OHA Senior A Hockey League
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OHA Senior "A" Hockey League | |
Membership | Ontario Hockey Association |
Founded | 1972 |
Ceased | 1987 |
Allan Cups | 4 |
The OHA Senior A Hockey League was a top tier
History
In 1972, the Western Ontario Senior B Hockey League was formed. Members of this league included the
.In 1973, the league changed its name to the Continental Senior B Hockey League. In 1975, two season later the league became the Continental Senior A Hockey League, making the league eligible for the
After the 1978-79 season, the original
A season later, the league was rebranded the OHA Senior A Hockey League. Gord Renwick served as the league's president from 1979 to 1981.[1]
In 1983, the OHA Senior A Hockey League absorbed the Major Intermediate A Hockey League, nearly doubling the league's size. In 1986, the league shrunk down to three teams, added Hockey Northwestern Ontario's Thunder Bay Twins as a fourth team. The OHA Senior A league spawned four Allan Cup champions from 1979 until 1987. The 1987 league champion Brantford Motts Clamatos went on to win the Allan Cup as National Senior "A" Champions.
The league ceased operations after the 1986–87 season, when it was reduced to three teams and the OHA was unable to find new teams. OHA president Brent Ladds felt that the league had become cost-prohibitive.[2]
The league was replaced in 1990 by the Southwestern Senior A Hockey League which is now known as
Allan Cups
Champions
- 1979: Petrolia Squires defeated Steinbach Huskies 4-games-to-1
- 1981: Petrolia Squires defeated St. Boniface Mohawks 5-1 score
- 1983: Cambridge Hornets defeated St. Boniface Mohawks 4-games-to-none
- 1987: Brantford Motts Clamatos defeated Nelson Maple Leafs 4-games-to-none
Finalists
- 1980: Spokane Flyers defeated Cambridge Hornets 4-games-to-none
- 1982: Cranbrook Royals defeated Petrolia Squires 4-games-to-1
- 1984: Thunder Bay Twins defeated Cambridge Hornets 4-games-to-1
Hardy Cups
Champions
- 1986: Dundas Real McCoys defeated Lloydminster Border Kings 4-games-to-none
Key rivalries
Durham vs. Lucan-Ilderton
Prior to the creation of the Western Senior B league, the
The Western Senior B league was virtually built around the Huskies and Jets and the two teams dominated the first four years of its existence. The one common denominator between the two teams was their need to squash the
Cambridge vs. Petrolia
The Petrolia Squires joined the Continental Senior A Hockey League in 1976. In 1979, after two years in the league, the Squires won the Continental Senior "A" title, the OHA Sr. "A" title by beating the Thunder Bay Twins 4-games-to-2, and eventually the Allan Cup. This was the first of four Allan Cups the league would celebrate over the last nine seasons. In 1979, the other Senior "A" league folded and the Cambridge Hornets jumped ship. In their first season in the league together, the Hornets would challenge the Squires in the league final and defeat them in a full seven game battle, 4-games-to-3. The Hornets lost the Allan Cup final. The next year, the two teams met in the final and the Squires won 4-games-to-1 and went on to win their second Allan Cup. In 1982, they met again in the final and the Squires came out on top 4-games-to-3. The Squires lost the Allan Cup final. Then in 1983, the Cambridge Hornets took control, winning the final against Petrolia 4-games-to-3 and won their first Allan Cup since 1971. The fifth and final chapter took place in 1984 as the Cambridge Hornets defeated the Petrolia Squires in the league final 4-games-to-2, but lost in the Allan Cup final.
Overall, the Cambridge Hornets appear to have come out on top in this rivalry winning three out of five league championships in a five-year span and winning an Allan Cup, but it is possible that they "won the battle, but lost the war". The Petrolia Squires, who won two of the five years and an Allan Cup have an edge in history. The Hornets folded in 1987 and reformed in 1999 and again folded due to controversy in
Dundas vs. Motts Clamatos
The Dundas Merchants jumped to the OHA Senior "A" league in 1980 from the Niagara & District Intermediate A Hockey League. Until 1984, the league was completely and utterly dominated by Cambridge and Petrolia. In 1981, the team changed their name to the Dundas-Hamilton Tigers. In 1983, the Rockton Real McCoys of the Southern Intermediate B league moved to become the Flamborough Real McCoys and joined the OHA Senior "A" league. A year later Real McCoy sold the team to Motts and the team became the Flamborough Motts Clamatos. After five seasons of domination, in 1984 the Mott Clamatos and the Tigers took Petrolia and Cambridge's spot in the league final. Dundas defeated Flamborough 4-games-to-2. After the season, Dundas was bought by the same company that sold Flamborough to Motts and became the Dundas Real McCoys. In 1986, Dundas and Flamborough met again in the league final, with the Motts Clamatos sweeping the series 4-games-to-none. After the season, the league dropped from seven teams to three and were forced to bring in the Thunder Bay Twins as a fourth member. Motts then moved their team from Flamborough to become the Brantford Motts Clamatos. The 1986-87 season finished with Brantford far ahead in first, Dundas ahead of Thunder Bay in second by a tie breaker, and Cambridge close but in fourth. Brantford met Dundas for the third straight year in the league final and defeated them, going the distance, 4-games-to-3. Brantford went on to win the Allan Cup that year, only to have their sponsor back out and the team fold at the end of the season.
The folding of Dundas and Brantford at the end of the season started a chain reaction of events in Ontario hockey. It began with a few teams folding, and ended with the top tier of both Senior and Junior hockey, the
Teams
- Barrie Flyers
- Bothwell Barons
- Brantford Motts Clamatos
- Cambridge Hornets
- Chatham Pontiacs
- Collingwood Shipbuilders
- Dundas Real McCoys
- Durham Huskies
- Georgetown Raiders
- London Kings
- Lucan-Ilderton Jets
- New Hamburg Screaming Eagles
- Petrolia Squires
- Port Stanley Dynamiters
- Preston Jesters
- Stratford Perths
- Thunder Bay Twins
- Woodstock Gems
Champions
Western Sr. B
- 1973 Lucan-Ilderton Jets
Continental Sr. B
- 1974 Durham Huskies
- 1975 Lucan-Ilderton Jets
Continental Sr. A
- 1976 Durham Huskies
- 1977 Woodstock Royals
- 1978 London Kings
- 1979 Petrolia Squires
- 1980 Cambridge Hornets
OHA Sr. A
- 1981 Petrolia Squires
- 1982 Petrolia Squires
- 1983 Cambridge Hornets
- 1984 Cambridge Hornets
- 1985 Dundas Tigers
- 1986 Flamborough Motts Clamatos
- 1987 Brantford Motts Clamatos
References
- ^ "Gordie Renwick - 2012 Order of Hockey in Canada Honouree". Hockey Canada. 2012. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
- ^ "Senior hockey folds". Brantford Expositor. Brantford, Ontario. July 17, 1987. p. 11.; Scilley, Claude (July 23, 1987). "Barely a whimper as senior hockey dies". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario. p. 8.