1984-85 OMJHA Season

The Toronto Neon takes the Steel Division for the second season in a row, big thanks to their star player Frank Grant, who topped the league in scoring, breaking records and caught many scouts' eyes, mainly from the Minnesota Nationals scout, hoping to get Frank as the first pick at the 1985 NIHA Draft. Frank Grant was not the only one who got noticed; both Kenny Barkersons and Ben Topeka were on everyone’s radar for the draft pick as well. The trio could top the first three picks; it’ll be the first time that has ever happened for the OMJHA. Slowly but surely the Owen Sound Arrowbirds is hitting all the issues from the past and able to finish 2nd place, what give the team more life to it is that both them and the town have agreed to build a fresh new arena to replace the old Arrowbird Rink that been in repairs for quite some time and can’t keep up with modern systems, what’s even more up lifting is that the team is going to change their look come next season. Even thou there are signs a downfall is coming, the Buffalo Bees were able to finish 3rd in the Steel Division, even with backlash on Ryan Byron Sr. after turning his back on his son Jr. as Sr. takes the reign of the team, little did everyone know that this team needs a good GM and not Sr. to run the team. Struggle is the word for the Waterloo Maroons, who lost many key players during the offseason; however, Nick Hope stepped up to take the captain role, turned the team around, and won 6 of the last 10 games to take 4th place and the last playoff spot. The Peterborough Bolts got a new look, but the roster wasn’t good at all as they finished 5th place, and the Orangeville O’s ended last place in the Steel Division.

The Hero Division was all Oakville Oaks for the 4th year in a row, even though they lost two key players (Jake Dahl and Jake Johannsson) to the NIHA Draft, but there are good key core players that carry the weight with no issues and could go deep into the playoffs and win another Smyth Cup. Taking 2nd place is the Toronto Hornets. They may finish six points less than last season, but they work hard to maintain 2nd place in hopes of going all the way to the finals. After a long rebuild, to backlash from many fans off the ice, the Kitchener Generals are back in the playoffs after winning eight of the last 10 games of the season to finish 3rd place. The newly relocated Newmarket Express played so well that it drew fans without any issues, but it lost its last three games and finished 4th. Brantford Skyflyers takes 5th place, Barrie Admirals 6th, and Oshawa Gems 7th and last in the league.

1985 OMJHA Playoffs

Round 1

The first round of the playoffs saw all four series finish in four games. The Newmarket Express may be a new team and put up a good fight, but against the Oakville Oaks, the Oaks kept their game right and swept the Express. The Hornets were losing in game two when the Generals almost won, but the Hornets came back to win in overtime, and the last two games were all Hornets. The Neon and Maroons series was insane, as all four games went to overtime; in the end, the Neon won the series in four games. Many Bees fans were not happy with the outcome of the Sr. and Jr. fallout, but they began to see signs of a downfall after being swept by the Owen Sound Arrowbirds in four games. To make matters worse, all four of them were shutouts for the Arrowbirds.

Round 2

The second round was drama written all over. The Neon vs. Arrowbirds series was nothing but penalties, mainly against the Arrowbirds, that made many critics question the referee’s calls in a big way and believe it might come back to bite not just the Neon but the referees involved as well. The Oaks vs. Hornets was a all seven game series, in game seven the Hornets was going to win with a 3-1 lead halfway into the third period until Warren Burk scored 2 goals to tie the game up and force it into overtime where 12 minutes in overtime Warren scored the winner and head to the Smyth Cup for the fourth season in a row.

Smyth Cup Finals

For the second year in a row, the Smyth Cup final match-up is between the Oakville Oaks and the Toronto Neon. In Game one, The Oaks blew the Neon with 3 goals, 5 assists performance by Warren Burk for a 6-0. The Oaks blanked the Neon again, this time only 4-0, with Vince Olson scoring all four of the goals. Game three was a reversal as the Neon’s Frank Grant scored 3 goals in a 5-0 win, which is just what the Neon needed to back into the series. The Oaks thought they had game four in the bag with a 3-0 lead, but the Neon came back with the combination of both Frank Grant and Kenny Barkerson's goals to force overtime, where Ben Topeka scored the winner to even the series 4-3. The Oaks Leonard Ellsworth scored only two goals, but it was enough for a 2-1 win to go to Toronto in hopes of winning the Smyth Cup. Game six was all Neon as three players scored 2 goals in a 7-0 win to force a game seven. It all came down to this, game seven for both the Smyth Cup and a trip to Moncton. The first period was all shots until in the last five minutes were both the Neon and the Oaks scored a goal each, in period number two the Oaks score two goals, one of them was by Warren Burk, the Neon did came back in the third period with Kenny Barkersons scoring two goals to tie it up but however in the last minute of the third period Warren Burk scored the game winner 4-3 with the clock went to zero the team and the fans celebrated as the Oakville Oaks are back-to-back Smyth Cup champions and heading to Moncton for the Valor Cup Tournament once again.

1984-85 WCLH Season

 

On November 4th 1984 was the Red Deer Bucks made their home opener debut against the Billings Trains, but this home opener was a disappointment not just the Bucks lost 4-1 to the Trains but also the Bucks owner Thomas Hendricks had plans to give this event a wrestling theme with music, lights, and fireworks but the problem the speakers were broken, colour lights not working correctly and on top of it the Bucks don’t have permits to do fireworks. The Bucks would end last place in the whole league with eggs on the team’s face. Many critics are hoping the Bucks don’t mess up their 1985 Draft pick because if they do, the Bucks will have a long road ahead of them.  

The biggest news for the WCLH was the NIHAs Saskatchewan Royals are building their brand-new arena in downtown Regina to move there by 1986-87 season which means the old Royal Arena could be open for refurbishment everything for the first time since the arena was open in the 1940s build for a pro level standards now with a new arena being built it open an opportunity for WCLH for a return in Regina Saskatchewan.

