The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

trophy. It is awarded annually in

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

to the champion of the

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 overag ...

playoffs. It was donated by

John Ross Robertson John Ross Robertson (December 28, 1841 – May 31, 1918) was a Canadian newspaper publisher, politician, and philanthropist in Toronto, Ontario. Career Born in 1841, in Toronto, the son of John Robertson, a Scottish wholesale merchant, and ...

to the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

in 1910, and is the third of three similarly named trophies he established. His other eponymous trophies for the OHA include, the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...

awarded to the annual champions of Allan Cup Hockey, and the

which was awarded to the annual champions of the discontinued intermediate division. The J. Ross Robertson Cup has continuously been awarded as the playoffs championship trophy for the top tier of junior hockey in Ontario. The cup transitioned from the Ontario Hockey Association to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in 1974, and has been the championship trophy of the Ontario Hockey League since 1980. The winner of the J. Ross Robertson Cup has been eligible to compete for the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

as the junior hockey champion of Canada since 1919.

History

The J. Ross Robertson Cup was donated by

on November 19, 1910, to be awarded annually to the champion of the

division in the

(OHA). Robertson served as president of the OHA from 1899 to 1905, had founded the ''

Toronto Evening Telegram ''The Toronto Evening Telegram'' was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at the federal and the provincial levels. The paper competed wi ...

'' in 1876, helped establish The Hospital for Sick Children, and was a member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

for

Toronto East Toronto East (called East Toronto until 1903) was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the city of Toronto in the provinces and territories of ...

. He was against professionalism in sports, and felt that "sport should be pursued for its own sake, for when professionalism begins, true sport ends". The OHA first established a junior hockey division for the 1892–93 season, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup was first awarded during the 1910–11 season. The cup is a sterling silver bowl tall, engraved with a hockey-playing scene and interlaced maple leaves in bas-relief. The cup is the third of three similarly named trophies Robertson donated to the OHA, which included the

for the annual champions of the senior division, and the

for the annual champions of intermediate division. The

was founded in 1919, which gave the opportunity for each season's J. Ross Robertson Cup winner to partake in national playoffs arranged by the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

for the junior hockey championship of Canada.Podnieks, Andrew (2005), pp. 26–27 The national playoffs culminated in an east-versus-west final, and the Eastern Canada junior champion was also awarded the

George Richardson Memorial Trophy The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971, by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. It represented the Eastern Canada junior hockey championship, and a berth in the Memorial Cup final versus the Abbot ...

from 1932 to 1971. In 1972, the Memorial Cup format changed to a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

and the J. Ross Robertson Cup winner received an automatic berth in the tournament along with the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

and

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

champions. The OHA split junior hockey into A and B levels for the 1933–34 season. The junior-A level competed for the J. Ross Robertson Cup, and the junior-B level competed for the newly established Sutherland Cup. The J. Ross Robertson Cup remained the playoffs championship trophy for the top tier of junior hockey in the OHA. The cup was awarded to the OHA Major Junior A Series champion from 1972 to 1974, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League champion from 1974 to 1980, and has been the championship trophy of the

since 1980. The Ontario Hockey League established the

Bobby Orr Trophy The Bobby Orr Trophy is awarded annually to the champion of the Eastern conference playoffs in the Ontario Hockey League. It was first awarded in 1999. The winning team competes for the J. Ross Robertson Cup in the OHL finals versus the Wayne Gret ...

and the

Wayne Gretzky Trophy The Wayne Gretzky Trophy is awarded annually to the champion of the Western conference playoffs in the Ontario Hockey League. It was first awarded in 1999. The winning team competes for the J. Ross Robertson Cup in the OHL finals versus the Bobb ...

in 1999, for the respective Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions which compete for the J. Ross Robertson Cup. The

Wayne Gretzky 99 Award The Wayne Gretzky 99 Award is awarded annually to the most valuable player in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was first awarded in 1999, and is named for Wayne Gretzky. The recipient is selected by the news/sports media. The award was int ...

was established in 1999, and is given to the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs at the conclusion of the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals.

List of cup winners

1911 to 1932

1910-11 Kingston Frontenacs juniors and the J

The J. Ross Robertson Cup champion was determined by a total-goals series from 1911 to 1932. The number of games played varied by season from one to three games.Ontario Hockey Association (2006), p. W-13Lapp & Macaulay (1997), p. 11 List of winning teams and finalists from 1911 to 1932.

1933 to present

Since 1933, the J. Ross Robertson Cup champion has been determined by either the most wins in total-games series, or the most points earned in a series. List of winning teams and finalists since 1933.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Ontario Hockey League
{{OHL trophies 1910 establishments in Ontario Awards established in 1910 Ontario Hockey Association Ontario Hockey League trophies and awards