The Memorial Cup: A History

[nivek_wahs]

1983 continued...

Yaremchuk and Turcotte each had three goals and two assists for Portland, with Heath adding two goals and Kromm and Sasser getting one apiece.
Don Biggs, Schmidt, MacLean, Cirella and Greg Gravel replied for Oshawa.
Just like that, Portland was guaranteed a spot in the final a week hence. And Lethbridge's hopes were done like burnt toast.
"Our motivation last year was to get to the Memorial Cup,” Hodge said. "This year our objective all along has been to win the Memorial Cup.
"We've known for some time that we'd get a bye into this series, so the loss to Lethbridge in the league final wasn't as bad as it seemed. We knew we'd have another chance to prove we're the best junior hockey team in Canada . . . and the United States.”
Lethbridge gained a measure of revenge on May 9 when it hammered the Winter Hawks 9-3 in front of 8,811 fans.
"Tonight, you saw the way our hockey club played and beat Portland in the Western Hockey League final,” Chapman said. "I think we showed the other two teams, if they were watching, how to beat Portland with good forechecking.”
Ron Sutter scored three times for the Broncos, with Kyle scoring twice. Singles came from Ruff, McEwan, Rouse and Loney.
Terry Jones, Turcotte and Heath scored for the Winter Hawks.
"You can compare Yaremchuk and Ron Sutter all you want,” Chapman said. "In head-to-head competition over the five-game final Sutter outscored Yaremchuk 12-1. That should tell you why it wouldn't have mattered if he played tonight or not.”
The Ron Sutter versus Yaremchuk siuation had turned into something of a sideshow.
Yaremchuk had taunted several of the Broncos after they were beaten by Verdun. After that came reports that Yaremchuk had been threatened by Lethbridge team personnel.
The Winter Hawks knew going into the game against Lethbridge that they would play in the final, so they sat out Yaremchuk and Vernon, claiming both were injured, the former with a sore thigh, the latter with a sore neck.
"We're the better team and we've proved it by winning five of the last six games against Portland,” Chapman continued.
As for Hodge, he said: "Yaremchuk is vital to our team and it was my decision, not anyone else's, to rest him. Players threaten other players every game in junior hockey. It's a fact of life.
"Verbal intimidation had nothing to do with sitting out Yaremchuk. I'm proud of the effort by my team. They also played with a lot of class under the circumstances.”
In the end, the Broncos didn't get much support from the fans.
"We showed a lot of class tonight by playing good, sound hockey and not getting into any brawls,” Chapman offered. "It's too bad the Portland fans weren't the same. They should remember that we're from the west, too, and represent the same league.”
None of this sat very well with WHL president Ed Chynoweth.
"I'm disappointed that this sort of thing happened because we're putting on a good showcase here,” Chynoweth said.
All of this meant that Oshawa and Verdun would play the tournament's next two games -- the first would be the final round-robin game, the second would be the semifinal game.
The Generals won the first of those games 5-1 on May 10 before 5,764 fans. The game featured 40 penalties totalling 141 minutes.
"Verdun won quite handily in the Quebec league,” Theriault said. "I don't think intimidation is a very sound game plan.
"We were a better team tonight than Verdun, but we'll have to prove again Thursday that we're the better team.”
The Generals spent much of the night trying to soften up Verdun.
"It's been our observation that Verdun has a lot of speed,” Theriault said. "If you give them the ice, they're going to burn you.
"The reason we're here is because we're a good checking team. When you play a team like that, if you don't finish your checks and cut their ice down, they're going to beat you.
"That means being physical on the puck, physical along the boards and in the corners. If we're not going to beat them in the middle, we have to beat them along the boards and in the corners.”
Gravel, Dave Gans, Todd Hooey, MacLean and Todd Charlesworth scored for Oshawa, with LaFontaine getting Verdun's lone goal.
Verdun was hurt by illness -- LaFontaine spent part of the day at a hospital being treated for allergies.
"We beat teams all year in our league who tried to put us out with checking,” Creamer said. "We'll concentrate on scoring more goals Thursday.”
After taking a day off, the two teams met again on May 12, with the winner advancing to the final against Portland.
Again, the Generals were triumphant, this time by a 7-5 count before 5,173 fans.
Oshawa trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the first period before roaring back to the victory.
"This is something like the 85th game of the season and I can't recall us ever coming out that flat,” Theriault said. "I've never had to concern myself with the players' desire to win.
"Tonight it was a physiological thing. The players wanted to do well, but some of them couldn't. Maybe it's the flu that's been going around, I don't know.
"Between the first and second periods I wrote down the names of the 20 players and tried to find 10, 11 or 12 who could do the job. We went with them, changed our forechecking system and opened up the game. We played it Verdun's way, wide open, and came back.”
Schmidt broke a 5-5 tie at 6:07 of the third period, just 24 seconds after Jean-Pierre Poupart had tied it for Verdun. Gans capped the rally with an empty-net goal.
Dean DeFazio, Gratton, Hooey, Cirella and Dan Nicholson also scored for Oshawa.
Cool, with two, Sylvestre and LaFontaine had Verdun's other goals.
"This was our 95th game and I won't criticize any one player at this stage,” Creamer said. "But we didn't react too well to the pressure when we had the lead.
"Our experienced defencemen didn't play great hockey. Jerome Carrier was named to the all-star team here and he was our fifth defenceman all season. Our other defencemen should have helped him be even better.”
Creamer used goaltender Marc Hamelin, an addition from Shawinigan, in the semifinal game. Earlier in the tournament, he had used his two regular goaltenders, Gilles Heroux and Michel Campeau.
(The all-star team also included Sidorkiewicz, Cirella, Heath, Yaremchuk and MacLean. Gans was named the most sportsmanlike player and Vernon was the top goaltender.)
The final game, on May 14, belonged to the Winter Hawks. Paced by Neely's three goals, they thrilled 9,527 howling fans with an 8-3 victory over Oshawa.
It was somehow only fitting that Turcotte, a native of Holt, Mich., should be named the tournament's most valuable player. After all, it was the 65th year of the Memorial Cup -- and it was the first time it had been played in the United States and the first time an American team had won it.
The Winter Hawks had one other American player in their lineup -- Sasser was from Portland.
"I felt today, with the fans chanting ‘U.S.A., U.S.A.', just like it was 1980 again,” Turcotte said after he scored one goal and set up another in the victory that included four power-play goals. "I remember watching the Olympics on television from Lake Placid and getting a spine-tingling feeling when the Americans won the gold medal.
"This is the same kind of feeling, in a way, because it's the fans who got us going. They deserve the Memorial Cup and the players were happy to give it to them today.”
"This,” Hodge stated, "is a history-making day for everyone connected with the Portland organization. We wanted to win it for our fans -- and ourselves.”
While Neely had three goals, his linemates didn't do too badly either -- Heath had a goal and two assists, Yaremchuk had three assists.
"We're mostly a Canadian team playing in an American city,” Curran said. "But just as much was 20 guys deserved to win this tournament, those 9,500 people deserved it, too.”
Kromm, Hubbard and Ferraro scored Portland's other goals.
"There's no doubt that this is the biggest moment of my career,” Kromm said. "We had one chance to do it . . . and we did it.”
DeGray, MacLean and Hooey scored for Oshawa.
Cirella, who tied with Heath and Yaremchuk for the tournament scoring lead with 11 points, offered: "They beat us twice here so they deserve to be champions. The better team won today, but in our hearts we're still winners.”
Oshawa general manager Sherry Bassin said the Winter Hawks "kicked our buns twice and were the best team in the tournament.”
When all was said and done, Shaw revealed that the tournament's eight games had drawn 54,090 fans.
The Memorial Cup was, indeed, growing up.
"Everybody knew going in that Portland had a bye going into the series,” said WHL president Ed Chynoweth. "How can anybody think it's embarrassing to have the crowds we've had here?
"I think we're very fortunate that it's worked out this well. This is an event, a happening, a financial success.”
Shaw said: "Most of the general managers and officials I've talked to like the format, with the possible exception of Lethbridge, and I might feel the same way if I were them.”
Chapman wasn't so sure.
"It could have worked the other way and we'd be in the playoffs,” he said. "We just didn't win at the right time.”

NEXT: 1984 (Kamloops Junior Oilers, Kitchener Rangers, Ottawa 67's and Laval Voisins)

[nivek_wahs]

From Gregg Drinnan...1984

1984 MEMORIAL CUP
Kamloops Junior Oilers, Kitchener Rangers, Ottawa 67's and Laval Voisins
at Kitchener (Memorial Auditorium)


