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52-610: McCourt played major junior in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA, renamed OMJHL during his tenure, today's OHL ). As a 15-year-old, he was already playing Tier II junior hockey when called up by the Sudbury Wolves for part of the 1972–73 OHA season . He joined the Hamilton Red Wings for the full 1973–74 OHA season , and was team captain by the time the (renamed) Hamilton Fincups won

104-477: A huge impact on sport and was the first sports case to challenge the antitrust laws during the bargaining agreement. McCourt continued to be the Red Wings' top scorer in both his third ( 1979–80 ) and fourth ( 1980–81 ) seasons. Despite this, and while leading the team in scoring a third of the way through the 1981–82 season , management did not feel he had achieved their overall expectations, trading McCourt to

156-564: 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 . 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,

208-532: A part of any compensation package. During this lawsuit, McCourt remained playing for the Red Wings, finishing the season second in Red Wing scoring (by two points) for 1978-79. The matter was eventually resolved and McCourt remained in Detroit, but he felt betrayed by the fact that his own NHLPA, led by executive director Alan Eagleson , did not back him against the owners during the lawsuit. His legal case created

260-666: 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

312-694: The 1975–76 OMJHL Championship and then the national 1976 Memorial Cup championship. In 1976–77 , McCourt led the relocated St. Catharines Fincups as the team won the OMJHL Regular Season Championship . That season, McCourt was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the league's Most Outstanding Player and was voted the nationwide CHL Player of the Year . Dale was also awarded the William Hanley Trophy as

364-746: The Attack after being bought by local interests. In 2002, the Centennials moved to Saginaw, Michigan to become the Saginaw Spirit . There are currently 20 teams in the OHL; 17 are based in Ontario, 2 teams from Michigan and 1 team from Pennsylvania. OMJHL and OHL Commissioners (years in office) The Ontario Hockey League All-Star Game was first played in 1977 in Sudbury with Emms Division vs

416-703: The Buffalo Sabres in December 1981—having produced at a point-a-game pace during his time with the Red Wings but failing to make the playoffs for three of his four years with the team. He played with Buffalo before being claimed on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs in October 1983, finishing his NHL career at the end of the 1983–84 NHL season , with 478 points in 532 games played. McCourt then played for 8 seasons for HC Ambrì-Piotta , in

468-596: 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

520-672: The Los Angeles Kings , who was a restricted free agent at that time. An NHL arbitrator ruled that McCourt should be the compensation given the Kings for Vachon's loss, but McCourt refused to report to the Kings. Ultimately, this led to McCourt suing the NHL, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), the Red Wings, and the Kings to prevent being sent to the Los Angeles Kings as

572-799: The Memorial Cup . The 1990s saw the league expand into the USA. The first franchise the expansion Detroit Compuware Ambassadors (later the Detroit Junior Red Wings , Detroit Whalers and Plymouth Whalers ) and the secondly the Erie Otters , who relocated from Niagara Falls. The Otters could trace their heritage back to the Hamilton Tiger Cubs of 1953. Newmarket also briefly had the Royals before moving on to become

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624-1008: The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) prior to the Tier I/Tier II split, joined the Major Jr. A ranks in 1972 to rejoin the Memorial Cup hunt. The 1970s also saw the Montreal Junior Canadiens moving back into the QJHL's successor, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . The Kingston Canadians joined the OHL in their place as the Junior Canadiens' successors, albeit with different ownership and players. The league also witnessed

676-484: The Ontario Hockey Association , becoming the Ontario Hockey League. An agreement was struck between the two sides where the OHL would pay the OHA $ 30,000 annually in affiliation fees and the right to compete for the Memorial Cup, and the OHL teams would have complete control over finances and ticket sales. The OHA would continue to operate hockey from Junior A Tier II, and below. David Branch has been

728-870: 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

780-675: 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 . The competitiveness between the Ontario Hockey Association and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League had grown since 1969 when the QMJHL was born. It

832-794: The Sarnia Sting . The Dukes became the Guelph Storm ; filling the void left when the Platers relocated to Owen Sound . Barrie rejoined the league in 1995 with the Colts and the Toronto St. Michael's Majors also rejoined the league in 1997 after a 34-year absence. The league continued to expand with two new teams in 1998; Don Cherry's Mississauga IceDogs and the Brampton Battalion . In 2000 The Owen Sound Platers were renamed to

