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40-619: The Fincups were a short-lived team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League that was very successful on the ice, but did poorly generating revenue. The club bounced around in three outdated arenas in four years. Unable to turn much of a profit, the Fincups moved out of town, becoming the Brantford Alexanders. Fincup was a combination of the surnames of the team's owners, Joe Finochio and

80-534: A 68-game unbalanced schedule, which starts in the third full week of September, running until the third week of March. Ninety percent (90%) of OHL games are scheduled between Thursday and Sunday to minimize the number of school days missed for its players. Approximately 20% of players on active rosters in the National Hockey League (NHL) have come from the OHL, and about 54% of NHL players are alumni of

120-711: A Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1962 to 1976. The team was based in St. Catharines, Ontario , Canada . In 1962 the Chicago Black Hawks sponsored the financially troubled St. Catharines Teepees , and renamed the team St. Catharines Black Hawks. Chicago continued to do so until NHL sponsorship ended in 1968. From 1968 until 1972, the Hawks were owned by Fred Muller and Ken Campbell. St. Catharines made it to

160-516: A public draft. This move reduced the stress and pressure that prospective players faced with a large crowd present. The Jack Ferguson Award is presented annually to the first overall selection. The award was named in honour of long time OHL scout and former Director of Central Scouting Jack Ferguson. List of trophies and awards in the Ontario Hockey League. St. Catharines Black Hawks The St. Catharines Black Hawks were

200-427: A revised system. In 1973 each team was permitted to protect eight midget area players (Toronto was allowed to protect 10 players from its midget sponsored teams). In 1975 the league phased out the area protections, and the 1976 OHA midget draft was the first in which all midget players were eligible. In 1999 the league changed the draft to a bantam age (15 and 16 year old). It is a selection of players who are residents of

240-593: A score of 8–3, to tie the series at 1 game each. Game 3 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. The next game of the series was uglier than the last game. Another overflow crowd saw

280-608: A tie against Peterborough in the finals being the only blemish on their record. The entire cup series would be played in Calgary, Alberta at the Stampede Corral . This venue was much to the liking of St. Catharines players, who were not wanting to relive the Quebec City experience from 3 years ago. St. Catharines played a strong defensive game to open the tournament, getting some vengeance from three years ago. However,

320-793: Is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League . The league is for players aged 16–20. There are currently 20 teams in the OHL: seventeen in Ontario, two in Michigan , and one in Pennsylvania . The league was founded in 1980 when its predecessor, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League, formally split away from the Ontario Hockey Association , joining

360-612: The Black Hawks . Team ownership was able to negotiate a lease for Mountain Arena for the 1977-78 OHL season , but at the end of the year the city of Hamilton was still no closer to building a new arena than they had been two years earlier. Moreover, the team was losing money at the tiny, out of the way Mountain Arena. Out of long-term options in Hamilton, the team was moved at the end of that season to Brantford, where they were renamed

400-736: The Brantford Alexanders . The heart and soul of the Fincups was their captain Dale McCourt . He led the team to the Memorial Cup title in 1976, and the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in 1977. He was voted CHL Player of the year for his efforts. There are 21 Fincups alumni who made the NHL. Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ; French : Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario ( LHO ) )

440-560: The Canadian Hockey League . The J. Ross Robertson Cup is awarded annually to the winner of the Championship Series. The Cup is named for John Ross Robertson , who was president of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1901 to 1905. The OHL playoffs consist of the top 16 teams in the league, 8 from each conference. The teams play a best-of-seven game series, and the winner of each series advances to

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480-558: The Canadian Major Junior Hockey League and its direct affiliation with Hockey Canada . The OHL traces its history of Junior A hockey back to 1933 with the partition of Junior A and B. In 1970, the OHA Junior A League was one of five Junior A leagues operating in Ontario. The OHA was promoted to Tier I Junior A for the 1970–71 season and took up the name Ontario Major Junior Hockey League . Since 1980

520-768: The Memorial Cup by default, which they won, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings. In the 1974 Memorial Cup tournament the Black Hawks would square up against the Regina Pats and a rematch versus the Quebec Remparts. St. Catharines was undefeated through the OHA playoffs to reach the Memorial Cup, eliminating the Oshawa Generals , Toronto Marlboros and Peterborough Petes in the process, with