This was a Memorial Cup that was eagerly anticipated by hockey people, scouts and fans alike.
It had nothing to do with which teams were, or weren't, gathering in Kitchener to decide the 66th winner of the Memorial Cup.
Instead, everyone was anxious to see centre Mario Lemieux.
And why not?
A year earlier, everyone was singing the praises of Verdun Junior centre Pat LaFontaine. All he had done was lead the QMJHL in goals (104), assists (130) and points (234). Impressive accomplishments? Certainly.
But then along came Super Mario.
All he did was score 133 goals and set up 149 others, giving him 282 points in 70 games. Impressive? Surreal.
Yes, Lemieux won the scoring title. When the regular season ended, he had a 112-point edge over linemate Jacques Goyette. Alain Bisson, the other member of the line, was 12th, with 31 goals and 82 assists.
Two other Laval skaters were in the top 10 -- Francois Sills was sixth, with 130 points, and Yves Courteau was 10th, at 120.
The Voisins -- they would become the Titan after this season -- were without centre Michel Mongeau down the stretch. He missed the QMJHL playoffs with mononucleosis but vowed to play in Kitchener "even if it means I have to sleep all week.”
Paced by Lemieux, Laval scored an amazing 527 goals. No other QMJHL team scored more than 400 goals. The Longueuil Chevaliers, with 371 goals, were second in offence.
At the same time, Laval allowed only 289 goals -- one supposes the Voisins had the puck all the time, proving that the best defence is, indeed, a good offence. Only the Shawinigan Cataractes, who gave up 287 goals, were better defensively.
The Laval defence was headed up by Steven Finn and Bobby Dollas. Tony Haladuick was the No. 1 goaltender.
The Voisins, of head coach Jean Begin, coasted through the first two rounds of postseason play, brushing aside the Granby Bisons and Drummondville Voltigeurs in four games each, scoring 46 goals and allowing 23 en route to the championship final.
There, they met up with the Chevaliers and it took six games for them to advance.
Yes, Lemieux was the top scorer -- he totalled 52 points, including 29 goals, six of them in the sixth game of the final, in only 14 games.
That meant that in 84 games, Lemieux, who wore No. 66, scored 162 goals and set up 172 others, for a grand total of 334 points. Yes, it was a season for the ages.
"It will be the 66th Memorial Cup and I hope our No. 66 will continue his output of the regular season and playoffs,” Begin said.
Brian Kilrea's Ottawa 67's, meanwhile, rode into the Memorial Cup tournament on a 13-game unbeaten streak. After an opening-round bye, the 67's put together the unbeaten string, eliminating the Oshawa Generals, Toronto Marlboros and Kitchener Rangers in the process. They took the eight-point final from the Rangers in five games -- three victories and two ties.
Kilrea had put together a team that featured Darren Pang, whom the coach considered the best junior goaltender in Canada. Pang had a 3.04 GAA in 43 regular-season games. Then he played in all but 54 minutes during the playoffs and was at 3.30.
On defence, Kilrea said, "This club has Brad Shaw, Mark Paterson, Bruce Cassidy and Roy Myllari and I'm not afraid to use them in any situation.”
Cassidy and Shaw were also key offensive players. Cassidy was the team's second-leading point-getter in the regular season, with 95, including 27 goals. He added six goals and 16 assists in the playoffs. Shaw had 11 goals and 71 assists in the regular season, then added two goals and 27 assists in the postseason.
The club's leading pointman was right-winger Don McLaren with 113, including 43 goals. Centre Adam Creighton had 41 goals and 49 assists in only 56 games as he spent part of the season with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.
In the OHL final, Creighton was used to check Kitchener ace John Tucker. Still, Creighton ended the playoffs with 16 goals and 12 assists, his 28 points second on the team to Shaw's 29.
Ottawa had finished the regular season at 50-18-2, just behind Kitchener's 52-16-2. The two teams had quite a rivalry. But while the 67's were making their second appearance in the tournament -- they had lost to the New Westminster Bruins in the 1977 final -- the Rangers were about to appear in their third tournament in four seasons.
Kitchener coach Tom Barrett knew his team had struggled down the stretch, perhaps because it had clinched a spot in the Memorial Cup some seven weeks before the tournament began.
The OHL had decided its top regular-season point-getter would be the host team. That turned out to be the Rangers.
"It showed right away,” right-winger Wayne Presley said. "We clinched it on a Friday night with our 25th straight win, and then we went into Peterborough and lost 5-1 to the Petes, who we'd had no trouble with all year.
"In the back of our minds, we knew we were in the Memorial Cup. So why try hard?”
Presley was the Rangers' top gun, with 139 points, including 63 goals, in 70 regular-season games.
But Tucker was the star.
Tucker, who spent two months with Buffalo, scored 40 goals and finished with 100 points in only 39 games, accomplishments that earned him the OHL's most valuable player award.
Defenceman Dave Shaw also spent time in the NHL, with the Quebec Nordiques.
But it was the injury bug that had the Rangers concerned going into the tournament. Defenceman Jim Quinn, left-winger Greg Puhalski, a 99-point man, and 52-goal right-winger David Bruce all were questionable for the start.
And goaltender Ray LeBlanc, at 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, just about was running on empty.
"He's played in 45 of our last 46 games and he's just physically exhausted,” Barrett said.
LeBlanc had posted a 3.74 regular-season GAA and had put together a 31-game winning streak. But the Rangers went into the tournament having won only two of their last 10 games and having lost by such scores as 9-4, 11-6 and 13-4.
If there was a team, besides Laval, that knew all about scoring goals it was the WHL-champion Kamloops Junior Oilers.
They led the WHL with 467 goals and boasted 10 20-goal scorers, but none with more than centre Dean Evason's 49.
Evason finished with 137 points, good for sixth in the scoring race. Defenceman Doug Bodger was next on the Blazers, with 98 points.
Other forwards like Mike Nottingham (48 goals), Tony Vogel (41), Greg Evtushevski (27), Stacey Wakabayashi (32), Ryan Stewart (31) and Doug Saunders (35) knew where the other team's net was, too. So did Jim Camazzola, who had 27 goals and 52 points in only 32 games.
And they also had 16-year-old Rob Brown, who had 16 goals and 58 points in 50 games as a rookie.
Coached by the volatile Bill LaForge, the Junior Oilers had won the West Division with a 50-22-0 record. In fact, that was the WHL's best record, three points better than Regina Pats' East Division-winning total. (During the Memorial Cup, it would be announced that LaForge was to be the next head coach of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.)
Kamloops swept through its division playoffs, winning best-of-nine series from the Seattle Breakers and Portland Winter Hawks in five games.
And, in the championship final, the Junior Oilers went the full seven games before sidelining Regina. Evason totalled 41 points in 17 playoff games, while Camazzola had 31 points.
The biggest improvement, however, was in goal. Darryl Reaugh, who had posted a 4.34 regular-season GAA, got it down to 3.52 as he played in all 17 postseason games.
The Junior Oilers were owned by the NHL's Edmonton Oilers, a situation that would change over the summer when the franchise was sold to a community group.
Kitchener opened the tournament on May 12 by hanging an 8-2 whipping on Laval before 6,723 fans.
Lemieux was held pointless for just the third time in 85 games.
Brian Wilks and Carmine Vani, with two goals each, Puhalski, Shawn Burr, Tucker and Presley scored for the Rangers, who led 3-0 and 7-0 at the period breaks.
Mongeau and Courteau scored for Laval, which was outshot 45-20, including 14-2 in the second period.
The Rangers made it two in a row on May 13 as they hung on to beat Kamloops 9-7 in front of 6,494 fans.
"We were jittery since we didn't know anything about Kamloops,” Barrett said after his club had clinched at least a semifinal berth. "The crowd was maybe worth a goal for us, but we were also scared because if you don't play well, they'll be on their feet.”
Wilks and Garnet McKechney, with two each, Presley, Bruce, Puhalski and Shaw scored to put the Rangers out front 8-0 before the game was half over.
Brown and Camazzola put Kamloops on the board before the second period ended.
Then, Vogel scored in the third period. And Camazzola added another one. Before Kitchener knew what had hit it, Stewart, defenceman Ken Daneyko and Evason had scored to bring the Junior Oilers to within one at 8-7. And there was more than three minutes left.
But, finally, Bruce iced it with an empty-net goal at 19:53.
"I think we quit after we got the big lead,” Barrett said. "We got it easier than we should have got it. Then we laid back, didn't close the door and they took it to us.”
Also on May 13, Ottawa clinched at least a semifinal berth by beating Laval 6-5 before 6,582 fans.
Lemieux was held to a goal (it came 1:39 into the game on a power play) and an assist, but felt he had played better than in the opener.
"Everybody has been talking about how I didn't give a good performance last night, so I had to play very well tonight,” Lemieux said.
Mongeau and Courteau also scored early for Laval, which led 3-1 just 10 minutes into the game. McLaren accounted for Ottawa's first goal.
Cassidy and Bill Bennett tied it with power-play goals, before Mongeau sent Laval out front again, only to have Bennett tie it again on another power play.
Creighton and Sills then traded goals before Phil Patterson won it at 9:07 of the third period.
"Obviously, some of our players thought they were going to pad their totals tonight because they played as individuals and not as a team,” Kilrea said.
He had lifted Pang, in favor of Greg Coram, just 1:51 into the game after Laval had scored on its first two shots.
"I didn't like what I saw from the goaltender out,” Kilrea said. "I thought I would try to change the momentum.”
Pang was back in form one night later as he backstopped the 67's to a 5-1 victory over Kamloops. Attendance was 6,327.
"There wasn't a doubt,” Kilrea said when asked if he considered not starting Pang. "It was opening-game jitters. Everybody gets them -- even coaches and general managers.
"He's been the best goalie all season. Nothing has changed that now.”
Pang faced only 18 shots and LaForge was impressed with Ottawa's defence.
"We had trouble penetrating and you know half our team can't drive and the other half can't shoot,” he said.
Ottawa got two goals from Cassidy and singles from Creighton, McLaren and Steve Hrynewich.
Kamloops, with one foot in the grave, bounced back to edge Laval 4-3 on May 15 before 6,298 fans. The loss put Kamloops into a semfinal game and eliminated Laval.
Sills scored twice for the Voisins, who again ran into penalty trouble.
"We just took too many penalties,” Sills said. "It was a different kind of refereeing situation for us compared with our league.”
Goyette had Laval's other goal.
Evason, Camazzola, Daneyko and Brian Bertuzzi scored for Kamloops.
Lemieux, who was held to one assist in his final junior game, finished the tournament with a goal and two assists in three games.
On May 16, in front of 7,226 noisy fans, Kitchener, which was designated as the visiting team and wore blue away uniforms, whipped Ottawa 7-2 to move into the final and send the '67s against Kamloops.
"I think revenge played a big part in it -- at least for the players,” Dave Shaw said. "We were pretty embarrassed losing at home to Ottawa in the playoffs.”
Wilks led the Rangers with his fifth and sixth goals of the tournament. Shaw, with two, Presley, Burr and Mike Stevens also scored for the winners.
Cassidy and Bennett replied for Ottawa.
LeBlanc was superb, stopping 16 first-period shots and 36 on the night.
"That's what they needed,” LeBlanc said. "That's how you win games.”
On May 17, in front of 6,316 fans, the '67s got two goals and three assists from Creighton in a 7-2 victory over the Junior Oilers.
That set up yet another meeting between the Rangers and 67's. The teams would go into the final having already played each other 10 times in the season, each team winning four times and tying two others.
The 67's were not treated very kindly by the crowd, something Creighton noted.
"They're allowed to have their opinion,” he said, after taking over the tournament scoring lead with 10 points, including four goals. "You can't shut them up, but I sure would like to.”
Kilrea thought his players picked up the pace after Brad Shaw went down with an injury. He suffered a deep cut above his right eye when he was hit by a shot from Nottingham. X-rays were negative.
"I think the guys really began to play when they saw Brad go off the ice,” Kilrea said. "They knew what he was done for the club and what they then had to do without him.”
McLaren, with two, Cassidy, Bob Giffen and Darcy Roy also scored for Ottawa.
Bertuzzi and Nottingham scored for Kamloops.
"We've played 103 games this season and there haven't been many when the guys didn't go all out,” LaForge said. "The '67s and Rangers are just better than us.”
The next day, LaForge was named head coach of the Canucks.
Ottawa went on to win its first Memorial Cup, scoring a 7-2 victory on May 22 before about 7,241 fans.
The 67's, who won the season series from the Rangers 5-4-2, got two goals each from Cassidy and Patterson, with singles from Creighton, Shaw and Gary Roberts.
Puhalski and Tucker replied for the Rangers, who were outshot 36-22, including 16-6 in the first period when they fell behind 3-1.
Kilrea pointed to two bizarre goals as the difference.
With the score tied 1-1, LeBlanc lost the puck in one corner to Patterson, who turned and scored from a horrible angle. Then, Cassidy tried a dump in only to have the puck bounce crazily off the glass and past LeBlanc, who had left the net in anticipation of stopping the puck along the boards.
"Those two goals told me that we were somehow destined to win,” Kilrea said. "I think the guy upstairs wanted to give us a hand.”
Creighton, who tied with Cassidy for the scoring lead with 12 points, was named the MVP. Wilks was selected the most sportsmanlike player and Pang was the most outstanding goaltender.
The all-star team featured Pang, Dave Shaw and Cassidy on defence, Creighton at centre, Camazzola at left wing and McLaren on the right side.
Attendance for the eight games totalled 53,207. At that time, that was the third-largest attendance total, behind Vancouver in 1977 (58,995) and Portland in 1983 (54,090).


NEXT: 1985 (Prince Albert Raiders, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Verdun Junior Canadiens and Shawinigan Cataractes)

[nivek_wahs]

From Gregg Drinnan...1985

1985 MEMORIAL CUP
Prince Albert Raiders, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Verdun Junior Canadiens and Shawinigan Cataractes
at Shawiningan (Municipal Auditorium) and Drummondville (Marcel Dionne Arena)


