CAHA president Al Pickard oversaw the playoffs in Western Canada. He supported a resolution where any radio station which broadcast a team's games during the regular season would not pay a premium for the additional playoffs games, and the appointment of Foster Hewitt as the national radio commissioner.[1] Pickard did not want to grant exclusive radio broadcast rights to any station, and the CAHA decided that only out-of-town radio stations would pay a broadcast fee for final games in the Allan Cup and Memorial Cup.[2]
The Western Canada playoffs during 1948 did not include any teams from the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association. CAHA vice-president Doug Grimston attributed the lack of interest to the difficulty of teams from British Columbia to be competitive.[3]
Pickard scheduled the seventh game of the Western Canada junior final at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, where the finals were also scheduled. CAHA by-laws at the time stated that a seventh game be played at a neutral site and the Winnipeg Amphitheatre was unavailable. The decision was criticized in Western Canada, and the Winnipeg Free Press charged that the CAHA was "doing anything for a profit".[4] Pickard responded that any money collected by the CAHA was contributed to the "good of hockey in Canada", and that approximately $78,000 of its annual $100,000 intake was reinvested into future development and covered travel expenses for teams during Allan Cup and Memorial Cup play.[4]
After game three of the final, Flyers' coach Hap Emms threatened that his team would not play the fourth game without a change of referees. Pickard declined to change the referees and the Bruins won the series in the fourth game.[5] Pickard suspended Flyers' player Alf Guarda two years for striking referee Vic Lindquist during game four, and condemned the behaviour of Emms and the team's failure to respect on-ice officials.[6]