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1957-58 Dutch Evers Memorial Trophy Presented to Bev Bentley
Displayed is the 1957-58 Dutch Evers Memorial Trophy presented to goalie Bev Bentley. The namesake of the aforementioned trophy, Merlin "Dutch" Evers, was born in 1915, and he was a 5'8" winger from Goodwater, Saskatchewan, in Western Canada, who played in the local Weyburn Farmer's League with the Goodwater Eskimos hockey team. When he played in the Farmers League in the 1930s, a local writer termed Dutch, "...the best bald-headed back-checker in the loop...stays in the rough company with the big boys." Evers eventually advanced in hockey leagues and played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League in the 1949-50 playoff finals for his New Westminster Royals as his New Westminster team won the play-offs, and the Phil Henderson Cup, over Los Angeles. In October of 1950, Evers was driving with three teammates when he was in a crash that proved fatal to him, and the Dutch Evers Memorial Trophy was created in his name. The trophy honors the annual player of distinction on the New Westminster squad. Bev Bentley was a goalie who played hockey from 1943-67 and is now 95 years old. He played for 14 different teams in six hockey leagues. He achieved his highest distinction when he played in the Western Hockey League for teams that included the Seattle Bombers, the Saskatoon Quakers, the Vancouver Canucks and the New Westminster Royals. Bentley comes from a famous hockey family, the Bentleys. The Bentleys were part of a family of 13 children, and they lived on a farm in Delisle, Saskatchewan. Their father told the boys that milking the cows on the farm would give them strong wrists for hockey, and the father also told the boys, all small, that "If they can't hit you, they can't hurt you," and all of the brothers avoided the physical play of bigger opponents by becoming superior stickhandlers and skaters. Five brothers from the family played together on the famous Drumheller Miners senior amateur team, and three of the brothers - Reg, Doug, and Max Bentley, played in the NHL. In the 1942-43 season, with the Chicago Black Hawks, the three brothers became the first set of brothers to become a line in the NHL. Max Bentley is a Hall of Fame center who played 13 NHL seasons for Chicago, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New York Rangers, and he scored 245 goals and 544 points. Max led the NHL in scoring twice, won a Hart Trophy as MVP, and was a 3-time Stanley Cup winner. Hall of Famer Doug Bentley was a left-winger who played 13 NHL seasons in the NHL, with the Chicago Black Hawks and the New York Rangers. He was a 4-time All-Star who led in points and goals in 1942-43 and in goals in 1943-44. Reg Bentley was a winger who played in 11 games in his one NHL season, with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1942-43, but he was able to be a part of the league's first all-brother line. Bev is the son of Ray Bentley, one of the five brothers on the Drumheller squad, and Bev is the nephew of Reg, Doug and Max. The Dutch Evers Memorial Trophy stands 7.25" tall and it has a base diameter of approx. 3.5". On the base of the trophy is imprinted, "Dutch Evers Memorial Trophy Player of Distinction Bev Bentley 1957-58." The trophy is in excellent condition. The Bentley family connection makes the trophy a point of interest in any collection.
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