Ottawa 67's

Ottawa 67's
City Ottawa, Ontario
League Ontario Hockey League
Conference Eastern
Division East
Founded 1967 (1967)
Home arena
TD Place Arena 1967–2012, 2014–present
Canadian Tire Centre 2012–2014, occasional home games
Colours Red, white and black
              
General manager Jeff Brown
Head coach Jeff Brown
Championships 1984 & 1999 Memorial Cup Champions
Website www.ottawa67s.com
Previous logo
The Ottawa 67's celebrate a playoff victory.

The Ottawa 67’s are a junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario. They have played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) since 1967, Canada's centennial year. The current coach is Jeff Brown.

History

The Ontario Hockey Association granted the city of Ottawa an expansion franchise on February 16, 1967. Four months later, the team was given the nickname 67's, in honour of Canada's centennial year. Three local businessmen — Bill Cowley, Howard Darwin and Bill Touhey as well as Alderman Howard Henry — helped bring junior hockey back to Canada's capital. The 67's filled the void left by the departure of the Ottawa Junior Canadiens and the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in 1963.

Bill Long was the team's first head coach. The 67's played their first game on October 6, 1967, losing 9–0 on the road to the Niagara Falls Flyers. The first 11 home games of the season were played in the Hull Arena, Hull, Quebec, as their new home arena was still under construction. The first season for the 67's was terrible at best, with the team posting a final record of six wins, 45 losses and three ties. They then made the playoffs in their second season, but lost in the quarter-finals to the Niagara Falls Flyers.

The 67's reached the OHA finals during their fifth season in 1971–72, losing to the Peterborough Petes 3–0, with two ties. The 67's came close to playing at home in the Memorial Cup, as the Ottawa Civic Centre hosted the tournament that year.

Brian Kilrea Joins the 67's

After a rebuilding season in 1973–74, the 67's hired a young up-and-coming coach named Brian Kilrea, who has since become a legend in Ottawa. Kilrea coached the team to three successive improved winning records, culminating in a victory in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals in 1977, versus the London Knights, who were coached by former 67's bench boss Bill Long. During the late 1970s, Ottawa was led by scoring champions Peter Lee, Bobby Smith and Jim Fox.

The 67's moved on to New Westminster, B.C., to compete for the Memorial Cup, versus the New Westminster Bruins and Sherbrooke Castors. The 1977 Memorial Tournament was the first to be held in British Columbia and the first to use a double round-robin format. Ottawa lost the first game 7–6 to the Bruins, then won three in a row, 6–1 over the Castors, 4–3 in overtime versus the Bruins, and then 5–2 against Sherbrooke. However, Ottawa lost to the host Bruins 6–5 in the championship game.

Ottawa finished first in their division the following season, but lost to the rival Peterborough Petes in the semi-finals. Kilrea and the 67's rebuilt during the 1978–79 season, following that season up with two second-place finishes and then three consecutive division titles from 1982 to 1984.

First Memorial Cup victory

In 1984, the 67's reached the OHL championship series in a rematch from the 1982 OHL finals, against the Kitchener Rangers. Kitchener had been chosen to host the Memorial Cup tournament that year, and the Rangers also made it to the OHL finals. This meant that Ottawa gained an automatic berth in the tournament when they reached the league championship against the Rangers. In the OHL itself, however, Ottawa had unfinished business, having lost to Kitchener two years earlier. The 67's, who finished second overall to Kitchener in the OHL, defeated the Rangers 3–0, with two ties, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the second time in franchise history.

At the Memorial Cup in Kitchener, Ottawa defeated the Laval Voisins, featuring Mario Lemieux, by a score 6–5 in their first game, then beat the Kamloops Jr. Oilers 5–1 in game two, before losing to Kitchener 7–2 to conclude the round-robin. In the semi-final game, Ottawa beat Kamloops again, this time in a 7–2 victory. In the finals versus Kitchener, Ottawa scored a victory in the third consecutive 7–2 game in the tournament, defeating the Rangers and winning their first Memorial Cup. The Most Valuable Player of the Tournament was Adam Creighton. After the season ended, Brian Kilrea left Ottawa to become an assistant coach in the NHL.

