1980 Valor Star Tournament

 1980 Valor Star Tournament (Ottawa, ON) (Arena: Ottawa Civic Forum)

Many fans got a treat; during the round-robin, many fans not only got the chance to watch all four teams showcase talents but also got a tour at the Ottawa Royal Banquet Hall as they witnessed a hall of jerseys, but they were not just jerseys; they were KI-LO jerseys that all three leagues are going to wear for the 1980-81 season.

Team CIHA had some strong offence, but the lack of defence hurt them as they won only one out of six games. “We didn’t do well at this tournament. We are a young group that hasn’t clicked on the defence side of the game; in the end, we had a great experience in this tournament, and everyone is going to keep an eye on these young guns closer than ever.” Team CIHA coach Leon Cowern said at the round-robin post-interview.

Team WCLH and Team AQHL battled back and forth to finish 2nd place. WCLH suffered a heartbreaking loss to AQHL (2-1) in the first game against each other. Their second game against each other was a controversial 3-3 tie game where the WCLH had a lead but one call by the referee that gave the AQHL the penalty shot instead of a power play with 1:19 left in the third period. Both got the same record of 2-3-1, but Team AQHL took second place while Team WCLH finished third place.

Team OMJHA top the tournament with a perfect 6-0-0 record with their top stars in their roster, forwards scoring goals, defence keeping the opponents from getting to the net, and the goalies were brick walls as 4 of their six wins were shutouts. Team OMJHA is determined to win it all in Ottawa.

In the semi-finals, Team OMJHA shut out Team CIHA for the third time in the tournament; unlike the last two matchups were blowouts (8-0, 10-0), they scored only two goals, but they were enough as Team OMJHA moved on to the finals with the score of 2-0. Team AQHL and Team WCLH battled back and forth to a 4-4 tie game going into overtime. With 5:33 left in overtime, Team WCLH Matthew Atlas scored the overtime winner as Team WCLH beat Team AQHL 5-4. In the finals, it was all Team OMJHA as they kept on the offence all over Team WCLH; as the clock hit zero, Team OMJHA celebrated with a 5-1 win and was named the Valor Star champions.