1974-75 OMJHA Season
1974-75 standings
1. Burlington Metros
2. Waterloo Maroons
3. Oakville Oaks
4. Kitchener Legionnaires
5. Guelph Crusaders
6. Kitchener Generals
7. Milton Micmacs
8. Owen Sound Arrowbirds
9. Oshawa Diamonds
10. Barrie Admirals

Story:
1974-75 began with two new teams the Barrie Admirals and the Oshawa Diamonds. Both teams played very well in the first half of the season. Still, all went downhill in the 2nd half the Admirals went 0-18-2 in the final 20 games, while the Diamonds won only 5 in the last 20 games. Luckily, it was enough for them to finished 9th.

Both the 1974 Smyth Cup champion Burlington Metros and the Waterloo Maroons battled for the top spot in the league, it was back and forth, but in the last game of the season, the Metros won the game against the Maroons 4-2 to take the sole spot of 1st place.

The Legionnaires rookie John Herbco tops the league in goals with 40 the most made by a rookie in OMJHA history, which also helped the team stay in the top 4.

With the OMJHA now a ten-team league, they expanded from a six-team playoff format to 8 team playoff formats. However, the number of games in each round still the same as the owners and Franklin Name are discussing a possible extending more playoff games for next year.

The Metros may take 1st place in the league but didn’t become the league champions for the third year in a row that title belongs to the Oakville Oaks as it took all five games, including game 1 to 4 ending in overtimes. The Oaks win game 5 in regulation to win the Smyth Cup and a trip to Montreal for the 1975 Valor Cup tournament.

Last edited by AJHFTW (2/20/2021 1:01 pm)

1975 Valor Cup Tournament
Story:

Hockey fans were in a treat as the 1975 Valor Cup would be a future star showcase with talents on the ice every game, the Cougars, Les Rouges game was the best game fans enjoyed, and pro hockey scouts eyeing on that right player for the draft. The Cougars won that game 6-5.

Cougars Cliff Burns is making a name for himself, scoring 12 goals in 4 games the most in Valor Cup tournament history. The best game that Burns made was the last game of the round-robin against the Les Rouges scoring five goals in an 8-2 win, creating one of the biggest blowouts in the tournament.

What was worse than getting blown out by the Cougars? How about losing the semi-finals to the Oaks that Les Rouges beat in the round-robin twice in a shutout result, the reason for this semi-final loss was the Les Rouges didn’t take the Oaks seriously even with their upset win over the Cougars. The Oaks beat the Les Rouges 5-4 overtime after the Oaks came back from being behind 4-0 after the 2nd period and forced overtime.

The Valor Cup finals was a rubber match as both the Cougars and the Oaks had a win in a piece from each other in the round-robin, but in the end, the Cougars came out on top with Cliff Burns scoring three goals, three assists with a total of 6 points as the Cougars wins it 7-3 over the Oaks. Cliff was named MVP in the tournament.

Last edited by AJHFTW (2/20/2021 1:07 pm)

1975-76 WCLH Season
1975-76 standings

1. Lethbridge Cougars
2. Fargo Owls
3. Saskatoon Cats
4. Abbotsford Forest Kings
5. Kenora Pioneers
6. North Battleford Crusaders
7. Nanaimo Sharks
8. Medicine Hat Hawks
9. Brandon Buffalos
10. Moose Jaw Wings

Story:

For the fourth year, the Lethbridge Cougars takes the top spot in the league, while both the Owls and the Cats went back and forth for the 2nd place. On the season finale, both the Owls and the Cats got the same record, but the Owls takes 2nd place by having more goals for then the Cats.

The Crusaders made lots of wins and sold out at every home game. Still, however, the hopes for a new arena are looking darker than ever, with both sides cannot agree on it even with Ron Jackins offer 100% of his share to build the arena. Still, the city council believe the arena is still good to play in however it located outside the city, and it's small the only thing big is the ice rink if both sides don't come to an agreement Ron would have no other choice but to find a new city to move the team in.

 The Sharks are pretty much in rebuilt mode with Jake Peterson now the owner he had to hand over his GM job to his assistant Paul Rowe, even the coaching staff changed as well were Frank Billiton took a head coaching job for the Seattle Pro hockey club, and he took the rest of the coaching staff with him. With fresh faces on the bench, the Sharks finished 7th but played poorly in the playoffs as they got swept by the Owls; both games were shutouts.

The Cougars make it back to back as they beat the Owls 3 to 1, but the Cougars had a hard time with the 5th seed the Kenora Pioneers were all three games ended in overtime and all three games the Cougars drop a three-goal leads.

Last edited by AJHFTW (2/20/2021 1:12 pm)

1975-76 AQHL Season
1975-76 Standings
1. Drummondville Les Rouges
2. Cape Breton Warriors
3. Moncton Bears
4. Fredericton Vikings
5. Verdun Knights
6. Laval Tigers
7. Portland Clippers
8. Trois-Rivieres Titans
9. Sherbrooke Loups
10. New Glasgow Highlanders

Story:

The Titans show some good progress from their previous season to make it bigger for them; they even beat the defending Bronz Cup champions Les Rouges twice. With those two wins, help the Titans finished 8th place and enter the playoffs where they gave Drummondville a run for their money. In the end, the Titans fell one win short as they got eliminated by the Les Rouges 2 games to 1.

The league would witness one of the most lopsided trades in history. The Highlanders traded forward Sam Wilkinsburg, goalie Nathen Williams and 1st round pick to the Portland Clippers for forward Paul Frank, forward Tim Keith, and 5th round pick. The trade looks good on paper, but Frank got injured and was out for the season, while Tim got the call to play for Denver Pro Hockey club; with them out, New Glasgow finished the last place and with the 1st round pick belongs to the Clippers the Highlanders are outside looking in. For the Clippers, it was not much improvement, but with the 1st pick in their hand, things are looking up in a big way.

