Ottawa 67's explained

Team:Ottawa 67's
Colour:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#C60C30 5px solid; border-bottom:black 5px solid;
Colour Text:black
Logosize:165px
City:Ottawa, Ontario
League:Ontario Hockey League
Conference:Eastern
Division:East
Founded:1967
Arena:TD Place Arena 1967–2012, 2014–present
Canadian Tire Centre 2012–2014, occasional home games
Colours:Red, white and black
Championships:Memorial Cups: 2 (1984, 1999)
Gm:James Boyd
Coach:Dave Cameron
Owner:Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group

The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play their home games at TD Place Arena. The 67's are three-time OHL champions, and have played in the Memorial Cup five times, winning in 1984 and as host team in 1999.

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 overall hockey void left by the departure of the junior Ottawa-Hull Canadiens in 1959 and the semi-professional 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. Kilrea would remain as coach until the end of the 2008–09 season, retaining his duties as general manager until the 2011–12 season.

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 1983.

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

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.

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

Bobby Orr Trophy
Eastern Conference champions

  • 2001, 2003, 2005, 2019

Hamilton Spectator Trophy
First overall, regular season

  • 1977–78 93 points
  • 1981–82 96 points
  • 1996–97 104 points
  • 2018–19 106 points
  • 2019–20 101 points
  • 2022–23 107 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
  • 2018–19 106 points
  • 2019–20 101 points
  • 2022–23 107 points

Coaches

Brian Kilrea had a long term coaching relationship with the 67's. Kilrea led the team to three OHL Championships and two Memorial Cups. Kilrea briefly moved up to the NHL as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 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. Kilrea was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

On September 3, 2008, Kilrea announced that at the end of the 2008–09, he would step down from his head coaching position. He remained with the team as their general manager until the 2011–12 season, after which he was replaced in that post by head coach Chris Byrne.

Andre Tourigny won OHL Coach of the Year award in 2018–19 leading the 67's to a 50–12–6 record and a franchise record-breaking 106 points. Tourigny won a second consecutive OHL Coach of the Year award in 2019–20 going 50–11–1 in a shortened season and earning the CHL Coach of the Year in the process. Dave Cameron is the 67's most recent recipient of the award, taking home the honours after leading the club to their record setting 51-win season in 2022-23. He also won CHL Coach of the Year in that same season.

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
  • 2014–2017 – Jeff Brown
  • 2017–2021 – Andre Tourigny
  • 2021–present – Dave Cameron[1]

Players

Denis Potvin and Doug Wilson are the only Ottawa 67's alumni to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as players.

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

Roger Neilson Memorial Award
Top Academic College/University Player

Wayne Gretzky 99 Award
Playoffs MVP

Retired numbers

NHL alumni

Yearly results

Regular season

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Games Won Lost Tied OTL SL Points Pct % Goals
for 		Goals
against 		Standing
1967–68546453--150.13910532910th OHA
1968–695420286--460.4262142538th OHA
1969–7054212310--520.4812132065th OHA
1970–716238186--820.6452962183rd OHA
1971–726333255--710.5632512164th OHA
1972–736341157--890.7063912433rd OHA
1973–747030319--690.4932932767th OHA
1974–757033307--730.5213793824th OMJHL
1975–766634239--770.5833312912nd Leyden
1976–776638235--810.6143482881st Leyden
1977–786843187--930.6844053081st Leyden
1978–796830380--600.4413193444th Leyden
1979–806845203--930.6844022882nd Leyden
1980–816845203--930.6843602642nd Leyden
1981–826847192--960.7063532481st Leyden
1982–837046213--950.6793952781st Leyden
1983–847050182--1020.7293472231st Leyden
1984–856620433--430.3262633766th Leyden
1985–866618462--380.2882743527th Leyden
1986–876633285--710.5383102803rd Leyden
1987–886638262--780.5913412942nd Leyden
1988–896630324--640.4852953015th Leyden
1989–906638262--780.5913202654th Leyden
1990–916639252--800.6063012804th Leyden
1991–926632304--680.5152802516th Leyden
1992–936616428--400.3032203108th Leyden
1993–9466332211--770.5832742292nd Leyden
1994–956622386--500.3792322766th Eastern
1995–966639225--830.6292582001st Eastern
1996–976649116--1040.7883201771st Eastern
1997–986640179--890.6742861721st Eastern
1998–996848137--1030.7573051641st East
1999–200068432041-910.6622691891st East
2000–01683321104-800.5592492012nd East
2001–02683620102-840.6032622182nd East
2002–0368441473-980.6993182101st East
2003–0468292694-710.5222382201st East
2004–0568342671-760.5512442102nd East
2005–06682931-53660.4852402444th East
2006–07683034-04640.4712422634th 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
2016–17682634-71600.4412212715th East
2017–18683029-72690.5072252604th East
2018–19685012-421060.7792961831st East
2019–20625011-011010.8152961651st East
2020–21000-0000.00000Season cancelled
2021–22682831-27650.4781992504th East
2022–23685112-321070.7872861711st East
2023–24683624-62800.5882532283rd 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 67's dark jerseys, only slightly altered from the original design, have horizontal "barber-pole" stripes with the rectangular 67's logo. The 67's have also used a white background jersey with barber-pole stripes on the shoulders and sleeves.

An alternate jersey was unveiled in 2001. In keeping with their new "Hockey With Bite" slogan, it featured a logo with an angry puck, and a white background body with jagged red and black trim lines along the bottom and arms. It also had an opposite black background style with white & red trim. This third jersey was discontinued in 2012, but the "Angry Puck" motif still features on some 67's merchandise.

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.

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.

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 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 600 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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ottawa 67's Welcome Dave Cameron as 10th Head Coach in Team History . OurSports Central . July 21, 2021.

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