The Prince Albert Raiders, under general manager and head coach Terry Simpson, were a Canadian junior A hockey dynasty.
When the early 1980s arrived they really didn't have any more junior A worlds left to conquer. And so it was that the Raiders applied and were granted entrance into the Western Hockey League.
Who could have guessed that three seasons into their major junior existence the Raiders would be the WHL champions and into their first Memorial Cup tournament?
But that is exactly what happened.
It cost the Raiders $175,000 to get into the WHL. They paid $100,000 for the franchise and $75,000 for what remained of a players' list that had belonged to the defunct Spokane Flyers.
When the Flyers folded in the middle of the 1981-82 seasons, the remaining teams held a dispersal draft on Dec. 3, 1981, but were only allowed to select players from Spokane's active roster.
The Raiders, then, bought the list and got more than their money's worth because they picked up three future stars -- centre Dan Hodgson, right-winger Dave Pasin and defenceman Emanuel Viveiros.
And then, on Dec. 3, 1984, the Raiders moved into first place in the East Division for the first time. It was now apparent that this had all the makings of a special season in Prince Albert.
The Raiders had gone 16-55-1 as they finished last in an eight-team East Division in their first WHL season, 1982-83. The following season, they were 41-29-2 and fifth.
In 1984-85, they went 58-11-3 as they put together the WHL's best regular-season record. Their 119 points was the third-highest in WHL history; the 58 victories was No. 2 on the all-time list.
The Raiders then tore through the playoff season.
"The Calgary series was our easiest series and that's a bit surprising,” Simpson said after the Raiders lost just one of 13 playoff games. "We expected they would be tougher. But the other two series were tougher than the final outcome would indicate.”
Prince Albert laid waste to the Calgary Wranglers in four games, lost one game to Medicine Hat before ousting the Tigers in five games and then swept the defending-champion Kamloops Blazers.
"Winning the world championship was a thrill, but winning the WHL title is more satisfying,” said Simpson, who had coached Canada to a world junior gold medal earlier in the year.
And Simpson felt his club was ready for the Memorial Cup.
"I know we didn't get into a long series or overtime games or anything like that,” he said, "but there was always pressure. I suppose you can say that if we would have had tougher series or longer series, then we might be better prepared for the Memorial Cup. That could be an arguable point, but I think we're going to be OK.”
Hodgson was the team leader offensively. He led the league with 112 regular-season assists and was second in the points race, his 182 points trailing only the 197 put up by Cliff Ronning of the New Westminster Bruins.
Hodgson's linemates, Pasin and Tony Grenier, made the most of their centre's playmaking abilities. Pasin sniped 64 times and totalled 116 points; Grenier had 62 goals and 120 points.
Right-winger Ken Morrison was the team's other big-time sniper. He had 51 goals and 108 points.
Forwards Dale McFee and Steve Gotaas could kill penalties with the best of them.
Hodgson kept it going in the playoffs, too, as he led the league in assists (26) and points (36) in only 13 games.
Pasin and Grenier had 21 points each, with defenceman Dave Goertz totalling 18, including 14 assists.
Aside from Viveiros and Goertz, the defence also featured Dave Manson, Neil Davey, Doug Hobson and Curtis Hunt.
And the amicable Ken Baumgartner, who was listed as a defenceman but would play anywhere, kept the opposition honest.
Roydon Gunn (3.42 GAA in 36 games) and Ward Komonosky (3.52 in 38 games) shared the goaltending. But Komonosky got the bulk of the playing time in the postseason, playing in 12 of 13 playoff games and going the distance in all five Memorial Cup games.
"Our club has matured a lot,” offered Simpson. "Some of the younger guys have come along to the point where they are contributors on a regular basis. We're getting solid leadership from the older guys and our goaltending has been good.
"Hopefully, we've come far enough along to give us a legitimate shot at the Memorial Cup.”
For the second year in a row, there was a high-scoring Lemieux in the tournament, too.
It wasn't Mario, though. This time it was Claude, a right-winger with the QMJHL-champion Verdun Junior Canadiens, who also featured 16-year-old Jimmy Carson.
The Junior Canadiens were coached by Jean Begin, who had made it to the Memorial Cup tournament the previous season as head coach of the Laval Voisins and Mario Lemieux.
Claude Lemieux, 19 and not related to Mario, didn't quite crack the top 10 but he was Verdun's leading regular-season scorer with 124 points, including 58 goals. He missed 16 games as a member of Canada's gold medal-winning world junior team earlier in the season. Ironically, that team was coached by Simpson.
In the postseason, Lemieux had 23 goals and 40 points in only 14 games.
He also carried with him the reputation as a volatile performer.
"I have to have the players' respect but I know that in order to get it they have to respect me,” he said of being his team's captain. "They won't if I'm always yelling at them.
"The thing is that I'm never satisfied. If I get a goal, I want two. If I get two, I want three.”
After being named team captain, Lemieux began to back off a bit in an attempt to avoid confrontational situations.
"Sometimes,” he said, "it was hard to back away, but what made it easier to take was that in every playoff game I scored at least a goal.”
Lemieux got lots of help up front from Carson, who totaled 116 points as a 16-year-old rookie. And utility forward Carl Vermette had come to the fore in the playoffs with 11 goals.
In goal, Verdun relied on Yves Lavoie, a 19-year-old product of the Quebec college ranks. In the playoffs, he put together a 12-2 record with a 2.32 GAA.
The leaders on defence were Jerome Carrier, who had been named to the Memorial Cup all-star team with Verdun in 1983; Ron Annear, a Prince Edward Island native and a Montreal Canadiens draft pick who had spent the previous season playing at a university in San Diego; and, Gerry Peach, whom general manager Eric Taylor said was picked up from the Toronto Marlboros "because they didn't want him.”
Verdun had gone 36-30-2 in the regular season, winning the Robert Lebel Division but having a poorer record than the top three teams in the Frank Dilio Division.
The Junior Canadiens took out the Hull Olympiques in five games in the first round, then eliminated the Shawinigan Cataractes, at 48-19-1 the regular season's best team, in five games in one semifinal series, outscoring them 28-10 in the process.
And, in the final, Verdun swept the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, who at 41-23-4 had been No. 2 in the regular seaosn. The Junior Canadiens scored 29 goals and surrendered only 11 in the championship final.
The Cataractes, however, were in the Memorial Cup tournament as the host team.
Marc Damphousse was the big gun up front. His 160 points left him three points shy of scoring champion Guy Rouleau of the Longueuil Chevaliers.
But observers felt the key to Shawinigan was left-winger Sergio Momesso. A 6-foot-3, 185-pounder, he finished fourth in the scoring race with 143 points, including 58 goals.
"He's a good man in the corners as well as being a good scorer,” offered head coach Ron Lapointe.
The defence was anchored by Yves Beaudoin, who also was the quarterback on the power play.
And in goal there was the starry Robert Desjardins, who was all of 5-foot-5 and 130 pounds.
The Cataractes hadn't played in 20 days when the tournament started.
"We practised 13 of the 20 days and I find that our preparations have been very good,” Lapointe said. "Also it gave some players with minor ailments an opportunity to recover -- and I have worked to make sure they are prepared mentally for the tournament.”
With the time off, Lapointe had also been able to scout the fourth team in the tournament -- the OHL-champion Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
The Greyhounds had been on a mission since Aug. 31.
"As I looked up to the rafters (in the Soo's Memorial Gardens),” said Terry Crisp, the team's head coach since 1979, "I saw a 1981 Leyden Division banner, a 1983 Emms Division banner and I'm thinking the only one missing is a 1985 OHL championship banner.”
The Greyhounds, with Crisp and general manager Sam McMaster pulling the strings, filled the void with the first championship in their 13-year major junior history.
They did it with a hard-fought 9-5 victory over the Peterborough Petes in the OHL's nine-point final.
"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and these kids have had to carry that pressure from Day 1,” explained Crisp.
The Greyhounds, under Crisp, had been in five straight divisional finals and in the league championship series in three of the last five seasons.
"We didn't say that we might be there, or that we might be contenders,” Crisp said. "We said we were going after it. No other team was talking openly about a Memorial Cup. No other team put pressure on themselves like our team.”
During the season, the Greyhounds set OHL records with 54 victories, 11 losses and 109 points in a 66-game schedule. They also put together a CHL record 33 straight home victories.
In the playoffs, they lost only twice in 16 games; ironically, both losses occurred at home.
Centre Wayne Groulx was second in the OHL's scoring race with 144 points, including 59 goals. Right-winger Graeme Bonar led the team in goals, with 66.
The left-winger on their line was Bob Probert, who came over from the Hamilton Steelhawks in November and had 72 points in 44 games.
Left-winger Derek King had 35 goals and was named the OHL's rookie of the year.
Just before the league's trade deadline, McMaster picked up right-winger Wayne Presley from the Kitchener Rangers. The previous season, Presley had 63 goals in helping the Rangers to the Memorial Cup final.
On defence, Jeff Beukeboom was a first-team all-star, while team captain Chris Felix led all OHL defencemen in points, with 101.
The goaltending was left in the hands of Scott Mosey and Marty Abrams. Together, they provided the Soo with the OHL's best goaltending. Mosey had been acquired from the Guelph Platers, with Abrams coming over from the Toronto Marlboros.
The Greyhounds opened the 67th chase for the Memorial Cup with a 4-3 victory over the Cataractes before 3,226 fans at Shawinigan on May 11.
The Cataractes led this one 3-0 in the first period on goals by Mario Belanger, Damphousse and Dave Kasper.
Steve Hollett, with his first of two goals, got the Greyhounds on the scoreboard at 1:52 of the first period.
Bonar, at 16:03 of the second, and Chris Brant, 2:12 into the third, tied the game. Hollett then won it on a power play.
The Cataractes bounced back the next day to beat Prince Albert 6-2 in front of 2,694 fans in Shawinigan.
"I thought the difference tonight was that we played hockey for 60 minutes,” Lapointe said. "I thought our layoff after the playoffs would really affect us today, but we went with four lines and it seemed to give everybody a breather.”
Left-winger Alain Bisson had a goal and two assists as the Cataractes posted the first victory for a QMJHL team in a Memorial Cup game since May 8, 1983, when Verdun beat the Lethbridge Broncos 4-3 in Portland. Quebec teams had gone 0-6 since then.
Denis Paul, Kasper, Patrice Lefebvre, Damphousse and Belanger also scored for Shawinigan.
Grenier scored both Prince Albert goals.
The Cataractes also got a big effort from Desjardins, who stopped 22 shots. His teammates played through a scoreless first period, took a 3-1 lead after the second and scored three more goals in the third.
That same day in Drummondville, the Soo doubled Verdun 6-3 as King's second goal, a power-play effort, broke a 3-3 tie at 5:47 of the third period.
Groulx upped it to 5-3 two minutes later and Tyler Larter iced it at 15:25 of the third.
Brit Peer and Presley also scored for the Greyhounds.
Francois Olivier, Carrier and Everett Sanipass replied for the Junior Canadiens.
The Raiders got back on the winning track on May 13 as they got two goals from Goertz and skated to a 5-3 victory over Verdun before 2,613 fans in Drummondville.
"We were skating better tonight,” Simpson said, "and our intensity level was up.”
Goertz added: "We had a team meeting and a good rest after the banquet this afternoon and everybody felt relaxed out there tonight.”
Hodgson, who was named the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League's player of the year at that banquet, picked up his third assist of the tournament on a power-play goal by Grenier that opened the scoring 4:34 into the game.
Lavoie pulled a muscle in his right leg on that play and left the game at 8:18 of the first period, with Troy Crosby, who hadn't played in the last 23 games, coming on to stop 34 shots.
Viveiros and left-winger Dean Braham also scored for the Raiders.
Verdun got two goals from Lemieux and one from Henri Marcoux.
Komonosky, who had struggled in the opener, rebounded with a 22-save effort against Verdun.
On May 14 in Drummondville, the Raiders handed the Greyhounds their first loss, winning 8-6 behind Dale McFee's three goals and five assists from Hodgson. Attendance was 1,827.
A victory would have given the Soo a spot in the final.
Hodgson's performance set an unofficial single-game record for assists and gave him eight helpers in three games.
"Well, that's great if I do (hold the record),” Hodgson said, "but I've got to start scoring some goals here.”
Grenier scored twice, giving him a tournament-high five goals, as the Raiders broke open a 2-2 game with five second-period goals. Goertz, Pasin and Brad Bennett added one each for the westerners.
The Soo scoring came from Presley, Felix, Beukeboom, Hollett, Groulx and Peer.
"You forget that sometimes even in the smallest of oceans, a breeze can come up and tip your boat in a hurry,” Crisp said. "Tonight, a breeze came up and we only have ourselves to blame.”
As for Hodgson, he loved the shootout.
"We feel confident when we get into this type of game because we know we've got the guys who can score enough goals to pull us through,” he said.
Komonosky was solid again, making 37 saves, while the Soo duo of Abrams and Mosey combined for 34 saves.
The first berth in the final went to Shawinigan, thanks to a 5-1 victory over Verdun on May 15 in Drummondville.
That eliminated Verdun and set up a semifinal game between the Soo and Prince Albert. Begin, the Junior Canadiens' coach, now had an 0-6 record in back-to-back Memorial Cups. His Laval club had gone 0-3 a year earlier.
Lapointe maintained his club's victory wasn't based on revenge. Verdun had beaten Shawinigan in five games in one QMJHL semifinal series.
"There was no revenge factor,” Lapointe said. "The shortest road to the final was what we wanted and our minds were on that.”
Desjardins, the game's first star with a 23-save effort, said: "They got us in the semifinals, but we got them when it really counted.”
Desjardins lost his bid for the first Memorial Cup shutout since 1982 when Frank DeSantis scored with 1:25 left to play.
Momesso and Belanger had a goal and an assist each, with Lefebvre, Paul and Robert Page adding a goal each for the winners. Damphousse helped out with two assists.
"We just didn't seem to have the intensity in the playoffs that we had tonight,” Momesso said. "We had terrific goaltending and our penalty killing was great. And we got a lot of inspiration from the little men (Desjardins and Lefebvre).”
The Raiders moved into the final by hammering Kitchener 8-3 on May 16 in Drummondville. Attendance was 2,758.
"When you play a team twice in three nights and they not only beat you both times but score 16 goals in the process, you have to give them full credit,” Crisp said.
The Prince Albert line of Hodgson, Grenier and Pasin totalled 13 points.
Hodgson had a goal and four assists, giving him a record-tying (Jeff Larmer, Kitchener, 1982) 12 assists in the tournament. Pasin had two goals and three assists, and Grenier had two goals for a tournament-leading seven.
Gotaas, with two, and Braham also scored for the Raiders.
Probert, Jean-Marc MacKenzie and Felix scored for the Soo.
"I think our outstanding player tonight was Komonosky,” Simpson said. "I'm really happy for him because some of our critics wonder about our goaltending.”
Komonosky stopped 37 shots as he enjoyed his best game of the tournament.
The game was tied 1-1 late in the first period but the Raiders then scored the game's next seven goals.
"Our goaltending wasn't up to snuff through the whole tournament,” said Crisp, who again used both goaltenders. "But what disappoints me most is that we couldn't regroup and hold the fort -- stem the tide -- after they got ahead.
"We just didn't dig down and hold them until we could get a goal or two back.”
This would be the first final since the round-robin format was adopted in 1974 that Ontario wasn't represented among the final two teams.
"I would have loved to have gone on to the championship, but we can go home and say we got beat by a damn good hockey team,” Crisp said.
As for the final, Crisp liked the Raiders.
"It's going to take one hell of a club to beat them, I'll say that much,” he said.
Hodgson, for one, was ready.
"Right after that game (the 6-2 opening loss) we wanted to play Shawinigan again,” he said. "Now we're going to show them on national television how the Prince Albert Raiders play hockey.”
The Cataractes, the host team for this tournament, were in the final but playing 100 kilometres from home, their own rink having been deemed unfit for a TV game.
The final was held in Drummondville on May 18, with the Raiders winning 6-1 in front of 3,865 noisy fans.
Hodgson, who set a tournament record with 13 assists, pointed to a first-period fight as the turning point.
"Sometimes you've just got to go in there and tune some of the boys in,” he said. "Baumgartner did that to their big tough guy and we just picked it up from there. I thought that was a big part of the game.”
With the Raiders up 2-0, Baumgartner scored a unanimous decision over Steve Masse in a battle of 6-foot-1, 200-pound defencemen.
It helped too that the Raiders scored just 15 seconds into the game -- Braham got the goal -- to quiet the crowd.
Gotaas, with two, Pat Elynuik, Viveiros and Pasin also scored for the Raiders.
Belanger spoiled Komonosky's bid for a shutout on a power play at 3:05 of the third period.
"Everyone cuts (Komonosky) down all season and says the Raiders aren't going to go anywhere because of their goaltending,” Hodgson said, "but the big guy slammed the door and kicked the lights out today.”
Hodgson didn't do too bad, either.
He turned in one of the best performances in tournament history, setting a record for most assists (13) in a series and most assists in one game (5). His 15 points were one short of the record set by Kitchener's Jeff Larmer in 1982.
Hodgson was named the tournament's most valuable player and was selected to the all-star team.
"To end my junior career like this is such a big thrill,” Hodgson said. "This is probably the best hockey I've played all year and it was a good time to play it, I must admit.”
Also named to the all-star team were Desjardins, Goertz and Beaudoin on defence, and wingers Grenier and Lefebvre.
Komonosky, although he didn't get selected to the all-star team, was named the top goaltender. Grenier was selected the most sportsmanlike player.
"This is gratifying because this is a victory that an entire organization can celebrate,” Simpson said. "We played the best at the most important times all season long.
"I guess that makes us the best.”

NEXT: 1986 (Portland Winter Hawks, Kamloops Blazers, Guelph Platers and Hull Olympiques)

[nivek_wahs]

From Gregg Drinnan...1986

1986 MEMORIAL CUP
Portland Winter Hawks, Kamloops Blazers, Guelph Platers and Hull Olympiques
at Portland (Memorial Coliseum)


