The 2008 Memorial Cup tournament will be special – it will be the 90th anniversary of this special event at which the championship of major junior hockey will be decided.
The 90th anniversary tournament will be held in Kitchener, Ont., May 16-25, and a grand time will be had by all.
For the next while, right here on this blog, I will present for your reading enjoyment a history of the Memorial Cup, from 1919 through 1996. This is a history that I researched and wrote more than 10 years ago, which is why it ends with the 1996 tournament. But there simply is too much good stuff buried in all of these stories for it all to waste away in my computer files.
This Memorial Cup history is the result of untold hours in the microfilm library while I was sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post.
While most of the information was culled from microfilmed copies of the Regina Leader and The Leader-Post, other information came from various sources, including players, scouts, executives, programs and CHL, WHL, OHL and QMJHL publications.
Any errors or omissions were strictly accidental and should be pointed out to the author.
In some instances, a player's first name couldn't be located, especially in the early years when players often went by initials and newspapers were only concerned with publishing surnames.
If you are able to help with any of these names, if you can correct any errors, or if you have any information you would like to pass along, you can write the author at gdrinnan@telus.net.
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The Memorial Cup has been junior hockey’s most sought after honour since the spring of 1919.
As author Scott Young recounted it in his book ‘100 Years of Dropping the Puck: A History of the OHA’, the trophy was born at the annual meeting of the Ontario Hockey Association in December of 1918.
"One of the most lasting decisions of that annual meeting, however, was not concerned with playing rules,” Young wrote. "This was agreement that the OHA should establish a memorial ‘of some enduring character, to OHA members who have fallen on the fields of war.' This, done immediately, was called the OHA Memorial Cup, for Canada-wide competition among junior teams.”
It was first won by the University of Toronto Schools, who outscored the Regina Patricias 29-8 in a two-game total-goal series.
While that is generally regarded as the first Memorial Cup championship series, it may have been up for grabs in the preceding series, one that is usually referred to as the eastern final.
As the Regina Leader recalled in a story on March 19, 1927:
"University of Toronto Schools team, as junior champions of the OHA, were first called upon to defend the cup against the Melville team of Montreal, Quebec champions. It was a ‘sudden death' game and the Ontario titleholders won by 8-to-2. The Toronto sextette then clashed with the Patricias of Regina, Western Canada champions and holders of the Abbott Cup. University of Toronto Schools won both games by 14 to 3 and 15 to 5.”
In that same issue of The Leader, Steppy Fairman wrote:
"The history of the mug is interesting. It dates from 1919 to the present day and while the Allan Cup, the emblem of the senior hockey championship of the Dominion, gives a slight edge in favor of the East, the same cannot be said of the OHA Memorial trophy, the junior crown.
"The West has enjoyed supremacy as far as the trophy is concerned, Thunder Bay being part of the west in this competition. Eight times during the winter seasons, numerous teams have pitted their strength on the ice for the silverware. In five out of the eight times, the West has shown superiority.”
The OHA Memorial Cup was awarded annually to Canada's junior hockey champion through 1933.
That changed in 1934 when junior hockey split into A and B divisions. From that point through 1970 it went to the junior A champion.
By 1971, another level of junior hockey — major junior — had evolved and since then the Memorial Cup has gone to the major junior champion.
Today, it goes annually to the champion of the Canadian Hockey League, the organization that oversees the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
From 1919 through 1971, the Memorial Cup was awarded through an east-versus-west format — it began with two teams meeting in a two-game, total goal series and then moved through best-of-three, best-of-five and best-of-seven championship series.
A round-robin format was introduced for the 1972 tournament. The Memorial Cup has been decided in that fashion, in one form or another, since then.
There is a lot of history behind the Memorial Cup, more than can be told in any one publication.
As OHL commissioner David Branch once told Windsor, Ont., freelance writer John Humphrey: "When you look at the credentials and the abilities of many of the individuals who have participated, not only on the ice and behind the bench, but behind the scenes, it could almost stagger you. So many people who have made so many significant contributions to junior hockey have been able to showcase their skills before going on to do themselves proud in other exploits.”
In 1975, the CAHA, at its annual meeting in Quebec City, established three awards: the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy goes to the Memorial Cup tournament's most valuable player; the George Parsons Trophy is awarded to the most sportsmanlike player; and, the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy goes to the outstanding goaltender.
At the 1996 tournament in Peterborough, the CHL announced that it was putting a new trophy into the tournament's showcase. The Ed Chynoweth Trophy, in honor of the long-standing CHL and WHL president, now is given annually to the leading scorer at the Memorial Cup tournament.
The three major junior league's championship trophies are:
The J. Ross Robertson Cup — Awarded annually to the winner of the OHL's playoff championship, this trophy is named in honor of John Ross Robertson, who was president of the OHA for six years, beginning on Dec. 2, 1899. Robertson was the most dominant hockey executive of the 20th century's first 20 years. He died on May 31, 1918.
Coupe de President — Awarded annually to the QMJHL's playoff champion.
The Ed Chynoweth Cup — Awarded annually to the WHL's playoff champion.
NEXT: 1919 (Regina Patricias vs. University of Toronto Schools)
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