560-466: The Memorial Cup tournament began in 1972. The series that featured future NHL stars Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne , never lived up to the potential on ice brilliance that could have been. Disputes off the ice and erupting violence abruped the series before it was finished. The Black Hawks and Remparts series was intense on many levels. Besides the strong rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone hockey teams and Canadian citizens in general, there

600-641: The Sudbury Wolves to make to the Memorial Cup hosted at the Montreal Forum . Their opponents for the 1976 national title would be the WHL's New Westminster Bruins and the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts . Hamilton lost the first game of the round-robin to Quebec 4-3, due to the 45 save performance of the Remparts goalie Maurice Barrette. The Bruins would defeat the Remparts the next day 4-2. The third game saw

640-465: The 1970s the draft went through several changes. Originally the draft was for 17-year-old midgets not already associated with teams through their sponsored youth programs. In 1971 the league first allowed "underage" midgets to be picked in the first three rounds. In 1972 disagreements about the Toronto team's rights to its "Marlie" players (and Greg Neeld ) and claims to American player Mark Howe led to

680-494: The 1974 Memorial Cup tournament the Black Hawks would square up against the Regina Pats and a rematch versus the Quebec Remparts. Hap Emms bought the Black Hawks in 1972 and for the next four years attendance declined to the point that Emms refused to suffer any more losses and moved the club to Niagara Falls in 1976, rejuvenating the name of the previous Niagara Falls Flyers team which Emms had also owned. Many blamed

720-576: The Cupido brothers Ron and Mario. They renamed the old Hamilton Red Wings after the 1974 season; the franchise had history in Steeltown dating back to the early 1950s. The new owners did not have to go far to hire a new coach for the new regime as they hired a very young Bert Templeton as the team's new coach (Bert was coaching the Junior B team in Hamilton owned by Cupido and Finochio) which had just won

760-521: The Fincups score seven power play goals to beat the Bruins 8-4 in a game with many penalties, which concluded the round-robin. The win and the large goal differential put Hamilton directly into the final game. New Westminster would solidly beat Quebec 10-3 in the semi-final game. The next day in front of 4,350 fans at the Montreal Forum, the Fincups played a tenacious forechecking game and defeated

800-595: The Jr B championship (Sutherland cup). Templeton was voted winner of the Matt Leyden Trophy as Coach of the Year in his first season. Templeton was let go partway through the Fincups' fourth season due to conflict with ownership and replaced by Dave Draper. In the four short seasons that the Fincups played, the team won the Memorial Cup once, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup once. The Fincups also represented Canada at

840-495: The Memorial Cup was the Saginaw Spirit in 2024. The Memorial Cup has been captured 18 times by OHL/OHA teams since the tournament went to a three-league format in 1972: The Cup was also won 16 times by OHA teams in the period between 1945 and 1971: The OHL's predecessor, the OHA, had a midget and juvenile draft dating back to the 50s, until voted out in 1962. In 1966 it was resumed, though not publicized. Starting in

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880-630: The New Westminster Bruins 5-2 in Memorial Cup Final game. The win brought the Memorial Cup back to the "Steel City" for the first time in 14 years. The team's move to St. Catharines, Ontario in 1977 was necessitated by the closure of the old Barton Street Arena in Hamilton. During the 1976 Memorial Cup run, the Hamilton Spectator was filled with speculation about a possible move to Brantford, Ontario , as

920-753: The OHA finals in 1969, 1971 and 1974. They were beaten in the 1969 OHA finals by the Montreal Junior Canadiens 4 wins to 0 with 2 ties. The Black Hawks won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1971 versus the Toronto Marlboros & 1974 versus the Peterborough Petes . The 1971 Richardson Trophy series between St. Catharines and the Quebec Remparts is one of the most storied ever, featuring riots and two future Hall of Famers, Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne . In

960-619: The Remparts scored 5 power play goals in the semi-final game and trounced the Black Hawks 11–3. The Black Hawks played two more seasons in the city, but uprooted and moved to nearby Niagara Falls at the end of the 1975–76 season, becoming the second incarnation of the Niagara Falls Flyers . Two future Hockey Hall of Famers played for the St. Catharines Black Hawks. They are: two time OHA scoring champion Marcel Dionne (1968–71) and Mike Gartner in his rookie year (1975–76) before