Last season, the Medicine Hat Hawks won 4 of the last 5 games to take fourth place. Now this season made a big jump to 1st place in the West Division, a big thanks to overage goalie Sam Abbot, who’s hoping to get drafted into the NIHA draft this season; if not, there are universities that could welcome him with open arms. The 1984 Jade Trophy champions, the Abbotsford Forest Kings, went from finishing first last season with 61 points to finishing 2nd place with 65 points, which was logic out the window to them, but at least with some roster moves made by both head coach Steve Knapford and GM Walter Bertie to make a push for another deep playoff run just like last season. The Chilliwack Alpines owner, Roger Denver, could never be any happier with the 3rd place result, mainly because of rookie goalie Nick Whitebear stepping his game up with a 23-11-2 within 36 games played, and 15 of those wins were shutouts, and he became the first rookie goalie in WCLH history to make 5 shutouts within the first 5 games of his career. Taking forth place is Billings Trains, which had a hard time staying there, mostly because the Surry River Dogs made a big surge with a winning streak but ran out of gas to take forth from Billings, as the Trains won the last three games to finish forth. Listing the rest: Surry River Dogs finished 5th, Lethbridge Cougars 6th, Nanaimo Sharks 7th, and Red Deer Bucks 8th.

The East Division was almost spread apart points-wise in the top four. The Saskatoon Cats once again take 1st place with a very stacked roster in tow. This time, the Cats will have the opportunity to take home the Jade Trophy. 9 points behind finishing 2nd place is the Fargo Owls, who gave their fans a scare when they went 2-8-0 in their first 10 games, but turned it around and never looked back. The Portage la Prairie Magic may have finished 3rd place with 14 points behind Fargo, but the Magic made the most of it with some good numbers of key wins early into the season mostly their overage forward Zachary Natyshak who broke a record with the most career goals in the WCLH history with 176 goals and the reason why the Magic still got the playoffs appearances streak since 1979-80 season. The Swift Current Battalion was supposed to miss the playoffs this season after losing two of their top players to the NIHA draft, including trading goalie Jake Benoit to the Saskatoon Cats for the 1985 first-round pick; however, the Battalion got some young, hungry players willing to step up, and they did take 4th place with 51 points. Rounding off the rest of the East Division are Brandon Buffalos 5th, Moose Jaw Wings 6th, and Kenora Pioneers in 7th.

1985 WCLH Playoffs

Round 1

The first round of the playoffs was nothing over the top as the Saskatoon Cats swept the Billings Trains in four games, with a total score of 19-5. The Abbotsford Forest Kings had high hopes after game one, but the Portage la Prairie Magic took game two in overtime, then took both game three and game four, in game five the Magic had a 2-0 lead but the Forest Kings came back and force overtime but their comeback came short as Marc Sasser shoot on point and scored the OT winner, as the Portage la Prairie Magic won the series in five and move on to the second round. In this series the Fargo Owls were predicted to win in four games however the Chilliwack Alpines had a different idea, winning their first playoff game in game two to even win game three to take the series lead, but the Owls bounce back to win two more games and thought they would finish the series but that didn’t happen because in game six Nick Whitebear let only one goal pass by him but the rest of the game he was a brick wall and the Alps take game six to force a game seven, the Owls finally end the series thanks to Jack Plaxton scored a hat-trick to win 3-1 and move on to the second round. An upset was made for the first time in a long time as the 54-point Swift Current Battalion went back and forth in the first four games until winning the last two games and the series in six games over the 68-point Medicine Hat Hawks.

Round 2

Round two is an all-East division, the Saskatoon Cats had thought this series would be a breeze but the Swift Current Battalion made them win the series the hard way as they kept pushing the Cats to the limit, in game seven Fred Adams scored a hat-trick and held on to the lead over the Battalion to win the series and headed to the Jade Trophy Finals. The Portage la Prairie Magic did the unthinkable, winning four games over the Fargo Owls after winning the first two games in overtime, and the last two games were too much for the Owls as James McDougall led that series with ten goals for the Magic. They are ready for the Jade Trophy Finals.

Jade Trophy Finals

It is just one of those finals; to some, it would be a five- or even a seven-game series, but not everyone believes there will be a sweep in this series. In game one, Fred Adams, Matthew Goodfellow, J.J. Orcas, and Waylen Hook scored each goal for the Cats' 4-1 win over the Magic. Game two, the Magic took a 1-0 lead going into the third period when Matthew Goodfellow, out of nowhere, scored three goals within a two-minute penalty kill, and the clock hit zero, and the Cats won game two 3-1. Ten minutes into the first period of game three, the Magic came out of nowhere as they scored three goals to take the lead. However, it went downhill as the second period started when J.J. Orcas scored two of the three goals to tie it up, and in the third period, the Cats added two more goals, both made by Fred Adams, to take game four 5-3. Game four was a back-and-forth between two teams, one team needed one more win while the other needed to keep this series going, Mark Daneyko gave the Magic the lead 3-2 after making one goal, three points in the first period, in the second period the Cats came back to tie it up 4-4 until in the third period with 2:12 remaining Waylen Hook scored the tie-breaker and the Cats held their ground as the Magic pour everything out but it was no good as the clock hit zero it was over the Saskatoon Cats complete the sweep 5-4 final and become the 1985 Jade Trophy Champions. With that, the Cats have punched their ticket to head to Moncton, N.B., for the 1985 Valor Cup Tournament.

1984 CIHA Off-season part 2: News and jersey changes

 CIHA: With the 1984 Valor Cup in books the league announced that after a 10-5 vote the Moncton Bears are the host of the 1985 Valor Cup tournament, and just in time as the Reese brothers presented the new arena in Moncton called the “Brown Bear Memorial Centre” named after the old NIHA club the New Brunswick Brown Bears that played from 1930 to 1940, even thou they won three Alexander Cups (1931, 1932. And 1934) but as World War II came half of the rosters went over sea to fight with no star players the team fell apart, and after 1939-40 season the team folded, and James North established an amateur hockey club now known as the Moncton Bears which as the 40s turns to the 50s they became part of East Coast Junior Hockey League. “It’s an honour to host this wonderful tournament, as we will have a whole season of celebrations.” Ron Reese said at the press conference.

CIHA: The League also announced that in July 1985, the Valor Star tournament will be held. Toronto, Ontario, will host it as both the Neon and the Hornets arenas will be the place for the round-robin rounds. At the same time, the Toronto Forum, home of the NIHAs Toronto Pros, will house the semis and the finals, just like the previous Valor Star tournament: team OMJHA, team AQHL, and team WCLH. While there is a team CIHA, unlike the 1980 team that contained players aged 16-18, this team will be an international team featuring players from all around the world. As for the jerseys, they’ll have some changes, but not drastic ones.

