1983 WCLH Playoffs

Round 1
1 west: Lethbridge Cougars vs. 4 east: Moose Jaw Wings

The Cougars showed no mercy on the Wings, as they would win the series in four games to add more salt to the wound. The Wings couldn’t score as they became the first team in the WCLH best-of-seven-game series era to get swept without scoring a goal. The Cougars wins the series 4-0.

2 west: Billings Trains vs. 3 east: Fargo Owls

The Billings Trains had high hopes to move on to the second round, but the Fargo Owls had other ideas as both went back and forth all the way to game seven, where the Trains led 3-1 going into the second period as they did everything they can to hold on to that lead and the defence duo of Drew Eastwood and Glen Sasakamoose really gave the Owls offence a hard time all game, in the third period the Trains added two more goals to win game seven 5-1. The Trains wins the series 4-3.

1 east: Swift Current Battalion vs. 4 west: Abbotsford Forest Kings

The Battalion did not waste any time and took the Forest Kings down within 5 games, as the only loss for the Battalion was in game four in overtime; Eric Wilcox made 9 goals and 12 points in that series, which was the best he showed after going through last playoffs on a cold streak. The Battalion wins the series 4-1.

2 east: Portage la Prairie Magic vs. 3 west: Medicine Hat Hawks

The Magic had everything going their way, winning the first two games over the Hawks. However, in game three, the Magic lost Zachary Natyshak (knee) and Mark Daneyko (upper body) to injury. The Hawks took an advantage and won four straight to move on to the second round. The Hawks won the series 4-2.

Round 2

1 west: Lethbridge Cougars vs. 3 west: Medicine Hat Hawks

The battle between the undefended Cougars and the Valor Cup Host the Hawks. The Cougars got the swee

1983 OMJHA Playoffs

 Round 1

Hero Division

Oakville Oaks vs. Toronto Hornets
The Oaks had a tough time winning the first two games and losing game three 3-2 in overtime to the Hornets. However, they got in a groove in game four, 4-1 and finished the Hornets off in game five, 4-2, to win the series in five games. The Oaks wins the series 4-1.

Barrie Admirals vs. Milton Micmacs
The first two games were close, but after the game two overtime loss, the Admirals fell apart as the Micmacs won both games three and four to complete a game sweep and, for the second time, beat the Admirals in the first round. The Micmacs wins the series 4-0.

Steel Division

Buffalo Bees vs. Owen Sound Arrowbirds
The Arrowbirds couldn’t find any answers to win against the Bees until game four, where they had the lead 4-2 going into the third period when William VanDean finally started scoring goals for the first time since December 6th, and he did it with three goals to give the Bees game four wins and the sweep to move on to the next round. The Bees wins the series 4-0.

Waterloo Maroons vs. Toronto Neon
The Maroons had some hiccups in the first two games at the hands of the Toronto Neon, but they would turn it around, win four straight, and head to the Steel Division finals. The Maroons wins the series 4-2.

Hero Division Final

Oakville Oaks vs. Milton Micmacs
Both teams had been back and forth most of the series; in game five, trailing 3-1 going into the third period, the Oaks went tooth and nail to come back with Jake Dahl’s two goals within 30 seconds out of 1:20 left in the third to tie the game at three apiece. In overtime, Oaks rookie Vince Olson made an opportunity moment as one of the Macs players

1982-83 OMJHA Season

As the new season began, there were silents around the league in the aftermath of the departure of the Metros. The next problem was the Kitchener Legionnaires, whose owner, John Rupert, had been in the league. President Tom Van Ryan asked how many teams haven’t received any money to question his role. The rent for the Kitchener Memorial Centre went up this season, and Generals owner Todd Holmes claims that he is paying more than John Rupert Todd threatened to sue, but Tom tried to fix the problem, but the city demands more money from Todd than John, with that Todd Holmes file a lawsuit on John Rupert, even thou John had better evidence, but for some unknown reason there were no payment records, John Rupert said that it was stolen but the court found John Rupert guilty. The Court forced John Rupert to hand over the Legionnaires team to Todd Holmes; after that, Todd announced that after this season, both the Generals and the Legionnaires would merge into one team, and the Generals would add red to their jerseys soon down the road. Unhappy with the outcome, many fans in Kitchener have made it clear that they won’t go to any Generals home game until Todd Holmes tells the truth that he is stealing money from other teams, but there is not enough proof that others will start supporting the Waterloo Maroons next year.