1000-427: 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

1040-630: The World Junior Tournament and came away with a silver medal. The Fincups won the Emms Division regular season title for two consecutive years in 1975–76 and 1976–77, and the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in 1976–77 as the first overall team in the OHA regular season. The Fincups made the OHA finals all 3 years they played out of Hamilton, and came within one win of making it four consecutive appearances in

1080-539: The building, chose to demolish the battered, ancient arena rather than repair it. The team was unable to negotiate a short-term lease to use the only other semi-suitable arena in Hamilton, the Mountain Arena , due to opposition from local residents, and so the homeless team was forced to move to St. Catharines, Ontario , about thirty minutes down the QEW , who had recently witnessed the departure of their own OMJHL team,

1120-519: The championship series in their only year in St. Catharines. The franchise issued a set of 18 sports cards for the 1974-75 season. The Hamilton Fincups of 1976 were a small, hard-working and determined team which practiced meticulously and strived to be top in condition. Their hard work won the Emms division regular season in 1976 and eliminated the Kitchener Rangers , Toronto Marlboros and

1160-484: The evolution to the Ontario Hockey League has developed through four distinct eras of junior-aged non-professional hockey in Ontario. In 1933, the junior division was divided into two levels, Junior A and Junior B. In 1970 the Junior A level was divided into two levels, Tier I (or Major Junior A) and Tier II (or Minor Junior A). In 1974 the Tier I/Major Junior A group separated from the OHA and became

1200-595: The independent Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL). In 1980, the OMJHL became the Ontario Hockey League. 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 the Memorial Cup . In March 2005,

1240-488: The league announced the launch of OHL Live Stream, resulting in OHL games being broadcast live on a pay-per-view (PPV) broadband basis. OMJHL and OHL Commissioners (years in office) Note: The 12 original OHL franchises were all previously members of the OMJHL. Some other franchises played in different junior leagues prior to joining the OHL. Current teams are listed in blue. Gold stars denote J. Ross Robertson Cup (League championship) winners The 20 OHL clubs play

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1280-453: The league has grown rapidly into a high-profile marketable product, with many games broadcast on television and radio. Leagues for ice hockey in Ontario were first organized in 1890 by the newly created Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). In 1892 the OHA recognized junior hockey - referring to skill rather than age. In 1896 the OHA moved to the modern age-limited junior hockey concept, distinct from senior and intermediate divisions. Since then

1320-469: The motel until the early hours of the morning. Game 5 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

1360-620: The next round. The final two teams eventually compete for the J. Ross Robertson Cup . The OHL champion then competes with the winners of the Western Hockey League , the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League , and the host of the tournament to play for the Memorial Cup , which is awarded to the junior hockey champions of Canada. The host team of the tournament is alternated between the three leagues every season. The most recent OHL team to win

1400-405: The old arena in Hamilton was obviously on its last legs. However, the city of Hamilton refused to make a decision about a new arena, and debated whether to build a 5,000-seat building for the Fincups or a 16,000 seat arena in hopes of pursuing a World Hockey Association team. In August 1976, the ice-making machinery in the dilapidated, 67-year-old barn broke down and Fincup ownership, who also owned

1440-475: The poor support for the clubs on Emms’ failure to promote the team, but there were extenuating factors such as the attraction of the nearby Buffalo Sabres, expanded TV coverage of hockey and Tier II hockey in the area. The Eastern Canadian championship of 1971 was the most controversial of the series ever played for the Richardson Cup. It was also the last Eastern Canadian championship to be played before

1480-579: The province of Ontario, the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, and other designated U.S. states east of the Mississippi River plus Missouri. Prior to 2001, the OHL held the Priority Selection in a public forum, such as an arena. Drafts were attended by many players and family members. In 2001, the OHL decided to hold the "draft" via the internet, greatly reducing the costs the league and its member teams incurred in hosting

1520-515: 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 the team would not return to the Colisée. As a result, the Remparts went on to compete for

1560-462: 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 referee bias against his players, calling it anti-Francophone. The Black Hawks won game 2 by

1600-677: Was unfinished business between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts coach Maurice Filion . Dionne had been coached by Filion in 1968 as a member of the Drummondville Rangers of the Quebec Junior Hockey League. When the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed in 1969, Dionne departed to play in the OHA, which was seen as a higher-calibre level of competition, to hone his skills. Filion vowed revenge against his OHA team. This rivalry

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