AQHL: For many years, Plattsburgh, New York, has worked its way to being a hotbed for hockey players developing their skills. Their market caught Paul Name’s eyes in a big way, and there are talks that Plattsburgh could have an AQHL team there.

OMJHA: Many had questions for the Buffalo Bees, and that is, where is Ryan Bryon Jr? It was found out that Ryan Sr. fired him after a number of disagreements between the two; it got so bad that Sr. took his son to court and took his 20% ownership from him, pretty much putting Jr. on the streets. There is a silver lining for Jr., as he landed a GM job with the NIHA’s Chicago Lancers, and the higher-ups love his style, which he can work well with their fresh new coaching staff.

OMJHA: With losing three teams in three years, OMJHA President Tom Van Ryan was hoping for at least some good news, and he did from Abrum and Isaac Wall, as the arena they built is complete, but there is a problem, make that two problems, Abrum Wall built his arena in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Isaac Wall built his arena in Niagara Falls, New York. With issues clouded over his head, Tom Van Ryan announced that he is giving both Wall brothers their own team, one for Abrum and one for Isaac. Both teams will begin their first season in the 1985-86 season.

WCLH: With the addition of the Red Deer Bucks, there are no talks of any expansions down the road, but there is news that the NIHAs Saskatchewan Royals got themselves a deal to build a brand-new arena, and it will be built in downtown Regina; their current arena is just outside of the town. With the Royals leaving that arena, talks are on the table for an expansion in Regina for the first time since the 1960s, when the Regina Royals folded to become part of a minor-pro club and later joined the IWHL in the 1970s.

Jerseys changes

The Kenora Pioneers, Manchester Americans, Moose Jaw Wings, Peterborough Bolts, Toronto Neon, and Val-d’Or Monarchs have officially discontinued the Lite-sonic pants. They are now wearing more traditional pants and socks. The new team, the Red Deer Bucks, and the relocated Newmarket Express showcased their sets.

Kenora Pioneers: They returned to the same pants and socks they had before the Lite-sonic system. In fact, many fans thanked the team for going back, and hopefully, it stays like that; little did anyone know that there were talks that the team could be building up for a new look.

Manchester Americans: The pants don’t have stripes on the side like the Lite-sonic pants, which disappointed fans. The Americans added trims around the letters on the nameplates. On the home jersey, the letters are red with blue trim, just like the numbers.

Moose Jaw Wings: The pants and socks are back. What makes the fans happier is that the pants are not white. Since white pants are banned from the WCLH, the Wings made them red with white and blue stripes.

 Toronto Neon: The pants and socks came back. The only thing Neon took from their Lite-sonic pants was the thin neon-coloured stripes, which they placed on the sides of the pants. The neon green number on the road jersey was promoted from the sleeves to the back, while the neon yellow was placed on the sleeves.

Val-d’Or Monarchs: Just like Lite-sonic, the pants feature a thick white stripe on the side of their navy blue pants, and the socks also have thick stripes on both their home and road uniforms.

 Peterborough Bolts: The Bolts did more than just change the pants. They completely changed their look by dropping red, darkening the blue, and adding simple stripes to the arms, hem, and socks. The numbers are rounded, and the letters on the nameplate no longer have trim around them.

Newmarket Express: The former Milton Micmacs went from red and gold to blue and orange. The crest has the word “EXPRESS” on it, which is based on the team owner’s trucking company, Canpress Trucking. Multiple stripes are on the arms, hem, and socks. The team will wear orange helmets for both home and road.

Red Deer Bucks: The prominent crest is the wordmark with antlers. The home jersey is white with red and gold stripes on the arms, black cuffs, and red, gold, and black stripes on the hem and socks. The road jersey is red with gold and black stripes and white cuffs, along with gold, black, and white stripes on the hem and socks.

Oshawa Gems: The Gem changed its look in a way the fans didn't want to happen. Stripes on the hem and cuffs, along with the logo, no longer the "O," it's now "G" with a gem on it, and the numbers font has changed to more rounded.

CIHA Alumni (where are they now)

Jaune Dupont, Sherbrooke Loups (1971-75)

The 1974 CIHA Valor Cup MVP played one more season with the Loups before getting drafted by the NIHAs' Quebec City Macareux, which didn’t sit well with his family because they are big Montreal Or Rouge fans, but they all got used to seeing him in a different uniform. His pro hockey career has been great for him. He had four 50-goal seasons within his nine pro hockey seasons. For his tenth season with the team, he became the captain of a very young and well-put-together roster ready for a deep playoff run and hoping to get themselves an Alexander Cup title or more into the second half of the 1980s.

1984 CIHA Off-season part 1: League Drafts and Expansion Draft

 WCLH Expansion Draft

As the WCLH added the Red Deer Bucks, many teams feared that their top players could be picked to be part of the Bucks. There is a rule that you can trade picks to an expansion team, but the first and second-round picks are off-limits; however, if a team trades first and/or second-draft picks, that team will face a fine of $5000.00 and loses a draft pick next year, double it if both first and second draft picks were made. The higher-ups of the Lethbridge Cougars talked about it, and with an agreement between the owner and GM, the Cougars took a gamble and traded their first-round pick to the Red Deer Bucks to protect their top player from the expansion draft. The Bucks's picks mainly were players who got drafted in the second round; the best pick the Bucks made was Kurt Lscroix from the Moose Jaw Wings.

