1996–97 OHL Season
The 1996–97 OHL season was the 17th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Niagara Falls Thunder move to Erie becoming the Erie Otters. Seventeen teams each played 66 games. The Oshawa Generals won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Ottawa 67's. Relocation Niagara Falls Thunder to Erie Otters The Niagara Falls Thunder relocated to Erie, and renamed their club to the Erie Otters, becoming the second team in the Ontario Hockey League to be based in the United States and the first OHL team in the state of Pennsylvania. The Thunder played in Niagara Falls from 1988-96, reaching the post-season in six of their eight seasons. Niagara Falls went to the J. Ross Robertson Cup one time in their eight seasons, in their first season in 1988-89, where they lost to the Peterborough Petes in the final round. The Otters new home arena was the Erie Civic Center. The club would remain in the Central Division. New Arena Detroit Whalers After splitting the 1995-96 season between the Pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overage players of 20 years of age. 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 the Canadian Hockey League, 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 the league has grown rapid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belleville Bulls
The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The team moved to Hamilton, Ontario at the end of the 2014–15 OHL season. History The Belleville Bulls started in 1979 as a Junior Tier II team in the OHA. In their second season in 1980–81, the Bulls won the Tier II title, defeating the Guelph Platers in the league finals. The Bulls then competed in the national championship for the Manitoba Centennial Trophy hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia losing in the finals to the Prince Albert Raiders. On February 2, 1981, the OHL granted an expansion franchise to the city of Belleville and the ownership group of Dr. Robert L. Vaughan & Bob Dolan. Dr. Robert L. Vaughan remained an owner/co-owner of the team for over 20 years until he sold the team in 2004 to Gord Simmonds. Dr. Vaughan was awarded the Bill Long award in 1993 for dis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joe Thornton
Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He has previously played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, three as its captain. During the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sharks. Splitting the campaign between the two teams, he received the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's leading point-scorer and most valuable player, respectively. Thornton would go on to another 14 seasons with the Sharks, including four seasons as team captain and a run to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. Thornton's on-ice vision, strength on the puck, deft passing ability and power forward style of play have led to him becoming one of the league's premier top line centres. He is widely regarded as on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marc Savard
Marc Savard (born July 17, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and current head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers (who originally drafted him in 1995), Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Boston Bruins. He was an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues during the 2019–20 season. Savard's career ended late in the 2010–11 season due to post-concussion syndrome. He did not formally announce his retirement until the conclusion of his contract with Boston after the 2016–17 season. Playing career Early career (1993–1999) Savard played major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Oshawa Generals, beginning in 1993–94. After his second season with the Generals, in which he scored a league-leading 139 points, he was selected 91st overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. He continued to play in the OHL for two ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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London Knights
The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their current name in 1968. The Knights have won two Memorial Cup championships. History Early days The London Nationals were granted a franchise in the OHA for the 1965–66 season under the ownership of the London Gardens arena, with the Toronto Maple Leafs controlling the team's players. Upon the collapse of the Metro Junior A League in 1963, the Leafs were left with only one sponsored OHA team, the Toronto Marlboros, with which to place their prospects. The team in London replaced the old Toronto St. Michael's Majors, who had folded a couple of years earlier. The Leafs originally wanted the Nationals to begin play in 1963–64, but it wasn't until a year later that the Nats became the Leafs' second team. The Nationals were named for the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Detroit Whalers
The Detroit Whalers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League for two seasons from 1995 to 1997. The Whalers were based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. History The creation of the Detroit Whalers resulted after a failed takeover bid by Peter Karmanos to buy the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings from Mike Ilitch. The Junior Red Wings severed all ties with the NHL Red Wings when the relationship soured after the 1994–95 season ended. When the Detroit Junior Red Wings were evicted from Joe Louis Arena in 1995, the franchise changed names and home arenas again. Karmanos renamed his franchise the Detroit Whalers, in association through common ownership with the NHL's Hartford Whalers team which Karmanos bought, instead of the Detroit Red Wings. The Whalers found temporary home ice at its training base, the Oak Park Ice Arena, along with The Palace of Auburn Hills. The next year, the team had a permanent facility in Plymouth Township, Michigan. The