One year earlier, the Prince Albert Raiders had won the Memorial Cup in only their third season of play at the major junior level.
The Guelph Platers almost tore a page from that same book.
The Platers entered the Ontario Hockey League to begin the 1982-83 season. They went 7-63-0 in that first season.
Three seasons later, they were in the Memorial Cup.
In between, they went 20-46-4 and 21-40-5.
In three seasons, the Platers, playing in the Emms Division, had finished eighth, seventh and seventh.
And then came the 1985-86 season under head coach Jacques Martin.
An assistant coach with the Peterborough Petes the previous two seasons, Martin was selected as the OHL's coach of the year in 1985-86 after the Platers posted a 41-23-2 record to finish second, behind the North Bay Centennials (41-21-4), in their division.
The Platers got on quite a roll in the postseason, as they went 15-3-2 en route to the championship.
They started the playoffs with a first-round bye and then moved into a round-robin series that also featured the North Bay Centennials and Windsor Spitfires. The Platers went 4-0 in the series and advanced, as did Windsor. In the Emms Division eight-point final, the Platers took out the Spitfires, 8-4.
Guelph then dumped the Belleville Bulls in the final, winning the eight-point affair 8-4.
Guelph was sparked by left-winger Gary Roberts, who had been acquired from the Ottawa 67's in a midseason deal. Roberts, who had 51 points in 24 games with Ottawa, totalled 18 goals and 33 points in 23 games with Guelph. More importantly, he brought with him some Memorial Cup experience. He had played for the 1984 champion 67's.
Roberts was worth his weight in gold in the playoffs, too, as he struck for 18 goals and 13 assists in 20 games.
The Platers surrendered only 235 regular-season goals and they counted heavily on goaltender Steve Guenette. The best of the defencemen were Steve Chiasson and Kerry Huffman.
The QMJHL-champion Hull Olympiqes, meanwhile, were owned by Wayne Gretzky and coached by former policeman Pat Burns.
The Olympiques had easily been the QMJHL's best regular-season team, their 54-18-0 record well ahead of the Drummondville Voltigeurs who were second-best at 40-28-4.
Two of the Olympiques, Guy Rouleau and Luc Robitaille, finished with 190 points, best in the league. Rouleau had come over from the Longueuil Chevaliers in a trade. He finished with 91 goals. Robitaille led the league with 123 assists.
And Robitaille would lead the way down the postseason trail, his 44 points, including 27 assists, in 15 games tops in the league.
Hull didn't have much trouble in the playoffs; in fact, it didn't have any trouble.
The Olympiques opened against Shawinigan in a best-of-nine quarterfinal. It was over in five and the Cataractes were left to wonder what hit them as they were outscored 37-11.
Next up were the St. Jean Castors. The best-of-nine semifinal was over in five games, with the Olympiques leading 49-10 on the scoreboard.
And, in the best-of-nine final, the Olympiques steamrollered the Voltigeurs in five games, outscoring them 39-12.
The Olympiques had won all 15 of their playoff games, outscoring their opposition 125-33.
All told, Hull rode into the Memorial Cup having lost just once in its last 23 games.
The Olympiques' two other key performers were defenceman Sylvain Cote and goaltender Robert Desjardins.
Cote, who played 67 games for the NHL's Hartford Whalers as an 18-year-old in 1984-85, and Robitaille had played for Canada at the last world junior championship.
The 5-foot-5 Desjardins had been acquired from Shawinigan prior to the 1985-86 season. He had sparkled for the Cataractes in the 1985 Memorial Cup.
The WHL champions were the Kamloops Blazers, under head coach Ken Hitchcock.
Hitchcock was a genial giant who came to Kamloops from the Edmonton area with the reputation as a superb midget coach.
He proved it in his first season as he guided the Blazers to a 52-17-2 record, good for first place in the West Division. The dream ended when they were swept in the WHL final by Prince Albert, which would go on to win the Memorial Cup.
In 1985-86, Hitchcock made it two West Division regular-season pennants in as many tries. This time the Blazers finished 49-19-4, behind only the Medicine Hat Tigers (54-17-1) and Prince Albert (52-17-3).
The Blazers were sparked by high-flying Rob Brown, whose father Bob was beginning a long and successful run as the Blazers' general manager. Rob led the WHL in assists (115) and points (173), as he won the scoring race by 16 points.
Right-winger Ken Morrison, acquired from Prince Albert, was the WHL's top sniper, with 68 goals. He finished with 150 points.
Mike Nottingham (61 goals, 131 points), Greg Evtushevski (29 goals) and Robin Bawa (29 goals) also knew how to find the net.
It could be argued, however, that the Blazers' game plan revolved around defenceman Greg Hawgood. He was as fine a quarterback as this league had seen in some time and his totals -- 34 goals, 85 assists, 119 points -- were ample proof of that.
The Blazers had gone through most of the season using Rob McKinley and Pat Nogier in goal. But they swung a deal at the trade deadline to acquire Randy Hansch, a veteran of the WHL wars, from the Victoria Cougars. Hansch would be the go-to guy down the stretch.
Kamloops opened the postseason by sweeping a best-of-nine West Division semifinal from the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Blazers then took out the Portland Winter Hawks, who had gone nine games in eliminating the Spokane Chiefs, in six games.
The best-of-seven championship final was no contest as the Blazers ousted an up-and-coming bunch of Medicine Hat Tigers in five games.
Rob Brown, as he had done in the regular season, was the postseason's dominant player, leading in goals (18), assists (28) and points (46). Morrison was second, with 37 points, and Hawgood was tied for third, at 31.
Hansch played in 14 of the 16 playoff games, going 11-2 with a 2.63 GAA.
The Winter Hawks were back in the Memorial Cup for the third time in five seasons, the second time as the host team.
They were the WHL champions in 1982 when they bowed out early in Hull. The following season, the Winter Hawks became the first American team to win the Memorial Cup when they got into the tournament as the host team.
And now with it being the WHL's turn to play host to the tournament again the party was returning to Portland.
The Winter Hawks (47-24-1) had finished second to Kamloops in the West Division and then dropped the best-of-nine divisional final 5-1 to the Blazers.
The best of the Winter Hawks? Centre Ray Podloski, who was seventh in the WHL with 134 points, and left-winger Dave Waldie, who had 68 goals.
Centre Dan Woodley chipped in with 92 points and defenceman Glen Wesley had 91, including 75 assists.
The tournament opened on May 10 and by May 11 the Olympiques were 2-0 and had already assured themselves of a playoff berth.
The Olympiques started with a 7-5 victory over Portland before 6,859 fans.
Rouleau led Hull with three goals and three assists, his six points tying a Memorial Cup single-game record set by Joe Contini of the Hamilton Fincups in 1976.
Robitaille added two goals. Jean-Marc Routhier and Patrice Brisson also scored for the Olympiques, who trailed 2-1 after the first period but were tied 4-4 going into the third.
Portland got three goals from Bob Foglietta and singles from Blaine Chrest and Jamie Nicolls.
After taking a 4-2 lead on Foglietta's first two goals at 4:47 and 6:18 of the second period, the Winter Hawks surrendered five straight goals.
Still, Portland goaltender Lance Carlsen made 49 saves as the Winter Hawks were outshot 56-35, including 21-9 in the third period.
In the opening day's other game, Guelph scored the game's final three goals and beat Kamloops 5-3.
With Kamloops leading 3-2 midway through the third period, Roberts tied it with his second goal of the game at 12:53, Mike Murray got the eventual game-winner at 16:00 and Luciano ***ioli wrapped it up with an empty-netter at 19:49.
Paul Kelly had the other goal for Guelph, which trailed 1-0 and 2-1 at the period breaks.
Brown, with two, and Morrison scored for Kamloops, which was outshot 44-34.
Hull went to 2-0 the following day, thanks to a 5-4 overtime victory over Kamloops before 4,475 fans.
Rouleau won it with his second goal of the game (fifth of the tournament) at 1:37 of the extra period.
Burns's overtime strategy?
"You just put 77 (Rouleau) out there, one shot, it's all over,” Burns said.
Michel Carbonneau, Routhier and Robitaille had Hull's other goals, Routhier tying the game 4-4 with the third period's only goal, a 55-foot slapshot that deflected off a defenceman's stick and past Hansch at 14:22.
"We went into the overtime and said, ‘Let's shoot from anywhere',” said Robitaille, who totaled seven points in the first two games, two fewer than Rouleau. "We got lucky and that's overtime hockey.”
Len Mark, Morrison, Evtushevski and Troy Kennedy replied for the Blazers.
The teams were tied 2-2 after one period, with Kamloops leading 4-3 going into the third.
In the other game on May 11, Portland rode three second-period goals and a red-hot Carlsen to a 6-4 victory over Guelph in front of 5,108 fans.
Dave McLay, with two, Dave Archibald, Dennis Holland, Terry Jones and Chrest scored Portland's goals.
Keith Miller, Chiasson, Roberts and Rob Arabski found the range for Guelph, which outshot the Winter Hawks 43-38.
"The key for Portland was the goaltending,” Martin said of Carlsen. "He made the big saves to win the game.”
On May 13, the Platers threw a checking blanket over Rouleau and Robitaille and earned a berth in the next round with a 3-1 victory over the Olympiques.
"We knew that Rouleau's wingers liked to get him the puck when he was breaking into the open,” said Murray, one of Guelph's centres. "We got on top of his wingers early and that seemed to shut him down.”
At the same time, the Guelph defence, led by Chiasson and Huffman, rode the Hull forwards to the outside and rarely gave up a good scoring chance on Guenette.
Murray, with two goals and an assist, and Roberts scored for Guelph, with Carbonneau replying for Hull.
"We knew Hull was a skating club and we needed to come out hitting,” Murray said. "We had a good forechecking game to keep the puck in their end of the rink.”
Murray scored the goal that proved to be the winner on a second-period power play, at 9:19.
"The power-play goal was a bit lucky in that the puck was rolling,” Murray said. "We were told to shoot high because they had a short goaltender (Desjardins) and it went in over his shoulder.”

Portland had a chance to eliminate Kamloops on May 15. But when the Blazers scored a 6-5 victory on a goal by Morrison at 17:35 of the third period, before 7,388 fans, it only forced an extra game between the two, with the winner moving on and the loser leaving.
The Platers were assured a spot in the final, winning it on a better goals-for and goals-against ratio than Hull (Guelph was plus-2, Hull plus-1). The winner of the next Portland-Kamloops game would meet Hull in the semifinal game.
Brown scored twice for the Blazers, with Ron Shudra, Rudy Poeschek and Bawa also beating Carlsen.
With Rouleau having been cooled off by Guelph, Foglietta was suddenly the tournament's hottest sniper as he enjoyed his second three-goal game of the week. Also scoring for Portland were Dave Waldie and Podloski.
Kamloops led 2-1 after the first period and held a 4-1 lead 13 minutes into the second period. Portland cut the deficit to 4-3 before Brown scored at 19:06.
Portland, which was 3-for-4 on the power play, tied it in the third on goals by Podloski (10:15) and Foglietta (14:22) before Morrision, on a goalmouth pass from Brown, got the winner at 17:35.
"We've got a few scores to settle early in the game,” Hitchcock said. "Portland got away with a few things tonight when the score was close in the third.”
Two of Foglietta's goals came on a second-period power play, following a double minor to Kamloops defenceman Dave Marcinyshyn. Hitchcock was so upset that he actually struck Marcinyshyn in the dressing room during the intermission.
"I've never done anything like that ever before in hockey,” Hitchcock said. "I also can't remember the last time we got sucked in like that.
"But no one can question the character of this team. We've got a great deal of energy and heart left for the next game.”
The Blazers got their revenge on May 15 as they hammered the Winter Hawks 8-1 in the tiebreaking game. Attendance was 4,173.
"We weren't 8-1 bad,” Portland head coach Ken Hodge said. "They had a hot goaltender who got the job done and ours didn't.”
Hodge yanked Carlsen after the first period with the Blazers out front 3-1. But Hawgood beat Chris Eisenhart 33 seconds into the second period and the rout was on.
"We knew we could beat Portland two straight because we beat them in five of six in the playoffs,” Hawgood said. "We wanted to win badly because we're the WHL champions and Portland's only the host team in the tournament.”
Hawgood, who had played mostly left wing in the first two games, moved back to defence and scored three times for Kamloops. Don Schmidt, a stay-at-home defenceman, Evtushevski, Morrison and Mark Kachowski also scored for the Blazers.
Podloski had Portland's only goal, beating Hansch on a first-period power play.
"We got back to our checking style of play and really ground hard,” Hitchcock said. "Most of their chances were from far out and Hansch was really sharp early in the game.”
"We all want that Memorial Cup ring badly,” Hawgood said. "People won't remember what we did here unless we come home with the ring.”
Hawgood, who also had an assist, and Brown, who had two assists, now were tied with Rouleau atop the scoring race, each player with nine points.
There wouldn't be a ring for Kamloops, at least not at this tournament.
The Blazers lost out on May 16, when Robitaille struck for four goals, three of them in the second period, as the Olympiques beat the Blazers 9-3 in front of 3,247 fans.
"I could have shot from the corner and scored,” Robitaille said. "It was one of those nights where everything I touched went in.”
Rouleau scored twice and set up four other goals, giving him his second six-point game of the tournament. That left him with 15 points, one short of the tournament record set by Jeff Larmer of the 1982 Kitchener Rangers.
"All three lines played well and I'm very, very happy,” Rouleau said. "I hope we play well tomorrow.”
Hull, which hadn't played since May 12 while Kamloops was playing its third game in three nights, led 3-1 after the first period and 6-3 after the second.
Routhier, Carbonneau and Bob Coyle also scored for the Olympiques.
Mike Nottingham, Brown and Morrison scored for Kamloops.
"We weren't sharp and we weren't aggressive,” Hitchcock said. "Guys that normally fill the net were shooting high and all over the place.
"Their coach was smart. He got our best checkers away from his top line and we couldn't get away with the double line changes like we did earlier in the tournament.”
Hull captain Rick Hayward, a native of Toledo, Ohio, felt his club still hadn't played its best.
"We haven't played up to our potential even yet,” he said. "Tonight, we showed just some of the things we can do.
"A chill goes through my body just thinking about playing Guelph. We'll give it the best shot in the morning.”
That best shot wasn't quite good enough.
The Platers finished their fourth season of existence by winning major junior hockey's championship, beating the Olympiques 6-2 in front of 4,166 fans.
"This whole thing is a dream,” said Chiasson, who was named the tournament's most valuable player. "I don't think we expected this. We've been surprising ourselves all season and we gave ourselves a real shock this week.”
The Platers, coming off a four-day rest, were at the top of their game as they took 3-0 and 5-1 period leads.
Guelph got rolling in the first period when ***ioli, who was nicknamed Lucky, scored twice in 11 seconds and Lonnie Loach added a power-play score.
Benoit Brunet scored for Hull midway throught the second period, but Murray and left-winger Allan MacIsaac scored 13 seconds apart before the period ended to give Guelph a 5-1 lead and all but end this one.
Robitaille and Miller exchanged third-period goals.
Rouleau drew an assist on Robitaille's goal, giving him 16 points and a share of the tournament points record with Larmer.
Robitaille's eight goals tied the tournament record set by Cornwall's Dale Hawerchuk in 1982.
Huffman was selected the most sportsmanlike player, with Guenette named the top goaltender.
The all-star team comprised Guenette, Chiasson and Shudra on defence, and Rouleau, Robitaille and Foglietta up front.
This tournament was also notable for some of the on-ice officials.
Referees Mick McGeough and Lance Roberts went on to work in the NHL, as did linesmen Mike Cvik, Shane Heyer and Brad Lazarowich.
Cvik and Heyer stood out at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7, respectively. As Canadian Press writer Grant Kerr pointed out, Cvik stood a full 15 inches taller than Desjardins, the Hull goaltender.
Also of note was the Guelph trainer, Alex Dudnick. Back in 1952, when the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters won the Memorial Cup, Dudnick was their stickboy.

NEXT: 1987 (Medicine Hat Tigers, Oshawa Generals and Longueuil Chevaliers)

[nivek_wahs]

