, and helping Quebec earned what would turn out to be a rare victory. In the locker room after the game, Jack had received word that the Dukes would be reclaiming him immediately.

Still angry, Jack dominated the NAHC for the balance of the season. He scored 32 goals - two for Quebec and 30 more for Toronto, by far the best tally of his young career (he was still merely 22 years old), and finished third in the league behind Ottawa's Charlie Oliphant and Montreal's Gevis Murphy, both of whom were established stars and both of whom had totaled 33 goals apiece.

His all-out assault took a toll on his body. Several times that season he awakened the morning after a particularly grueling game to find he could barely climb out of bed. Marie, visibly concerned, pleaded with him to take it easy. But Jack had discovered a fire within that had been stoked by what he felt was a grievous slight at the hands of Bert Thomas and the Dukes management, and he was determined to make them see just how good he could be. And though he had left baseball in his past, he began to consider taking Joe up on his offer to play football in Chicago.

The 24-game NAHC season came to a close in early March and by then Jack had removed any doubt about his ability to carry a team. The guys he looked up to - Cal Oliphant (brother of Charlie) and Ben Scheer, now saw him in a new light. The trio of star forwards, along with defensman Philippe Boutin accounted for 80 of Toronto's 96 goals scored and the Scheer-Oliphant-Barrell line was dubbed the "SOB Line" because they made opponents cry (or according to some less friendly opponents, because the players were "merciless sons of #$@%!s").

Even with their top line tearing up the league, the Dukes couldn't quite escape the shadow of the NAHC's pre-eminent franchise: the Ottawa Athletics. Both teams finished with identical 15-9 records and the league declared that there would be, for the first time in its history, a playoff to determine the NAHC champion.

Toronto won both games, and Jack continued to play stellar hockey as he scored five goals in those two games. The victory over their nemesis sent Toronto to the Challenge Cup playoff with the champions of the Transcontinetal Hockey Association - the Vancouver Pacifics.

Jack had nearly played in the TCHA himself - only his genetic pre-disposition for "fair play" keeping him bound to then-owner Jack Connolly's Toronto club and the NAHC. Connolly was gone, but not forgotten with rumors swirling about a new US-based league he was attempting to start, but Jack was now heading to Vancouver regardless.

The train ride across Canada was a long one. Jack spent many hours playing cards with his team mates (Oliphant, for one, was addicted to poker - and unfortunately for him, not particularly good at it), enjoying the brief stops in places he'd never been (including Winnipeg, a place Connolly had wanted him to play, once upon a time) as the train crossed through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta before finally reaching British Columbia.

Vancouver itself was beautiful and Jack briefly mused on his decision - deciding he might have liked playing in the TCHA very well indeed.

Jack entered the chaotic locker room, and his thoughts returned to the present - his team was celebrating and there was Oliphant, standing in the middle of the chaos, holding the Cup. The locker room attendant was wheeling in a cart laden with champagne - no Prohibition in Canada - and Jack grinned widely as he watched.

"Not too shabby, Jack," said a familiar voice behind him.

"Pop?" Jack said as he turned in surprise. Sure enough, his father was standing there, with his ubiquitous grin plastered on his face. He stepped forward and threw his arms around his son. "I'm so happy - and proud," he said, and when he leaned back from the embrace, Jack saw that his father's eyes glistened with moisture.

"Wow, Pop - what in the world are you doing here?" Jack asked, still too stunned to come up with anything else to say.

His father laughed and said, "Come on, you're the first member of the family to play for a professional championship - did you think I'd miss it?"

Jack's head was spinning. Vancouver was a long, long way from his father's office in Washington, DC.

"Plus, I can have a drink without feeling like a criminal," his father added and pulled a bottle of beer from his jacket pocket.

Now Jack was laughing too.

Rufus peered closely at the cut above Jack's eye. "Good thing your mother's not here. That's quite a cut... and a shiner to boot. She'd be reading you the riot act right about now..."

Jack bobbed his head in agreement. "She doesn't get it. This..." he pointed at his eye, "is part and parcel of playing hockey."

Rufus put his hand on Jack's arm and said, "She'll always see you as a little boy. I do too, sometimes..."

Jack hugged his father again. "It's so good to see you Pop!"

A moment later Jack was sputtering... someone (it turned out to have been Ben Scheer) had dumped a bottle of champagne - chilled at that - over his head. Oliphant was there too, pushing the Cup into Jack's hands.

"Take this lady for a spin around the room," Cal told him. "She's been playing hard to get for so long..."

Jack felt tears come to his eyes as he grasped the silver cup. All the hard work, the slights - real and perceived - and the grueling five-game series just completed against a very, very tough opponent. All the effort and emotion spent... ultimately, he thought as he closed his eyes, it was just... oh, so worth it to have this moment.