team play ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Windsor Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975–76 season.Simcoe Reformer. February 11, 1975, Page 4. An unrelated OHA Jr. A Spitfires team, founded in 1946, moved to become the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in 1953 and went through other iterations/moves to become the present OHL Erie Otters in 1996. History The original Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey Association played from 1945 to 1953. The name ''Spitfires'' was chosen to honour the 417 Combat Support Squadron, a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron nicknamed "City of Windsor" established during World War II in England (today based at CFB Cold Lake in Alberta), and used the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. During this period the Spitfires reached the league finals twice, and featured four future Hockey Hall of Fame players. Prior to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sarnia Sting
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron flows into the St. Clair River in the Southwestern Ontario region, which forms the Canada–United States border, directly across from Port Huron, Michigan. The site's natural harbour first attracted the French explorer La Salle. He named the site "The Rapids" on 23 August 1679, when he had horses and men pull his 45-ton barque ''Le Griffon'' north against the nearly four-knot current of the St. Clair River. This was the first time that a vessel other than a canoe or other oar-powered vessel had sailed into Lake Huron, and La Salle's voyage was germinal in the development of commercial shipping on the Great Lakes. Located in the natural harbour, the Sarnia port remains an important centre for lake freighters and oceangoing ships carrying car ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sault Ste
Sault may refer to: Places in Europe * Sault, Vaucluse, France * Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, France * Canton of Sault, France * Canton of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, France * Sault-Brénaz, France * Sault-de-Navailles, France * Sault-lès-Rethel, France * Sault-Saint-Remy, France Places in North America * Sault Ste. Marie, a cross-border region in Canada and the United States ** Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States * Sault College, Ontario, Canada * Sault Ste. Marie Canal, a National Historic Site of Canada in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario * Sault Locks or Soo Locks, a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers * Long Sault, a rapid in the St. Lawrence River * Long Sault, Ontario, Canada * Sault-au-Récollet, Montreal, Quebec, Canada * Grand Sault or Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada People with the surname * Ray Sault (born ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sudbury Wolves
The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game known as the "Wolves" (or "Cub Wolves") nearly every year since around the time of World War I. The current junior franchise came into existence in 1972 when local businessman Mervin "Bud" Burke purchased the Niagara Falls Flyers and relocated the team to Sudbury. The current franchise has never won the Memorial Cup, nor has it captured the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Despite this lack of championships, the team has been one of the top development franchises in major junior over its history, with over 120 players drafted in to the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1973. The Wolves have been a central part of Sudbury's history for decades, and the team is among the most iconic junior hockey franchises in all of North America. History Sudbury h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Owen Sound Platers
Owen Sound Platers was a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Owen Sound, Ontario. The team played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1989 to 2000, then was sold to new owners who renamed the team the Owen Sound Attack. History In 1989 the Holody's moved the Guelph Platers to Owen Sound, Ontario, retaining the name "Platers", as the Holody family owned a local electroplating company. The team played home games in the J. D. McArthur Arena at the Bayshore Community Centre. The city of Owen Sound would be a strong base for junior hockey with disproportionately high support from the smallest city in the OHL. The city had a two time Memorial Cup champion in the Owen Sound Greys in 1924 & 1927, and the Owen Sound Mercurys were a long-standing OHA Senior Hockey team and 1954 Allan Cup Champions. Dave Siciliano coached the Platers to 39 wins in 68 games during the 1998–99 season, and a third-place finish in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Platers won the first round ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Barrie Colts
The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League, based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Pre-OHL history There were two previous Barrie Colts teams which played Junior A & B hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association, one from 1907 until 1910 and another from the 1920s to 1940s. The first Barrie Colts played in the senior division of the OHA from 1907 until 1910, prior to the creation of junior A and B levels. One notable alumnus is Gordon Meeking, who played for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey Association (NHA), and later in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). The Barrie Colts were revived in 1921 and played in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1921 to 1944. The club started out as a Junior-B team, then was promoted to Junior-A around the start of World War II. The Junior B Colts won the Sutherland Cup Championship in 1934–35. One of its original players was Leighton "Hap" Emms. Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |