1981 CIHA Valor Cup Tournament

 

Many came for this year's Valor Cup tournament at the Maroon Auditorium in Waterloo, Ontario, as four teams battled for a chance of becoming the 1981 CIHA Valor Cup Champions. The host team, the Waterloo Maroons, started hot in a big way and finished the round-robin perfect 6-0-0 record with 12 points thanks to Larry Arsenal, who made a record of 18 goals, 36 points, and made a record of scoring 3 goals in every 6 games in what everyone calls it “the six hat-tricks,” also Pat Hudson made history by getting 4 shutouts out of his 6 wins but also set a record for the fewest goals against with only letting in just 3 goals. The WCLH’s Lethbridge Cougars may lose 2 games to the Maroons, but they won 4 games, including 2 key overtime wins over the Loups, as they finished 2nd place, but Jack Burk kept the team in the tournament with 9 goals and 20 points. Sherbrooke Loups got 2 wins, but those came from the Oshawa Diamonds. The rest are losses, with 2 heartbreaking overtimes by the Cougars and 2 ugly, painful losses to the Maroons. The Diamonds played very poorly, barely scoring only 3 goals and finishing in last place with 6 losses. The rule goes that they are eliminated if the 4th seed team does not win at least 2 games. With that rule, the Maroons would get a bye in the semi-final, moving on to the finals waiting for who wins the Cougars Loups semi-finals.

Semi-finals

Lethbridge Cougars vs. Sherbrooke Loups

Both teams are aiming for a date with the Maroons; as the first period started, the Loups came firing shots at Cougars goalie Shawn Hoff like crazy until 3:31 left in the first, the Loups finally scored a goal made by Shawn Thomas, as the first period ends there is a shoving match between the two then Shawn Hoff fell and twisted his blocker arm, with that questions are up in the air on if Shawn can be 100% for the second period. As both teams came back on the ice, on the Cougars' end, the goalie that standing in front of the net was not Shawn Hoff but Greg Finley, the son of the Cougars' GM Frank Finley, the Loups believed that this was an easy scoring spree, but as the second period pass the 10:00 mark, it became opposite as Karl Fuhr, Jack Burk, and Wes Roy each scored a goal for the Cougars. When the second period ended, it was 3-1. In the third period, the Loups couldn’t find a way to score as Greg was a brick wall and holding his ground solidly as the Cougars added two more goals before the third ended. The clock hit zero to end the game with a 5-1 Cougars win, and they are headed to the Valor Cup Finals to face the Waterloo Maroons.

Valor Cup Finals

Waterloo Maroons vs. Lethbridge Cougars

During the national anthem, Maroons Larry Arsenal and Cougars Jack Burk were eyeing each other. As the puck dropped, both were determined to outplay one another Larry may not be as good as Jack, but Larry has teammates helping him out more like Larry helping them as he made three assists in the first period to take a 3-1 lead. The Cougars bounced back by scoring two goals, but 20 seconds after a 3-3 tie game, Larry scored a goal to give the Maroons a 4-3 lead as the second period ended. In the third period, the Cougars ran out of gas as the Maroons added three more goals, two of them were by Larry Arsenal, as the Maroons celebrated along with the fans at the Maroon Auditorium, winning the 1981 Valor Cup Championship with the score of 7-3. Larry lifted the Valor Cup along with the MVP award of the tournament.

1981 AQHL Playoffs

 

1st Round

1st Verdun Knights vs. 8th Drummondville Les Rouges

The Drummondville Les Rouges made an ugly history as they went through all four games without scoring a goal. Even thou the Knights blew the Les Rouges in the first two games (7-0 and 9-0), the last two were more painful for Drummondville as the total shots on goal in those last two games was 14 (game 3: 9 shots, game 4: 5 shots) as the game clock hit zero the Verdun Knights win the series in four games all shutouts.

2nd New Glasgow Highlanders vs. 7th Shawinigan Voltages

The Highlanders played very well in the first three games until, in game four, the Volts came back from a 3-0 score midway through the second period. Then Christian Gaudreau scored the overtime winner for the Volts. In game five, the Highlanders' Kyle Patrick scored a hat-trick to finish off the Volts for a win and the series 4 games to 1.