884-501: The Swiss League since being promoted in 1985, the same year that saw the arrival of Dale McCourt . The team plays its home games in the 6'775-seat Gottardo Arena . Ambrì and Piotta are two small villages in the municipality of Quinto , located in the northern part of the valley Leventina canton Ticino , with a combined population of 500 people. Ambrì-Piotta has more than 40 fan clubs all over Europe. For major events, like

936-766: The Tiger Cubs (later the Red Wings ). The 1950s also saw inter-league play with Quebec-based teams . Stafford Smythe , 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

988-540: The Toronto Marlboros when they won the national Memorial Cup Championship in 1973 and 1975 , the same championship that McCourt won as a player with the Hamilton Fincups in 1976 . Ontario Hockey League history#OHA Major Junior (1970–1974) In 1970, the Junior A level was divided into two more levels, Tier I (Major Junior A) and Tier II (Minor Junior A). In 1974, the "Major Junior A" division of

1040-629: 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

1092-648: The Western Hockey League , the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League into one showcase event. The host league in this case would challenge a combined team from the other two leagues. In 1996 this was replaced with the CHL Top Prospects Game . There was no OHL All-Star game held in 1996. The OHL All-Star Game was revived in 1997. It was played for 4 consecutive seasons until 2000. Officially it

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1144-403: The top Swiss league . Ambrì-Piotta retired McCourt's number 15 jersey. McCourt's brother Dan was an NHL linesman during the 1980s and early 1990s. McCourt's uncle is Hockey Hall of Fame member George Armstrong . Armstrong won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHA's Most Outstanding Player in both 1947–48 and 1949–50, the same award that McCourt received in 1976–77. Armstrong was the coach of

1196-474: 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

1248-505: 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

1300-497: The 2010–11 season. No All-Star Game held in 1996. 1st CHL Top Prospects game was played. HC Ambr%C3%AC-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the league championship, the club has not been relegated to

1352-708: The Leyden Division. The game's winner was awarded the OHL Chrysler Cup. This format continued through 1985. The OHL / QMJHL All-Star Challenge Series was held from 1986 to 1991. The game's winner was awarded the Chrysler Challenge Cup. Chrysler Canada was the corporate sponsor from 1977 to 1991. The Canadian Hockey League created the CHL All-Star Challenge in 1992. For four seasons from 1992 to 1995, it incorporated

1404-798: 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 . However, after two seasons of the Metro Junior A League, it failed, and

1456-743: The OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL) and began to operate independently of the OHA. Finally in 1980, the OMJHL became the Ontario Hockey League . 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 . The first junior teams started play in 1892, without enforced age limits;

1508-597: 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

1560-547: The OMJHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player in both 1975–76 and 1976–77. In the 1977 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships , McCourt scored 18 points, a Canadian record he shares with Brayden Schenn and one point more than Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky . McCourt was drafted 1st overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1977 NHL amateur draft . He made an impression on the Detroit Red Wings after being

1612-407: 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. For

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1664-604: The derby against southern rivals HC Lugano , the fans compose a choreography. When Ambrì wins a game, fans rejoice to the valley anthem "La Montanara". Since 1959, they have called their self-owned Valascia as their home. Standing 1,000 metres above sea level, it is an open-ended facility with 2,000 seats and additional standing room space for 5,000. In the summer of 2013, the team raised roughly five million Swiss francs in response to financial difficulties. The donations given to HC Ambrì-Piotta came from both large and small donations, many of which were given via SMS. The efforts of

1716-406: The first NHL amateur pick in 1977. He successfully scored 33 goals in the first year with the team. McCourt led the Red Wings in scoring during his 1977–78 rookie season , finishing second to Calder Memorial Trophy winner Mike Bossy for rookie scoring in the NHL that year. Before the start of the 1978–79 season , Red Wings general manager Ted Lindsay signed goaltender Rogatien Vachon of