The Orillia Lakers are also in the news that their first home game of the season was a dud. The attendance wasn’t good for the Lakers, who had an average of 300 out of 1500 capacity Orillia Arena seating. “This is a joke. Not even our fans came along with us to play against the Lakers; it is sad to tell you the truth,” Milton Micmacs Jesper Nelson said in an interview with a radio station in Milton.

The 1982 Smyth Cup Champions Buffalo Bees finally topped the Steel division for the first time, also for the time they topped the leagu

Round Robin
Fans came together from all over Canada and even the U.S.A. for this year's tournament in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The Lethbridge Cougars top the tournament with a perfect six wins for a 1st place finish. Coming in 2nd place is the tournament host Sherbrooke Loups, as they are 2-3-1 with a total of 5 points, mainly with a 4-2 win over the Highlanders. The Buffalo Bees lost four games to the Cougars and the Loups, but they got two critical wins over New Glasgow to finish 3rd place and move on to the semi-finals. Ending the tournament last is the New Glasgow Highlanders; even though they got one win, it isn't enough as the tournament rules go that you need two wins to advance.

Semi-Finals
The Cougars got a bye to the finals, meaning they will see who will face them. The Loups have beaten the Bees twice in the round-robin, but in the semi-finals, the Bees got payback as Floyd Currie made two goals and 4 points to lead the Bees to a 6-3 win and have a date with the Cougars for the Valor Cup.

Valor Cup Finals
Lethbridge Cougars vs. Buffalo Bees

First Period: The Bees gave the Cougars a sting as they scored first by William VanDean and Greg Dahlstrom, who scored a goal five minutes before the period ended. The Bees took the lead with a score of 2-0.

Second Period: Within six minutes, the Cougars bounced back as Jack Burk and Karl Fuhr each scored a goal to tie the game up; it would take almost four minutes left into the period for a goal to be made, and that's what Jack Burk did with his second goal of the game to break the tie, and as the period ended the Cougars know that come the third period it'll be a war.

Third Period: With the Cougars leading 3-2, the Bees were shooting all over Greg Finley as he was a brick wall for the Cougars; over the other end, S

1981-82 WCLH Season

Both the Chilliwack Alpines and Surrey River Dogs debut facing each other on Oct 2 and Oct 3, 1981, as part of the home and home games between both teams. The crowds in both towns have jam-packed the arenas so well that there are talks that some businessman around the B.C. area wants to have a team in their own town. In an interview with James Name, there are talks but have no plans for expansion until the 1983 off-season.

The Lethbridge Cougars top both the west division and the whole league for the second season in a row with a crop of youth that are hungry for wins and show great results, lead by Jack Burk, who really stepped up as the captain of the team just like Cliff Burns in the late 70s. “This the year we will win both the Jade Trophy and the Valor Cup; we got this lock on.” Cougars head coach Edward Smith said at the press conference. Fans in Billings are seeing great results as they put together the right players to make the winning team and finished 2nd place, hoping for a deep run in the playoffs. After two years of missing the playoffs, the Hawks are back in it thanks to their new number 1 goalie Sam Abbot who made 26 wins out of 35 games this season; 6 of them were shutouts was good enough for Medicine Hat Hawks to finish 3rd place. Finished 4th place was the Abbotsford Forest Kings despite losing some of their top stars who led the team in winning the Valor Cup two seasons ago, but they still got some good players in their roster that helped them earn 57 points and head into the playoffs. The Nanaimo Sharks finished 5th place, with lots of players leaving the Nanaimo Sharks ranging from pros to Euros leagues and with more players set to leave after this season, the Sharks would start the rebuild from the ground up. Rounding off 6th and 7th place are the new teams, the Surrey River Dogs and the Chilliwack Alpines.

The Kenora Pione