From Gregg Drinnan...1987

1987 MEMORIAL CUP
Medicine Hat Tigers, Oshawa Generals and Longueuil Chevaliers
at Oshawa (Civic Auditorium)


The person most responsible for putting together the 1987 Memorial Cup championship team was with that organization only because of the death of another team.
Russ Farwell joined the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers only after the Billings Bighorns came to the end of the trail.
Farwell was a member of the Bighorns' front office; in fact, he had even done a little coaching, going 12-20-0 to finish the 1981-82 regular season and 1-4-0 in the playoffs.
It was obvious by then, however, that Farwell had a bright future in hockey. It was obvious, too, that his future would be in management and not in coaching.
Farwell's career in junior hockey actually began in Terrace, B.C. He was a player then and showed up in an attempt to make a team that was an affiliate of the WHL's Calgary Centennials, a team owned by Scotty Munro.
Farwell didn't have it as a player, but Munro liked the youngster and suggested he might have a future in some team's front office.
So Farwell hung around for a bit.
Cec Papke, who was involved with the Centennials in the late 1960s, remembers Farwell.
"He'd watch my practices,” Papke told Gyle Konotopetz of the Calgary Herald. "He'd be taking notes and hangin' around so I put him to work -- sharpening skates. Before long, he was in my house every night, talking about the power play.”
When the 1982-83 season arrived, Farwell was in Medicine Hat as the Tigers' general manager. It was the beginning of a six-year relationship that would prove to be most successful.
After losing the 1985-86 championship final in five games to the Kamloops Blazers, Medicine Hat head coach Doug Sauter left to join the Regina Pats.
The Tigers, Farwell knew, were close to being a championship team. He knew the pressure was on to pick the right man to lead this team to major junior hockey's promised land.
Farwell settled on Bryan Maxwell, a no-nonsense defenceman in his playing days who was a no-nonsense coach.
Farwell didn't have to go far to find Maxwell, who had been an assistant under Sauter. Maxwell, then 30, signed a one-year contract as head coach. He would only stay one season.
Maxwell, originally from Lethbridge, played junior in Medicine Hat and spent his professional career in such places as Cleveland, Cincinnati and New England in the WHA, and Minnesota, St. Louis, Winnipeg and Pittsburgh in the NHL.
On and off the ice, the Tigers were led by Trevor Linden, as fine a leader as this game has seen. Linden, 16 years of age when the season began, turned 17 during the WHL playoffs.
Linden wasn't the only leader on this team, just the best of them.
Goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick could be counted on for leadership, as could defenceman Dean Chynoweth, whose father, Ed, was the president of the WHL and the Canadian Hockey League. Centres Mark Pederson and Neil Brady, a gritty centre, were also cut from the leadership cloth.
The Tigers had finished on top of the East Division, their 48-19-5 record leaving them 11 points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades.
Pederson was the only one of the Tigers with more than 100 points -- he had 102, 17th best in the league -- but 12 players had at least 53 points.
Fitzpatrick checked in with a 3.35 GAA in 50 games as the Tigers allowed 264 goals, tied with the Prince Albert Raiders for the lowest total in the league.
This was a team that excelled defensively. Led by Chynoweth, the defensive corps also included Keith Van Rooyen and Scott McCrady, the offensive leaders on the backline with 76 points apiece, Wayne McBean, Jamie Huscroft and Mark Kuntz.
This also was a team that continually stared elimination square in the face and laughed at it.
Medicine Hat began the postseason with a best-of-seven series against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Tigers lost two of the first three games and then won three in a row to end it.
That put them into the East Division final against Saskatoon. The Tigers lost Game 5 at home to fall behind 3-2 in games. They went into Saskatoon and won 6-4 and then returned home to win the series with a 5-2 seventh-game victory.
Now, only the Portland Winter Hawks stood between the Tigers and a trip to the Memorial Cup. Again, the Tigers found themselves trailing 3-2 in games and heading out on the road for Game 6. They won 4-3 in Portland and then put it away with a 7-2 victory on home ice.
The Tigers faced elimination four times against Saskatoon and Portland.
"It was our never-say-die attitude,” Maxwell said, "that prevailed and allowed us to beat Moose Jaw, Saskatoon and Portland.
"All three clubs had us in a position to beat us, but our players always responded when they faced elimination. I can understand now why coaches turn grey early.”
This Memorial Cup tournament also featured the Oshawa Generals and the Longueuil Chevaliers.
This was the first three-team tournament since 1982 when the Kitchener Rangers won the championship in Hull, beating out the Sherbrooke Castors and Portland.
It was the OHL's turn to play host to the tournament, so it chose to allow its two regular-season division winners to play off in a best-of-seven Super Series. The winner would bring the Memorial Cup tournament to its city.
At the same time, the decision was made that should one team win both the Super Series and the league championship, the OHL would only send one representative.
Oshawa finished on top of the Leyden Division with a 49-14-3 record; the North Bay Centennials, at 46-18-2, topped the Emms Division.
The Super Series was a thriller and wasn't decided until Oshawa won Game 7. That guaranteed the Generals a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament and meant the Centennials would have to win the OHL championship to qualify.
That wouldn't happen.
Oshawa took out the Kingston Frontenacs in one Leyden Division semifinal, winning the series 4-2. The Peterborough Petes fell to the Generals in the division final, losing out 4-2.
And, yes, the Generals met up with the Centennials in the championship final. Oshawa won the series in seven games, taking Game 7 by a 5-3 count, meaning the 1987 Memorial Cup tournament would be a three-team affair.
The Generals, who set a club record with 101 points, were led offensively by Scott McCrory, who set team regular-season records with 99 assists and 150 points en route to winning the OHL scoring title.
Left-winger Derek King, who played alongside McCrory with Lee Giffin on the right side, was no slouch, either. In 57 games, King totalled 53 goals and 53 assists.
Defensively, Oshawa, under head coach Paul Theriault, set a club record by allowing only 201 goals. The key was goaltender Jeff Hackett who, in 31 games, went 18-9-2 with a 3.05 GAA.
The Generals went into the tournament with one huge advantage.
"I think Oshawa has to have an advantage being in front of their home people,” Maxwell said. "I don't think there is any question they are the club to beat.
"I like our chances, but it would be pretty tough to call us favorites. We play well on the road . . . but I don't think the players care if we are underdogs or if we are favored. We can't change anything.”
Theriault was looking forward to playing at home, but was well aware that could carry with it a disadvantage.
"If you have a lead, it's great,” he explained. "If you lose the crowd, you can get in trouble.
"The momentum of the game can change.”
The Chevaliers were coached by Guy Chouinard, a former first-round NHL draft pick who had enjoyed a 50-goal season with the Atlanta Flames in 1978-79.
Chouinard had actually played in two Memorial Cup championships.
He was with the Quebec Remparts, who lost the 1973 final to the Toronto Marlboros in Montreal. Medicine Hat was the third team in the tournament that year and Maxwell was a defenceman with the Tigers.
A year later, Chouinard was a key player on the Remparts who lost the final to the Regina Pats in Calgary. Chouinard and teammate Real Cloutier tied for the tournament scoring lead that year.
Longueuil was a team built on defence. It had surrendered 259 regular-season goals, the only team in the QMJHL to give up fewer than 300 goals.
One reason for that was goaltender Robert Desjardins. Yes, ‘that’ Desjardins. The 5-foot-5 goaltender was in the Memorial Cup tournament for a third straight season with a third different team. He had been with the Shawinigan Cataractes in 1985 and the Hull Olympiques in 1986.
As defenceman Michel Thibodeau said: "He hasn't won and we want to win for him.”
The Chevaliers, who didn't have a scorer in the top 10, scored 369 regular-season goals, the fifth-highest total in the 10-team league. They finished atop the Lebel Division, their 46-20-4 record second only to the Dilio Division-champion Granby Bisons (48-18-1).
Longueuil opened the postseason in a round-robin series. It went 5-3 in its division and advanced to the division final, along with the Laval Titan, who were also 5-3. (The best news for the Chevaliers was that Granby had gone 3-5 in the other division and was eliminated.)
The division final went seven games before the Chevaliers ousted the Titan. And, in the championship final, Longueuil took only five games to finish off the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
A team from Quebec hadn't won a Memorial Cup since the 1971 Quebec Remparts -- the Cornwall Royals, an Ontario team, had won three while playing in the QMJHL -- and Chouinard felt that put his club in the role of a distinct underdog.
"I can't remember when a team from Quebec was favored to win the Memorial Cup,” he stated. "I even told the players that many people are surprised we are here.”
Thibodeau, for one, wasn't surprised.
"Our league is equal or better than the others,” he said on the eve of the tournament.
The tournament opened with games on May 9 and 10, and both were penalty-filled affairs.
On May 9, in front of 3,555 fans, Oshawa began with a 3-2 victory over Longueuil in a game that ended in a brawl.
According to a Canadian Press report: "The game was over when Longueuil's Ronnie Stern jumped Oshawa's Gord Murphy and started swinging. The Generals' Shayne Doyle came off the bench to his teammate's aid . . .
"Stern had been removed from the ice but he returned and continued fighting after a second brawl broke out as the result of an incident involving a fan.”
That incident apparently involved a female fan striking Doyle in the face with a hockey glove.
In the end, Stern and Doyle were each suspended for one game and each team was fined $250 for the brawl.
The tournament's discipline committee, headed up by Regina general manager Del Wilson, also fined the OHL $5,000 for a lack of security.
Jeff Daniels, Petri Matikainen and Sean Williams scored for Oshawa, the latter upping the score to 3-1 at 1:58 of the third period.
Longueuil got goals from Stern and Marc Bureau.
Theriault spent most of the postgame session criticizing the officiating, but he apologized the following day, saying, "I was out of line.”
On May 10, with 3,658 fans in the stands, Oshawa beat Medicine Hat 5-3. This, too, was a penalty-filled game as referee David Lynch chose to clamp down from the outset.
Lynch called 28 penalties worth 150 minutes, including match penalties to Kuntz for headbutting Scott Mahoney during a scrap and to Oshawa's Tony Joseph after he slashed Fitzpatrick with 59 seconds left in the game.
The next day, Kuntz was hit with a one-game suspension. Joseph was also suspended for one game, but not for slashing Fitzpatrick; instead, he was disciplined for spitting at Van Rooyen during a fight.
"Tonight, the referee did his job,” Theriault said.
"We aren't that happy when we lose,” Maxwell said. "I think we fell apart as far as the discipline goes at the latter part of the game when it was pretty well over.”
The teams were tied 2-2 after the first period, with Guy Phillips and Ron Bonora scoring the for the Tigers and Giffin and Jim Paek replying for Oshawa.
Phillips gave Medicine Hat a 3-2 lead after two periods, but the Tigers took two penalties in the period's final moments.
Barry Burkholder pulled the Generals even just 44 seconds into the third period. Then, one second after the second penalty had expired, Giffin scored on his own rebound to give the lead to the Generals.
Brian Hunt put it away with 7:05 left in the third period.
The Tigers got on track in their next game, beating the Chevaliers 4-2 in front of 3,360 fans on May 11.
"I'm still waiting for my team to show up,” Chouinard said. "Right now, this is not the real Longueuil team.”
That may have been so. But this was the real Medicine Hat team -- the Tigers were forechecking and grinding, playing tough, tough hockey.
Medicine Hat got three goals from centre Rob DiMaio and an empty-netter from Kirby Lindal.
"I don't know if I consider myself a potent goal scorer,” said DiMaio, who had struck for 27 regular-season goals. "I'm a grinder. I've played that style all year.
"I have a job to do and that job is whatever they assign me to. And most times, that job isn't to score goals.”
Chouinard wasn't overly thrilled with Marc Saumier, one of the team's leading scorers. Saumier, who had 39 goals and 49 assists in the regular season, sat out 18 minutes worth of penalties, including a misconduct he picked up after he tossed a water bottle at the timekeeper.
"When you lose a guy like that for 18 minutes, you can't afford it,” Chouinard said. "He didn't help us at all.”
The Chevaliers, who trailed 2-0 and 3-2 at the breaks, got goals from Marc Tremblay and Steven Paiement.
Longueuil was now 0-2 and looking at an early exit.
"We didn't expect to win every game,” Chouinard said. "And we sure don't want to lose them all.”
Stern was in the stands the next night, May 12, as the Chevaliers played the Generals. It turned out to be his lucky night as he won $1,220 in a raffle during the game.
On the ice, his teammates lost 6-3 to fall to 0-3.
Oshawa clinched a spot in the final with the victory; the Chevaliers now would go into a two-game, total-goal semifinal series against the Tigers. This was a tiebreaking procedure under which two teams went into a two-game semifinal series if one team wrapped up a spot in the final after the fourth game.
"They have given us a chance to be part of the finals,” Chouinard said. "You look at it the other way, and we were 0-3. Where can you go with a record like that?”
Matikainen and Burkholder, with two each, McCrory and Mahoney scored for Oshawa.
Mario De Benedictis, Richard Laplante and Real Godin scored for Longueuil.
The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and Oshawa led 4-1 going into the third period. The Chevaliers closed to within one, at 4-3, early in the third after Chouinard changes goaltenders, Eric Maguere coming on for Desjardins.
"It changed things and it almost worked,” Chouinard said.
Chouinard was still waiting for the real Chevaliers to show up.
"Do you think a championship team looks like what you've seen from us this tournament?” he asked.
Matikainen, a defenceman, had been on the Finnish team that won the 1986 world junior championship following that infamous brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union in Piestany, Czechoslovakia. He was of the opinion the Memorial Cup was a bigger deal.
"The Memorial Cup means more to me, by far,” he explained. "It's something you work all year for, and not just a couple of weeks.”
He also expected to meet the Tigers in the final.
"I think Medicine Hat is a much tougher team,” he stated. "They will outwork Quebec. I bet they walk all over Longueuil.”
He was right.
The Tigers won 6-0 on May 13, before 3,416 fans.

[nivek_wahs]

1987 continued...

The Medicine Hat fans in attendance were gaining some attention for their habit of throwing beachballs onto the ice whenever their team scored.
The pitchers were led by former Tigers defenceman Gord Hynes, who spent the 1986-87 season with Moncton of the American Hockey League.
"Our message to the goaltender is simple: ‘If you can't stop a puck, try a beachball.’ ” said Hynes, whose brother Wayne was a centre with the Tigers. "We're not hurting anyone. We're just having fun.”
So were the Tigers, who got two goals and two assists from Jeff Wenaas as they scored three times in each of the second and third periods.
"We really appreciate it,” Wenaas said of the fans' actions. "We're kind of strangers here and it's nice to hear their support.”
Rod Williams, Dale Kushner, McBean and Phillips also scored for the Tigers, who got 19 saves from Fitzpatrick.
Chouinard felt this game was won and lost in front of the Medicine Hat goal, where few Chevaliers chose to wander.
"If you go there, there is a good chance you will get cross-checked,” Chouinard said. "They won't pay the price. They didn't tonight.”
As for facing a 6-0 deficit going into the second game of the total-goal series, Chouinard noted: "We haven't scored that many goals the whole tournament. But it's not over yet.”
It was over on May 14 after the Tigers beat the Chevaliers 3-1, sending Longueuil home with an 0-5 record. Only the 1977 Sherbrooke Castors had lost as many as four games in one tournament.
In the aftermath, Desjardins and Chouinard said they felt too many players were overly satisfied to have won the QMJHL crown.
"That was our biggest problem,” Desjardins said. "The guys were on vacation before we came in, and that's what happened.
"When we arrived here, we should have been pumped up to play but we were just flat. Maybe we were scared.”
Chouinard added: "How many guys will come back next year, and the year after that? When you are there, you should take advantage of it.
"At least go home with your head up, knowing you gave it 100 per cent to at least try and win it. I don't think we did that this week.”
McCrady, Wenaas and Kushner scored for the Tigers, with De Benedictis replying for Longueuil.
And now Maxwell was saying he was still waiting for the real Tigers to show up.
"I don't think we have played at the top of our game since we arrived here,” he said. "But we'll have to (in the final).”
The Tigers were at the top of their game on May 16 as they stoned the Generals 6-2 in front of 3,564 fans.
Linden scored the game's first goal, beating Hackett just 1:47 into the first period.
It was 2-0 thanks to Phillips about six minutes later, and the Tigers were off to the races.
"They were tremendous,” Theriault said. "We had difficulty moving the puck and they were moving well. Medicine Hat played a super game.”
The Generals had gone into the game unbeaten in the tournament and with three days' rest. The Tigers were playing their third game in four days.
Wenaas set the tone when he aggressively won the ceremonial opening faceoff from Paek, drawing a round of boos from the capacity crowd.
"We were on top of them all game,” Wenaas said.
Linden ended up with his first two goals of the tournament, including the eventual game-winner, at 15:48 of the first period.
DiMaio, Kushner and Bonora also scored for the Tigers, who held period leads of 3-1 and 4-2 and outshot the Generals 34-32.
McCrory scored both Oshawa goals. His second goal, on a power play at 11:36 of the second period, got the Generals to within one at 3-2.
Dean Morton then took a charging penalty for running into Fitzpatrick and Kushner promptly restored the two-goal lead.
"You could kind of say the fourth goal was the straw that broke the camel's back,” Morton said. "(The penalty) came at a bad time.”
Thibault agreed.
"The fourth goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of us,” he said. "We were coming back all year -- the never-say-die Generals -- and when they got the fourth one, it just wasn't there.”
King, who was held to three assists in the tournament, was especially disappointed.
"I thought I would be scoring goals until the end of the season,” he said. "I thought no one would really know who I was. But I guess they must have done their homework because they knew what our line could do and shut us down.
"We didn't overcome it, and now we're finalists, not champions . . . and I feel just brutal about it.”
Linden, who had four years of eligibility remaining, said: "I guess it was just my turn to score. Guys like Mark Pederson, Guy Phillips and Dale Kushner carried us through the playoffs by scoring some big goals -- but I guess it was my turn to score today.”
Maxwell said it was the biggest thrill of his career.
"It's the highlight of my hockey career,” he said. "We played today like we played all year long -- with great forechecking and scoring when we get the chances.”
Farwell pointed to the team's character.
"It was the character of our kids that carried us through,” Farwell said. "We had a tremendous group of guys, and 15 of them had been disappointed the previous season when we had a good playoff but were eliminated by Kamloops.
"We had so many returnees from that team, and they just weren't going to be denied.”
Five Tigers were named to the tournament all-star team -- Fitzpatrick, McBean, Wenaas, Phillips and Kushner. Murphy, the Oshawa defenceman, prevented a Medicine Hat sweep. Phillips and Wenaas led the tournament with eight points each, while Phillips and DiMaio were tops in goals, each with four.
Fitzpatrick was selected the outstanding goaltender. McCrory was honored as the most sportsmanlike player.
A lot of people felt that Medicine Hat lost its magic on July 2, 1987, when Maxwell left to accept an assistant coaching position with the NHL's Los Angeles Kings.
However, Farwell would find another former NHL defenceman to coach his Tigers. And the magic would return.