Despite losing two games in the season series to an 8th seeded team, the Les Rouges squeezed in 1st place with a 3-1 win over the Verdun Knights and thanks to Fredericton Vikings 4-2 win over Cape Breton Warriors.

In the 1st round, all top seed teams won their series, but in the 2nd round, both top 2 teams received shocking upset. The first place Drummondville Les Rouges lost both games 2 and 3 to fourth place Fredericton Vikings after winning a 9-0 blowout win in game 1. Second place Cape Breton Warriors got swept by third-place Moncton Bears, what worse for the Warriors they got outscored by the Bears with the total score of 10-4 in 2 games.

In the all New Brunswick series, both teams went back and forth until game number 5. It was all Moncton where Forward Rick Wilson scored two big goals in the 3rd period as the Bears win the series and become the first maritime team to win the Bronz Cup and head out far west in Vancouver for the Valor Cup.

Last edited by AJHFTW (2/20/2021 1:17 pm)

1976 Off-season

1976 WCLH Draft
Moose Jaw selects forward Kyle Ferrell of Edmonton, AB. Brandon Buffalos takes Pat Myles, a forward from Prince Albert, SK. The 3rd pick to the Nanaimo Sharks after a trade with Medicine Hat Hawks as they received forward Alex Jorden. The Sharks pick goalie Max Tayler of Surrey, B.C.

1976 OMJHA Draft
Ever since Diamonds and Generals trade, some top teams offer players for draft picks, but both the Micmacs and the Admirals would not budge as they made their picks. Micmacs choose Milton local forward Bo Chapman. The Admirals select forward Shawn Greene of Barrie. The Generals wasted no time and picked forward Patrick Herbco of Thamesville. With Pat and some good players in their roster, the Generals are ready for a deep run, Generals GM Todd Holmes said, "Get ready for a dynasty in the making!"

1976 AQHL Draft
Saint John, New Brunswick local forward Frank Logan, becomes a Clipper as Portland took him 1st overall. Sherbrooke Loups rebuild continues as they take Christian Dupont, a forward from Saint-Jerome, QC. Trois-Rivieres Titans pick JP Laflamme, a forward from downtown Trois-Rivieres as he would be one of many locals to represent Trois-Rivieres for a deep run as team co-owner Lance Chouinard said "This is it! It is all or nothing for us, and we must finish first place no ifs, or buts about it."

News

CIHA: After a big meeting with owners within all three leagues during the Valor Cup tournament in Vancouver, they all agreed and sign in print that Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the location for the 1977 Valor Cup. The arena will be the Winnipeg Memorial Centre, formerly home of the Manitoba Pro Hockey Club.

CIHA: Also in the meeting, the owners had agreed to increase the numbers of games for both the season and in the playoffs, but only the 1976-77 playoff games will rise from the best 2 of 3 games in round 1 and 2 to the best 3 of 5, and the finals will be from the best 3 of 5 now the best 4 of 7 games. The season will increase from 40 games to 50 games a year later in 1977-78 just in time for the CIHA 5th anniversary.

OMJHA:  As speaking of 1977-78, the OMJHA have announced that they will be adding two more teams in their league. OMJHA will welcome Peterborough and Orangeville. For Orangeville, it is an excellent opportunity for the city. As for Peterborough, it is a significant return to the league as the city was once part of the OMJHA in 1946 until 1961 the team folded from low attendants to high price for travelling. "Today is a great day for both cities to be part of the top tier league," said OMJHA President Franklin Name.

OMJHA: Two teams made one of the most significant trade ever as Burlington Metros gets forward Thomas Marksman, defence Joe Edwards and Backup goalie Jake Mills. While the Waterloo Maroons received forward Sam O'Brian, defence Luke Stevenson, and goalie Roger Stevenson, this became a turning point for both teams. For the Maroons, it's a need in the hope of staying in contender form for the Smyth Cup, as for the Metros, they realize they need an overhaul after 5 top players from their roster got drafted in the Pro Hockey League draft.

AQHL: The OMJHA is not the only league to add more teams, the AQHL is also adding two teams to the league but in a different way. 1977-78 season the league welcomes Shawinigan, QC. While a year later, Manchester, New Hampshire joins in making them the 2nd American team to be part of the AQHL. John Rome said, "this is what this city needs after losing a minor pro hockey team that was part of the city in almost 40 years. Finally, we can have a team that we can cheer and enjoy the good old game of hockey."

WCLH: WCLH got a taste of international flavour as the Nanaimo Sharks signs Kenta Takamachi, a forward from Osaka, Japan, who moved to Vancouver with his Uncle. "He played outstanding hockey in his homeland," said GM Paul Rowe, "but it's a risk to take from word from the mouth, but after his tryout, I feel that this could pay off for us down the road."

WCLH: The town of Lethbridge would hear one of sad news the Cougars star Cliff Burns got drafted 1st overall by the Vancouver Pro Hockey club, along with Tony Will got drafted in 2nd round by Minnesota Pro Hockey club, and Shane Louis by Denver Pro Hockey club in the 3rd round. With those three key players going pro and some other players they got could go pro or committing to collage, the writing is on the wall for the team being the top of the league. "This one will be a tough road for us, but we been there and overcome it. This one will test us, and we will prevail," Cougars GM Rick Hill said.

Next Post: Team's jersey set updates for 1976-77 season