1. Kurt Lscroix, D (Moose Jaw Wings)

2. Donald Queen, F (Abbotsford Forest Kings)

3. Nick Yoke, G (Saskatoon Cats)

4. Frank Littlewood, F (Kenora Pioneers)

5. Leon Jakins, G (Kenora Pioneers)

 

AQHL Draft

With so many draft picks, the first-round picks remain intact, as many up-and-comers are hoping to be picked and part of the desired team. The Firebirds made a strong pick with forward Zack Knox from Montreal, who made an impressive run with the Terrebonne Jr. B club, scoring 20 goals and 68 assists. It is just the Firebirds need to up the team’s playmaker style to move up the ranks and maybe have a chance to make it to the playoffs. Another Montreal local drafted its defenceman Matthew Daoust by the Greens need to boost their defence up after a poor 1983-84 season performance. The disaster was painful for the Volts, but drafting forward Rick Daley from Quebec City can turn it around if they don’t tamper with the roster like the 83-84 season. The big surprise is the rise of well-developed players from the town of Plattsburgh, New York, as both forward Oscar Chapman (drafted by Manchester) and defence Mike Giffin (drafted by Trois-Rivieres) were many good players that caught many scouts' eyes to keep a watch out for more good players that could have a chance to have a player or two to be in the top ten.

1. Rouyn-Noranda Firebirds – Zack Knox, F (Montreal, QC)

2. Charlottetown Greens – Matthew Daoust, D (Montreal, QC)

3. Shawinigan Voltages – Rick Daley, F (Quebec City, QC)

4. New Glasgow Highlanders – Conner Draper, G (Sussex, NB)

5. Val-d’Or Monarchs – Bruce McDonald, F (Summerside, PEI)

6. Verdun Knights – Ryan Valiquette, F (Shawinigan, QC)

7. Drummondville Les Rouges – Trent McKenny, D (Burlington, Vermont)

8. Laval Tigers – Shawn Montpelier, D (Lewiston, NH)

9. Cape Breton Warriors – Paul Fredericton, F (Bangor, Maine)

10. Sherbrooke Loups – Pat Skinner, F (Campbellton, NB)

11. Fredericton Vikings – Bill Boyle, F (North Sydney, NS)

12. Portland Clippers – Nick Cassels, D (Brunswick, Maine)

13. Manchester Americans – Oscar Chapman, F (Plattsburgh, New York)

14. Trois-Rivieres Titans – Mike Giffin, D (Plattsburgh, New York) 

15. Moncton Bears – Ryan Handzus, G (Bilovec, Czechoslovakia)

OMJHA Draft

The Orilla Lakers folded, giving many teams a better chance at the right pick to help them get a better result. Unfortunately, many top prospects in the Toronto area are being picked and given better opportunities from the SWOHL as they have been the top Junior league for the fourth year in a row and show no slowing down, even pairing up the Pro Junior Hockey Players Association (PJHPA) a brother union with the National Ice Hockey Association Players Union (NIHAPU) were the players are getting a guaranteed pay that they deserved, many believed that the CIHA could join in the union, but the CIHA has their own program that helps players to hit the pros and/or great education opportunities, and joining the union would not sit well with the OMJHA to share union revenues with their rival SWOHL. The draft wasn’t as strong as last season, the Kitchener Generals picked Markham, Ontario forward Ryan Cheevers who is the only the best as many others from that city got picked up by SWOHL. Questions are up in the air about the future of the Orangeville O’s office, mainly the GM, but the team needs to beef up their defence, and Kingston, Ontario’s Dany Toth can be what they need. The Oshawa Gems took hometown forward Andrew Saddy to give them better-scoring depth. The Buffalo Bees came in this year's draft without Ryan Byron Jr., and it shows as they selected forward Steven Plank, who was predicted to be in the 4th to 6th round. As the now former Milton Micmacs, the new owner Leon Littlestone, officially came on to the stage and announced the name of his team, they are called the “Newmarket Express.” After that, he drafted a forward named Louis Lansdowne. As the 1983-84 season came to an end, the Arrowbirds made a significant change to their office by naming Walter Eagle as the team’s new GM. He used to play for that team; in fact, he was one of the original players who played in the team’s first season in the OMJHA. His goal was to bring locals on the rosters, and he did just that by taking a hometown hero forward, Lucas Goldclaw; he’s played a big role for the Owen Sound major AAA hockey team with 42 goals and 95 points within two years.

1. Kitchener Generals – Ryan Cheevers, F (Markham, ON)

2. Orangeville O’s – Dany Toth, D (Kingston, ON)

3. Oshawa Gems - Andrew Saddy, F (Oshawa, ON)

4. Peterborough Bolts – Roger Duplacey, G (Sudbury, ON)

5. Newmarket Express – Louis Lansdowne, F (Buffalo, NY)

6. Brantford Skyflyers – Duke Regency, D (St. Catharines, ON)

7. Barrie Admirals – Will York, D (Collingwood, ON)

8. Waterloo Maroons – Quinn Keller, F (New Tecumseth, ON)

9. Owen Sound Arrowbirds – Lucas Goldclaw, F (Owen Sound, ON)

10. Buffalo Bees – Steven Plank, F (Rochester, NY)

11. Toronto Hornets – John Warren, G (Niagara Falls, ON)

12. Oakville Oaks – Leonard Ellsworth, F (Hamilton, ON)

13. Toronto Neon – Ben Topeka, D (Toronto, ON)

WCLH Draft

This year draft was more defence focus than offence, the Kenora Pioneers took Adam Harrison from Brandon, MA, Adam may never be a high scorer but he a great enforcer and for bonus he is also a playmaker as well a rare thing to see in hockey. After missing the playoffs for the third year in a row, the Brandon Buffalos are still stuck in rebuild mode as they try to beef up their offence with forward Luke Conway from Moose Jaw. The Buffalos hope that the 1984-85 season will be the season they will go deep into the playoffs. After four years since the 1980 Valor Cup tournament, the Nanaimo Sharks had missed the playoffs, so the team made some tough decisions and naming a new GM is one of them as they named Edward Osward as their new GM, Edward was once part of the Saskatoon Cats dynasty in the late 60s, He may not have a successful pro career with playing only 2 seasons with the rest of his 6 years in the minors; however, he got the knowledge of putting together a good team during his time as GM for the Sault Ste. Marie Northmen of the SWOHL, Edward was looking for a new job when that team relocated to Marquette, and the Sharks took him in as GM. His first pick as the GM is defence James Emmelot, the best defenceman in B.C. With him, the Sharks could make a comeback very soon.

