2022 Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame class
Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame inductee Chris Johnstone is shown with his son Carson during one of his many coaching stints in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. BPSN file photo.
The Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame will grow by 11 individuals and one team when the annual induction ceremony is held this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Gale Centre.
Because of the pandemic, there was no induction ceremony held last year so this year’s ceremony will include the 2021 and 2022 inductees.
Today, BPSN will look at the 2022 class made up of Kevin Dallman, Chris (Scoot) Johnstone, Felix (Gus) Mancuso, Deborah Toth, Cristina Marie Formica-Matesa and the Niagara Falls Anglicans Women’s Basketball Team.
KEVIN DALLMAN (Athlete)
Dallman spent two seasons with the Niagara Falls Canucks junior B hockey team before enjoying four wildly successful seasons with the Guelph Storm where he scored 69 goals and 191 assists. His top season was 201-02 when he recorded 23 goals and 86 points.
Undrafted, he was signed by the Boston Bruins and played three seasons with the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins. He made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins in 2005-06 and played 21 games that season before being traded to the St. Louis Blues where he had 13 points in 46 games. After suiting up for 34 games with the Los Angeles Kings in 2007-08, he joined the KHL the following year and spend 11 years in Russia. Playing for Barys Astana and SKA Saint Petersburg, he netted 135 goals and 395 points in 564 KHL games. He retired in 2019.
CHRIS JOHNSTONE (Builder)
Johnstone had 20- and 30-goal seasons with the Niagara Falls Canucks before signing to play scholarship hockey at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In four seasons with RIT, Johnstone amassed 114 goals and 250 points. Johnstone led the team in scoring with 60 points in the 1982-83 season as the squad won a NCAA Division 2 championship. The team was inducted into the RIT hall of fame in 2018.
When his hockey career ended, Johnstone had a long and successful coaching career, influencing many lives and helping more than 100 players reach the NHL level. Many cite their time with him as an important part of their development. He coached most of the Golden Horseshoe teams in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League and served as coach and co-general manager with the Niagara Falls Thunder/Erie Otters. He also coached in the OHL with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
This season, Johnstone is an assistant coach with the Niagara Falls Canucks.
FELIX (GUS) MANCUSO (Athlete)
Mancuso played three seasons with the Niagara Falls Cataracts in the Ontario Hockey Association and one season with the Cataracts at the OHA senior level before embarking on a long professional career, highlighted by NHL stints with the Montreal Canadiens (26 games over three seasons) and the New York Rangers (21 games in the 1941-42 season). With the Rangers, he had an impressive six goals and 14 points.
His other pro stops included stints with the Hershey Bears, New Haven Eagles, Providence Reds, Hollywood Wolves and Los Angeles Monarchs. In 268 minor pro games, he notched 68 goals and 181 points. His top year was a 27-goal season with the Wolves in 1946-47.
DEBORAH TOTH (Builder)
Toth has taught martial arts for 37 years to athletes ages four to 102 and has been the owner of The Martial Arts Centre since 1992. Through her business, she donated hundreds of free memberships and created a martial arts scholarship fund to assist kids with membership fees, tournament and equipment costs and special event fees.
She was an assistant coach with Team Canada in 2000.
Toth developed street self-defense programs for women across Canada and North America and a chair Tai Chi programs for seniors.
Toth was also active in the community, founding the Niagara Region International Women’s Day and the Strike Out Violence Bowling Tournament for three Niagara women’s shelters.
CRISTINA MARIE FORMICA-MATESA
Before joining the Brock Badgers women’s soccer team, Formica-Matesa was a member of teams that won an Ontario Cup and Ontario Summer Games’ gold medal in 1988.
She played for Brock from 2003 until 2006 and her individual honours included: serving as team captain in 2006 and 2006, team MVP in 2006; Ontario University Athletics First Team All-Star in 2005, Canadian Interuniversity Sports All-Star in 2005; and, CIS First Team All Canadian in 2005.
She has also coached at the high school level in the Niagara Catholic District School Board and served as an assistant coach with the Brock women from 2016 until 2018.
NIAGARA FALLS ANGLICANS (Team)
The Niagara Falls Anglicans women’s basketball team won the 1936 Ontario championship with a 27-26 victory over the Toronto Silverthorns.
The team advanced to the championship game in Niagara Falls with several tough victories over teams from other Ontario regions.
