Ottawa 67's
The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League. Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play their home games at TD Place Arena. The 67's are three-time OHL champions, and have played in the Memorial Cup five times, winning in 1984 and as host team in 1999.
History
The Ontario Hockey Association granted the city of Ottawa an expansion franchise on February 16, 1967. Four months later, the team was given the nickname 67's, in honour of Canada's centennial year. Three local businessmen—Bill Cowley, Howard Darwin and Bill Touhey as well as Alderman Howard Henry—helped bring junior hockey back to Canada's capital. The 67's filled the hockey void left by the departure of the junior Hull–Ottawa Canadiens and the semi-professional Hull-Ottawa Canadiens. However, before the team played a game Touhey left the ownership group and Jack Kinsella became one of the owners in his stead.Bill Long was the team's first head coach. The 67's played their first game on October 6, 1967, losing 9–0 on the road to the Niagara Falls Flyers. The first 11 home games of the season were played in the Hull Arena, Hull, Quebec, as their new home arena was still under construction. They played their first game at their own arena, the Ottawa Civic Centre, on December 29, losing to the Montreal Junior Canadiens 4–2. The first season for the 67's was terrible at best, with the team posting a final record of six wins, 45 losses and three ties. They made the playoffs in their second season, but lost in the quarter-finals to the Niagara Falls Flyers. They won their first playoff series over the Hamilton Red Wings in 1970–71, led by future Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin on defence. The 67's reached the OHA finals during the following season in 1971–72. They lost to the Peterborough Petes 3–0, with two ties. The 67's came close to playing at home in the Memorial Cup, as the Ottawa Civic Centre hosted the tournament that year.
Brian Kilrea joins the 67's
Darwin announced in May 1972 that he would resign as team president in June 1972 and this was quickly followed by Bill Long's departure as general manager and head coach in June as well. Howard Henry was announced as the team's new president. Leo Boivin was named as Long's successor as head coach of the 67's and Ross Tyrell as general manager on June 18. After a rebuilding season in 1973–74, after which both Boivin and Tyrell were let go by the team after a surprise loss to the Peterborough Petes in the playoffs the 67's hired a young up-and-coming coach named Brian Kilrea as both coach and general manager. Kilrea coached the team to three successive improved winning records, culminating in a victory in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals in 1977, versus the London Knights, who were coached by former 67's bench boss Bill Long. During the late 1970s, Ottawa was led by scoring champions Peter Lee, Bobby Smith and Jim Fox and future Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman Doug Wilson.The 67's moved on to compete for the 1977 Memorial Cup versus the champions of the other Canadian major junior leagues, the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Canada Hockey League, and the Sherbrooke Castors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The 1977 Memorial Cup tournament was the first to be held in British Columbia and the first to use a double round-robin format. Ottawa lost the first game 7–6 to the Bruins, then won three in a row, 6–1 over the Castors, 4–3 in overtime versus the Bruins, and then 5–2 against Sherbrooke. However, Ottawa lost to the host Bruins 6–5 in the championship game. Bobby Smith and goaltender Pat Riggin were named to the tournament's all-star team.
Ottawa finished first in their division the following season, and were tipped to go all the way to the Memorial Cup tournament again, but struggled to finish off the Wayne Gretzky-led Soo Greyhounds in the first round and lost to the rival Peterborough Petes in the semi-finals. The 67's rebuilt during the 1978–79 season, and returned to play for a second J. Ross Robertson Cup versus the Kitchener Rangers at the end of the 1981–82 season. They were swept by the Rangers, but that season marked the first of three consecutive division titles from 1982 to 1984.
First Memorial Cup victory
In 1984, the 67's reached the OHL championship series in a rematch from the 1982 OHL finals, against the Kitchener Rangers. As the team with the most points in the league, Kitchener had been chosen to host the 1984 Memorial Cup tournament. In the OHL itself, however, Ottawa had unfinished business, having lost to Kitchener two years earlier. The 67's, who finished second overall to Kitchener in the OHL, defeated the Rangers and won their second J. Ross Robertson Cup and earned a place in the Memorial Cup tournament.At the Memorial Cup in Kitchener, Ottawa faced the Laval Voisins, featuring Mario Lemieux, of the QMJHL and the Kamloops Jr. Oilers of the now renamed Western Hockey League. The 67's were led by Gary Roberts, Brad Shaw, and Bruce Cassidy. The 67's won against Laval and Kamloops before losing to Kitchener in the round-robin series. In the semi-final game, Ottawa beat Kamloops again and in the finals versus Kitchener, Ottawa scored a victory, winning their first Memorial Cup. Adam Creighton was named the tournament's most valuable player and goaltender Darren Pang was named the tournament's top goalie. Creighton, Pang, Shaw, Cassidy, Jim Camazzola and Don McLaren of the 67's were all named to the tournament's all-star team. After the season ended, Kilrea left Ottawa to become an assistant coach in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders.