1990 MEMORIAL CUP
Kamloops Blazers, Oshawa Generals, Kitchener Rangers and Laval Titan
at Hamilton (Copps Coliseum)
They were already calling him The Next Great One. Already, hockey fans either liked him or despised him.
There wasn't any middle ground with Eric Lindros.
And that's just how he played the game of hockey. When he was on the ice, there wasn't any grey area.
He was like that at the 1990 Memorial Cup. And he was only 17 years of age.
This was to be his coming-out party, primarily because four of the tournament's games would be televised by The Sports Network, meaning a national audience would get its first concentrated look at Lindros.
He didn't disappoint.
Neither did this tournament which is at or near the top of the list whenever hockey fans debate which one was the greatest of all time. Why? Well, it featured four overtime games, including two that went into double overtime.
"In my mind, it ranks as No. 1,” OHL commissioner David Branch would say later. "When you put all these things together, you have the finest Memorial Cup ever.”
Lindros and his Oshawa Generals, under head coach Rick Cornacchia, were in this tournament as the OHL champions.
The Kitchener Rangers, coached by Joe McDonnell were in as the OHL runners-up, beaten by the Generals in the championship final.
That's right. There wasn't a host team. The Hamilton Steelhawks were to have filled that role. But with the Steelhawks en route to an 11-49-6 regular-season record, the decision was made to make a change.
Thus, the venue stayed the same, but it was decided that both teams that qualified for the OHL final would get Memorial Cup berths.
In the end, it was a decision no one would regret.
The Generals had acquired Lindros's rights from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds -- they had drafted him but he refused to report -- in time for him to suit up for 25 games, during which he totaled 17 goals, 19 assists and 61 penalty minutes.
In the end, the Generals had a 42-20-4 regular-season record and, with Lindros fully ensconced in the lineup now, they were ready for the playoff run.
Team captain Iain Fraser was the club's top gun, with 40 goals and 105 points. Brent Grieve chipped in with 46 goals and 47 assists, and Jarrod Skalde had 40 goals and 52 helpers. And Mike Craig turned in 36 goals and 40 assists in only 43 games.
Grieve and Fraser, by the way, were real veterans. Both had played for the Generals in the 1987 Memorial Cup in Oshawa. Grieve had two assists in four games; Fraser got into one game.
In goal, the go-to guy all season had been Kevin Butt, who had a 3.75 GAA. Fred Brathwaite (2.91) was coming on as the season wound down.
The Generals opened postseason play by ousting the Cornwall Royals from a Leyden Division quarterfinal in six games to earn a bye to the division final.
In that final, they smoked the defending-champion Peterborough Petes in four games, setting up the final with the Rangers.
The Generals, a team that was formed in 1908, would win that series in seven games -- after trailing 3-1 -- to win the organization's 11th OHL crown. In 10 previous Memorial Cup appearances, Oshawa had three titles -- 1939, 1940 and 1944.
Lindros finished the playoffs with 18 goals and 18 assists in 17 games.
Yes, he was ready.
The Rangers were making their fourth Memorial Cup appearance and, having won it in 1982, were going for title No. 2.
They had gotten through the regular season with a 38-21-7 record, thanks in large part to the offensive talents of Gilbert Dionne, Joey St. Aubin and Jason Firth.
Dionne, younger brother of NHL star Marcel Dionne, finished with 105 points, including 48 goals; St. Aubin scored 36 goals and set up 68 others; and, Firth had 100 points, including 64 assists. Steve Rice helped out with 39 goals and 37 assists in 58 games.
In goal, the load fell on Mike Torchia, who put up a 3.58 GAA in the regular season. He played every postseason minute and finished with a 3.51 GAA.
In the playoffs, the Rangers opened in an Emms Division quarterfinal and took out the North Bay Centennials in five games to earn a bye to the division final where they ousted the Niagara Falls Thunder in five.
That, of course, sent them into the final against Oshawa.
Kitchener's hottest player going into the Memorial Cup was Shayne Stevenson, thanks to 16 goals and 20 assists in 17 playoff games. Stevenson, who suffered a broken finger in the second game of the OHL final, would have a superb Memorial Cup.
"To get (to the OHL final) and watch someone else carry around the trophy, it hurts,” Stevenson said. "Hopefully, Oshawa and us will get to the final because we'd be able to play them again and beat them.”
The Laval Titan, under head coach Pierre Creamer who was two seasons removed from being fired as head coach of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, were making their second straight Memorial Cup appearance.
This was a team that really didn't make a lot of regular-season noise. Laval finished at 37-30-3, good for fifth place in the 11-team QMJHL.
The Titan, without a scorer in the top 10, scored 332 goals, second only to the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs, who totaled 345 over the 70-game schedule. However, Laval gave up 274 goals during a season in which seven teams allowed fewer than 300 goals.
Denis Chalifoux, a veteran of the 1989 Memorial Cup, was Laval's leading regular-season scorer, with 109 points, including 41 goals. Martin Lapointe followed with 96 points, including 42 goals, tying the franchise record for most points in a season by a rookie. That record had originally been set by Mario Lemieux in 1981-82.
The big line featured Chalifoux and Lapointe, with Claude Boivin supplying the muscle.
All told, the Titan brought with them eight players who had played in the 1989 tournament _ Chalifoux, Eric Dubois, Patrice Brisebois, Michel Gingras, Sylvain Naud, Patrick Caron, Normand Demers and Gino Odjick. With Sandy McCarthy also on this team, the Titan didn't lack for muscle.
In goal, there wasn't any doubt about the No. 1 guy. That was Eric Raymond, who had posted a 3.57 regular-season GAA and then set a QMJHL rookie playoff record with a 2.27 GAA.
Raymond, then, took a hot hand into the tournament, as did Chalifoux, who had led the QMJHL in postseason scoring, with 32 points in 14 games.
Laval opened the playoffs with a 4-2 series victory over the fourth-place Shawinigan Cataractes and then swept the sixth-place Hull Olympiques.
The Titan met up with the first-place Victoriaville Tigres in the final. It was no contest. Laval won four straight games, outscoring Victoriaville 23-9 in the process.
The QMJHL, which hadn't had a Quebec-based team win the Memorial Cup since the Quebec Remparts in 1971, had high hopes, indeed.
Still, it was Ken Hitchcock's Kamloops Blazers -- sparked by Len Barrie, Phil Huber, Dave Chyzowski, Mike Needham and goaltender Corey Hirsch -- who rode into this tournament in the favorite's role.
The Blazers were hoping to become the fourth straight WHL team to win the Memorial Cup, following the Medicine Hat Tigers (1987, 1988) and Swift Current Broncos (1989).
Kamloops had posted the WHL's best regular-season record -- 56-16-0 -- and wasn't challenged in the postseason, winning 14 of 17 games.
The Blazers opened with two West Division best-of-seven series. First, they ousted the Spokane Chiefs in six games and then in the division final they took care of the Seattle Thunderbirds, also in six games.
In the championship final, a best-of-seven affair, Kamloops polished off the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-1.
The Blazers were led by Barrie, a 20-year-old centre who had been picked up from the Victoria Cougars with whom he had spent three losing seasons.
"This is the first year I've even won a playoff series,” said Barrie, who led the WHL in goals (85), assists (100) and points (185). "It seems I've always gone out in the first round against Kamloops.
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.”
Barrie was also the playoff scoring champion, with 14 goals and 37 points.
Kamloops could also boast of Huber (53 goals, 152 points), Needham (59 goals, 125 points) and Brian Shantz (39 goals, 114 points) up front. Trevor Sim, who had won the Memorial Cup with Swift Current in 1989, was with the Blazers and had totaled 39 goals and 67 points in 49 games.
Kamloops got a boost in midseason, too, when Chyzowski, a left winger, was returned by the NHL's New York Islanders.
In the playoffs, the Blazers regularly got a lift from a line featuring Cal McGowan, Zac Boyer and Paul Kruse, a threesome that frequently rattled the opposition with some fierce forechecking.