NEXT: 1988 (Medicine Hat Tigers, Windsor Spitfires, Drummondville Voltigeurs and Hull Olympiques)

[nivek_wahs]

From Gregg Drinnan...1988

1988 MEMORIAL CUP
Medicine Hat Tigers, Windsor Spitfires, Drummondville Voltigeurs and Hull Olympiques
at Chicoutimi (Georges Vezina Arena)


This one, the hockey gods seemed to be saying, was for Ed Chynoweth.
The 1987-88 hockey season ended in Chicoutimi, Que., with the Chynoweth family on centre stage.
There was Ed Chynoweth, the longtime president of the Western Hockey League and the Canadian Hockey League, the umbrella under which the three major junior leagues operate, presenting the Memorial Cup to his son Dean, the captain of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The smiles told you it was a moment for the ages.
Never in Memorial Cup history had a father presented the championship trophy to his son.
This was an especially incredible moment for Ed, who admits to getting a charge out of presenting the trophy to any team captain.
"I probably get as big a thrill as the team captain of the winning team does when he skates out to meet me at centre ice,” Ed once told Windsor, Ont., freelance writer John Humphrey. "It's such a sight to see the joy and ecstasy in a player's eyes. It gets my adrenalin going and brings a smile to my face, that much I can tell you.”
And when you're handing the trophy over to your own flesh and blood . . .
"I don't know if that's an accomplishment that will ever be duplicated -- a Canadian Hockey League president presenting the Memorial Cup to his son,” Ed said. "It was such a proud moment for Dean and myself, both personally and professionally.”
Only five times in history had one team won back-to-back championships.
The Medicine Hat Tigers of 1987-88 would become the sixth team on that list. They were the first WHL team to win back-to-back titles since the New Westminster Bruins won four in a row, from 1975 through 1978. And the Tigers became the first WHL team to appear in consecutive Memorial Cups since the Portland Winter Hawks qualified in 1982 as WHL champions and 1983 as the host team.
Shortly after the Tigers won the 1987 Memorial Cup, head coach Bryan Maxwell left to join the NHL's Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach.
Russ Farwell, who was going into his sixth season as the Tigers' general manager, immediately began what turned into a one-month search for a replacement. He came up with Barry Melrose, a native of Kelvington, Sask., who had been a journeyman defenceman during a professional career that included six NHL seasons and stops in Detroit, Toronto and Winnipeg.
"He's been recommended by all the people he's been in contact with,” Farwell said. "We didn't want a coach who was going to move from point to point.”
Although the Tigers were loaded with returning players from their championship team, Farwell tried to deflect any talk of pressure to repeat as Memorial Cup champions.
"Trying to repeat is difficult,” he said. "We won't know (which players will return) until we see who the NHL gives us back. There is a little bit of pressure, but I don't think that'll be a major problem.”
As for Melrose, he said he came to Medicine Hat because "I just wanted to go to a good organization. This is one of the proven junior teams in Canada.”
Back for another shot at the Memorial Cup were goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick, defencemen Scott McCrady, Wayne McBean and Chynoweth, and forwards Mark Pederson, Rob DiMaio, Trevor Linden, Kirby Lindal, Wayne Hynes and Neil Brady.
Five of those players -- McCrady, McBean, Pederson, DiMaio and Linden -- had also played on the 1988 Canadian team that won the world junior championship. Yes, this was a team that knew a thing or two about playing under pressure.
Still, the Medicine Hat roster also included seven 16-year-old players. And one of their top players, centre Trevor Linden, was only 17 years of age.
The Tigers' regular season could best be described as B.M. and A.M. -- before McBean and after McBean. An outstanding defenceman with tremendous offensive skills, McBean opened the season with the NHL's Los Angeles Kings.
Without McBean, the Tigers' roar was barely a meow at a mediocre 22-16-4. With McBean, an all-star at the 1987 Memorial Cup, back in the lineup, the Tigers were 38-11-2.
When the regular season ended, the Tigers, at 44-22-6, were second in the East Division, behind the Saskatoon Blades (47-22-3). The Kamloops Blazers finished on top of the West Division, at 45-26-1.
A year earlier, the Tigers had just one player with more than 100 points (Pederson had 102), but had a dozen with at least 50 points.
Now it was a year later and the Tigers had two 100-point men -- Pederson with 111, including 53 goals, and Linden, with 110. They finished 16th and 17th in the league scoring race.
And the Tigers only had seven players with more than 50 points, but McBean finished with 45 points in only 30 games.
As a team, they scored 353 goals, the fifth-best total in the league. As they had the previous season, they won with goaltending and defence.
Fitzpatrick led the league with a 3.23 GAA as he played in 63 of the club's 72 games, going 36-15-6 in the process.
Defensively, the Tigers gave up 261 goals, the lowest total in the league by 23 goals.
After an opening-round bye, Medicine Hat opened the postseason against the Prince Albert Raiders, who had won a best-of-five series from the Brandon Wheat Kings in four games. The Tigers took the best-of-seven series from the Raiders in six games, and then swept Saskatoon in the East Division final series.
The WHL's championship final went six games, with the Tigers eliminating the Kamloops Blazers, winning the last game, 5-2.
Going into the Memorial Cup, no one was hotter than DiMaio, who totaled eight goals and nine assists in the victory over Kamloops. DiMaio finished the playoffs with 31 points, including 12 goals. He and Kamloops' Mark Recchi, who had 10 goals, tied for the scoring lead. Linden had 25 points, including 13 goals to tie for the league lead with Pederson.
Fitzpatrick, playing every minute of every playoff game, put up a 3.25 GAA. He was ready for Chicoutimi.
Still, the Tigers weren't favoured when this tournament opened.
"How can anybody say we're favoured?” Melrose asked. "I think the Windsor Spitfires are the team everyone is talking about, even moreso than us.”
The Spitfires, of head coach Tom Webster, were coming off an amazing OHL season.
Webster had been to the Memorial Cup before, as a player with the Niagara Falls Flyers who won the 1968 title. He brought out the photos and the newspaper clippings from that championship and used them to motivate his team.
"It brought back a lot of memories,” Webster said. "It was a lot of fun and it was a great way to keep the guys loose.”
In winning their first OHL title, the Spitfires set seven franchise records -- most goals (396), fewest goals against (215), most victories (50), fewest losses (14), most points (102), longest winning streak (16) and longest home-ice winning streak (13).
They ran that home-ice streak to 19 in the playoffs and actually took an 18-game winning streak into the Memorial Cup tournament.
Among other things, the Spitfires went into Chicoutimi having won 35 of their last 36 games; they were 40-4-0 since Christmas; and, they were 54-0 when leading after two periods.
They, too, leaned heavily on a veteran of the Canadian junior team -- right-winger Adam Graves, their team captain.
"We will rely on him to prepare us,” Webster said. "You can't get much more pressure than beating the Soviets in Moscow.”
Graves had opened the season with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, but returned to Windsor to total 60 points, including 28 goals, in 32 games. In the playoffs, he had 15 goals and 17 assists as the Spitfires went 12-0. That's right -- they never lost a playoff game as they swept past, in order, the Kitchener Rangers, Hamilton Steelhawks and Peterborough Petes.
Also on this Windsor team were the Shannon brothers -- left-winger Darrin and defenceman Darryl -- and hardnosed defenceman Glen Featherstone.
The goaltending was in the capable hands of Pat Jablonski.
The tournament also featured two teams from the QMJHL -- the Hull Olympiques, who were the league champions, and the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who had lost out to Hull in the final.
The Olympiques, of head coach Alain Vigneault, had concluded the regular season with the QMJHL's best record -- 43-23-4.
They were led offensively by Marc Saumier, whose 166 points, including 114 assists, left him third in the regular-season scoring race. This would be Saumier's second straight Memorial Cup appearance -- a year earlier, he was with the QMJHL-champion Longueuil Chevaliers.
Benoit Brunet was tied for seventh in the scoring race, with 143 points, including 54 goals, while Martin Gelinas was 10th with 131 points, including 63 goals.
Yes, these Olympiques could score. Their 380 goals were third-highest in the league. On defence, they allowed 294 goals, the 10-team league's third-best figure. The goaltender was Jason Glickman, a Chicago native.
Hull was pushed in the playoffs, too.

[nivek_wahs]

1988 continued...