3rd Sherbrooke Loups vs. 6th Portland Clippers

The Clippers knew that they had no chance of winning the series, but that didn’t stop them from giving the Loups a hard time in all four games, all of them in overtime, including game four when Christian Dupont scored two goals to tie the game to force overtime for the fourth game in a row, late into the second overtime Christian Dupont scored the winner and give the Loups the four-game sweep over the Portland Clippers.

4th Moncton Bears vs. 5th Cape Breton Warriors

Both teams went back and forth in the first four games, going into game five with the series tied at 2 games apiece. The Bears Andrew Jones scored two key goals to give them a win. Andrew Jones would score two more goals, including an overtime winner to win game six and the series over the Warriors 4 games to 2.

Round 2

1st Verdun Knights vs. 4th Moncton Bears

The Verdun Knights were on top of their game as they took games one, two, and three in a dominant way. Going into game four, the Knights believe they got this series in the bag, leading the whole game 3-0 when a minor penalty on the Bears became an event that everyone calls “the murdering two minutes” as Andrew Jones 1 goal, 3 points game playing help the Bears tie the game headed into overtime and the Bears forward Alec Dahlin scored the winner to stay alive. Thanks to the OT win, the Bears would keep going by winning games five and six to force game seven. The last game of the series, and a lot of pressure was on the Knights to finish the series, but however, rookie goalie Seth Taylor was a brick wall all game letting in just one goal as the Bears scored two goals to take the lead, as the clock ticks away the sold-out crowd at the Verdun Arena were in a state of shock and witness the Verdun Knights season came to an end as the Bears became the first team in AQHL history to win a playoff series after being down 3-0 to win the series 4 games to 3.

2nd New Glasgow Highlanders vs. 3rd Sherbrooke Loups

In game one, both teams battled all the way to the third overtime as Josh Winter scored the winner for the Loups. After game one, the Highlanders took both games two and three, but bad news hit the team as four key players have been called up by both the pro and minor-pro hockey teams as they’re making a push for the playoffs. The Loups would take games four and five in a close game, but as game six came, the Loups rookie goalie Lenny Tardif was a brick wall, and the fans at the Arena Commemorative de Sherbrooke celebrated as the Loups won game six 4-0 to win the series 4 games to 2 and punch their ticket to the 1981 Bronz Cup Championship.

1981 Bronz Cup Championship

3rd Sherbrooke Loups vs. 4th Moncton Bears

Lenny Tardif and Seth Taylor are both rookie goalies got a lot to prove by playing like veterans that could lead their team in winning this year's Bronz Cup Championship. The Sherbrooke Loups are prime and ready, while the Moncton Bears had a big momentum swing after coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series. In game one, both teams battled all the way to the last minute of the third period, tied 2-2 until the Loups Christian Dupont scored the tiebreaker to give the Loups a 3-2 win. Game two was the same as game one but tied at 3-3. Both headed into overtime, and 12:48 into it, the Bears took the win thanks to Alec Dahlin setting up a play that led Andrew Jones to score, and the series is even at 1. At Moncton, the Loups got one goal in mind “win games three and four,” and that is what they did as they took a 4-0 lead after the first period. The Bears scored goals but not enough, as the Loups took game three 4-2. In game three, the Loups did again by taking a big 4-0 lead after the first, but unlike game three, the Bears tooth and clawed their way back to tie it and force overtime. The first overtime didn’t resolve, nor did the second not end anything. 7:19 left in the third overtime Loups got themselves in a pickle as two players of theirs ended up in the penalty box, so the Bears got a 5-on-3 powerplay; everything was all Bears shooting until Lenny Tardif got the puck and flicked it over both defencemen and out of nowhere defence Shawn Thomas sneak pass by them got the breakaway and beat Seth Taylor for a 5-4 third overtime win. As game five began, both teams were firing shots at each other at the end of the second period, it was tied 2-2. In the third period, the Loups scored two key power-play goals. The Bears did everything that they could to get back in the game, but it wasn’t enough as the clock hit zero, and both the Loups and the fans at the Arena Commemorative de Sherbrooke celebrated as the Loups won game five 4-2 to take the series win 4 games to 1 and Josh Winter lifted the Bronz Cup over his head as the Sherbrooke Loups are the 1981 Champions, and for the first time since 1974 they going to the Valor Cup tournament and hopes to win it all like they did before.

