History of the Ontario Hockey League
In 1970, the Junior A level was divided into two more levels, Tier I and Tier II. In 1974, the "Major Junior A" division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and began to operate independently of the OHA. Finally in 1980, the OMJHL became the Ontario Hockey League.
Ontario Hockey Association history
Hockey started as a challenge series in the winter of 1889 when a team from Ottawa challenged teams from Lindsay and Toronto. A year later the Ontario Hockey Association was formed on November 27, 1890 in Toronto at the Queen's Hotel.Junior hockey (1892–1933)
The first junior teams started play in 1892, without enforced age limits; the first champions Kingston Limestones over Galt. In 1896, the OHA re-organized into three divisions, senior, intermediate and junior. Junior hockey now became age-limited to players 20 years of age or younger by January 1 of the season being played. Out of its modest beginnings at the turn of the century, junior hockey quickly grew into an organized and entertaining brand of hockey. The end of World War I marked the beginning of the Memorial Cup, the symbol of junior hockey supremacy in Canada. Teams from all across the province participated in provincial playoffs in the hope of winning the George Richardson Memorial Trophy and representing Eastern Canada in the Memorial Cup finals. As each year passed, the number of communities participating in junior hockey grew and the calibre of play increased.OHA Junior 'A' (1933–1972)
For the 1933–34 season, junior hockey was split into 'A' and 'B' divisions. Two new championship trophies were created at the same time. The 'A' level teams competing for the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHA champions and the Memorial Cup as national champions. The 'B' level teams competed for the Sutherland Cup, which is still Ontario's Junior B championship trophy.The 1930s gave birth to noted teams such as the Oshawa Generals, St. Michael's Majors and the Toronto Marlboros. Other notable teams of that era were the Toronto Young Rangers, Toronto Native Sons, and the Stratford Midgets.
The 1940s welcomed new communities to the limelight such as the Barrie Flyers, Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters, Stratford Kroehlers and the St. Catharines Teepees. The first version of the Windsor Spitfires also appeared in the 1940s only to fade away in the early 1950s.
The OHA awarded its first individual player trophies in 1945. The Red Tilson Trophy was awarded to the player voted "Most Outstanding" in the league. The Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy was awarded to the league's top scorer.
The 1950s saw other cities join in. The Kitchener Greenshirts entered the league only to move on to become the Peterborough Petes. Hamilton also joined as the Tiger Cubs. The 1950s also saw inter-league play with Quebec-based teams.
A divided league (1961–63)
, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, started the Metro Junior A League in an attempt to rival the OHA. The Toronto Marlboros, who were owned by the Leafs, were withdrawn from the OHA and placed in a league with promoted Junior B teams including the Whitby Mohawks, the Brampton 7 Ups, and the Unionville Seaforths. The other member of the league was the former St. Michael's Majors franchise, who would be later transferred to Neil McNeil High School in Scarborough, Ontario. Father David Bauer, the legendary coach and St. Michael's teacher, had decided to withdraw the private school from participation following their Memorial Cup win in 1961.In response, the OHA managed to convince Sam Pollock's Montreal Junior Canadiens to join. The league that year consisted of the Guelph Royals, Hamilton Red Wings, St. Catharines Black Hawks, Peterborough T.P.T., Montreal Junior Canadiens and the Niagara Falls Flyers.
The rival league was a failure on and off the ice, and it effectively became a second division. Although it was independent from the OHA, the champions of the OHA and the Metro Junior A would play each other in the playoffs each year on the road to the Memorial Cup.
For its second season, the Metro League underwent sweeping changes, with the Whitby Mohawks renamed the Whitby Dunlops, the Unionville Seaforths becoming Toronto Knob Hill Farms, and the Majors became the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons. The new sixth team in the league would be the reborn Oshawa Generals.