Kilrea returns from the NHL

The 67's suffered through two dismal seasons after winning the cup, finishing third-last in the OHL in 1985 and second-last in 1986. Ottawa's saviour would again be Brian Kilrea returning for the 1986–87 season. The second Kilrea era wasn't as superb as his first coaching stint. The 67's finished as high as second place in their division two times, and reached the league's playoff semi-finals three times. The highlight of this era was Andrew Cassels, the rookie of the year in 1986–87, and scoring champion in 1987–88. Kilrea went into retirement after the 1993–94 season. For the 1994–95 season, the 67's were coached by former scoring champion Peter Lee.

The third Kilrea era

Brian Kilrea came out of coaching retirement in 1995 and also became the team's general manager, both positions he has held since. Kilrea is currently under contract until his 78th birthday.

The Kilrea-coached 67's resurged to the top of the OHL, winning five consecutive east division titles from 1996 to 2000. The 1996–97 season of 104 points is the best in team history, and also the best in the league that year. Ottawa, however, lost in the finals 4–2 to their division rivals, the Oshawa Generals. The 67's reached the finals again in 1998, losing to the Guelph Storm in five games.

Memorial Cup hosts, 1999

In 1999, 67's owner Jeff Hunt led the team's bid to host the 1999 Memorial Cup tournament. Despite the fact that in 1997 the tournament had been hosted across the river in Hull, he was able to convince the Canadian Hockey League to host the event in the city of Ottawa and guarantee his team a berth in the tournament. The 67's did not disappoint, as every game of the series was sold out at the 10,550 seat TD Place Arena.

In the 1998–99 season, the 67's lost to the eventual OHL champion Belleville Bulls in the second round of the playoffs. However, the 67's beat those same Belleville Bulls in the Memorial Cup semi-finals and went on to defeat the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL in the final in a thrilling over-time game that saw Matt Zultek score the winning goal. Nick Boynton was named MVP.

The 67's became the second team to win the Memorial Cup as tournament hosts without winning a league championship. The first team to do so were the Portland Winter Hawks in 1984.

Memorial Cup, 2001

It wasn't long before the 67's went to the Memorial Cup again. Ottawa defeated the Plymouth Whalers in the league championship. The 2001 Memorial Cup was played in Regina, Saskatchewan. Ottawa had tougher luck in this tournament, winning just one game in the round robin versus the hometown Regina Pats, then ultimately losing to Regina 5–0 in the tie-breaker game.

In the 2002–03 season, the 67's reached the OHL finals again, but fell to the eventual Memorial Cup champions Kitchener Rangers in five games. Ottawa also suffered a heart-breaking first round defeat in 2003–04 to the Brampton Battalion

Memorial Cup, 2005

Ottawa playing with its "barberpole" jerseys.

The 67's finished 6th place in the Eastern Conference in 2004–05, but had a veteran-laden team that managed an impressive playoff run.

Ottawa upset Barrie, Sudbury and Peterborough to reach the finals. The 67's qualified for the 2005 Memorial Cup by virtue of being the league finalists versus the London Knights, who were also hosting the event.

Ottawa won the longest ever game played in the Memorial Cup tournament, when they beat the Kelowna Rockets in double overtime. Ottawa finished third place in the round-robin, then lost to the Rimouski Océanic featuring Sidney Crosby in the semi-finals.

Equipment incident

During their last round robin game against the London Knights in 2005, the Ottawa 67's found themselves in an awkward situation, as 67's trainer Brian Patafie was ordered out of the Knights dressing room by management while he was trying to fix a skate for Brad Staubitz. The skate was never fixed during that game and instead had to be repaired at a local sporting goods store. Patafie suggested that 67's owner Jeff Hunt buy a riveting machine and leave it in London for themselves, and commented on the Knights leaving them stranded without any access to equipment repairs at the John Labatt Centre, and also pointed out that the other teams in the OHL wouldn't put them in the same position London did, regardless of the intensity of their rivals. Rimouski Océanic goaltender Cedrick Desjardins was also denied access to the Knights' dressing room to make repairs to his goalie equipment.

Championships

The Ottawa 67's have appeared in the Memorial Cup tournament five times, winning twice. Ottawa has also won the J. Ross Robertson Cup three times, won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy three times, and have won fourteen division titles, the most in the OHL..

Memorial Cup
  • 1977 Lost to New Westminster Bruins in finals.
  • 1984 Champions vs. Kitchener Rangers.
  • 1999 Champions vs. Calgary Hitmen.
  • 2001 OHL Representative in Regina, Saskatchewan.
  • 2005 OHL Representative in London, Ontario.
J. Ross Robertson Cup
  • 1972 Lost to Peterborough Petes.
  • 1977 Champions vs. London Knights.
  • 1982 Lost to Kitchener Rangers.
  • 1984 Champions vs. Kitchener Rangers.
  • 1997 Lost to Oshawa Generals.
  • 1998 Lost to Guelph Storm.
  • 2001 Champions vs. Plymouth Whalers.
  • 2003 Lost to Kitchener Rangers.
  • 2005 Lost to London Knights.
Bobby Orr Trophy
Eastern Conference champions
  • 2001, 2003, 2005
Hamilton Spectator Trophy
First overall, regular season
  • 1977–78 93 points
  • 1981–82 96 points
  • 1996–97 104 points
Leyden Trophy
East Division champions
  • 1976–77 81 points
  • 1977–78 93 points
  • 1981–82 96 points
  • 1982–83 95 points
  • 1983–84 102 points
  • 1995–96 83 points
  • 1996–97 104 points
  • 1997–98 89 points
  • 1998–99 103 points
  • 1999–2000 91 points
  • 2002–03 98 points
  • 2003–04 71 points
  • 2009–10 82 points
  • 2010–11 93 points
  • 2011–12 88 points

Coaches

Brian Kilrea is a national coaching legend and has been a coaching presence behind the Ottawa bench for 31 years. Kilrea has led the 67's to 3 OHL Championships and 2 Memorial Cups. Kilrea briefly moved up to the NHL as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders in 1984 to 1986, and briefly retired for the 1994–95 season. Kilrea, also known as "Killer" has over 1,000 wins coaching junior hockey, all with the Ottawa 67's. He has been named the OHL Coach of the Year five times, and CHL Coach of the Year once in 1996–97. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
On September 3, 2008, Brian Kilrea announced that after the 2008–09 season is over, he will be stepping down from his head coaching position, however, he will remain with the team as their general manager, until the 2011-2012 season before being taken over by head coach Chris Byrne.

List of coaches with multiple seasons in parentheses.

  • 1967-1972 - Bill Long (5)
  • 1972–1974 - Leo Boivin (2)
  • 1974–1984 - Brian Kilrea (10, 31 total)
  • 1984–1985 - Cliff Stewart & Bob Ellett
  • 1985–1986 - Bob Ellett (2)
  • 1986–1994 - Brian Kilrea (8, 31 total)
  • 1994–1995 - Peter Lee
  • 1995–2009 - Brian Kilrea (14, 32 total)
  • 2009-2013 - Chris Byrne
  • 2014-Present - Jeff Brown

Players

Denis Potvin is the only Ottawa 67's player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He would later be joined by his former junior coach, Brian Kilrea.

Current roster

Updated as of March 14, 2016[1][2]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
2 Canada Hoefenmayer, NoelNoel Hoefenmayer D L 17 2015 North York, Ontario
3 Canada Brown, WillWill Brown D R 18 2014 Nepean, Ontario
6 Canada Orban, RyanRyan Orban (A) D L 19 2015 Stittsville, Ontario
8 Canada Fanjoy, BenBen Fanjoy RW R 19 2013 Ottawa, Ontario
9 Canada Keating, AustenAusten Keating C L 17 2015 Guelph, Ontario
11 Canada Pearce, DavidDavid Pearce LW L 18 2014 Barrie, Ontario
12 Canada Gardiner, NolanNolan Gardiner LW L 18 2014 Tilbury, Ontario
13 Russia Tyanulin, ArturArtur Tyanulin RW R 19 2014 Kazan, Russia
16 Canada Evans, BenBen Evans C L 17 2015 Thorold, Ontario
17 Canada Steege, JaredJared Steege LW/C L 20 2016 Cobden, Ontario
18 Canada Wilson, HudsonHudson Wilson D L 17 2015 Toronto, Ontario
19 Canada Barron, TravisTravis Barron (C) C R 18 2014 Belfountain, Ontario
21 Canada Middleton, JacobJacob Middleton D L 20 2013 Stratford, Ontario
26 Canada Felhaber, TyeTye Felhaber LW/C L 18 2016 Pembroke, Ontario
27 Canada Robertson, CarterCarter Robertson D L 16 2016 Holland Landing, Ontario
37 Russia Lazarev, LeoLeo Lazarev G L 19 2014 Moscow, Russia
51 Canada White, PatrickPatrick White (A) C L 20 2016 Orléans, Ontario
65 Canada Stratis, PeterPeter Stratis D R 16 2016 Toronto, Ontario
68 Canada Lafrenière, OlivierOlivier Lafrenière G L 18 2014 Bradford, Ontario
71 Canada Clark, KodyKody Clark RW R 17 2015 King City, Ontario
77 Canada Auger, KyleKyle Auger D R 17 2016 Thunder Bay, Ontario
86 United States Rymsha, DrakeDrake Rymsha C R 18 2015 Huntington Woods, Michigan
88 Canada Bahl, KevinKevin Bahl D L 16 2016 Mississauga, Ontario
89 United States Chmelevski, SashaSasha Chmelevski C R 17 2016 Huntington Beach, California
91 Canada Campbell, ChaseChase Campbell RW R 18 2016 Waterloo, Ontario

Award winners

CHL Player of the Year

CHL Defenceman of the Year

CHL Top Scorer Award

Red Tilson Trophy
Most Outstanding Player

Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy
Scoring Champion

Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy
Top Scoring Right Winger

Max Kaminsky Trophy
Most Outstanding Defenceman

OHL Goaltender of the Year

Jack Ferguson Award
First Overall Draft Pick

Dave Pinkney Trophy
Lowest Team GAA

Emms Family Award
Rookie of the Year

F.W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy
Best Rookie GAA

Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy
Humanitarian of the Year

William Hanley Trophy
Most Sportsmanlike Player

Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy
Overage Player of the Year

Bobby Smith Trophy
Scholastic Player of the Year

Ivan Tennant Memorial Award
Top Academic High School Player

  • 2005–06 - Joe Pleckaitis
  • 2013-14 - Adam Craievich with the Guelph Storm

Roger Neilson Memorial Award
Top Academic College/University Player

Wayne Gretzky 99 Award
Playoffs MVP

Retired numbers

NHL alumni

Team records

Team records for a single season
StatisticTotalSeason
Most points1041996–97
Most wins501983–84
Most goals for4051977–78
Least goals for1051967–68
Least goals against1641998–99
Most goals against3821974–75

Individual records

Individual player records for a single season
StatisticPlayerTotalSeason
Most goalsPeter Lee811975–76
Most assistsBobby Smith1231977–78
Most pointsBobby Smith1921977–78
Most points, rookieJim Fox1271977–78
Most points, defencemanDenis Potvin1231972–73
Best GAA (goalie)Levente Szuper2.331998–99
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the 67's.
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Pos GP G A Pts Seasons NHL
Peter Lee LW 280 213 231 444 1971–1976 Pit.
Brett Seguin C 238 102 303 405 1988–1992 None
Yvan Joly RW 259 183 215 398 1976–1980 Mtl.
Jim Fox F 164 146 250 396 1977–1980 L.A.
Bobby Smith F 187 158 227 385 1975–1978 MNS, Mtl.
Sean Simpson F 226 141 138 379 1977–1981 None
Andrew Cassels C 183 111 266 377 1986–1989 Mtl., Hfd., Cgy., Van., CBJ, Wsh.
Steve Marengere C 292 97 271 368 1974–1979 None
Blake Dunlop F 231 153 212 365 1969–1973 MNS, Phi., St.L., Det.
Tyler Toffoli F 252 163 170 333 2008-2012 LA

Individual career records

Yearly results

Regular season

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SL Points Pct % Goals
for
Goals
against
Standing
1967–6854 645 3 -- 150.13910532910th OHA
1968–69542028 6 -- 460.4262142538th OHA
1969–7054212310 -- 520.4812132065th OHA
1970–71623719 6 -- 800.6452962183rd OHA
1971–72633325 5 -- 710.5632512164th OHA
1972–73634115 7 -- 890.7063912433rd OHA
1973–74703031 9 -- 690.4932932767th OHA
1974–75703330 7 -- 730.5213793824th OMJHL
1975–76663423 9 -- 770.5833312912nd Leyden
1976–77663823 5 -- 810.6143482881st Leyden
1977–78684318 7 -- 930.6844053081st Leyden
1978–79683038 0 -- 600.4413193444th Leyden
1979–80684520 3 -- 930.6844022882nd Leyden
1980–81684520 3 -- 930.6843602642nd Leyden
1981–82684719 2 -- 960.7063532481st Leyden
1982–83704621 3 -- 950.6793952781st Leyden
1983–84705018 2 --1020.7293472231st Leyden
1984–85662043 3 -- 430.3262633766th Leyden
1985–86661846 2 -- 380.2882743527th Leyden
1986–87663328 5 -- 710.5383102803rd Leyden
1987–88663826 2 -- 780.5913412942nd Leyden
1988–89663032 4 -- 640.4852953015th Leyden
1989–90663826 2 -- 780.5913202654th Leyden
1990–91663925 2 -- 800.6063012804th Leyden
1991–92663230 4 -- 680.5152802516th Leyden
1992–93661642 8 -- 400.3032203108th Leyden
1993–9466332211 -- 770.5832742292nd Leyden
1994–95662238 6 -- 500.3792322766th Eastern
1995–96663922 5 -- 830.6292582001st Eastern
1996–97664911 6 --1040.7883201771st Eastern
1997–98664017 9 -- 890.6742861721st Eastern
1998–99684813 7 --1030.7573051641st East
1999–2000684320 4 1- 910.6622691891st East
2000–0168332110 4- 800.5592492012nd East
2001–0268362010 2- 840.6032622182nd East
2002–03684414 7 3- 980.6993182101st East
2003–04682926 9 4- 710.5222382201st East
2004–05683426 7 1- 760.5512442102nd East
2005–06682931 - 53 660.4852402444th East
2006–07683034 - 04 640.4712422634th East
2007–08682934-23630.4632012373rd East
2008–09684021-52870.6402722312nd East
2009–10683723-53820.6032462191st East
2010–11684419-32930.6842781991st East
2011–12684020-53880.6472682161st East
2012–13681646-06380.2792083235th East
2013–14682339-33520.3822223085th East
2014–15683825-41810.5962392202nd East
2015–16683629-21750.5512342192nd East

Playoffs

Uniforms and logos

The 67's colours and original uniforms are based on those of the Ottawa Senators from the 1920s and 1930s. The team colours are red, white & black. The original 67's uniforms are barber-pole style jerseys with the square 67's logo. The 67's have also used a white back ground jersey with barber pole stripes on the shoulders and sleeves.

The 67's third jersey was unveiled in 2001. It features a logo with an angry puck, and a white background body with red and black jagged trim along the bottom and arms. It also has an opposite black background style with white & red trim.

Mascots: Riley Raccoon,The Killer Puck

Arenas

The Ottawa 67's played the first half of their 1967–68 inaugural season at the Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Quebec until completion of the new arena at Lansdowne Park.

TD Place Arena interior.

TD Place Arena
The Ottawa 67's have played at TD Place Arena since January 1968 when it was known as the Ottawa Civic Centre. The Arena has the largest capacity of all current OHL arenas.

Capacity = 9,862
Ice Size = 200' x 85'
Ottawa TD Place Arena exterior.

The design of TD Place Arena is unique in that it is built into the side of a football stadium, and includes a large conference hall under its north stands. The seating in TD Place Arena is almost all on the north side and ends of the arena, with very few seats on the south side towards the football stadium.

TD Place Arena has played host to many OHL and CHL events including:

The Memorial Cup in 1972 and 1999.
The Chrysler Challenge Cup in 1986 and 1987.
The Hershey Cup in 2002.

The Centre has also been the brief home to the NHL's Ottawa Senators and the WHA's Ottawa Nationals & Ottawa Civics.

Canadian Tire Centre
The Ottawa 67's also play the occasional home game at the Canadian Tire Centre. Twice the 67's played host to an interleague game versus the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL. On December 30, 2004 the arena hosted the largest crowd ever witnessed in the Ontario Hockey League as 20,081 people saw the Ottawa 67's defeated by the Kingston Frontenacs. This came as a result of the arena seating capacity being expanded by 2,000 seats.

In early February 2012, it was announced that the 67's would move to the Canadian Tire Centre for two seasons while renovations were finished at TD Place Arena. This came as a result of delays in construction originally planned to allow the 67's to stay at TD Place through the rebuild but now a closed site is needed to meet deadlines for NASL and CFL expansion.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.