The Hamilton Red Wings were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1960 to 1974. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario , at the Barton Street Arena , also known as the Hamilton Forum.
35-670: The Hamilton Tiger Cubs were renamed in 1960 becoming the Hamilton Red Wings as they wanted to gain increased ticket sales to emphasize the affiliation with the parent Detroit Red Wings which dated back to 1953. The team played for 14 seasons before being renamed the Hamilton Fincups as they had an ownership change as well as the partnership with Detroit was terminated in the late 60's. The Red Wings of 1962 were coached by Eddie Bush , and managed by Jimmy Skinner (1954-55 Stanley Cup Champion Coach) . The team finished second overall in
70-816: A Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for 4 years, from 1974 to 1978. The team played in Hamilton, Ontario for three years, and in St. Catharines, Ontario for one. The Hamilton Fincups played home games at the Barton Street Arena , also known as the Hamilton Forum from 1974–1976. The St. Catharines Fincups played in the Garden City Arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario in 1976–1977. After moving back to Hamilton,
105-472: A free for all and owner Nick Durbano who had cash flow issues and little interest to maintain a competitive team. Durbano finally found a buyer in the summer of 1974. The two most famous Hamilton Red Wings alumni are "Little M" Pete Mahovlich, and 1972 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson . Many Hamilton Red Wings went on to play for the Detroit NHL team. Hamilton Fincups The Hamilton Fincups were
140-594: Is sometimes referred to as one of the hardest championships to win in hockey, factoring in the number of teams across the CHL's member leagues nationwide, the Memorial Cup tournament being played between their top teams, and the limited eligibility period for players to compete at the major junior level. Capt. Sutherland, who was serving overseas, was President of the Ontario Hockey Association and he brought forward
175-597: The Black Hawks . Team ownership was able to negotiate a lease for Mountain Arena for the 1977-78 OHL season , but at the end of the year the city of Hamilton was still no closer to building a new arena than they had been two years earlier. Moreover, the team was losing money at the tiny, out of the way Mountain Arena. Out of long-term options in Hamilton, the team was moved at the end of that season to Brantford, where they were renamed
210-680: The Brantford Alexanders . The heart and soul of the Fincups was their captain Dale McCourt . He led the team to the Memorial Cup title in 1976, and the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in 1977. He was voted CHL Player of the year for his efforts. There are 21 Fincups alumni who made the NHL. Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup ( French : Coupe Memorial ) is the national championship of
245-677: The Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played among the champions of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL), and a host team, which alternates on an annual basis between the three member leagues. The Memorial Cup trophy
280-560: The Canadian Hockey League : the Ed Chynoweth Cup Champs (WHL) , J. Ross Robertson Cup Champs (OHL) , and the President's Cup Champs (QMJHL) . From 1972 to 1973 these three teams played a single round-robin (two games each), with the top two teams advancing to a single-game final. A semi-final game was added in 1974 . In 1977 the tournament was expanded to a double round-robin (four games each), with no semi-final. The tournament
315-762: The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions from the East would play the Abbott Cup champions from the West. From 1919 to 1928, the Memorial Cup Final was a two-game total goals affair between a champion from Eastern Canada and a champion from Western Canada, both of which were determined through a series of playdowns under the auspices of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association . In 1929,
350-671: The Sudbury Wolves to make to the Memorial Cup hosted at the Montreal Forum . Their opponents for the 1976 national title would be the WHL's New Westminster Bruins and the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts . Hamilton lost the first game of the round-robin to Quebec 4-3, due to the 45 save performance of the Remparts goalie Maurice Barrette. The Bruins would defeat the Remparts the next day 4-2. The third game saw
385-618: The surnames of the team's owners, Joe Finochio and the Cupido brothers Ron and Mario. They renamed the old Hamilton Red Wings after the 1974 season; the franchise had history in Steeltown dating back to the early 1950s. The new owners did not have to go far to hire a new coach for the new regime as they hired a very young Bert Templeton as the team's new coach (Bert was coaching the Junior B team in Hamilton owned by Cupido and Finochio) which had just won
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#1732855679430420-512: The Cup that year, becoming the first American team to win the Memorial Cup, as well as becoming the first host team to win it. The four teams played a single round-robin (three games each). If two teams are tied for third place, then a tie-breaker game is played on Thursday, followed by a semi-final game between the second and third-place teams and a final between the first-place team and the semi-final winner. This format continues to be used to this day, with
455-701: The Eastern Canadian Championship. The Red Wings would play the Western Canadian champion Edmonton Oil Kings for the Memorial Cup. The first game of the 1962 Memorial Cup was played on home ice at the Barton Street Arena which Hamilton won 5-2. The next three games were played at the Guelph Memorial Gardens . Hamilton won game two 4-2. Edmonton won game three 5-3. Hamilton shutout Edmonton 3-0 in game four. The fifth and deciding game
490-532: The Fincups played out of the Mountain Arena from 1977–1978. The Fincups were a short-lived team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League that was very successful on the ice, but did poorly generating revenue. The club bounced around in three outdated arenas in four years. Unable to turn much of a profit, the Fincups moved out of town, becoming the Brantford Alexanders. Fincup was a combination of
525-510: The Fincups score seven power play goals to beat the Bruins 8-4 in a game with many penalties, which concluded the round-robin. The win and the large goal differential put Hamilton directly into the final game. New Westminster would solidly beat Quebec 10-3 in the semi-final game. The next day in front of 4,350 fans at the Montreal Forum, the Fincups played a tenacious forechecking game and defeated
560-634: The Jr B championship (Sutherland cup). Templeton was voted winner of the Matt Leyden Trophy as Coach of the Year in his first season. Templeton was let go partway through the Fincups' fourth season due to conflict with ownership and replaced by Dave Draper. In the four short seasons that the Fincups played, the team won the Memorial Cup once, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup once. The Fincups also represented Canada at
595-595: The Junior 'A' rank was further split into the Major Junior rank and a second-tier rank (referred nowadays as Junior 'A'), with the Memorial Cup serving as the Major Junior championship trophy, and the Manitoba Centennial Trophy , and later the Royal Bank Cup , serving as the second tier championship trophy. In 1972 , the Memorial Cup was contested between three teams: the champions of the three leagues of
630-455: The Memorial Cup Final became a best-of-three series. In 1934, when the junior hockey teams were further divided between Junior 'A' and Junior 'B', the Memorial Cup served as the Junior 'A' championship trophy, and the Sutherland Cup became the Junior 'B' trophy. From 1937 the Memorial Cup was a best-of-five series, and in 1943 reverted to a best-of-seven series. For the 1970–1971 season ,
665-474: The Memorial Cup was open to all Junior A teams in the country and was awarded following a series of league, provincial and regional playoffs culminating in an east–west championship. The three-league tournament format began in 1972 , a season after the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association divided the Junior A rank into two tiers, naming the Memorial Cup as the championship of the Major Junior level. The Memorial Cup
700-543: The New Westminster Bruins 5-2 in Memorial Cup Final game. The win brought the Memorial Cup back to the "Steel City" for the first time in 14 years. The team's move to St. Catharines, Ontario in 1977 was necessitated by the closure of the old Barton Street Arena in Hamilton. During the 1976 Memorial Cup run, the Hamilton Spectator was filled with speculation about a possible move to Brantford, Ontario , as
735-559: The OHA standings, then lost only 1 game in the post-season run to the Memorial Cup . In the playoffs Hamilton defeated the St. Catharines Teepees , Niagara Falls Flyers , and the Metro Jr. A. champs Toronto St. Michael's Majors 4 games to 1, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup . The Red Wings then swept the series against the Quebec Citadelles for the George Richardson Memorial Trophy to win
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#1732855679430770-602: The World Junior Tournament and came away with a silver medal. The Fincups won the Emms Division regular season title for two consecutive years in 1975–76 and 1976–77, and the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in 1976–77 as the first overall team in the OHA regular season. The Fincups made the OHA finals all 3 years they played out of Hamilton, and came within one win of making it four consecutive appearances in
805-473: The building, chose to demolish the battered, ancient arena rather than repair it. The team was unable to negotiate a short-term lease to use the only other semi-suitable arena in Hamilton, the Mountain Arena , due to opposition from local residents, and so the homeless team was forced to move to St. Catharines, Ontario , about thirty minutes down the QEW , who had recently witnessed the departure of their own OMJHL team,
