1985 Valor Cup Tournament

 

This season's tournament could be anyone's first Valor Cup win in the CIHA. In the round robin, the Saskatoon Cats took first place by winning the last three games after the first three were a one-loss, two-tie split. The Moncton Bears started the first three with wins but then lost the next three, finishing in second place. Both Oakville Oaks and Fredericton Vikings finish with two wins, three losses, and one tie. Even though both had the same record, the Oaks took third place because they beat the Vikings twice, while the Vikings beat both the Bears and the Cats to get their two wins, enough to play in the semi-finals.

Semi-Finals

The match-up between Saskatoon and Fredericton was supposed to be a one-sided game in favour of the Cats, but the Vikings had other ideas. In both first and second periods was Cats pure game play to give them a comfy 4-0 lead going into the third period, around 15 minutes left of the game Dave Messier did something that no player could ever do in any Valor Cup tournament, as he scored four goals to tie it up and force overtime, despite numbers of shots made by the Cats the Vikings needs one to win and that shot was made by Bill Boyle after Dave Messier passed it to him while the Cats players were all over Dave, with that the Fredericton Vikings became the first fourth seed team in the Valor Cup Tournament history the advance to the finals.

The Oakville Oaks played very well as Vince Olson led the team with two goals and four points in a 4-2 win over the host Moncton Bears to advance to the Valor Cup Finals. After the game, sadness washed over the arena as John Handley and Eric Gall said goodbye to the Bears fans, knowing that, after the 1985-86 season, they would begin their pro careers. Also, after 15 years behind the bench, coach Chris Culdee said goodbye too, as he took the offer to coach the NIHA’s Chicago Lancers next season. “It’s a hard thing to feel right now. I try to keep this news as low profile as possible until we finish the tournament.” Bears GM Gordon Hill said in an interview after the semi-final game.

Valor Cup Finals

Oakville Oaks vs. Fredericton Vikings

As the puck dropped to begin the first period, out of nowhere, Vince Olson skated to the net and scored for the Oaks, but the Vikings got their goal made by Dave Messier to tie it up, and it was like that as the first period came to an end. The second period started with Ted Savage score a goal to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead, until Leonard Ellsworth tied it up for the Oaks, then the turning point was when Ed Thibault got a boarding penalty which the Oaks could get a powerplay goal but Bill Boyle got the puck and speeded thru the Oaks defencemen for a breakaway and scored a penalty kill goal and the second period ends with the Vikings take a 3-2 lead. Third period started hot as Warren Burk scored two goals to give the Oaks their first lead of 4-3, but it didn’t last long as Wayne Daoust score to tie it up then Bill Boyle score again to lead and Ted Savage would scored one more for the Vikings, then the Oaks would score a goal made by Leonard Ellsworth but it was too little too late as the clock hit zero to end the finals as the Fredericton Vikings are the 1985 Valor Cup Champions with the score 6-5 over the Oakville Oaks. The Vikings would be the second-lowest-seeded team to win it, just a rank higher than the 1973 Valor Cup Champion Nanaimo Greyhounds. CIHA President Randy Howard presents the Valor Cup MVP to Bill Boyle, then Randy Howard hands the Valor Cup to Dave Messier as he raises it up in front of his teammates, and the Vikings celebrate.