1. Kenora Pioneers – Adam Harrison, D (Brandon, MA)

2. Brandon Buffalos – Luke Conway, F (Moose Jaw, SK)

3. Nanaimo Sharks - James Emmelot, D (Cranbrook, BC)

4. Surrey River Dogs – Frank Famer, G (Kelowna, BC)

5. Moose Jaw Wings – Jason West, D (Prince George, BC)

6. Chilliwack Alpines – Nick Whitebear, G (Anchorage, AK)

7. Medicine Hat Hawks – Tony Greenbird, F (Grande Prairie, AB)

8. Swift Current Battalion – Howard Bulk, F (Winnipeg, MB)

9. Billings Trains – Anthony Bostwick, F (Spokane, WA)

10. Red Deer Bucks (from Lethbridge Cougars) – Sam Ottawa, D (Calgary, AB)

11. Portage la Prairie Magic – John Ketter, D (Edmonton, AB)

12. Abbotsford Forest Kings – Terry Sabon, F (Saskatoon, SK)

13. Fargo Owls – Steven Yak, D (Winnipeg, MB)

14. Saskatoon Cats – Waylen Hook, D (Regina, SK)

1984 CIHA Valor Cup Tournament

The round-robin was a crazy one; in the first place, the host Buffalo Bees had a good streak, winning the first four games but losing the last two to both the Oaks and the Bears, which angered Ryan Byron Sr. There were words that both Sr and Jr butting heads throughout the season even though the Bees have been successful for the past four years. The OMJHA Smyth Cup champion, the Oakville Oaks, did well, but their losses to the Bees and twice to the Forest Kings hurt their chance to take first place, and they finished second, 3-3. The Forest King won twice over the Oaks and the Bears, but their two blowout losses to the Bees hurt them so much that they lost to the Bears on the last day of the round-robin. It was almost another déjà vu for the Moncton Bears as they lost the first four games, and many believed that the Bears may get another winless tournament run, but they won their first over the Bees and their second over the Forest Kings to go to the semi-finals, finishing 4th.

Semi-Finals

Buffalo Bees vs. Moncton Bears

First-place Buffalo Bees held their ground against the Bears after the Bears tied it at two after the second period; midway in the third, William VanDean scored twice for the Bees as the third period came to an end as the Buffalo Bees are going to the finals for the third year in a row winning the semi-final game 4-2.

Oakville Oaks vs. Abbotsford Forest Kings

It was a back-and-forth match between the Forest Kings and the Oaks as each scored goals all the way to the third period when Aaron Boyer scored from point spot to tie the game up with only 30 seconds left, the Forest Kings tried to score as Ryan Wedgewood got an open net shot, but it bounces off the post, and the clock hit zero, and both teams are going to overtime. 4:50 minutes left into overtime, Ryan Wedgewood got another chance to score when he took the puck and passed through the Oaks defence, shot past the goalie, and scored the overtime winner 6-5 and moved on to the finals.

Valor Cup Finals

Buffalo Bees vs. Abbotsford Forest Kings

The first period came and gone, with Buffalo scoring a goal made by Todd Zemlak by pure luck; in the second period, it took Abbotsford top star Ryan Wedgewood to score a goal to tie it up, but 15 seconds later, Mark O’Reilly broke the tie game to give the Bees the lead as the second period came to an end, it was all Buffalo in the third as William VanDean scored twice as the clock ticks away many were expect both Sr. and Jr. celebrate together instead Jr. went to the team's locker room to get everything together while Sr. looks like a very not happy owner, the clock hit zero the Buffalo Bees wins the team’s first Valor Cup championship winning 4-1 over the Abbotsford Forest Kings, William VanDean was named the Valor Cup MVP, and Greg Dahlstrom received the Valor Cup Trophy and raise it up as the Bees fans celebrate.

1984 AQHL PLayoffs

 

First Round

1st Moncton Bears vs. 8th Laval Tigers

The Moncton Bears wasted no time and swept the first round for the third playoff year in a row. The Laval Tigers didn’t even put up a good fight, including a 9-0 game four loss that left the Tigers fans leaving the Laval Centre with a bad taste in their mouths. The Bears won the series 4-0.

2nd Trois-Rivieres Titans vs. 7th Cape Breton Warriors

The Titans had a good chance of winning this series, but the Cape Breton Warriors had other ideas by forcing the series to go all the way in game seven, where Trois-Rivieres barely got the win in overtime 5-4 after coming back from a 4-1 deficit going into the third period. The Titans wins the series 4-3.

3rd Manchester Americans vs. 6th Sherbrooke Loups

For the second playoff year in a row, the Americans advanced to the second round, and this time, it took them five games to do so. The Loups had a rough time, only winning one game with some youth in their core. Some staff in the Loups group felt that this could be a sign that this team is leading into a rebuild. If so, they are hoping that this won’t be as bad as the last rebuild. The Americans won the series 4-1.

4th Portland Clippers vs. 5th Fredericton Vikings

The first four games were back-and-forth, but in game five, Paul Gamble scored three goals in the third to win 5-2. Then, the Clippers finished the Vikings off in game six 4-2 with the help of Ron Renaud's 4 points (2G-2A) performance to move on to the second round for the first time since the 1973-74 season. The Clippers won the series 4-2.

 Second Round

1st Moncton Bears vs. 4th Portland Clippers

The Clippers came into the second round hoping for at least a win, but it didn’t happen as rookie Kurt Dresden shines throughout the series with his 16 points (6G-10A) within four games as, once again, the Moncton Bears are heading to the Bronz Cup Finals for the fourth year in a row. The Bears wins the series 4-0.

2nd Trois-Rivieres Titans vs. 3rd Manchester Americans

The Titans had everything going on their end in game one, but after that, it was all Americans as they won four straight games to win the series in an upset way where a lot of critics did not expect the Americans to move on to the Bronz Cup Finals let alone beating a favourite Titans. “Today, we prove them wrong. We are ready to show everyone we can hang tan with the Bears.” Americans head coach Randy Reinhart said during post game interview. The Americans win the series 4-1.