The best of the Kamloops defencemen were 17-year-old Darryl Sydor, 16-year-old Scott Niedermayer and Dean Malkoc.
Hirsch was the No. 1 goaltender, coming off a regular season in which he went 48-13-0 with a 3.82 GAA. Hirsch played every minute of every playoff game, going 14-3 with a 3.45 GAA.
Things didn't go at all as planned for the Blazers, however, and it would be a week they'd rather forget. You might call it a case of close, but no cigars.
The Blazers played on the tournament's first two days -- losing 8-7 in overtime to Kitchener before 7,003 fans on May 5 and then dropping a 7-6 overtime decision to Oshawa in front of 7,465 fans on May 6.
"You have to give Kitchener and Oshawa a lot of credit, but we're not playing well collectively,” Hitchcock said.
In the opener, the Rangers got the winner from Stevenson, who scored his second goal of the game at 7:41 of overtime.
That came after St. Aubin tied it on a power play at 15:41 of the third period.
Kitchener actually trailed 6-4 going into the third period.
Mark Montanari, Rice, John Uniac, Firth and Rival Fullum also scored for Kitchener. Chyzowski and Sydor, with two each, Kruse, McGowan and Needham replied for Kamloops, which outshot the Rangers 45-37.
Also on May 5, Oshawa downed Laval 6-2 before 8,066 fans.
The Generals scored three goals in the game's first nine minutes, counted five in all in the first period and never looked back.
Cory Banika, with two, Fraser, Grieve, Paul O'Hagan and Skalde had Oshawa's goals, with Lindros earning one assist. Chalifoux and Naud finding the range for the Titan.
Oshawa went to 2-0 and the Blazers well to 0-2 the next day as Fraser netted the winner at 3:55 of the extra period. The Blazers, 7-6 losers in this one, outshot the Generals 50-21.
Craig struck for three first-period goals for the Generals, who gave up the first goal and then scored five in a row. It was the second straight game in which Oshawa put five on the board in the opening 20 minutes.
Skalde, Scott Luik and Grieve also scored for the Generals. Lindros set up three goals.
The Blazers, who trailed 6-2 going into the third period and 6-3 with 4:30 to play, tied it on third-period goals by Barrie (3:32), Niedermayer (15:37), Sydor (17:15) and Chyzowski (19:30).
Chyzowski finished with two goals, giving him four in two games. Barrie also scored twice.
And it seemed there was more to this game than met the eye.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Len Barrie in public,” Cornacchia said. "He insulted us and said we had no character.”
"Things got a little emotional,” Barrie said, "and there was a lot of yapping going on. We totally outplayed them and should have won this hockey game. A team that gives up a four-goal lead doesn't have any character anyway.
"We're not out of this thing yet.”
On May 9, Kitchener downed Laval 5-3 to improve to 2-0 and drop the Titan to 0-2. Attendance was 5,249.
Montanari, who had opened the season with the American Hockey League's Maine Mariners, broke a 3-3 tie at 2:08 of the first period and Firth wrapped it up with an empty-net goal at 19:49.
Dionne, Rice and Stevenson also scored for Kitchener, as the Rangers continued to get production from their big guns.
Gingras, with two, and Carl Boudreau scored for Laval, which would now meet Kamloops to decide one semifinal berth.
The other berth would be decided when Oshawa met Kitchener -- the winner moved into the final, the loser got a spot in the semifinal.
But first things first.
On May 9, the unthinkable happened -- Laval dumped Kamloops 4-2 which meant the Blazers, the top-ranked team in the CHL just a few days earlier, were the first team eliminated. Attendance was 4,075.
"Give (Laval) full marks,” Hitchcock said. "They did the best job that anyone did here checking us.”
Laval scored twice late in the second period and then added two more in the third -- Caron got the winner six minutes into the period and Chalifoux added an empty-netter -- as it earned a spot in the semifinal game.
The Titan ended a five-game losing streak by QMJHL teams against OHL and WHL opposition at the tournament.
Sim gave Kamloops a 1-0 lead on a late first-period power play.
