Season 7 began with Duke Keats and Harry Trihey meeting for the opening faceoff between the league's two newest teams. The hometown Millionaires were commencing their fourth season of play, while the visiting Bearcats were suiting up for the very first time. It was truly a memorable contest!
Keats won that opening faceoff, but it was the expansion team that drew first blood. Just moments into the first period, Trihey fired a shot that netminder Hugh Lehman turned aside, but the puck ended up on the stick of defenseman Dickie Boon, who blasted it home for the first goal in franchise history. The Bearcats' lead was short-lived, however, as Millies captain Art Farrell tallied a shorthanded goal a few minutes later.
The score remained tied into the second period. Lehman was magnificent, and so too was rookie goaltender Hap Holmes of the Bearcats. He stymied a number of high-quality chances until a superb individual effort by former MVP Barney Stanley gave the home team its first lead of the night.
Both teams attacked furiously, but the keepers put on quite a show. As the minutes ticked away in the third, the Bearcats grew desperate. With under three to play, Boon flipped a pass to Ernie Russell, who wired a one-timer past Lehman to tie the game at two. For a moment, it looked like the expansion team might steal a point. Alas for the Bearcats, they'll have to wait at least one more game before they pick up that first point or two; less than a minute after Russell's goal, crafty veteran Harry Watson managed to sneak one past Holmes to give the Millies a 3-2 victory in the season's first game. It was a deflating finish for Holmes and the Bearcats, but there's a lot of hockey left to be played, lads!
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