Bronz Cup Finals

1st Moncton Bears vs. 3rd Manchester Americans

Many Bears fans are hoping to finally, at long last, win the Bronz Cup for the first time since 1976. The Americans showed heart in this series, but it was not enough to win any game in this series as the Bears dominated the series, led by Shawn Metcalfe being a brick wall and not letting any pucks go behind him, along with Kurt Dresden scoring performances and both John Handley and Eric Gall held their grounds against the Americans offence as the Bears win all four games all shutouts. As the last period came to an end, both the Bears celebrated in Manchester as they were the 1984 Bronz Cup champions. As the Bears players take turns raising the Cup, Don Reese, the co-owner of the Bears, said in a post-game interview, “Get ready, Moncton, we are going to Buffalo, and we will raise that Valor Cup like what we did with the Bronz Cup.” The Bears win the series 4-0.

1983-84 AQHL Season

 

The Charlottetown Greens made their debut on October 19, 1983, against the Cape Breton Warriors. The Greens won 5-2 in front of a sold-out Charlottetown Arena, and rookie forward Bill Robby scored the team’s first goal in team history. He would score two more goals in that game for a hat trick. Bill would have a hot streak for the next three months until he got a season-ending injury, which the Greens went on to finish 14th.

Tension was rising between the Shawinigan Voltages owner Pierre Leflar and the city of Shawinigan as neither could come up with the funds for a new arena. To make things worse, AQHL President Paul Name had multiple talks with Pierre about his gambling problems. What even more issues between the two were Pierre Leflar decided to let go of GM Mitchell Lalime and trade away some top players for mostly cash as the team was once a favourite to go to the top of the league but hit rock bottom sort of, they won enough games to finished 13th place. In an interview, Paul said if things don’t resolve soon, he and the league would get involved, take the ownership away from Pierre, and put the team up for sale to keep them in Shawinigan or relocate elsewhere.

After losing their top goalie, Seth Taylor, to the Washington Red Tails (NIHA), the Moncton Bears rely on Shawn Metcalfe as their starter goalie in his second season; he performed very well, winning 30 of 40 games he played 10 of them were shutouts to give the Bears a first-place finish for the second season in a row with a 42-6-2 record with the total of 86 points. After missing the playoffs for three years, the Trois-Rivieres Titans are finally back in Bronz Cup contender mode, all thanks to the Minnesota Nationals (NIHA) for sending Keith Rice back to the Titans and helping them to a second-place finish, winning 20 out of 30 games with 13 shutouts. For the first time in the team’s history, the Manchester Americans finished in the top 3 with Roy Messier leading the team with 34 goals; 72 points were his best ever, but he is not the only one who led his team to the top 3, Kevin Gassoff’s 70 points (30G, 40A) performance was the key factor for the team’s 33-13-4 record, many believe that the Americans could go deep into the playoffs. Taking 4th place is the Portland Clippers best since the 1973-74 season, where they finished 5th place; Clippers rookie M.J. Daigneault topped the league with 94 points (35G, 59A) and became the first rookie in AQHL history to be the top player of the league. Had some issues with some key players getting injured, luckily, the Fredericton Vikings would have won the last 10 games to finish 5th place. With losing Shawn Thomas being drafted to the Colorado Huskies (NIHA) and Lenny Tardif getting called up by the Edmonton Emeralds (NIHA), the Sherbrooke Loups had a hard time staying in the top 5, but they lost the last game to the Vikings as they the Loups finished 6th. After missing the playoffs last season, the Cape Breton Warriors made some key victories to finish 7th place, lead by Mike Gamble who finally broke through after 20 points from last season, this year he got 55 points (19G, 36A) to top the team stats. Last season went down badly, but this season was a nice bounce back for the Laval Tigers after winning the last five games, including beating Drummondville three times to take the 8th and final spot in the playoffs.

To round off the rest, Drummondville is 9th, Verdun is 10th, Val-d’Or is 11th, New Glasgow is 12th, Shawinigan is 13th, Charlottetown is 14th, and Rouyn-Noranda is 15th.

1984 OMJHA Playoffs

 

Round 1

Hero Division

1st Oakville Oaks vs. 4th Milton Micmacs

The Oaks had a three-game to-none lead until game four, when the Micmacs won in overtime and did it again in game five. However, in game six, the Oaks finished them off with a 5-2 win to move on to the second round. Meanwhile, the fans inside the Milton Auditorium sadly said goodbye to the Micmacs, as the team will move to Newmarket next season. The Oaks win the series 4-2.

2nd Toronto Hornets vs. 3rd Barrie Admirals

Both went back and forth, with the Hornets taking games one and two while the Admirals won games three and four. However, the Hornets took the last two games to win the series thanks to Leon Jay Jr., who scored 7 goals in games five and six. The Hornets win the series 4-2.

Steel Division

1st Toronto Neon vs. 4th Waterloo Maroons

The Toronto Neon really put to work in this series. It may take them five games, but their star player, Frank Grant, leads the team by scoring 10 of the team's 16 goals in the series, along with 6 assistants, to make 16 points as the Neon is heading to the second round. The Neon win the series 4-1.

2nd Buffalo Bees vs. 3rd Owen Sound Arrowbirds

The Bees put the Arrowbirds down, but it took them five games because of the game three overtime loss, which made Bees owner Ryan Byron Sr. unhappy. Many believed that he was overreacting to everything, even though they felt that Senior blaming Junior for everything was not a good sign for the club. The Bees win the series 4-1.

Round 2

1st Oakville Oaks vs. 2nd Toronto Hornets

The Oaks got themselves a rude awake with a 5-2 loss in game one to the Hornets, they would bounce back in game two with a 3-1 win. The Oaks had rough games three and four in overtime at the hands of the Hornets, But in game five, the Oaks were trialling 5-1 going into the third period, where Keith Dunn made 4 points (2G-2A) push to tie the game and force overtime, no shots were made by each team until Jake Johannsson scored the winner as for the third year in a row the Oakville Oaks are heading to the Smyth Cup finals. The Oaks win the series 4-1.

1st Toronto Neon vs. 2nd Buffalo Bees

It was like any other matchup, a back-and-forth series, but this one was tearing unity apart between Ryan Byron Sr. and Junior as the Bees barely won their games in overtime while the Neon won their games in regulation. In game seven, the Bees came back from a 4-1 behind before the end of regulation to force overtime. The first overtime was deadlock with even numbers of shots by both teams, including a shot by Neon’s Michael Campbell, who had an open for a winner, but it hit the post. 3:57 left into the second overtime the Bees had a 5 on 3 powerplay until Frank Grant got the puck and took all the way and beating two defencemen and the goalie to score the overtime winner 5-4 and heading to the Smyth Cup finals. The Neon win the series 4-3.