Re-unified league (1963–67)
However, after two seasons of the Metro Junior A League, it failed, and a new unified Junior A league emerged. Unfortunately, this meant the end of Neil McNeil, Brampton, Knob Hill and Unionville. The Marlboros and the reborn Oshawa Generals re-joined the OHA in 1964. The Guelph Royals also became the Kitchener Rangers.Beginning of NHL Amateur Draft
The first NHL Amateur Draft was held in 1963 for any junior player who was not already sponsored by an NHL team. When the NHL expanded in 1969, the rules of the draft were changed to allow any amateur player under the age of 20 to be chosen. The OHA ceased being a direct farm system and began to compete with other junior leagues to graduate players. Réjean Houle became the first OHA player to be drafted first overall in 1969 by the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens took advantage of a grandfather clause that gave them first right to francophone players. In 1970 that clause was revoked, and Gilbert Perreault was drafted first overall by the Buffalo Sabres. Both Réjean Houle and Gilbert Perreault played in the OHA with the Montreal Junior Canadiens.End of NHL sponsorship
In 1965 the London Nationals were added to the OHA as the last NHL-sponsored team. By 1967, direct NHL sponsorship of teams and individual players had ended. Prior to this time, all of the Original Six NHL teams had involvement in OHA teams:| NHL team | OHA Farm Team |
| Boston Bruins | Barrie Flyers Niagara Falls Flyers Oshawa Generals |
| Chicago Black Hawks | Galt Black Hawks St. Catharines Black Hawks |
| Detroit Red Wings | Galt Red Wings Oshawa Generals Hamilton Red Wings |
| New York Rangers | Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters Guelph Royals Kitchener Rangers |
| Montreal Canadiens | Peterborough Petes Montreal Junior Canadiens |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto Marlboros Toronto St. Michael's Majors London Nationals |
In 1967 the Ottawa 67's were added to the league, named after Canada's centennial anniversary. The OHA existed with ten teams until 1972, upon the creation of a new level of junior hockey, and the folding of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Feud between the OHA and the QMJHL
The competitiveness between the Ontario Hockey Association and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League had grown since 1969 when the QMJHL was born. It was further escalated by the incidents of the 1971 Richardson Cup, and the lawsuit over the Montreal Junior Canadiens.1971 Richardson Cup
The Eastern Canadian championship of 1971 was a controversial series, and would be the last time teams played for the Richardson Cup. It would be replaced the following season in 1972, with the Memorial Cup tournament, as part of reshaping junior hockey. The 1971 series featured future NHL stars Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne, but never lived up to the potential on ice brilliance that could have been. Disputes off the ice and erupting violence abrupted the series before it was finished.The St. Catharines Black Hawks and Quebec Remparts series was intense on many levels. Besides the strong rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone hockey teams, there was personal rift between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts coach Maurice Filion over Dionne playing in the OHA, which was seen as a higher-calibre level of competition. This rivalry was further fueled by the desire of Francophone nationalists to have a Canadian champion from a Quebec team in a Quebec-based league.
The Remparts won the first game 4–2 played in St. Catharines and televised by closed circuit to over 8,000 spectators in Quebec arenas. Despite the win, Filion complained about the OHA referee's bias against his players, calling it anti-Francophone. The Black Hawks won game two by a score of 8–3, to tie the series at 1 game each.
Game three was played in the Colisée de Québec to an overflow crowd, seeing the Remparts win 3–1. There were a total of 102 penalty minutes called, 77 of those were against the Black Hawks. Brian MacKenize of St. Catharines would be suspended for one game after confronting a linesman. After this game, the OHA lodged a complaint to the CAHA about QMHL appointed referees.
The next game of the series was uglier than the last game. Another overflow crowd saw the Remparts win game 4 by a score of 6–1. As the game wore on, more and more fights broke out on the ice, involving players leaving the penalty box to join the fray. The St. Catharines players were escorted off the ice by police amidst the hurling of debris from Quebec fans. After the game an angry mob surrounded the St. Catharines team bus on its way to the motel, and was given a police escort to safety. The mob circled the motel until the early hours of the morning.
After disputes between the teams and leagues, game five was played on neutral ice at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, which the Black Hawks won 6–3 to narrow the series 3 games to 2 for Quebec. That was the last game played.
The parents of the St. Catharines players refused to send their children back to Quebec City for fear of the violence that occurred after game four. The Remparts refused to play anywhere else but their home rink, including any neutral ice in the province of Quebec. The problem was further confounded with threats surfacing from the FLQ against St. Catharines players.
CAHA president Dawson declared the series to be over when no further compromise could be reached, and he had received official notice from St. Catharines that the team would not return to the Colisée. As a result, the Remparts went on to compete for the Memorial Cup by default, which they won, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings.