1982 CIHA Valor Cup Tournament

Round Robin

Fans came together from all over Canada and even the U.S.A. for this year's tournament in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The Lethbridge Cougars top the tournament with a perfect six wins for a 1st place finish. Coming in 2nd place is the tournament host Sherbrooke Loups, as they are 2-3-1 with a total of 5 points, mainly with a 4-2 win over the Highlanders. The Buffalo Bees lost four games to the Cougars and the Loups, but they got two critical wins over New Glasgow to finish 3rd place and move on to the semi-finals. Ending the tournament last is the New Glasgow Highlanders; even though they got one win, it isn’t enough as the tournament rules go that you need two wins to advance.

Semi-Finals

The Cougars got a bye to the finals, meaning they will see who will face them. The Loups have beaten the Bees twice in the round-robin, but in the semi-finals, the Bees got payback as Floyd Currie made 2 goals and 4 points to lead the Bees to a 6-3 win and have a date with the Cougars for the Valor Cup.

Valor Cup Finals

Lethbridge Cougars vs. Buffalo Bees

First Period: The Bees gave the Cougars a sting as they scored first by William VanDean and Greg Dahlstrom, who scored a goal five minutes before the period ended. The Bees took the lead with a score of 2-0.

Second Period: Within six minutes, the Cougars bounced back as Jack Burk and Karl Fuhr each scored a goal to tie the game up; it would take almost four minutes left into the period for a goal to be made, and that’s what Jack Burk did with his second goal of the game to break the tie, and as the period ended the Cougars know that come the third period it’ll be a war.

Third Period: With the Cougars leading 3-2, the Bees were shooting all over Greg Finley as he was a brick wall for the Cougars; over the other end, Sam Dempsey was holding his end very well for a rookie goalie, 1:10 left into the final period the Bees choose to pull Sam for an extra attacker, halfway to the bench Sam got hit on the helmet from a puck and a referee called too many men on the ice penalty which gave the Cougars a powerplay, and took advantage as Jack Burk scored his third goal and the Cougars celebrates as the clock hit zero with the score of 4-2 and for the second time in team history the Lethbridge Cougars are the CIHA Valor Cup Champions with Karl Fuhr hoisted the cup. At the same time, Jack Burk hugs the Valor Cup MVP trophy.