Norm Fullum and Mike Figliomeni agree on at least one thing – the Allan Cup feels a lot heavier these days.
But the memories of winning the coveted trophy have yet to fade, decades after each player captured the nation’s senior hockey title with the Thunder Bay Twins.
Fullum was a member of the fabled 1985 team that stormed back in the national final from three games down to knock off the Corner Brook Royals four games to three, possibly the finest moment in the city's long and fabled hockey history.
“They had all the booze and the celebration parties wherever you went. They were going to sweep us, so that gave us incentive to fight harder and dig deeper. We played great as a team and we came back,” he said.
On Sunday morning the trophy was front and centre once again in Thunder Bay, at a breakfast honouring the city’s record 10 championship teams.
Fullum, who also won the Allan Cup in 1984, said at the time, the players had no idea the legacy they were leaving behind.
“Back then we weren’t thinking this far down the line. We played as a team and it was the heart that everybody had,” he said. “The fighters we had weren’t fighting, so we didn’t get stupid penalties and that kind of stuff.
“We had to dig in and play one shift at a time and win one game at a time. That was the comeback.”
Figliomeni’s championship run, which included a quarterfinal win over the Theoren Fleury-led Horse Lake Thunder, was almost as unlikely.
Fourteen years after the Twins disbanded in 1991, a rag-tag bunch of players joined forces under the Thunder Bay Bombers banner, downing the Montmagny Seninelles 4-3 in the championship game, the last time a local team brought home the Allan Cup.
Derek Levanen scored the overtime winner that delivered the title, a moment Figliomeni will never forget.
“Everyone just felt the excitement. It wasn’t a long season for us. We only played a few games and it was a major upset, but were very happy,” he said.
It was all about carrying on a proud tradition that earlier led to Allan Cup wins in 1925, 1926 1939, 1975, 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1989.
“We’re younger than the rest of them, but we still remember the drive for five and the Fort William Gardens being packed when the Twins played,” Figlomeni said. “We were all fans of the Twins. We ended up with the Bombers name, but we felt we were still Twins.”
Bill MacDonald, the present day coach of the Lakehead Thunderwolves, won Allan Cups three times as a player and coached two more teams to titles.
“Back then it was the real deal, especially for me,” MacDonald said, adding they might have taken it for granted at the time.
“Let me tell you, the Thunder Bay Twins back in those days had some pretty good teams, the caliber of maybe being able to compete in the American Hockey League. All the guys were great and we probably didn’t know this era was happening. It just happened so (well) and it was just an ordinary thing. The Twins were good and that’s the way it was.’
Local legend Dave Siciliano was a member of the 1975 team, a squad that spent five years trying to recapture senior hockey glory and the city’s first championship in more than three decades.
It all came together in 1975.
“The big test came against Barrie. It was the second game, where we beat them in Barrie, when the team said, ‘You know what, we can win, we can beat these guys,’” Siciliano said.
“Of course at home, we were very strong, 5,000 people in the rink each night. We made no mistakes when we got home. It was a big win, because as you can see, it didn’t happen again until ’84.”
The Allan Cup is on display on Sunday afternoon at Prince Arthur’s Landing, part of the Rogers Hometown Hockey celebrations.
