OHLArenaGuide
03-27-2006, 01:39 PM
I posted this on the OHL board and figured some of the folks here might be interested too:
The past few years have seen a couple of famous championship droughts in sports end. For the past two seasons the World Series champions in baseball have been the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox, both of whom had last won the title before the end of the First World War. Closer to home, much was made last season of the OHL's longest championship drought ending as the Knights won their first OHL title after forty years of trying. And since I'm avoiding work this afternoon and there's a Newfoundland spring blizzard going on outside, I decided to run some numbers and see what the longest championship droughts in the CHL are. For these purposes I have considered a franchise's history to "start over" when they move, i.e. that North Bay's 1994 title wouldn't count towards Saginaw.
The longest title droughts in the CHL:
1) 1964-65: Saskatoon Blades. Franchise granted 1964-65 as founding member of WHL. Team has never won the WHL title.
2) 1969-70: Shawinigan Cataractes. Team has never won Q title. Shawinigan is the only remaining member of the Q's original group of teams still playing in the same city.
3) 1972-73: Sudbury Wolves. Team won OHL and Memorial Cup as the Barrie Flyers, but has never won anything since moving to Sudbury from Niagara Falls in 1972.
4) 1973-74: Kingston Frontenacs. Franchise granted 1973-74, team has never won anything.
5) 1977-78: Seattle Thunderbirds. Team founded in 1977 as "Seattle Breakers", team was renamed to Thunderbirds in mid-80's and has never won the WHL.
6) 1979-80: Regina Pats. Team has won Memorial Cup and WHL numerous times, but 1979-80 was the most recent.
7) 1982-83: Drummondville Voltigeurs. Team granted in 1982 and has never won Q title.
8) 1984-85: Moose Jaw Warriors. Moved from Winnipeg where franchise was granted in 1980, franchise has never won WHL in either city.
I only went back twenty years because I figure anything less than that isn't really a "drought". The Windsor Spitfires are the next likely candidate to join the drought list; they haven't won the OHL since 1987-88.
The past few years have seen a couple of famous championship droughts in sports end. For the past two seasons the World Series champions in baseball have been the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox, both of whom had last won the title before the end of the First World War. Closer to home, much was made last season of the OHL's longest championship drought ending as the Knights won their first OHL title after forty years of trying. And since I'm avoiding work this afternoon and there's a Newfoundland spring blizzard going on outside, I decided to run some numbers and see what the longest championship droughts in the CHL are. For these purposes I have considered a franchise's history to "start over" when they move, i.e. that North Bay's 1994 title wouldn't count towards Saginaw.
The longest title droughts in the CHL:
1) 1964-65: Saskatoon Blades. Franchise granted 1964-65 as founding member of WHL. Team has never won the WHL title.
2) 1969-70: Shawinigan Cataractes. Team has never won Q title. Shawinigan is the only remaining member of the Q's original group of teams still playing in the same city.
3) 1972-73: Sudbury Wolves. Team won OHL and Memorial Cup as the Barrie Flyers, but has never won anything since moving to Sudbury from Niagara Falls in 1972.
4) 1973-74: Kingston Frontenacs. Franchise granted 1973-74, team has never won anything.
5) 1977-78: Seattle Thunderbirds. Team founded in 1977 as "Seattle Breakers", team was renamed to Thunderbirds in mid-80's and has never won the WHL.
6) 1979-80: Regina Pats. Team has won Memorial Cup and WHL numerous times, but 1979-80 was the most recent.
7) 1982-83: Drummondville Voltigeurs. Team granted in 1982 and has never won Q title.
8) 1984-85: Moose Jaw Warriors. Moved from Winnipeg where franchise was granted in 1980, franchise has never won WHL in either city.
I only went back twenty years because I figure anything less than that isn't really a "drought". The Windsor Spitfires are the next likely candidate to join the drought list; they haven't won the OHL since 1987-88.