1983 Memorial Cup

The 1983 Memorial Cup was held May 7–14 at the

1983 was the first time the Memorial Cup tournament featured four teams; it had previously involved three teams playing in a neutral host city since the round robin tournament format was adopted in 1972. The Winter Hawks were the first team to host the tournament, and the first to both participate and win the title despite failing to capture their league championship; they were eliminated by Lethbridge in the WHL finals. The Winter Hawks were also the first American team to win the Memorial Cup; as of 2022[update], only Portland (twice) and the Spokane Chiefs (twice) have taken the Cup to the US.

Teams

Verdun

Oshawa

Lethbridge

Portland

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QMJHL Team OHL Team WHL Team Host Team

Lethbridge Broncos

The

The Broncos offense was led by Ivan Krook, who scored 34 goals and a team high 88 points in 72 games. Krook added 12 goals and 24 points in 20 post-season games. Ron Sutter was second in team scoring during the regular season, scoring 35 goals and 83 points in 58 games, after he was returned to Lethbridge following beginning the season with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. Sutter followed up with 22 goals and 41 points in 20 playoff games, leading the club in post-season scoring. Rich Sutter, the twin brother of Ron, scored a team high 37 goals and 67 points in 64 games with the Broncos after beginning his season with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. In the post-season, Rich scored 14 goals and 23 points in 17 games. On defense, the Broncos were led by Bob Rouse, who was acquired by the Broncos from the Nanaimo Islanders in an early season trade. In 42 games with Lethbridge, Rouse scored eight goals and 38 points to lead the defense in scoring. In goal, the Broncos were led by Ken Wregget, who posted a 26-17-1 record with a 3.49 GAA and a .893 save percentage in 48 games.

The 1983 Memorial Cup was the first appearance at the tournament by the Lethbridge Broncos in team history.

Oshawa Generals

The Oshawa Generals represented the Ontario Hockey League at the 1983 Memorial Cup. The Generals finished the 1982–83 season in third place in the Leyden Division, earning a record of 45-22-3, while getting 93 points. Oshawa had the third best offense in the OHL, scoring 380 goals, while the club allowed a league low 255 goals. The Generals opened the post-season with a match-up against the Peterborough Petes in the Leyden Division semi-finals, as the Generals swept the Petes in four games. In the Leyden Division finals, the Generals defeated the first place Ottawa 67's four games to one, earning a berth into the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In the championship round, the Generals swept the Greyhounds in four games to clinch the OHL championship and earn a berth into the 1983 Memorial Cup.

The Generals offense was led by

The 1983 Memorial Cup was the Generals eighth appearance in club history and first since losing to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the 1966 Memorial Cup. The Generals won the Memorial Cup in 1939, 1940 and 1944.

Portland Winter Hawks

The

The 1983 Memorial Cup was the second appearance by the club in team history. At the previous Memorial Cup in 1982, the Winter Hawks finished in third place.

Verdun Juniors

The

Since the adoption of the round robin tournament format in 1972, the Memorial Cup tournament had been held in a pre-selected, and often neutral, host city. Beginning in 1983, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association chose to make the tournament a four team affair with a host team guaranteed to participate. The Portland Winter Hawks, who won the WHL championship in 1981–82, were chosen before the season to host the 1983 tournament. It was the first time Memorial Cup games were held outside of Canada, though Winter Hawks General Manager Brian Shaw had proposed the tournament return to its original east vs. west format.^[1]

Portland nearly won the WHL's

The tournament was held as a single round-robin format, with the top team earning a place in the final, and the second and third place teams playing a semi-final. Oshawa opened the tournament with an 8–2 victory over Lethbridge on the strength of three goals in six minutes in the third period. In the second game, Portland held a 7–2 lead over Verdun after two periods, but surrendered four goals in the third, managing to hold on for a 7–6 victory. Verdun then defeated Lethbridge 4–3, eliminating the Broncos from the playoff round.[3] Portland routed Oshawa 10–5 before losing to the Broncos in a game that had no impact on either team's future in the tournament. Oshawa defeated Verdun 5–1 in the final game of the round robin.^[4]

While all three teams had 2–1 records, the Generals and Juniors met again in the semi-finals, while the Winter Hawks advanced to the final on the basis of most goals scored. Verdun emerged from the first period with a 4–1 lead but were unable to hold off the Oshawa attack, falling 7–5 in the semi-final.^[4] The final was never in doubt, as the hometown Winter Hawks defeated Oshawa 8–3 on the strength of three goals by Cam Neely.^[5] In doing so, they became the first American team to win Canada's national junior championship.^[6]

The tournament was success at the gate. The championship game drew 9,527 fans for a tournament total of 54,090; second only to the 1977 Memorial Cup held in Vancouver.^[5]

Round-robin standings

Scores

Round-robin

• May 7 Oshawa 8–2 Lethbridge
• May 7 Portland 7–6 Verdun
• May 8 Verdun 4–3 Lethbridge
• May 8 Portland 10–5 Oshawa
• May 9 Lethbridge 9–3 Portland
• May 10 Oshawa 5–1 Verdun

Semi-final

• May 12 Oshawa 7–5 Verdun

Final

• May 14 Portland 8–3 Oshawa

Players

Goaltender Mike Vernon was the subject of controversy during the tournament. While he was a player for the Calgary Wranglers, he joined the Winter Hawks for the Memorial Cup tournament via a rule that allowed each team to add an extra goaltender from their league. Vernon turned down Lethbridge before agreeing to play with Portland, a decision that infuriated the Broncos who had lost their starting goaltender, Ken Wregget, to injury.^[2]

Several players from the Winter Hawks went on to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Cam Neely played 13 seasons and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.^[7] Vernon won the Stanley Cup with both the Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings during his career, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023. Oshawa's John MacLean won the Cup with the New Jersey Devils. The Sutter twins, Rich and Ron played for the Broncos, as did Mark Tinordi and Gerald Diduck.^[8] Also from Lethbridge, both Wregget and Troy Loney won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins.^[9]

Winning roster

Award winners

• Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (MVP): Alfie Turcotte, Portland
• George Parsons Trophy (Sportsmanship): David Gans, Oshawa
• Hap Emms Memorial Trophy (Goaltender): Mike Vernon, Portland

All-star team

• Goal: Peter Sidorkiewicz, Oshawa
• Defence: Joe Cirella, Oshawa; Jerome Carrier, Verdun
• Centre: Ken Yaremchuk, Portland
• Left wing: Randy Heath, Portland
• Right wing:
  John MacLean
  , Oshawa

References