1980-81 AQHL Season

 

After 2 seasons of being second place in the Atlantic division, the New Glasgow Highlanders finally hit the top of the division after making a solid 2nd half of the season, including staying unbeaten in the last 10 games of the season 8-0-2. “It was our goal to take 1st place in our division. Now our new goal is to win the Bronz Cup.” Highlanders head coach Doug Reid said at the league press conference in Moncton.

The Moncton Bears made some improvements, just enough to finish 2nd place, thanks to goalie Seth Taylor winning 20 out of 35 games didn’t get any shutouts, but many can see him making more wins down the road and could give this team a chance to go deep into the playoffs.

After playing in Membertou, the Warriors are back at the newly upgraded Warrior Arena. Fans got to finally see the rising of the 1979 Bronz Cup banner to start the season, they did alright, but the last 10 games were ugly for them, with a 2-6-2 to even losing the head-to-head season series to the Moncton Bears. “We need to get our “A” game going if not, we will be out in the first round in a heartbeat,” said Warriors head coach Lenny Copeland.

The Portland Clippers have once again finished 4th in the division, led by overage Frank Logan, who has been a great leader in the locker room. There will likely be some young players who can step up to the plate next season. For now, they are focusing on the playoffs and hoping to go all the way.

Rounding off the Atlantic division is the Manchester Americans finished 5th after being last place in their first two seasons, while the Fredericton Vikings may get a win more than the Americans, but the Vikings got three losses more to finish last place.

The Verdun Knights took both the Quebec Division and the league despite its 7 points less than last season, but they kept themselves ahead of everyone, including keeping the Highlanders from hitting the 80 points mark on the last game of the season, winning it in a dominating fashion 4-1.

For the third season in a row, the Sherbrooke Loups finished 2nd in the Quebec division. Josh Winter led the team with s 33 goals, and 89 points played a factor in their success. The biggest impact made for the Loups was rookie goalie Lenny Tardif winning 25 out of 40 games with a rookie league record of 18 shutouts. “What a great first year for us at our new Arena, with many broken records. What better way to cap it all is winning both the Bronz Cup and the Valor Cup.”  Allen Poulette Jr said after the team’s last game of the season.

After their first three years, the Shawinigan Voltages are heading to the playoffs after winning 25 games along with 4 ties to make the total of 54 points to make it happen. Team captain Vincent Leroux was on a roll for the Vols until he got called up by the Saskatchewan Pro hockey club midway into the season. After that news, the team put the “C” on Christian Gaudreau. He adapted to the role well in his second season, as his playmaker style boosted the team. They need to finish 3rd place and enter the playoffs 7th seed overall.

After missing the playoffs for 2 straight years, the Drummondville Les Rouges' 32 points were just enough to make it to the playoffs with most of the roster very young players, but they are hungry for wins, but many believe that if they enter the playoffs without the same fire that they got themselves in they will be out of the playoffs very early.

The Laval Tigers ended their season poorly, as they will miss the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row by finishing 5th. The once mighty Titans were on the top of the league but had just hit rock bottom. To make matters worse for the team, they lost their GM Leon Rheaume as he accepted a GM deal with the Quebec City Pro Hockey Club, “it’s a sad day for us, but I wish him the best as we will find ourselves a new GM that can build this team back to the top once again” Titans co-owner Lance Chouinard said.

1981 OMJHA Playoffs

Steel Division

1st Waterloo Maroons vs 4th Kitchener Legionnaires

Last season the Maroons beat the Legionnaires in six games. This season the Maroons are hoping for a sweep like they did in their season series, which they did, but game one, two, and three ended in overtime. In game four, Larry Arsenal scored 2 goals to help the Maroons win in regulation and move on to the next round 2-0. 

2nd Orangeville O’s vs. 3rd Peterborough Braves

Most games of the series were close ones, but the O’s rookie Dave Fortier scored back-to-back hat-tricks in both games five and six to give them those two wins to finish off the Braves in six games and ready for the Maroons in the Steel Division finals.

Hero Division

1st Barrie Admirals vs. 4th Oakville Oaks

The Oakville Oaks made it to the playoffs in hopes of giving the Admirals a hard time, but Barrie was the one that gave Oaks a hard time, mainly keeping them from scoring more than just one goal throughout the series, including the Admirals with a game four overtime win to complete the sweep.

2nd Oshawa Diamonds vs. 3rd Burlington Metros

Both Diamonds and Metros went back and forth all the way to game seven as the Diamonds' Adam Howell scored a hat-trick to tie the game at 3 after trailing behind 3-1 before the start of the 3rd period, in overtime Derek Kelly scored the OT winner to help the Diamonds win the series and keep the momentum going into the 2nd round to face the Barrie Admirals.

Steel Division Finals

1st Waterloo Maroons vs. 2nd Orangeville O’s

The Orangeville O’s top player is all over Maroons goalie Pat Hudson, but he held his ground as his teammates were scoring for the O’s they had to start four different goalies due to their top goalie Jack Glenn getting injured after the game six of the first round, game four the O’s kept it close but the Maroons was too much as once again they win the series in four games and headed to the Smyth Cup Finals for the first time since 1974.

Hero Division Finals

1st Barrie Admirals vs. 2nd Oshawa Diamonds

Both teams tied 1st in the Hero division but the Admirals took 1st place as they won the head-to-head series over the Diamonds, the battle was crazy and both teams was really push themselves to the next level, things got more interesting as that the Waterloo Maroons the host of the 1981 Valor Cup tournament has just swept the Orangeville O’s with that news means that who ever win this series win not only face the Maroons for the Smyth Cup championship but also automatically advance to the Valor Cup tournament, the news gave both teams the fire they need to go all the way to game seven as the Admirals had 2-0 lead going into the third period when out of nowhere the Diamonds scored two straight short-handed goals both made by Derek Kelly, then Adam Howell score a goal that questioned of how it happened, the Admirals was firing shots trying to tie the game up but the game ended with 3-2 Diamonds wins game seven and going to both the Smyth Cup finals to face the Maroons and hopes to be ready for the Valor Cup tournament.

Smyth Cup Finals

Waterloo Maroons vs. Oshawa Diamonds

In game one, the Diamonds played very well to keep it a 2-2 tie at the end of the third period. In overtime, the Diamonds made a mistake by taking a penalty that created a chance that the Maroons took, and Nick Ross scored the overtime winner. After game one, the Diamonds ran out of gas as the Maroons destroyed them 9-0 in game two. The Diamonds may score two goals, but the Maroons scored two more with a 4-2 game three win. In game four, the Maroons poured on with 7 goals; the Oshawa Diamonds came back but only scored 4 goals as the third period came to an end. The Waterloo Maroons are the OMJHA Smyth Cup Champions for the first time since 1972, a season before the CIHA was established and will be ready for the 1981 Valor Cup tournament.

1980-81 OMJHA Season

 

Fans of the defending Smyth Cup Champions, the Barrie Admirals, had to wait for the home opener as Barrie played their first 10 games on the road, including being both the Neon and the Hornets' first opponent for their inaugural season opener, both of them the Admirals won along with 6 more wins to make their first 10 games 8-1-1 then came to their first 5 home games played without a loss (3-0-2) everything was going go until last 15 games of the season where they had a hard time with 4-8-3 to finish 1st in the Hero Division.

The Oshawa Diamonds have announced a new name for next season. They will call themselves the “Oshawa Gem” and show the new logo, but the jerseys will be the same for the time being. The news may not sit well with many fans, but their 10-game winning streak changed many minds after that. They kept on winning good games here and there to finish with the same record as the Barrie Admirals, but the reason why they finished 2nd is that they lost the head-to-head series, but they showed grand results and gave Prime Motors a good reason to own the team.

Burlington Metros performed very well, led by captain Matthew Walton the Metros finished 3rd place in the Hero division, but this season is overshadowed by an ongoing war between team owner John Lewis and OMJHA President Tom Van Ryan, where John is still wanting answers on why his team and others are losing money in a bad way some said there were some meetings got heated between the two every time when Tom talked about financial issues. “It got ugly pretty fast; I’m just hoping things get settled soon if not, we might have long-term trust issues,” Barrie Admirals owner Luke Ashton said after the owners' meeting.

After many drafts picks, to front office changes, the results for the Oakville Oaks show great improvements, the gamble of naming Keith Dunn the teams captain worked wonders as he finished 3rd as the top scorer in the league and helped the Oaks finish 4th and headed to the playoffs after missing it for 2 years.

The Micmacs did some moves in hopes of turning it around, but it did not happen as for the 6th year in a row, they missed the playoffs by finishing 5th, followed by the newcomer team Toronto Hornets, who won just enough to pass the 30 points mark and enough to take 6th. The dead last of the Hero division title goes to the Kitchener Generals after losing their top stars and bad trades along the way to finish 7th.

The Waterloo Maroons became the top team in league with a 43-6-1 record; the biggest accomplishment the team ever did was winning their first 25 games in a row. They would lose to end a winning streak but would start a new one along the way with a 15-game winning streak. They would lose the last 4 games. Another accomplishment made by the Maroons was Larry Arsenal, who broke a record for the most assists in a season with 85 in a season with a career total of 220, Larry became the first player to pass the 200 assists within 3 seasons, and he got two more seasons to go.

Ron Green became a grand leader in the locker room, and it shows on the ice as he led the O’s to a 72-points 2nd place finish, one of the best in team history. The team and the city brought the good news that during the off-season, the Orangeville Arena is getting more seats added to the numbers from 2000 to 3000. With Waterloo hosting the 1981 Valor Cup tournament, the O’s is planning on doing more upgrades to the arena in hopes of being the host for the 1984 Valor Cup tournament.

The Peterborough Braves struggled throughout this season, but they won 8 of the last 10 games to sit in 3rd place in the Steel division. Losing 28 games didn’t sit well with head coach Rick Pine “we didn’t play well this season; we need to find a spark. If not come playoffs, we will have an early exit very quick,” Rick said during a press conference four days before they played their first playoff appearance in team history.

The Kitchener Legionnaires and the Toronto Neon shared the 4th place spot in the league as the season ended. Both got 38 points, but the Legionnaires got 1 win more than the Neon, so the Legionnaires are going to the playoffs while the Neon will not but on their last game of the season at home, the fans gave them a standing ovation after their first season.

 The Buffalo Bees made some improvements, but they got a long way to go. GM Ryan Byron Jr. believes that the first 3 picks at the 1981 draft could give them a chance to get over the big hump. Lastly, the Owen Sound Arrowbirds took a big dip from being in the top 5 overall last year to hitting rock bottom last place overall, it totally shows that the trade they did with Buffalo pretty much came back and bit them in the butt in a bad way they are hoping that their three 2nd round draft picks could turn them a round for the better.

1981 WCLH Playoffs

 

The matchups look promising to many fans, as it could be an even series. Once again, it's an international style like last season. The top seed from the west Lethbridge Cougars takes on 4th seed east Brandon Buffalos, 2nd seed west Abbotsford Forest Kings is ready to defend their Jade Trophy title as their opponent for round one is 3rd seed east is the Portage la Prairie Magic, 1st seed east Kenora Pioneers are hoping to get themselves to the next round, but they have to go through 4th seed west Moose Jaw Wings. Lastly, it's the battle of 1st timers as 2nd seed east Swift Current Battalion takes on 3rd seed west Billings Trains, which many would see who will get their first playoff series win.

1st west Lethbridge Cougars vs. 4th east Brandon Buffalos

In the first two games of the series, the Cougars won both in a blowout way until the Buffalos took game three, followed by game four overtime win, but in game five, the Cougars blew the Buffalos away with a 5-1 victory, then the Cougars shut the Buffalos out from scoring any goals to win both game six and the series 3-0, meaning that the Lethbridge Cougars are moving on to the 2nd round.

 

2nd west Abbotsford Forest Kings vs. 3rd east Portage la Prairie Magic

In game one, the Magic had a 1-0 lead throughout the game until the Forest Kings Ryan Wedgewood scored to tie the game with 1:09 left in the game; then, headed into overtime, and Jack Lazar scored the overtime winner for the Forest Kings, after that the Forest Kings kept on the gas petal as they went on winning the last three games to sweep the Magic in four games and advance to the 2nd round.

1st east Kenora Pioneers vs. 4th west Moose Jaw Wings

The Pioneers may have won the series in five games, but they had to win it the hard way. In 4 of the 5 games, the Wings had the lead for most of the games. "We can't play like this; if we don't play the right game, we are done for," Kenora Pioneers coach Chuck Patton said during a post-practice press conference. 

2nd east Swift Current Battalion vs. 3rd west Billings Trains

Both teams were willing to do anything to win their first series, and both went back and forth all the way to game seven at Swift Current. With 0:30 left in the third period, Denny Holbrook scored the tie-breaker as the Swift Current Battalion won and headed to the 2nd round for the first time since 1960 when they won the Jade Trophy championship as North Battleford Crusaders.

1st west Lethbridge Cougars vs. 2nd east Swift Current Battalion

The Cougars took the first two games, but the Battalion took the next two games to even the series. In the last two games of the series were all Cougars as Jack Burk scored five goals within those previous two games to lead the Cougars to a series win in six games and advance to the Jade Trophy championship for the first time since 1976.

1st east Kenora Pioneers vs. 2nd west Abbotsford Forest Kings

Last year was for the Jade Trophy championship; now, this year, the winner of this series will go to this year's Jade Trophy championship. This series was a back-and-forth; four of those games were blowouts. In game seven were goals galore until the end of the third period tie at 5-5. After two overtimes, there still nothing was what everyone thought that the Pioneers forward Keith Zachary scored the overtime winner, but the referees called it off as the replay shows that he scored 0.2 seconds too late, 12:07 into the third overtime Forest Kings Ryan Wedgewood got a chance to ended with a breakaway and scored the winner as the Abbotsford Forest Kings win the series and headed to the Jade Trophy championship for the 2nd year in a row with a 6-5 3OT win.

WCLH Jade Trophy Finals

1st west Lethbridge Cougars vs. 2nd west Abbotsford Forest Kings

One team is the defending Jade Trophy champion, and the other hoping to make its anniversary season more special. In game one, the Cougars took a big 3-1 win thanks to rookie Karl Fuhr and his 2 goals and 3 points. In game two, Jack Lazar made 3 points, one containing a goal that was a winner as the Forest Kings even the series with a 3-2 overtime win. The Forest Kings had a big 3-1 lead in game three, but in the third period Karl Fuhr scored 2 key goals to tie the game, and Wes Roy scored the game-winner 4-3 to take the series lead. Game four was tight as ever as the score after the first period was 1-1, and it was like that until the second overtime as Karl Fuhr scored the O/T winner. It was back and forth between the two in game five as 1:24 left in the third period in a 3-3 tie game. Ed Bram had an open net to score for the Forest Kings to keep their season alive, but the Cougars goalie Shawn Hoff who had been ups and downs with the team, made one of greatest save of all time; thanks to that, Jack Burk took the advantage and took the pack, made some moves and pass it to Karl Fuhr and he scored the tie-breaker as the clock hit zero the game is over, and the Lethbridge Cougars win game five 4-3 winning the series 4 games to 1 and took home their 8th Jade Trophy title in team's WCLH history and headed to Waterloo, Ontario for the 1981 Valor Cup tournament.

1980-81 WCLH Season

 

The Lethbridge Cougars are celebrating a milestone 75th anniversary. To celebrate this season, the team lifted banners of retired numbers worn by some Cougars greats, including Cliff Burns and his number 25, up to the rafters. On their home opener, they took the win in a big way over the Saskatoon Cats 8-2. After their home opener, they kept on the gas as they won 36 of 50 games to finished 1st in the west and the league.

The Abbotsford Forest Kings opened their home game with the rising of the 1980 Jade Trophy banner and the CIHA Valor Cup banner. As fans have a good reason to be excited for this year as both Ed Bram and Luke White will play their final season before they will be eligible for the 1981 Pro Hockey Draft. Both combine 78 points to help the Forest Kings stay in the top 2 in the west division.

The Billings Trains took a mid-season gamble by trading their last 4 round picks (2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th) to the Fargo Owls for forward Jack Clarke, and it worked for them as Jack made 23 goals and 56 points, leading the Trains to finished 3rd in the west and making to their 1st playoff in team history.

Moose Jaws took a lot of criticism for wearing white pants to their classic set, so much so that there are talks that both League President James Name and other owners are considering putting a ban on any teams that thinks about wearing white pants down the road. Despite all the white pants fiasco, the Wings took it as fuel as they won 12 of the last 20 games to finished 4th and headed to the playoffs for the 5th year in a row.

Even though Juuso Heinola's scoring improved more than his previous season to even win the league scoring title, it didn't help the Nanaimo Sharks this season as they once were playoffs contenders, now being the tanker, they lost a good number of players during the off-season. In the end, they finished 5th.

The Medicine Hat Hawks had some promising young talent, but they finished the season with only 9 wins landing them in last place in the west.

Kenora Pioneers had a rough start by losing 9 of their first 15 games; after that, they turned it around by winning 16 of the last 20 games to finished 1st in the big east thanks to rookie goalie Luke Hay as he won 10 out of 15 games and letting in just 16 goals and got just 1 shutout.

With the record of 27-20-3, 57 points gave the Swift Current Battalion a 2nd place finish and will go to the playoffs for the first time since 1976 when they were the North Battleford Crusaders.

Last season the Portage la Prairie Magic had a magical 4th place finish, led by Matthew Atlas and rookie Zachary Natyshak with a combined total of 46 goals and 97 points, giving them a 3rd place finish with 24 wins, 19 losses, 7 ties, and 55 points. Zachary Natyshak was a big surprise in the WCLH as the top rookie, many critics believed that he would not even be in the top 10, but as the season ended, Zachary won the rookie of the year award and caught many eyes of many pro hockey scouts.

The 1980-81 season would be what many fans believe to be the last shot for the Brandon Buffalos, with 8 players on their roster overaged. If they failed to do so, they would have to rebuild the team painfully; possibly, the only team that is keeping them from clinching 4th place is the Fargo Owls. Both were neck and neck until the final 5 games. The Buffalos won 3 while the Owls won only 1 game; as the season ended, the Buffalos took 4th place and headed to the playoffs, for the Owls finished 5th, meaning the first time in team history that they missed the playoffs.

The 1980-81 season was not so friendly for the Saskatoon Cats as they finished last overall with winning just 7 games, 3 wins less than their 1960-61 season (pre-CIHA era) 5 years before Stan Jones handed the ownership to his son Rick which he went on and turn the team around. Things are about to get more difficult for the Cats as Edward Gore resigns as head coach after 16 years with the club; the team will name a new head coach after the off-season.

CIHA Jerseys reveal

Many fans at the Valor Star Tournament in Ottawa saw new uniform sets for all teams, including two new teams in the OMJHA, all made by KI-LO. Some got new jerseys design, while a few just got logo updates to have brand-new logos. Only 13 teams carried their current design over to the KI-LO jersey system.

The AQHL was the first league to showcase the sets; Laval, New Glasgow, and Shawinigan sets are still the same and have no plans for any changes to their jerseys until further notice.

Cape Breton Warriors

For the first time in the team's history, the home and road jerseys have the same design; the road is the same, while on the home jersey, the sleeve numbers are now white with orange trim.

Drummondville Les Rouges

The Les Rouges went back in time as their set is based on their glory days in the old Quebec Junior Hockey League. On this set are simple stripes with oversized cuffs; the TV numbers sit on the shoulders because the stripes take the whole arms.

Fredericton Vikings

Their uniforms are still the same, but their updated logo became the talk. The Viking helmet on the home is purple with orange "V" and white "F" as the horns are white. On the road, the helmet is white with an orange "V," and the "F" is silver.

Manchester Americans

The stripes on the arms are thinner, just enough for the TV numbers to move from the shoulders to the arms.

Moncton Bears

The Bears showed off their updated logo, replacing the pentagon around the paw with a nameplate that says "BEARS" with thick trims around the logo. They also add a logo (minus the nameplate and wide trims) on the shoulders.

Portland Clippers

The arms, hem and socks got thick stripes and thin trim stripes. The logo gains a trim around it. The numbers on both now got two trims around it.

Sherbrooke Loups

The Loups introduced their new logo with the team playing in a brand-new arena. A circle logo with a wolf paw and a moon with the letter "S" on it. The jersey design is the same, but the stripe on the arms is now straight.

Trois-Rivieres Titans

The Titans add a small "T" on top of the big "T" logo to represent their 1976-77 CIHA Valor Cup championship. The home jersey has three thick stripes with two thin strips together, while the road has just two stripes and no sign of white whatsoever.

Verdun Knights

The home and road jerseys have the same stripes design, but it has no yokes, the collars have only one colour, and both maroon and gold on the stripes switched roles.

Next is the OMJHA to show off. With the league now at 14 teams, only 6 teams (Barrie, Legionnaires, Oakville, Orangeville, Owen Sound and Waterloo) kept their set the same while the rest showed off their new look.