The Titan took the lead late in the second period, scoring two power-play goals five seconds apart in the last minute. Boivin struck with a two-man advantage at 19:49 and Lapointe sent Laval out front at 19:54.
Kruse forged a tie five minutes into the third period, setting the stage for Caron and Chalifoux to round out the scoring.
"They're not a skilled team but they work hard,” said Hirsch, who played by far his best game of the tournament. "I didn't play well at all in the first two games and that may become the most memorable thing in my life.”
Kamloops finished up 0-3, the first WHL team to go winless at the Memorial Cup since the Edmonton Oil Kings went 0-2 in the first tournament, in 1972.
Oshawa moved into the final on May 10, but it wasn't easy. In fact, it took double overtime.
Dale Craigwell finally ended it, scoring at 4:16 of the second extra period to give the Generals a 5-4 victory over Kitchener. It was Oshawa's fourth straight victory over the Rangers.
Attendance was 11,134, the second-largest crowd to watch a Memorial Cup round-robin or preliminary game, behind only the 12,699 who were in the Montreal Forum on May 11, 1973 to watch Quebec beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 7-3.
Craigwell won it with a 15-foot wrist shot that beat Torchia under the right arm.
Banika, Luik, Craig and Fraser also scored for the Generals, with Lindros setting up two goals. Firth, Stevenson, Dionne and Rice countered for the Rangers, who were outshot 53-44, including 20-15 in overtime.
By now, everyone was waiting for Lindros to score his first goal. Still, he had only gotten better as the tournament progressed.
"I'm kind of a slow starter,” he explained. "But I'm warming up and the best is yet to come.
"It seems that the further we get into this tournament, the better I'm playing.”
The Rangers now had to meet Laval in the semifinal game.
"We have to forget about this one and focus on Laval,” Rice said. "It's not like we're out of the tournament.”
"I would love it to be an all-Ontario final,” Cornacchia said. "I hope to see them on Sunday.”
Cornacchia got his wish when the Rangers beat Laval 5-4 on May 12 in front of 10,188 fans.
That set up an all-OHL final, the second straight season in which two teams from the same league would meet in the final. A year earlier, the WHL's Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon Blades had met in the final. The Broncos won 4-3 in overtime in Saskatoon.
In the semifinal, Laval led 3-2 after one period and Kitchener took a 4-3 lead into the third period.
Dionne stretched that to 5-3 earlier in the third period. Laval cut it to 5-4 when Boivin scored on a power play at 8:32 but the Titan weren't able to tie it.
Montanari, with two, St. Aubin and Rice also scored for the Rangers. Laval got two goals from Boivin, with Naud and Dubois adding the others.
All of which set up the final. And what a game it was. For the second consecutive season, the Memorial Cup championship was decided in overtime.
Oshawa won it all when Bill Armstrong scored at 2:05 of the second overtime period to give the Generals a 4-3 victory in front of 17,383 fans.
That was the largest crowd ever to watch a Memorial Cup game. The previous record (13,460) was set on May 14, 1977 for the final game of the 1977 tournament -- New Westminster Bruins 6, Ottawa 67's 5 -- in Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum.
The 1990 tournament totaled 70,563 spectators, second only to the 1989 event in Saskatoon, which drew 77,256 fans. However, the Saskatoon tournament featured nine games (average: 8,588) to Hamilton's eight (average: 8,820).
Armstrong, a 6-foot-5 defenceman, drifted a shot from the left point that made its way through traffic and beat Torchia over the left shoulder.
It was Oshawa's first Memorial Cup championship since 1944.
This final, just like the one a year earlier, was one for the ages.
The Generals were without Craig, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. And things looked bleak when Butt went down with an ankle problem in the second period.
But that's when Brathwaite came on and stole the show, allowing just one goal in more than 50 minutes of action. He made 23 saves in the biggest game of his life.
"I was really nervous to start off with,” Brathwaite said. "I haven't seen that many people in a long time. I thought I might blow it, but I said to myself, "I can't screw up.’ ”
He didn't.