It opened with a best-of-seven division semifinal against the Granby Bisons that took only five games. But after that the Olympiques went through two seven-game sets -- first ousting the Laval Titan, who led 3-1 after four games, and then taking out Drummondville. The Voltigeurs actually held a 3-1 lead in games in the championship final, but weren't able to close it out. The Olympiques roared back to win three in a row, including a 5-3 triumph in Game 7.
Saumier was the QMJHL's top playoff performer, with 48 points, including 31 assists, in 19 games.
Drummondville head coach Jean Begin was an assistant coach with the 1988 gold medal-winning Canadian junior team.
Begin had guided the Voltigeurs to a 35-31-4 regular-season record, second-best in the Frank Dilio Division, behind the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (38-31-1) and only the fifth-best mark in the league.
They caught fire in the playoffs and rolled over the Victoriaville Tigres and Shawinigan Cataractes, winning both series in five games. Then, in the final, they grabbed that 3-1 series lead over Hull before the roof fell in on them.
The 1988 tournament was played in Chicoutimi, a legendary hockey city that boasts of being home to Georges Vezina, one of the greatest goaltenders in the game's history.
Located deep in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Chicoutimi, with a population of slightly more than 50,000, proved a receptive home to the 1988 Memorial Cup tournament.
But there was controversy before the first puck was dropped.
With the tournament in Quebec, the QMJHL would supply the on-ice officials and had chosen Dave Jackson, Richard Trottier and Luc Lachapelle as its referees.
According to a Canadian Press report: "After almost every game of the (championship) series, Hull coach Alain Vigneault and Maurice Lemay, coach of the Laval Titan, who lost in the previous round, attacked the referees.”
Gilles Courteau, the QMJHL president, admitted concern; in fact, he admitted Jackson had turned in a lax effort in Game 5 of the final between Hull and the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
"I'm concerned,” Courteau said. "We're in the finals of a big tournament, so let's see the guys play.
"Sure the players must be disciplined, but the refs have the rule book. It's up to them to use it.”
Oh, one other thing -- Begin came into this tournament with an 0-6 record in Memorial Cup games. Two days after it opened, he was 0-8.
The Voltigeurs began with an 8-3 loss to Windsor on May 7 and followed that up on May 8 by losing 7-1 to Medicine Hat.
"My record is a bad one and I know it,” Begin said. “But how many coaches can say they have been here three times.”
Begin, the first coach in QMJHL history to make three appearances at the tournament, had previously been there with Laval (1984) and the Verdun Junior Canadiens (1985).
"I prefer to be 0-8 than all the coaches who are 0-0 right now,” Begin said. "I could be 0-20 and I'd be happy.”
Before 2,841 fans, the Tigers really took it to the Voltigeurs.
DiMaio scored 26 seconds into the game, Cal Zankowski made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal midway through the opening period and Linden made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 14:36. Pederson, McBean and DiMaio, with his second goal, scored in the second period, with Mark Woolf adding a third-period goal.
Martin Bergeron scored Drummondville's lone goal at 9:19 of the third period.
"The score flattered us,” said Melrose, whose club outshot Drummondville, 43-21. “They have a little less talent than us and that first goal took the wind out of their sails.
"They were a little overmatched.”
In the other game on May 8, Windsor beat Hull, 5-4.
By May 9, everyone was wondering what was wrong with the QMJHL.
The Tigers hammered the Olympiques 7-3 in front of 2,852 fans that night, leaving the QMJHL teams at 0-4. This was also the 10th consecutive setback, dating back to the 1986 tournament, for Quebec teams.
"I don't put the players on the ice,” Courteau said. "I am concerned. It's an embarrassment and a disappointment. And it's tough for me. But I don't have the answer.”
Courteau felt that QMJHL teams perhaps were content to win the league championship.
"I have told them it is important to understand the season doesn't end with the league championship,” he said. "I have told them we have to play the Memorial Cup.
"I've told them they will be one of the four best teams in Canada and they have to prove it. Maybe they think too much of the teams from Ontario and the West.”
Vigneault disagreed with Courteau.
"We are doing the best we can to represent our league,” he said. ""That's all I can ask of my players.”
Brady, DiMaio, Lindal, Pederson, Linden, McCrady and Darren Taylor scored for the Tigers, who trailed 2-1 after one period but scored the second period's only three goals to take control. Stephane Quintal, Stephane Matteau and Ken MacDermid replied for Hull, which outshot the Tigers, 35-32.
The Tigers were already looking ahead to the following night's game against Windsor, which was also 2-0.
"I wish we could be meeting them when both of us are fresh,” said Melrose, pointing out the game would be the third in as many nights for his Tigers. "We are the only team that has to play three in three. We just don't think it is fair.”
DiMaio said his teammates wouldn't use fatigue as an excuse.
"This is exactly where we want to be, winning our two games,” he said. "They have a lot of character and we have a lot. It's going to be nose to nose.”
The Spitfires ran their winning streak to 21 with a 5-2 victory over the Tigers in front of 3,052 fans on May 10. Afterwards, Melrose was spittin' mad.
"I hope the organizers are happy,” he seethed. ""They gave us three games in three nights. We had to play the best team the last night. Everything was set up for Windsor to win.”
The victory sent the Spitfires on to the final. The Tigers would have the following day off and then play the winner of a Drummondville-Hull game in the semifinal game.
The Tigers were actually in this game until they ran into penalty trouble in the third period.
Windsor took a 3-2 lead into the third period when Medicine Hat defenceman Ryan McGill was hit with a major penalty for slashing Graves. Brad Hyatt and Ron Jones scored on the ensuing penalty to break this one open.
Fitzpatrick took a slashing major midway through the third period, dashing any hopes the Tigers had of making a comeback.
Melrose was not pleased with the work of Jackson, the referee.
"Why is it when we hit a guy in the face it's five minutes and when they hit a guy it is four?” Melrose asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "What's the difference?
"Out west, when you hit a guy in the face it is five minutes. I guess I wasn't aware of the rule.”
Graves, Darrin Shannon and Jones, with an earlier goal, rounded out Windsor's scoring. Vince Boe and McGill scored for the Tigers.
"When we got those two quick goals, that was the turning point,” Webster said.
Melrose, after cooling off, agreed.
"You can't kill 10 minutes and expect to beat a good club,” he admitted.
As for McGill, he said he didn't mean to cut Graves, whose right ear was covered by blood-soaked gauze at game's end.
"I went to slash his arm and my stick got up and accidentally brushed him in the helmet,” McGill said. "I didn't hit him hard . . . but there was no blood.”
Graves said: "I figured since I felt it, I might as well fall down and get a penalty. I was laying there looking for the referee (and) it started to bleed.”
Both teams now were looking forward to some rest.
"Hopefully, we will get another crack at Windsor when we are fresh, and we will see what happens then,” Melrose said.
Webster offered: "I think Medicine Hat is as tired as we are and it hasn't been easy to get this far. But we will not lose sight of what we are here for.”
In the meantime, Drummondville would play Hull, meaning the QMJHL's 10-game losing streak would end.
On May 11, Hull beat Drummondville 5-2, earning a spot in the semifinal game and sending Begin to his ninth straight Memorial Cup defeat.
"We're used to playing a do-or-die situation,” offered Vigneault, who had been honoured earlier in the day as the CHL's coach of the year. ""I guess we like it. We've been good at pressure.”
Then, looking ahead to the semifinal game with Medicine Hat, he added: "We're going to try to prove we're the comeback kids again.”
Melrose had watched the game and admitted he wasn't impressed with Hull.
"They didn't play as well as I thought they would,” Melrose stated. "If we don't beat Hull, we don't deserve to play Windsor.”
Melrose also took the time to fire a shot or two at Gelinas, the CHL's rookie of the year.
"Apart from one nice goal, he didn't do much,” Melrose said. "He's a talented player but he hasn't don't anything fancy.”
Always outspoken and frequently blowing smoke, Melrose didn't see much about which to get excited in Hull's record in must-win games.
"We've won must games all year long,” he said. "We have a history of it. We don't quit.”
Gelinas, with two goals, Daniel Shank, MacDermid and Joe Suk scored for Hull. Martin Gecteau and Rob Murphy scored for Drummondville.
Vigneault recognized that his club would be in tough against the Tigers.
"If you don't put any pressure on them and if you let them wheel all night, you will come out on the short end,” he explained.
The Tigers won that semifinal game 5-3 on May 12 in front of 2,989 fans.
Taylor, a checking winger who had 12 goals in the regular season, broke a 3-3 tie with 6:34 left in the third period.
"I'd have to say that was the biggest goal of my life,” said Taylor, who had 34 goals in four seasons of junior hockey. "This is the furthest I have ever been, so it is definitely the biggest goal.”
The goal came moments after Glickman had made a glittering save off Woolf. Taylor scored on the rebound.
Hull led 3-2 after the first period; the teams were tied 3-3 heading into the third.
Linden had given the Tigers a 1-0 lead, only to have Saumier and Brunet put Hull out front. Pederson tied it at 17:29 of the first period; Saumier put Hull back out front at 19:42.
Medicine Hat's Jason Miller scored the second period's only goal, setting the stage for Taylor.
Zankowski wrapped it up with a goal at 16:06 of the third period.
There was an off day between the semifinal and final, meaning the Tigers and Spitfires were well rested when May 14 arrived. And the final game of the 1988 tournament was one for the ages.
The Tigers fell behind the Spitfires 3-0 just 12 minutes into the first period but roared back to win 7-6 before 3,301 fans.
"Unbelievable,” Melrose said. "You couldn't have written a better script.”
Windsor's Mike Wolak scored 14 seconds into the game. Peter DeBoer made it 2-0 at 10:12 and, when Jean-Paul Gorley scored at 12:02 on a power play, it was 3-0. Lindal and Woolf scored for the Tigers before the period ended and the comeback was on.
Pederson pulled the Tigers even at 4:27 of the second period and DiMaio put them into the lead on a power play at 6:33. Darrin Shannon sent the Spitfires back out front at 8:41, but the Tigers reclaimed the lead when Lindal scored at 12:01.
Miller gave the Tigers a 6-4 lead at 11:48 of the third period and most observers thought this one was over. However, Paul Wilkinson (12:14) and Wolak (14:54) pulled Windsor back even and it seemed as though this game was headed for overtime.
Pederson would have none of that. A pure sniper, he didn't scored in the 1987 tournament in Oshawa. He would lead the 1988 tournament with five goals, none of them bigger than the last one. It came with 2:43 left in the third period and won the game.
The winner came after DiMaio found himself with the puck in a corner. As he was falling to the ice, he tossed a pass to Pederson who one-timed it past Jablonski.
"It was a relief as much as anything,” Pederson said. "It was a great feeling. It just sent a chill down through my body.”
The Spitfires had gone into the game riding a 21-game winning streak.
"All I can say is we both won a game,” Webster said. "I don't think we lost. We ran out of time.”
Webster felt Woolf's goal with 53 seconds left in the first period was the key score.
"It was a momentum builder for them coming into the second period and it carried on,” Webster said. "If there was a turning point, that was it.”
Melrose agreed.
"It gave us time to regroup,” he said of Woolf's goal.
DiMaio was named the tournament's most valuable player.
"This year is something that I'll dream about for the rest of my life,” said DiMaio, who was joined on the tournament all-star team by Fitzpatrick, Chynoweth, Linden and the Shannon brothers.
Wolak led the tournament with 10 points; DiMaio and Pederson were next, with nine apiece.
Fitzpatrick became the first double-winner of the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy which goes to the top goaltender. Gelinas was selected the most sportsmanlike player.
And one of the assists on the winning goal went to Chynoweth, a gritty, hard-nosed, stay-at-home defenceman. As the Tigers' captain, he accepted the Memorial Cup from his father, Ed.
There was more to this triumph than what met the eye, however.
As it turned out, this Medicine Hat team was playing with a heavy heart.
Helen Brady, Neil's 62-year-old mother, lost a battle with cancer during the tournament. She died on May 10 in Calgary, the day the Tigers lost to Windsor in the round-robin portion of the tournament.
Neil was a solid, hard-working centre who had been selected by the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the NHL's 1986 draft.
His mother had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 1986. Her son was playing in Medicine Hat by then, and he made countless trips from Medicine Hat to Calgary.
"She was an unbelievably strong woman,” her son said.
Two days after winning their second straight national championship, Brady and his teammates attended his mother's funeral in Calgary.

NEXT: 1989 (Swift Current Broncos, Saskatoon Blades, Peterborough Petes and Laval Titan)

[nivek_wahs]

From Gregg Drinnan...1989

1989 MEMORIAL CUP
Swift Current Broncos, Saskatoon Blades, Peterborough Petes and Laval Titan
at Saskatoon (Saskatchewan Place)


This Memorial Cup tournament should have belonged to the Saskatoon Blades.
That's because the Blades are the only original member of the Western Hockey League to play every season since the first one, 1966-67.
The Blades had put together some great teams over the years but always seemed to run into another team that was just a little bit better.
Now, with a new rink -- the 7,752-seat Saskatchewan Place -- the Blades found themselves in the Memorial Cup, albeit as the host team.
Still, they were in the tournament. And that's all that mattered to the hockey-mad city of Saskatoon.
But the Swift Current Broncos were also in this tournament. They were there as the WHL champions, the conclusion to a most improbable run.
And the Broncos had more than the eyes of a city upon them. A whole nation was watching them; indeed, it was an entire teary-eyed nation.
If ever there was a little team that could in a little city that wanted to, it was the Swift Current Broncos.
John Rittinger, the team's governor, had tried for years to land a team for the city of 16,000 residents that is located in the southwest part of Saskatchewan.
Every time a team became available, or there was a whisper that one might be up for grabs, Rittinger was there.
It was an empty trail of broken dreams until Rittinger and his community group were able to purchase the Lethbridge Broncos after the 1985-86 season.
But, as it turned out, the chase was only a tiny portion of the story.
The remainder began on the night of Dec. 30, 1986, as the Broncos were en route to Regina for a game with the Pats.
A wet snow resulted in icy conditions and the Broncos bus swerved off the Trans-Canada Highway and crashed through a ditch a short distance from home.
Four players – Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff -- were killed.
At the time, John Foster, the Broncos' publicity director, said: "This team will band together and win it for those guys who died. The (survivors) were absolutely professional under stress. If the people of Swift Current could have seen them, they would have been proud.”
Foster was on the bus that night, so he knew of what he spoke. Time would prove him correct, too.
There was more to this tragic tale, however, and in the end it was all enough to have observers wondering if this organization was operating under a permanent black cloud.
Herman Kruger, 67, suffered a fatal heart attack as he entered the church for his great-grandson's funeral.
And later the same day, at a lunch following funeral services, Regina head coach Doug Sauter and Pats trainer Stan Szumlak came to the rescue of Keith Giles, a member of the Prince Albert executive who was choking on some food.
The Broncos learned then that life does go on. And it did. For the most part, the organization was able to put the accident behind itself -- not forgotten, just out of mind.
As Graham James, the team's general manager and head coach, said in the early winter of 1989: "It's not really mentioned now. If guys start whining or feeling sorry for themselves, we remind them of the history of this franchise. That keeps things in perspective.''
But now it was the spring of 1989 and the Broncos -- and the accident -- were front and centre.
Suddenly, everyone was interested in the Broncos. Everyone wanted to know how it was that the organization could recover as quickly as it did.
"I think after the bus accident . . . that galvanized the spirit of the community,” James said. "I think that was a catalyst. Since then we've had to provide a product that's been worthy of fans coming, but I think that incident certainly rallied the community.”
The Broncos opened the 1988-89 season by winning their first 12 games. A team of destiny? People were already starting to wonder.
When the Christmas break arrived the Broncos were riding a 10-game winning streak and had a 28-5-0 record.
When the regular season was done, the Broncos, a team that played in the smallest of any CHL city, a team that played in the CHL's smallest rink (the Centennial Civic Centre seated 2,275 and had standing room for 800), had the CHL's best record -- 55-16-1. By going 33-2-1 at home, they set a WHL record for most home victories in a season.
Still, the best was yet to come.
On April 30, the Broncos completed an amazing run through the WHL playoffs by beating the Winter Hawks 4-1 in Portland. That gave the Broncos a sweep of the best-of-seven WHL championship final.
Earlier, the Broncos had also swept the Moose Jaw Warriors and Saskatoon.
Yes, Swift Current went through the WHL playoffs without losing a game, something no other WHL team had ever done. The Broncos put together a 12-0 run and they carried that momentum into the Memorial Cup tournament.
"This is a great accomplishment for our franchise,” James said. "But I don't want the Memorial Cup to decide if we had a great year.”
Swift Current centre Tim Tisdale added: "We have the team to do it this year. If we can't get up for four games, we don't belong there. I'll be disappointed if we don't win the Memorial Cup.”
Believe one thing -- this team was Graham James.
Raised in Winnipeg, James had been exposed to the flowing style of hockey played by the World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets, in particular the style played by Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg and Bobby Hull.
The Broncos were full of players who could pass, skate and shoot. And while not a physical team, the Broncos were intimidating because the power play simply could not be stopped.
Ask the Warriors who one night were beaten by the Broncos to the tune of 11-3, surrendering a WHL record 10 power-play goals in the process.
With Dan Lambert, Bob Wilkie and Darren Kruger rotating on the points, and with virtually any combination of Tisdale, Peter Soberlak, Sheldon Kennedy, Brian Sakic, Peter Kasowski and Kimbi Daniels seeing time up front, the Broncos' power play was awesome before awesome became cool.
Swift Current's power-play unit scored 180 goals that season, breaking the WHL's single-season record by 15 goals. With the man advantage, the Broncos scored 180 goals in 526 chances, an incredible success rate of 34.2 per cent.
Five players scored 100 points or more -- Tisdale (139), Kasowski (131), Kennedy (106), Lambert (102) and Sakic (100). Darren Kruger finished with 97, and set a WHL record with 63 power-play assists.
Tisdale added 32 points in 12 playoff games, while Lambert had 28 points, including 19 assists.
The goaltender was Trevor Kruger, Darren's twin brother. Their younger brother, Scott, was one of the victim's of that bus accident.
And there was James, a man who loved the game of hockey, especially when it's played properly.
Despite public perception which was fueled by the media, James never really campaigned against violence in hockey. It's just that when asked about it, he always provided an answer. That answer was always thought-provoking.
"I'm not comfortable doing this,” he said. "But I think we have a choice. Do we say what we believe or do we keep quiet so everyone in the league likes us? The easiest thing to do is remain neutral, but I don't think that's right.”
He would oftentimes compare hockey to another sport.
"What if golf were like hockey?” he would wonder out loud. "Say Jack Nicklaus had a 20-foot birdie putt and Ben Crenshaw thought, ‘I'm 10 shots behind him, I'm going to get him.' Would he cross-check Nicklaus in the back of the head with his putter?”
Through all of this, James wasn't the most popular person in WHL circles, especially since his Broncos employed Mark McFarlane, a right-winger who totalled 364 penalty minutes.
"I don't want to give the impression we're perfect,” James said. "We get that all the time -- what about McFarlane? But I think we're sending a message saying you can't stick guys. If I see our guys using sticks, I'll talk to them on the bench. If it continues, we'll deal with it at the team level. We've sat guys out for stick infractions. The bottom line is this game wasn't meant to hurt people.”
The toughest part of the Broncos may well have been the players' bench.
"Actually, we're a lot like the Oakland A's in the mid-'70s,” James said. "Guys come to the bench screaming and *****ing at each other, but off the ice they get along great.
"We've just got a lot of high-strung people during the game.”
The Blades, meanwhile, were a disappointed bunch.
Under head coach Marcel Comeau they had put together a 42-28-2 record and were never really given the respect they felt they were due.
They had scored 366 goals. But the Broncos had scored more (447). The Blades had allowed 335 goals. The Broncos had allowed fewer (319).
The Blades had one player with 100 points (Kory Kocur, 102); the Broncos had five.
The one area in which the Blades had the edge was in 20-goal scorers. They had 10 of them; the Broncos only had nine.
Yes, the victories were small, indeed.
This was a gritty Saskatoon team that featured Scott Scissons, with 86 points, and three players with 79 points -- defenceman Collin Bauer and forwards Tracey Katelnikoff and Jason Christie.
Dean Kuntz saw the majority of action in goal during the regular season but, by the time the Memorial Cup arrived, Mike Greenlay was the starter.
The Blades opened the postseason with such high hopes, and they only got higher with a four-game sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
But before they knew it the Blades had been brushed aside by the Broncos, after which the seemingly interminable wait for the Memorial Cup to start was all that was left.
"We'll take a run at it just like the other teams will,” Comeau said. "We're not here for jokes and giggles.”
This time around, the Laval Titan would represent the QMJHL, a league that hadn't had a Quebec-based team win it all since the 1971 Quebec Remparts of Guy Lafleur.
Laval was coached by former NHLer Paulin Bordeleau, who had ended his North American playing career in 1976 and had since played for France at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.
Bordeleau ended his playing career after his Olympic experience and returned to Canada in hopes of starting a coaching career.
Laval's leader offensively was right-winger Donald Audette, who totaled 161 points, including 76 goals, in the regular season and added 17 goals in 17 playoff games.
Two other Laval players broke the 100-point barrier -- Denis Chalifoux (137) and Claude Lapointe (104). Audette was third in the scoring race, Chalifoux was tied for 10th.
One of the keys to Laval's chances was centre Neil Carnes, a native of Farmington Hills, Mich. A knee injury limited him to 31 regular-season games, but he rejoined the team in the playoffs and had recorded 18 points in 10 games.
The key on defence was Patrice Brisebois, while goaltender Ghislain Lefebvre was coming of a regular season in which he posted a 3.90 GAA. When Lefebvre fell victim to postseason inconsistency on three occasions, backup Boris Rousson took over.
The Titan had the QMJHL's second-best regular-season record -- their 43-26-1 record just marginally below the 43-25-2 posted by the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs.
Laval opened the postseason by sweeping the Granby Bisons from a best-of-seven quarterfinal series and followed up with a 4-2 series victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes.
The championship final went seven games before the Titan were able to dispose of the Victoriaville Tigres. Laval won the final game 3-1.
"We were the best team in the league,” Bordeleau said. "We had a few lapses when we lost our discipline, but we deserve to represent Quebec in the Memorial Cup.”
The Peterborough Petes, this time coached by Dick Todd, would represent the OHL. It was the fourth time the Petes had appeared in the tournament since the round-robin format began in 1973.
The Petes boasted of the OHL's top goaltending tandem for the second straight season, John Tanner (3.34 GAA) and Todd Bojcun (3.59).
A year earlier, Tanner and Bojcun had carried the Petes into the OHL final, where they were swept by the Windsor Spitfires. This time, the Petes got to the final and took out the Niagara Falls Thunder in six games, winning the last game 8-2.
Earlier in the playoffs, the Petes had trailed the Belleville Bulls and Cornwall Royals.
The Bulls won the opener of their series before the Petes won the next four games. Cornwall won the first two games, only to have the Petes win the next four.
The leader, on the ice and off, was centre Mike Ricci. He was 10th in the regular-season scoring race with 106 points, including 54 goals. At 17 years of age, he wouldn't be eligible for the NHL draft until the summer of 1990.
The Petes only had two other players with more than 20 goals -- right-winger Ross Wilson had 48 (he totalled 89 points) and left-winger Andy MacVicar, who had 25 goals.
The Petes' roster also included the OHL's toughest player. Right-winger Tie Domi had 14 goals, 30 points and 175 penalty minutes.
Saskatoon fans anxiously awaited the first time Domi and Blades centre Kevin Kaminski (68 points, 199 penalty minutes) came face-to-face in a corner.
The Broncos opened the tournament on the afternoon of May 6, beating the Petes 6-4.
Kennedy, with two, Tisdale, Daniels, Sakic and Kevin Knopp scored for the Broncos, who led 3-2 after one period, trailed 4-3 after the second and won it with three third-period goals.
Domi, with two, Mark Myles and Jamey Hicks replied for the Petes, who trailed 3-2 after one period and led 4-3 after two but gave up three goals in the third.
That night, the Blades swung into action with a 5-3 victory over Laval before 8,943 fans.
Laval tied this one 3-3 at 6:22 of the third period, only to have the Blades win it with goals at 10:34 and 15:22.
The hero in Saskatoon's first-ever Memorial Cup game was Brian Gerrits, who had been acquired from the Portland Winter Hawks in 1987-88. He scored twice, including the game-winner.
Scissons, Katelnikoff and Kocur also scored for Saskatoon. Brisebois, Audette and Michel Gingras counted for Laval.