840-554: The championship series in their only year in St. Catharines. The franchise issued a set of 18 sports cards for the 1974-75 season. The Hamilton Fincups of 1976 were a small, hard-working and determined team which practiced meticulously and strived to be top in condition. Their hard work won the Emms division regular season in 1976 and eliminated the Kitchener Rangers , Toronto Marlboros and
875-468: The erection of a suitable memorial to hockey players who have fallen."— The Globe, Toronto, Ontario, Dec. 9, 1918 . "The (Memorial) cup, coveted prize of Canadian junior hockey, was the brainchild of Capt. Jim (Sutherland) when he was overseas in the Great War (1914–18) and at the time, President of the Ontario Hockey Association (1915–17). He wrote suggesting the trophy in memory of the boys who were killed in
910-600: The honour of hosting the tournament rotated amongst the CHL's three member leagues. If the host team also wins its respective league championship, the Memorial Cup berth reserved for the league champion is instead awarded to that league's runner-up. This was the case in 2006 , when the Quebec Remparts lost to the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL Finals. However, since Moncton was hosting the Memorial Cup that year, Quebec
945-568: The ice after the game, broke apart as captain Chris Bruton of the victorious Spokane Chiefs tried to hand it off to a teammate after being presented the cup on the ice. The crowd started heckling after the replica cup broke apart, while the Chiefs took apart the trophy and shared it around with teammates. In 2012 , defenceman Dillon Donnelly of the Shawinigan Cataractes accidentally dropped
980-502: The idea to present a trophy to honour all the young Canadian hockey players who died in battle and have it awarded to the best junior hockey team in Canada. The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA)'s annual meeting was unanimous that a fitting memorial be established to members of the OHA who had fallen on the field of war. "Past President Capt. J. T. Sutherland, now in France, spoke of the splendid work done by Canadian boys in France and suggested
1015-405: The old arena in Hamilton was obviously on its last legs. However, the city of Hamilton refused to make a decision about a new arena, and debated whether to build a 5,000-seat building for the Fincups or a 16,000 seat arena in hopes of pursuing a World Hockey Association team. In August 1976, the ice-making machinery in the dilapidated, 67-year-old barn broke down and Fincup ownership, who also owned
1050-603: The trophy, significantly damaging it. The official cup is typically kept at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto , Ontario, Canada. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , both the 2020 (scheduled for Kelowna) and the 2021 (to be hosted by the OHL) editions of the tournament were cancelled as a result of provincial restrictions. The QMJHL was the only league of the CHL to declare a champion during
1085-510: The war and no doubt a big part of the idea was instigated by his devotion to his beloved (Alan) Scotty Davidson*, who fell (June 6, 1915) with many other hockey players in the world conflict (including Capt. George T. Richardson*, who died in France, Feb. 9, 1916. (*Both are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.) --William J. Walshe, Comments on Sport, The Kingston Whig-Standard , January 6, 1939. It started as an East-versus-West format, where
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1120-431: Was awarded the QMJHL berth to the Memorial Cup tournament. The Remparts went on to win the Memorial Cup that season, the first time that a team has won the tournament without qualifying as the tournament host or as the champions of their respective league. In the history of the cup, there have been two major mishaps with the cup itself. At the 2008 tournament , a replica trophy, which is the one teams are presented with on
1155-615: Was established by Captain James T. Sutherland to honour those who died in service during World War I . It was rededicated during the 2010 tournament to honour all soldiers who died fighting for Canada in any conflict. The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in 1919 to be awarded to the junior ice hockey champion of Canada. From its inception until 1971,
1190-454: Was held at a pre-determined site which was rotated among the three leagues. The 1983 Memorial Cup tournament saw the inclusion of a fourth team, the team hosting the event, which was done to boost tournament attendance. The first tournament under this format was held in Portland, Oregon , and marked the first time that an American city hosted the Memorial Cup. The host Winter Hawks also won
1225-694: Was played in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium . The Red Wings defeated the Oil Kings 7-4 to win the series and the Memorial Cup, 4 games to 1. Five years later the Red Wings made it to the OHA finals again in 1967, but were swept 4 games to 0 by the Toronto Marlboros . Once the sponsorship money from the Detroit Red Wings ended at the conclusion of the 1966-67 season the franchise went in
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