1768-420: 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

1820-407: The following year. During the 1980s, the OHL experimented with Cooperalls as standardized league equipment, but reverted to hockey shorts. The OHL split from the OHA in July 1982. The OHA and OHL disagreed on financial terms of affiliation, then the OHL decided to handle its own administration. The OHA and the OHL later reached an interim affiliation agreement, which allowed the OHL to compete at

1872-550: The legacy of the Junior Canadiens. For the 1970–71 season, Junior A hockey split again into Tier I and Tier II. The only Tier I league in the province became known as the OHA Major Jr. A. Its winner represented Ontario in a round-robin Memorial Cup with a team from the Western Hockey League and another team from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . The Tier II teams would compete for the newly created Manitoba Centennial Trophy . Communities such as Sudbury (transfer from Niagara Falls) and Sault Ste. Marie that had been part of

1924-449: 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

1976-408: The only Commissioner of the OHL from this time. Since 1980, the league has grown rapidly into a high-profile marketable product, with many games broadcast on television and radio. In the 1980s, the league added the Guelph Platers and Belleville Bulls , and welcomed the Cornwall Royals from the QMJHL. North Bay took in the second version of the Niagara Falls Flyers . The former Fincups franchise

2028-419: 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

2080-431: The province's biggest city, but also felt the Junior Canadiens had violated the territorial right of the QMJHL. Ironically, the QMJHL had previously granted franchise rights to the Cornwall Royals of the Central Junior A Hockey League in 1969, when the OHA had denied the Royals bid. To solve the problem, the OHA granted the Junior Canadiens franchise a "one-year suspension" of operations, while team ownership transferred

2132-434: The rebirth of the Windsor Spitfires during this time period. In 1974, the "Major Jr. A" (Tier I) division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and began to operate independently of the OHA. The new league opened up administration offices and appointed its own commissioner. The OMJHL instituted many rules changes to distinguish itself from Tier II (Minor Jr. A), including allowing one overage player on

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2184-466: The roster. The Central Scouting Bureau was started in 1975 to provide teams with more information about players available in the upcoming draft. The same year the league divided into a two division format. Then in 1977, the OMHJL held its first All-Star game in Sudbury , Ontario . In 1980, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League sought to gain further independence and more control over its financial policies and gate receipts. The OMJHL separated itself from

2236-441: 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

2288-426: 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

2340-411: The team and players into the QMJHL, renaming themselves the Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge in the process. The OHA then "re-established" the suspended franchise after a one-year hiatus, under new ownership and with new players, calling the team the Kingston Canadians. The new Kingston team was essentially an expansion franchise, that had only common name to share with the departed team, but has some claim to

2392-405: 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. The QMJHL threatened a lawsuit against the OHA to force the Junior Canadiens to return to the Quebec-based league, from which it departed in 1961 in favour of competing in the higher calibre OHA. The QMJHL not only wanted a team in

2444-458: 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 (Front de libération du Québec) 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

2496-458: Was called the OHL All-Star Classic. The games during this period had different corporate sponsors. In 2001, the three CHL leagues would play a round-robin style All-Star game named the CHL All-Star Series, the winning league being awarded the Hershey Cup. Each league made two Conference All-Star teams. One would play at home versus a Conference All-Star team from another league, and the other conference would visit another league's team. This format

2548-480: Was further escalated by the incidents of the 1971 Richardson Cup , and the lawsuit over the Montreal Junior Canadiens . 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

2600-422: Was played for the 2001, 2002 & 2003 seasons. The event was rebranded as the OHL All-Star Classic from the 2003–04 season onward. The game was previously sponsored by Direct Energy , the most recent corporate sponsor is Bell Canada . The 2007 All Star game was played in Saginaw, Michigan , United States , the first time the game has been hosted outside of Canada. The OHL discontinued the All-star game as of

2652-398: Was recycled through Brantford as the Brantford Alexanders and back to Hamilton , and by the end of the decade it was in Niagara Falls . The end of the decade saw the end of another storied team, the Toronto Marlboros , as they relocated to become the Hamilton Dukes . It also saw the end of the Kingston Canadians name as they were renamed the Raiders , and renamed again to the Frontenacs

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2704-457: 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 . In 1965 the London Nationals (later Knights ) 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: In 1967

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