Buffalo Bees

The stripes on the arms and hem are a little thinner, the TV numbers are moved from the shoulders to the sleeves, and the primary logo has a thick trim around it.

Burlington Metros

Burlington showed off their new logo featuring a building behind the "METROS" wordmark. One tower got two hockey sticks, and the other got numbers (2,3 and 6) that are a nod to the first 3 stars Patrick William (2,) Chris Petersons (3,) and Joe Tilburg (6), who were part of the back-to-back Smyth Cup run and the trio went on to a so-far successful run in the pros. The jersey designs got no yokes and added grey to the stripes. The numbers changed to a different font with a trim and a drop shadow trim to go with it.

Kitchener Generals

Both Jerseys got a cuff stripe along with a stripe on the socks. The road jersey no longer got a white yoke, but the collar is now white.

Milton Micmacs

The logo had thick trim around it with red and gold only, and it would switch roles on both home and road. The home jersey is the same, but the numbers no longer got trimmed around it. The road has no sign of white whatsoever. The pants just got two thin gold stripes.

Oshawa Diamonds

The arms, hem, and socks on home would have three stripes, just like the road jersey.

Peterborough Braves

The Braves set got simple stripes on the arms, hem, and socks. The numbers and the nameplate are blue with red trim, while on the road, the nameplate is gold with red trim, and the numbers are red with gold trim. The road jersey got a red yoke and gold collar; as for the home jersey, no sign of colour on the yoke, but the collar is blue.

Toronto Hornets

The logo is based on a front grill from Hornet Motors' top-selling car, the "Shark," but it is hockey sticks instead of shark fins on top of the grill. The jersey colours are classy navy blue, silver, and gold.

Toronto Neon

The big "N" with neon colours around it as trim is the team's logo. On the home, it got a big black stripe with thin neon colours inside the stripe. The road jersey's neon colours (including white) stripes are thicker. The most out of the box on this jersey are the colours for the numbers; on the one arm, the numbers are neon green, the other arm is neon pink, and the number on the back is neon yellow.

 

Finally, at the WCLH, many show off their new looks except for Billings, Kenora, Portage la Prairie, and Swift Current, who choose to carry their current design over to KI-LO.

Abbotsford Forest Kings

The 1980 Valor Cup champions had changed their look not too much. The stripes changed on both home and road, the current logo gained a trim so fans can see it better, the pants are now black, and finally, on the road, numbers are black with white and gold trims, unlike their previous road was white with black and gold trims.

Brandon Buffalos

The Buffalos introduce their new logo, and the helmets are now white for both home and road. The jerseys got a thick stripe and two thin trims on the arms, the hem, and the socks.

Fargo Owls

The Fargo Owls were among many that made the most significant change to their look. Black is nowhere to be seen. The brown is darker, and the orange is slightly brighter. The new logo is a giant "F" with the name and an owl sitting inside of it. The Jersey design is still the same but just brown and orange, the pants are brown with orange stripes, and the helmets are orange.

Lethbridge Cougars

For only the 1980-81 season, the Cougars will wear special jerseys for this occasion as part of the 75th anniversary. The home jersey, the team, paid homage to their first-ever season in 1905 with the word "Cougars" across the number "75" under it. The road jersey is based on their first season as part of the WCLH, but instead of the wordmark, it is the team's current logo, with the numbers being silver.

 Medicine Hat Hawks

The Hawks got a simple change as the arms, hem, and socks got two stripes; the rest is still the same.

Moose Jaw Wings

The jerseys are still the same, but the helmets are now white, and the one thing that everyone is talking about is the pants are now white with red and blue stripes; there are many questions about the move, and even James Name is not a big fan of white pants and hopes that it will change very soon.

Nanaimo Sharks

The logo is updated by replacing the "HC" with the letter "N" on the background behind the "SHARKS" wordmark. Simple straight stripes on the arms, hem, and socks. The colours are the same, but the black is dropped for now.

Saskatoon Cats

The biggest questions made by many about the Cats rebrand is the logo, which is a smiling cat missing some teeth and a big black eye, the secondary logo is the same, but the face is replaced with the letter "S." The KI-LO jersey design group got their work cut out, but Trevor the head design team got an idea. The arms and the hem got two stripes and in between the stripes are checkerboards.

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.