[nivek_wahs]

1989 continued....

The following day, May 7, the Blades and Petes evened their records at 1-1 as Peterborough beat Saskatoon 3-2.
The Petes built up a 3-1 lead and took a 3-2 lead into what would be a scoreless third period.
Wilson, with two, and MacVicar scored for Peterborough. Defenceman Ken Sutton and centre Jason Smart replied for the Blades.
The star was Bojcun, who kept the Blades off the board for the game's final 24 minutes.
"Our goalies got us through the playoffs,” Wilson said. "Hopefully, they'll get us through the Memorial Cup.”
And, yes, Domi and Kaminski did go fist-to-fist. The spirited bout was scored a draw by observers; it was also the only scrap of the first four games.
After the game, it was revealed that Ricci, who hadn't been terribly effective in the first two games, had chicken pox. He would try to play through it.
That night, Swift Current guaranteed itself a playoff spot by edging Laval 6-5 in front of 8,733 fans.
This time the Broncos won it with two goals six seconds apart in the third period, Wilkie scoring at 15:14 to break a 5-5 tie and Daniels winning it at 15:20 with his second goal of the game.
Lambert also had two goals for the winners, with Tisdale getting the other. Laval, which lost defenceman Eric Dubois with a separated shoulder, got two goals from Carnes and singles from Lapointe, Brisebois and Patrick Caron.
"I honestly didn't think we'd win this game,” Lambert said. Then, in reference to the club's habit of slumbering through the second period, he added: "I thought we'd done this one too many times.”
James said: "Sometimes we forget about the work ethic. But if we don't work, we're like any other team. We don't win.”
The QMJHL had now lost 13 straight games to OHL and WHL teams, a streak that began after the Hull Olympiques beat the Kamloops Blazers 9-3 in Portland on May 16, 1986.
"I just told them that the best team in Canada is the team that wins the Memorial Cup,” Bordeleau said after his team fell to 0-2. "And nobody has won the Memorial Cup yet.”
Prior to the two late goals, the Broncos were struggling to beat Lefebvre, who faced 40 shots in the Laval goal.
"That's as depressed as our bench has been for a long time,” James said. "I thought (Lefebvre) was on such a roll we were never going to beat him. But we're getting good play out of some of our guys and those individual efforts made the difference.”
The QMJHL's winless streak ended on May 9 when Laval beat Peterborough 3-1 before 8,517 fans.
"People said we hadn't won in so long,” Bordeleau said. "I said I'd never lost a game in the Memorial Cup and we'll go from there.”
By the time the game was five minutes old, Laval led 2-0 on goals by Caron and Audette. Carnes got Laval's other goal, with Hicks scoring for the Petes.
"They were a desperate team and we didn't show we were determined to put them away,” Todd stated.
By now, not only did the Petes have Ricci with chicken pox, but a flu bug was making its way through the dressing room.
Saskatoon made believers of everyone on May 10 by earning a berth in the tournament final with a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Broncos in front of a wild crowd of 8,763 fans.
That left the Blades and Broncos with 2-1 records; the Blades got the nod by virtue of their victory over Swift Current.
"(The Saskatoon StarPhoenix) said we were the laughing stock of the tournament,” Comeau said. "That was a motivational tool. He's not on our payroll but that writer certainly helped us out.”
Greenlay was spectacular for the Blades. He had made three starts against the Broncos in the WHL's East Division final and he got the hook in each one of them.
But on this night he stopped 39 shots, including 17 in the third period.
"I was playing with confidence and when you're playing with confidence, the puck just seems to hit you,” Greenlay said. "I'm sick and tired of hearing about that other series. I felt I'd let everybody down. I had three weeks to get ready for this series and get my confidence back. That's what I needed.”
Swift Current, which had a 14-game postseason winning streak snapped, led 3-1 after the first period, on goals by Wilkie, Kasowski and Sakic. With the Broncos ahead 3-0, Dean Holoien scored a late power-play goal for the Blades.
In the second period, Sutton banged in two goals and Smart added a single to put the Blades out front 4-3.
Kennedy tied it at 15:12 of the second period on a Swift Current power play. But Saskatoon's Darin Bader scored what proved to be the winner at 17:01, setting up a scoreless third period.
"(Greenlay) had the answer for everything they threw at him,” Comeau said. "He kept a very impressive offensive team down to a workable number of goals for us.”
The Broncos were left shaking their heads.
"He wasn't very good in the other series,” Lambert said. "Tonight, he showed us what he could do.”
James agreed.
"Certainly, the timing of this could be a little better,” James said. "But I don't want to get too excited over this. We'd beaten them four times in a row, their goalie plays well and we lose by a goal.
"They played 10 or 12 minutes and held on to win the hockey game. We should have buried them in the first period. I don't see any reason to hang our heads.”
That left it up to Laval and Peterborough to decide who would meet Swift Current in the semifinal game.
The Petes and Titan decided that on May 11, with Peterborough riding a 37-save effort by Bojcun to a 5-4 victory before 7,060 fans.
"We played a chippy game,” said Ricci, who scored his first two goals, both of them in the first period. "We have a big team and we had to come out tough and show them we were here to play.”
Todd noticed the difference in his star centre.
"It was obvious from the start that Mike Ricci had another step in his game,” Todd said. "That's a must for our team to be successful.”
Chalifoux opened the scoring with what would be his only goal of the tournament. And the Petes roared back with three straight goals -- two from Ricci and the other from Geoff Ingram.
The Titan came back to fire 29 shots at Bojcun over the final two periods, but they trailed 5-2 going into the third period.
Hicks and Jamie Pegg added second-period goals for the Petes, with Lapointe counting for Laval.
The Titan got third-period goals from Audette and Carnes but they couldn't get the equalizer.
"I wasn't trying to think about what was happening around me,” Bojcun said. "I just tried to stay calm and show my team I was relaxed.”
Bojcun was the game's third star. In his other two starts, he had been selected first star.
The game also helped set a Memorial Cup attendance record. The six-game total was 59,800, breaking the record of 57,256 set in Portland in 1986. By tournament's end, the attendance total would be 77,296.
The Broncos set up an all-Saskatchewan final on May 12 by whipping the Petes 6-2 in front of 8,378 fans.
"We're just like Nolan Ryan going to the mound with just his changeup,” James said. "We didn't have our best stuff.
"We were fighting the puck all night, which is the only thing this team will fight by the way. We were faulty in all areas. We just managed to persevere and win.”
Power-play goals by Tisdale and Trevor Sim gave the Broncos a 2-0 lead after a first period in which the Petes were outshot 9-2.
Sim, who had been acquired from Regina in a midseason trade, upped it to 3-0 early in the second period before Wilson got Peterborough on the board while skating with a two-man advantage.
Blake Knox pushed Swift Current's edge to 4-1 six minutes into the third period before Ricci scored, again with the Petes holding a two-man edge. The Petes couldn't get closer despite firing 38 shots at Kruger over the last two periods, and Tisdale and Daniels closed out the scoring.
"Their goaltender had a big night,” Todd said of Kruger, who finished with 38 saves. "When you're not blessed with an abundance of natural goal scorers, you run into nights like this.”
Todd also pointed a finger at referee Dean Forbes, pointing out that the Petes took six of the eight minor penalties handed out in the first period.
James, though, wasn't buying it.
"I don't think teams have anyone to blame but themselves for the penalties they take,” he said.
And then he began preparations for the final game.
"I feel cheated we haven't been playing our best,” James said. "We're in the national spotlight and the fans haven't seen the real Swift Current Broncos. I feel badly about that.
"But if you would have come up to me at the start of the season and said, ‘You'll be in the Memorial Cup final', I would have been delighted.
"By hook or by crook, we've got a shot at it tomorrow.”
This would be the very first all-WHL final. The only other time two teams from the same league had met in the final was 1984 when the Ottawa 67's beat the host Kitchener Rangers 7-2 in an all-OHL final.
Tears were shed and that bus crash of Dec. 30, 1986 was remembered on May 14 when the Broncos won the Memorial Cup, beating the Blades 4-3 on Tisdale's goal at 3:25 of the first sudden-death overtime period.
"I was just standing there and it hit my stick,” Tisdale said of the biggest goal in Broncos history. "I still don't know how it went in.”
It was a centring pass by Darren Kruger that Tisdale tipped in to win it all.
The game was played in front of 9,078 fans in Saskatchewan Place along with a national television audience.
It was a game for all time.
"It was a great game for us," James said. "We generated a lot of chances against a very good team in their own building.
"For the people who tuned in, they got a helluva show.”
That they did.
Kennedy gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead late in the first period, and Knox upped it to 2-0 early in the second period when only Greenlay was keeping the Blades in this one.
But there has never been any quit in the Blades organization and Saskatoon ended up taking a 3-2 lead into the third period.
Scissons started the comeback at 12:35 of the second period. Katelnikoff tied it with a shorthanded goal at 17:30. Kocur put the Blades out front at 19:43.
"For five minutes we just lost our minds and started giving the puck away,” James said.
The Broncos, despite outshooting the Blades 23-12, trailed 3-2 going into the third period.
"We felt we outplayed them,” Tisdale said, "but we were trailing.”
The Broncos, the fifth team in seven years to win the semifinal game and then beat the first-place team in the final, tied it when Daniels scored at 5:59 of the third period, after which the teams resorted to firewagon hockey.
When the game ended, the Broncos owned a 34-24 edge in shots on goal. But in overtime Saskatoon outshot Swift Current 5-1.
Trevor Kruger made five straight saves in overtime before Tisdale scored.
"I can't think of a thing we could have done differently,” Comeau said. "We gave it a maximum effort but we came up one shot short.
"Life goes on. I'm not sure if some of our players believe that right now, but we couldn't have given any more . . . In the final analysis, the best team won.”
The Broncos ended up 16-1 in the postseason. Combining regular-season and playoff records shows them at 71-17-1.
And when it was over, the accident was remembered.
"When we came back in here I just sat in my stall and thought things over,” said Lambert, the tournament's most valuable player. "You see it on TV and you dream about it, but you never expect something like this to happen.
"Today, it happened for me.”
(Greenlay was selected top goaltender, and Hicks was named most gentlemanly player. The all-star team featured Greenlay, Lambert, Sutton, Tisdale, Kennedy and Carnes.)
James said the accident "is something we downplay.”
"But,” he added, “it meant something to the players who were there and the people involved with the franchise. It's hard to believe we could come back . . . I think it's a great tribute to the guys (Kresse, Scott Kruger, Mantyka and Ruff) and we can let them rest in peace.
"With everyone cheering, it was hard to keep control of your emotions . . . I guess reflection time will come when we're on the bus to Swift.”
Perhaps the headline in the Regina Leader-Post said it best -- Broncos: A Memorial victory.

NEXT: 1990 (Kamloops Blazers, Oshawa Generals, Kitchener Rangers and Laval Titan)