1983 CHIA Valor Cup Tournament

 

All four teams wear the Valor Cup 10th-anniversary logo as a patch on their jerseys.

With much hype in Medicine Hat, fans were in for a surprise in the round-robin. The Cougars kept their winning streak going by finishing 6-0 in first place spot for the second time in a row. Meanwhile, the Hawks, the Bees, and the Loups battled, and all three finished with a 2-4 record; the Bees took 2nd place over 3rd place Hawks and last place Loups is by goal against average.

Semi-finals

Buffalo Bees vs. Medicine Hat Hawks

The Hawks, Ross Featherstone, scored a goal, but it would be the only one for them as the Bees de-feathered the Hawks by scoring two goals in the second period. Two more in the third period made by William VanDean, Greg Dahlstrom, Floyd Currie, and Mark O’Reilly shared a goal as the Buffalo Bees won the semi-final over the Hawks 4-1 and headed to the Valor Cup finals for the second time in a row.

Lethbridge Cougars vs. Sherbrooke Loups

The Cougars had lousy news: Greg Finley suffered a lower-body injury and will be out for this game, so backup goalie Luke Catred, a 2nd round pick from the 1982 draft from Victoria B.C., must defend the net in hopes for the Cougars' winning streak stays in tack. While the Loups had their own issue, Jesse Matthews was approved to join Boston College. The problem was that she couldn’t play the rest of the tournament once it was made. Despite each team losing a player a piece, however, it was a back-and-forth all the way to the final minute of the third, where Lenny Tardif scored a goal to tie it up 4-4. In overtime, both teams made multiple attempts to score until 3:29 left. Anders Krzysztof scored the winner in overtime (5-4ot) as the Lethbridge Cougars moved on to the Valor Cup Finals.

Valor Cup Finals

Lethbridge Cougars vs. Buffalo Bees

For the first time in five years, a Valor Cup final is a rematch from a previous season between the Cougars and the Bees. In the first period, Karl Fuhr scored two goals, both were shorthanded, to give the Cougars the lead. In the second period, the Bees bounced back with a powerplay goal by Greg Dahlstrom, which they needed as they kept shooting at Luke Catred until the clock hit zero. As the third period began, it was all Cougars. As the last ten minutes came, the Cougars scored two more goals. As the third period ended, the Cougars won 4-1. The Lethbridge Cougars are the 1983 CIHA Valor Cup Champions, and Karl Fuhr became the Valor Cup MVP.