1983 OMJHA playoffs

 Round 1

Hero Division

Oakville Oaks vs. Toronto Hornets

The Oaks had a tough time winning the first two games and losing game three 3-2 in overtime to the Hornets. However, they got in a groove in game four, 4-1 and finished the Hornets off in game five, 4-2, to win the series in five games. The Oaks wins the series 4-1.

Barrie Admirals vs. Milton Micmacs

The first two games were close, but after the game 2 overtime loss, the Admirals fell apart as the Micmacs won both games three and four to complete a game sweep and, for the second time, beat the Admirals in the first round. The Micmacs wins the series 4-0.

Steel Division

Buffalo Bees vs. Owen Sound Arrowbirds

The Arrowbirds couldn’t find any answers to win against the Bees until game four, where they had the lead 4-2 going into the third period when William VanDean finally started scoring goals for the first time since December 6th, and he did it with three goals to give the Bees game four wins and the sweep to move on to the next round. The Bees wins the series 4-0.

Waterloo Maroons vs. Toronto Neon

The Maroons had some hiccups in the first two games at the hands of the Toronto Neon, but they would turn it around, win four straight, and head to the Steel Division finals. The Maroons wins the series 4-2.

Hero Division Final

Oakville Oaks vs. Milton Micmacs

Both teams had been back and forth most of the series; in game five, trailing 3-1 going into the third period, the Oaks went tooth and nail to come back with Jake Dahl’s two goals within 30 seconds out of 1:20 left in the third to tie the game at three apiece. In overtime, Oaks rookie Vince Olson made an opportunity moment as one of the Macs players made a weak pass; Vince took the puck, got a breakaway to the net, and scored the overtime winner to take game five 4-3. The Macs ran out of gas in game six as the Oaks shut them out 4-0 to win both game six and the series to punch their ticket to the Smyth Cup Championship. The Oaks wins the series 4-2.

Steel Division Final

Buffalo Bees vs. Waterloo Maroons

The Maroons got themselves in a challenging situation as Adam Newhook and Larry Arsenal got called up to their pro teams for a playoff push. At the same time, Tom Zehr and Vernon Fetisov suffered an injury bug, and even Nick Ross going on a cold streak since losing games one and two in the first round with the Toronto Neon. The Buffalo Bees took advantage and shocked the whole league with a sweep of four straight games, only allowing just 4 goals. The Bees wins the series 4-0.

Smyth Cup Finals

Buffalo Bees vs. Oakville Oaks

“The Rematch,” which everyone has been waiting for since last season between the Bees and the Oaks. Game one the Bees William VanDean scored 2 goals, 5 points to give them a win 5-2 over the Oaks. Game number two William scored only one but made 4 assists for 5-3 win once again. Game three the Oaks had a good lead but both Greg Dahlstrom and Floyd Currie each scored 2 goals to give the Bees 4-3 win over the Oaks. Things turned around for the Oaks as Jake Dahl scored 2 goals within 3 minutes left in the third period, forcing the game into overtime. Then Jake scored the OT winner to take game four 4-3. The Oaks didn’t have enough gas as the Bees took game five thanks to Mark O’Reilly’s 5 assists with the score of 5-1 final, and once again, the Buffalo Bees are the 1983 Smyth Cup Champions and taking a trip to Medicine Hat for the Valor Cup Tournament. The Bees wins the series 4-1.

1982-83 OMJHA season

 

As the new season began, there were silents around the league in the aftermath of the departure of the Metros. The next problem was the Kitchener Legionnaires, whose owner, John Rupert, had been in the league. President Tom Van Ryan asked how many teams haven’t received any money to question his role. The rent for the Kitchener Memorial Centre went up this season, and Generals owner Todd Holmes claims that he is paying more than John Rupert Todd threatened to sue, but Tom tried to fix the problem, but the city demands more money from Todd than John, with that Todd Holmes file a lawsuit on John Rupert, even thou John had better evidence, but for some unknown reason there were no payment records, John Rupert said that it was stolen but the court found John Rupert guilty. The Court forced John Rupert to hand over the Legionnaires team to Todd Holmes; after that, Todd announced that after this season, both the Generals and the Legionnaires would merge into one team, and the Generals would add red to their jerseys soon down the road. Unhappy with the outcome, many fans in Kitchener have made it clear that they won’t go to any Generals home game until Todd Holmes tells the truth that he is stealing money from other teams, but there is not enough proof that others will start supporting the Waterloo Maroons next year.

The Orillia Lakers are also in the news that their first home game of the season was a dud. The attendance wasn’t good for the Lakers, who had an average of 300 out of 1500 capacity Orillia Arena seating. “This is a joke. Not even our fans came along with us to play against the Lakers; it is sad to tell you the truth,” Milton Micmacs Jesper Nelson said in an interview with a radio station in Milton.

The 1982 Smyth Cup Champions Buffalo Bees finally topped the Steel division for the first time, also for the time they topped the league. “It was the best season we ever had, and let me tell you, we got plenty more to show.” Bees GM Ryan Byron Jr. said at a press conference after the last game of the season. The Waterloo Maroons had a slow start after losing Nick Ross to injury at the beginning of the season, Nick made up for it by finishing this season with 29 goals and 56 points run within 35 games, but the Maroons finished 2nd place. With the right moves and good coaching by Warren Coyle, the Toronto Neon jumped from last to 3rd place, and they are hoping for a deep run in the playoffs. After a challenging number of games, the Owen Sound Arrowbirds took 4th place, and hopefully, they will be in better shape come playoff time. Rounding off the Steel Division are the O’s in 5th place, Legionnaires in 6th place, 7th place belongs to the Bolts, and last place is the Lakers.

Over at the Hero Division, the Oakville Oaks made it to 1st place after making 12 a game-winning streak helped by Jake Dahl’s 38 goals 75 points. The performance did wonders and showed everyone that this team is going back to the Smyth Cup finals, and this time, they will win it. Taking 2nd place is the Barrie Admirals, as they had a slow start with losing 8 of the first 10 games, but Ty Joly finally shows why he should be in the top 10 NIHA draft this year. With news about the team being up for sale soon the Milton Micmacs is showing their value by finishing third place, hopefully they have a buyer will have the idea of buying the team and keep it in Milton. The Toronto Hornets won 10 of the last 15 games to finish 4th place, making their first playoff appearance in team history. Brantford Skyflyers in 5th, Oshawa 6th, and the Kitchener Generals in last are rounds off the division.