Smyth Cup Finals

Oakville Oaks vs. Toronto Neon

After four years of being in the league, the Toronto Neon is in the championship for the first time. While the Oakville Oaks are looking for their first Smyth Cup title since 1975. Game one was a big one for the Oaks as Jake Dahl made history with five goals and five assists with ten points in one game, leading the Oaks 11-2. In game two, Jake Dahl did again, this time with three goals, seven assists, and ten points in a 10-3 Oaks victory. After two blowout losses, the Neon finally won one over the Oaks 4-3 overtime, with Kenny Barkersons as the OT winner. Game four: The Neon had a 3-1 lead going into the third period when the Oaks came back thanks to Vince Olson scoring three goals for a 4-3 win and one win away from rising the Cup. The Oaks took over game five, where Jake Dahl, Vince Olson, and Warren Burk each scored three goals as the third period came to an end with a score of 9-3, and the fans in Oaks Centre celebrated as the Oakville Oaks becomes the 1984 Smyth Cup Champions, and most of all they are heading to Buffalo New York for the Valor Cup Tournament. The Oaks win the series 4-1.

1983-84 OMJHA Season

 

With the Legionnaires gone, the league downsized from 15 teams to 14, as the league was hoping to expand from two to three divisions, but that didn’t happen. Midway into the season, Lakers owner Tim O’Connor announced that the team would fold after the 83-84 season as the deal for a relocation to Belleville fell through as the Ottawa Guardians (NIHA) kept their minor pro team in Belleville long term, for the OMJHA it’s the third year in a row that a team folded after the season ended.

Another team will be gone after this season, but in a relocation way. Harold MacFarland officially sold his team to Leon Littlestone, the owner of Canpress Trucking, a shipping company that delivers goods across Canada and North America. Leon will have the team play in a 1900-seat Newmarket Memorial Forum in Newmarket, Ontario. He will announce the team’s new name during the 1984 off-season.

Once again, the Oakville Oaks took first place in the Hero division. With the right players put together and getting the right wins, the Oaks are again ready to make a deep playoff run this time. Taking second place is the Toronto Hornets, which surprised many critics as they predicted them to be 4th place, but they were wrong. The Barrie Admirals take third place after a big last ten games of the season (8-0-2), mainly after rough mid-season issues where two of their top players got called up to the pros. After a rough first 25 games and even news of them being relocated after this season, the Milton Micmacs came back to win many critical games and even beat the Brantford Skyflyers at the last game of the season to take the fourth-place spot. Rounding out the rest from fifth to seventh are Brantford, Oshawa, and Kitchener.

Led by many veterans from the beginning, the Toronto Neon takes the Steel Division in a big way with a 78-point performance (38-10-2) and skyrocketed to the top with no issues whatsoever. “We play this season great; now it’s time for us to turn to the next level, the playoffs.” Neon head coach Warren Coyle said after the team’s practice days before the playoffs. The two-time Smyth Cup Champions, the Buffalo Bees, had some highs and lows from the start, but they won a good number of games to finish 2nd place but the big story was that word that the partnership between owner Ryan Byron Sr. and Ryan Byron Jr. who has 20% ownership of the team and current GM is falling apart despite successful seasons, and well put together team of talented players, but problems between the two could come to a head sooner than before the 1984 Valor Cup Tournament that the Bees are hosting. During off-seasons, the Arrowbirds made some questionable trades here and there, including trading away 1984 2nd, and 3rd-round picks to the Kitchener Generals for a 1984 1st-round pick, then they traded 1985 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-round draft picks to the Brantford Skyflyers for a 1985 1st round pick; lastly, the Arrowbirds gave 1986 3rd, 4th, and 5th round picks to Barrie for a 1st round and forward Greg McBill a 2nd-year player who got drafted in the forth round. As the 83-84 season came and went, Greg played like a first-rounder and helped the Arrowbirds to a third-place finish. The Waterloo Maroons have kept pace in staying in playoff form, but after losing 7 of the last 10 games, some concerns from the Maroons offices had a bad feeling that they are on the verge of a rebuild for the first time since the late ’50s. But never did the team get 60 points to get fourth place locked and ready for the playoffs. Finishing fifth, sixth, and seventh are Peterborough, Orangeville, and Orillia.

1984 WCLH Playoffs

 

Round One

The playoffs are set the first place East Saskatoon Cats takes on fourth place West Medicine Hat Hawks, the second place East Fargo Owls takes on third place West Billings Trains, first place West Abbotsford Forest Kings face-off against fourth place East Swift Current Battalion, and lastly the second place West Lethbridge Cougars battles with third place East Portage la Prairie Magic.

1st East Saskatoon Cats vs. 4th West Medicine Hat Hawks

The Saskatoon Cats wasted no time taking down the Hawks by sweeping them in four games. The Hawks did poorly in the first two games in Saskatoon with two blowout losses (8-0 and 6-0), but they did score some goals in games three and four; it was not enough to win as the Cats won those last two games (5-1, 7-2) to move on to the second round thanks to Fred Adams who made 8 goals, 14 points within those four games. The Cats wins the series 4-0 

2nd East Fargo Owls vs. 3rd West Billings Trains

The Billings Trains went from losing the Jade Trophy finals a season ago to being swept in the first round by the Fargo Owls. The main reasons for the Trains' downfall are that Glen Sasakamoose got called up to the minors, Drew Eastwood got called up by the Saskatchewan Royals, and both David Lemay and Frank Colton are in IR. The Fargo Owls took advantage of this and won all four games. The Owls won the series 4-0.

1st West Abbotsford Forest Kings vs. 4th East Swift Current Battalion

Early in the season, the Battalion swept the Forest Kings in season series; in this playoff series, that role switched as the Forest Kings took them down; what really made this series was Eric Wilcox scored a hat-trick in game one and mocked the Forest Kings bench which was a wrong move, and the Forest Kings took over game one and the rest of the series big thanks to Ryan Wedgewood with scoring 14 out of 21 goals total in that series. The Forest Kings wins the series 4-0.