Oshawa got two goals from Grieve, who stepped in for Craig on the line with Lindros and Fraser, with Banika adding the other. Lindros set up three goals, giving him nine assists (and no goals) in the tournament.
Dionne, St. Aubin and defenceman Jason York scored power-play goals for the Rangers, who were outshot 54-38, including 20-12 in overtime.
(Fraser was named the tournament's most valuable player, with Firth winning the sportsmanship award and Torchia being named the top goaltender. The all-star team comprised Torchia, O'Hagan and Kitchener's Corey Keenan on defence, with Lindros, Fraser and Rice up front.)
York and Banika exchanged first-period goals, with St. Aubin and Grieve doing the same in the second. Oshawa took its first lead when Grieve scored again, this one at 3:47 of the third. Dionne forced overtime when he scored just 50 seconds later.
On St. Aubin's goal, the puck struck Butt on the right ankle and deflected into the net. More importantly, Butt was injured and unable to continue.
Brathwaite, who had joined the Generals midway in the season, stepped off the bench and into Memorial Cup history.
Grieve remembered back to 1987.
"In '87, I remember our team coming out flat and (Medicine Hat) got a couple of quick goals,” Grieve said. "When (Medicine Hat) won, that was one of the worst feelings I've ever had. Winning it feels so much better.”
"We went through a lot of adversity,” Fraser said, "and it's the greatest feel bringing the Memorial Cup back to Oshawa.”
As well as going through the heralded arrival of Lindros, the Generals had suffered through the deaths of two people -- receptionist Marg Armstrong and chief scout Jim Cherry -- during the season.
"It would have been easy to fold, but we have a character group of players,” said Cornacchia.
Game's end also signaled the beginning of one of the Memorial Cup's better stories.
As soon as Armstrong scored the winning goal, Brathwaite raced the length of the ice, fell to his knees and seemed to embrace Torchia.
"I felt bad for him and I thought he was awesome,” Brathwaite was quoted as saying later. "I knew we would have all sorts of time to party and I didn't know when I would see him again.”
Torchia recounted: "He just said, ‘Keep your head up, you had a great series.' I can't remember saying anything.
"It was like someone had just ripped my heart right out of my chest. I didn't know what to say.”
Some time later, Cornacchia may have set the record straight with Toronto Star hockey columnist Bob McKenzie.
"I hate to burst the bubble,” Cornacchia told McKenzie, "but Freddie's primary reason for going down to that end of the ice was to get the game puck.
"If you watch the video on that, he's down on his knees, with one arm wrapped around Torchia and the other arm moving out to get the puck, which was right beside Torchia.
"I'm not saying Freddie didn't want to give Torchia a pat on the back, because he did, but I have to be honest -- Freddie wanted the puck.
"That's Freddie. Larcenous Freddie.”
Cornacchia also remembered the exact moment when he turned to Brathwaite on the bench.
"I looked down the bench and told Freddie to get ready,” Cornacchia recalled. "He said, ‘Sure, Coach,' and started yawning like mad as he put his mask on. I looked at (assistant coach) Larry (Marson) and said, ‘Is he ready?' Larry said, ‘He's ready, don't worry. That's Freddie.’ ”
The final was the tournament's fourth overtime game, something that didn't go unnoticed.
"All I could think about,” Cornacchia said, "was that in that first overtime period, we were defending the goal at which every overtime goal in the tournament had been scored. I was worried.”
He admitted to feeling better once the Generals got to the second extra period.
"I was feeling a lot better because at least we were at the right end of the ice to score on that same goal,” he explained.
The game-winner came with all the suddenness of a bullet.
Armstrong intercepted a clearing pass and drifted the puck towards the Kitchener net. Just like that, it was over.
"I think every guy in this dressing room had dreamt about scoring the winning goal in the Memorial Cup final,” Armstrong said. "Sure I had dreamt about it. But, realistically, I never thought it would be me who scored.”
Armstrong had scored just two regular-season goals.
NEXT: 1991 (Spokane Chiefs, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Drummondville Voltigeurs and Chicoutimi Sagueneens)