3 Ontario Hockey League Teams Crowned Memorial Cup Champs in the 1980's

With the champions of three league’s competing each year for the Memorial Cup (plus one additional team from the host league), over a decade the odds are that each league will win three times. For the Ontario Hockey League during the 1980’s, it was just that. Interestingly, the Cornwall Royals won the Memorial Cup in 1980 and 1981 but didn’t move from the QMJHL to the OHL until the following season.

1982 marked the final year of the three team Memorial Cup tournament format. The following year, the host league would be allowed two entries. The 1982 tournament was held in Hull, Quebec and was won by the Kitchener Rangers. All three teams went 2-2 during the round robin but Kitchener and the Sherbrooke Castors advanced to the final on total goals for. Kitchener took out Sherbrooke 7-4 to win the Cup. Sean McKenna from Sherbrooke was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as Memorial Cup MVP in the losing cause. The Portland Winter Hawks represented the WHL.

Kitchener was led by future National Hockey League stars Brian Bellow, Scott Stevens and Al MacInnis. Stevens and MacInnis were both inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. During the OHL regular season, the Rangers finished first in the Emms Division and second overall. They beat the Ottawa 67’s in the playoff finals, nine points to one, to capture the Robertson Cup.

The 1983-84 Ontario Hockey League season was all about the Ottawa 67’s and Kitchener Rangers. Kitchener captured the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the regular season champion with Ottawa finishing just four points behind. The two teams met in the Robertson Cup finals with Ottawa winning eight points to two. Both teams qualified for the Memorial Cup as Kitchener was the host city. They met in the tournament final, after Kitchener went undefeated in the round robin, with Ottawa winning 7-2 to become Memorial Cup champions. The Laval Voisins and Kamloops Junior Oilers also participated. Ottawa was led by future NHLers Gary Roberts, Adam Creighton and Darren Pang. Creighton captured the Smythe Trophy as the tournament MVP.

The 1986 tournament was held in Portland, Oregon. The Guelph Platers competed against the Portland Winter Hawks, Kamloops Blazers and Hull Olympiques. Guelph met Hull in the final and easily handled them 6-2. Gary Roberts brought his winning ways from Ottawa to capture his second Memorial Cup. Steve Chiasson was named the Stafford Smythe Trophy winner. Current head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Jacques Martin, was Guelph’s bench boss.

The team that would be relocated to Owen Sound just four years later finished the regular season second in the Emms Division and third overall in the OHL. The Platers met the Belleville Bulls in the Robertson Cup finals and won eight points to four. The Platers are now the current Owen Sound Attack, a team that won the Robertson Cup in 2010-11 and played in the 2011 Memorial Cup.