2nd West Lethbridge Cougars vs. 3rd East Portage la Prairie Magic

It was a historic series as the Portage la Prairie Magic pulled an upset over the Cougars in six games, but also the team’s first-ever series win thanks to rookie James McDougall scored a hat-trick in game three, along with another hat-trick in game four, and a hat-trick in game six becoming the second player in WCLH history to scored three hat-tricks in a series, the first was Hockey hall of Famer and former Brandon Buffalos star Lenny Gray during the pre-CIHA era. The Magic wins the series 4-2.

Round Two

1st East Saskatoon Cats vs. 3rd East Portage la Prairie Magic

With only three teams from the east and one from the west, the league reranked it overall. The Magic is one point behind the Forest Kings, so the Magic go face-to-face with the Cats. In speaking of, the Forest Kings are not happy with the reranked. Despite being in first place in the west, the Owls have 11 points more, which means the Owls have four home games while the Forest Kings got only three.

1st East Saskatoon Cats vs. 3rd East Portage la Prairie Magic

The Magic played as hard as they could, forcing overtime, but in the end, it took the Cats six games to win the series. Rookie goalie Harold Richmond held his ground in a big way, mainly because his first shutout happened in game six's triple overtime. The Cats wins the series 4-2.

1st West Abbotsford Forest Kings vs. 2nd East Fargo Owls

Both the Forest Kings and the Owls went head-to-head in hopes of heading back to the Jade trophy finals. It was a back-and-forth series until game seven, where Jon Hedberg and Jack Plaxton scored a hat-trick to tie the game to end the third period and headed in overtime. 5:12 left into overtime, and the Owls had a 5 on 3 power play when Aaron Boyer burst past the defence for a breakaway, and for the first time in his playoff career, he scored a goal and gave the Abbotsford Forest Kings a ticket to the Jade Trophy Finals for the third time in five years. The Forest Kings wins the series 4-3.

Jade Trophy Finals

Saskatoon Cats vs. Abbotsford Forest Kings

In game one, it was a hat-trick fest as the Forest Kings Jon Hedberg and Ryan Wedgewood pulled it off with their three goals, while the Cats Nathen Faulk and J.J. Orcas scored a hat-trick themselves also, as the third period closing to the end, out of nowhere Matthew Goodfellow of the Cats flick the puck over the head of Forest Kings Mike Lessard to break the tie and give the Cats a 7-6 win. Game two was a high-scoring game, just like game one, but no one got a hat-trick. Matthew Goodfellow did it again with a game-winner as the Cats took two games to none lead with the score of 8-7. After losing two games in Saskatoon, the Abbotsford Forest Kings are playing games on their home turf, and it shows with help from Jon Hedberg, Aaron Boyer, and Ryan Wedgewood, combine 5 goals and 10 points to win 6-2 to get back into the series. The Forest Kings goalie Mike Lessard plays like a brick wall in a successful shutout win over the Cats to even the series two a piece. Both the Forest Kings and the Cats went back and forth all the way to the end of the third period tied 5-5; in first overtime, the Cats were all over Mike Lessard, but he kept his ground all the way to the end of the first OT, 3:40 left in the second overtime Aaron Boyer got a breakaway and scored a goal to end game five with the score of 6-5 to give the Forest Kings one win away to win it all. The Forest Kings showed the Cats no mercy as Ryan Wedgewood scored a hat-trick to finish game six 5-2 to become the 1983-84 WCLH Jade Trophy Champions and going to Buffalo New York for the 1984 Valor Cup tournament. The Forest Kings wins the series 4-2.

1983-84 WCLH Season

The biggest news in the league was the Lethbridge Cougars had a great start in their first 25 games, all nothing but wins which they had a total of 90 wins (including 60 wins in 1982-83 and the last 15 games in 1981-82 seasons) until the Abbotsford Forest Kings broke that streak with a 3-2 game that shocked many hockey critics everywhere didn’t think that the Cougars would lose. The Cougars had a hard time as they only won 4 out of the last 25 games; many hope they can turn it around come playoffs.

League President James Name successfully banned Lite-Sonic pants from the league following the tragedy that ended Moose Jaw Wings Paul Phillips's career in the 1982-83 season. James Name also stated in the WCLH that white pants are banned, meaning that any team doing any rebranding in white is banned from recolouring pants.

After breaking the Cougar's winning streak, the Forest Kings got an excellent last 25 games of the season (18-5-2) to take first place in the West division. The Cougars battled the last 25 games in a rough way to finish Medicine Hat Hawks second. One point behind the Cougars is the Billings Trains. They had second place in the bag, but their last 10 games were very poor (1-8-1), and they finished third. In fourth place is the Medicine Hat Hawks, as they were almost on the outside of the playoffs spot, but the Hawks made some real key wins to finish the season in fourth place. Rounding off the West are Chilliwack Alpines taking fifth, Surrey River Dogs sixth, and in last place the Nanaimo Sharks.

After four years of missing the playoffs, the Saskatoon Cats are back in a big way. Led by Nathen Faulk's leadership, the Cats finished not just the East division but also the league with a big 80 points (38-8-4). It is their first time since the pre-CHIA history to ever finish at the top of the league; the last time they did it was in the 1970-71 season. Finishing second place was the Fargo Owls, which was an improvement from last season; however, they lost all of their four-game season series with the Cats. Many fear they could hurt them come playoffs, but the players have high hopes for a deep playoff run. The Portage la Prairie Magic takes third place but recently are in a heavy situation come playoff time; many fear that the Magic could be heading into rebuilding mode if they lose the first round for the fifth straight time, “we need to win the first round that is our goal, we can do this, we will work hard to win the first round.” Magic captain Zachary Natyshak said after team practice. Taking forth place the Swift Current Battalion, they had a bad hangover in the first 25 games, but they turn it around in the last 25 to get the last playoff spot and hope to head back to the Jade Trophy final like they did last season. Rounding off the East division are fifth-place Moose Jaw Wings, sixth-place Brandon Buffalos, and taking last place in both the East and the whole league are the Kenora Pioneers.