Oshawa Generals

Early years (1908–1937)

Prior to 1908, Oshawa belonged to the Midland Hockey League. It competed against other teams from Whitby, Bowmanville, Port Hope and Cobourg. The first Oshawa team in the Ontario Hockey Association junior division began play in the 1908–1909 season, known as the Oshawa Shamrocks. Ed Bradley, a prominent local businessman was responsible for organizing the team and bringing junior hockey to Oshawa and was the team's manager for the next 13 seasons.^[]

Success came early to the team reaching the semifinals in 1909. In the 1920s, the team enjoyed many successful years, battling against Orillia and Owen Sound. In June 1928, Bradley's Arena burnt to the ground. The team relocated to Whitby until the new Oshawa Arena was built for 1930.^[]

In the early 1930s, the team became known as the Oshawa Majors. The Majors won the OHA title in 1935 versus the Kitchener Greenshirts, and played the Northern Ontario champion Sudbury Cub Wolves. In a protest by Kitchener, the title was taken away from Oshawa while games were already underway with Sudbury.^[]

In 1936, different sources name the team as the Majors, the Red Devils, and the Junior G-Men. This team coached by Bill Hancock and managed by Matt Leyden played the season against St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, Toronto Young Rangers, Toronto Marlboros, Toronto Native Sons and the Toronto Lions.^[]

OHA dynasty (1937–1944)

In 1937, the Oshawa Generals were created and named after the sponsor, General Motors of Canada. The Generals put together an unequalled feat of seven consecutive OHA Championships, and winning three Memorial Cups in the same span.^[]

The Generals grew a reputation for treating its players well and signed many young men who would go on to National Hockey League fame. Players were admitted free to theatres, dancing, wrestling, roller skating and other attractions at the arena. Sponsors gave full scholarships to school and weekly stipends. Through the whole dynasty, the team was managed by Matt Leyden, and its secretary was Neil Hezzlewood. Both men would be inducted in the Oshawa Sports Hall of fame.^[]

From 1937 to 1944, Oshawa Generals graduated 20 players to become NHL alumni, and another player in David Bauer, who would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder's Category. NHL alumni from 1937 to 1944 include; Frank Bennett, Harvey Bennett, Les Colvin, Jim Conacher, Floyd Curry, Buck Davies, Bob Dawes, Jim Drummond, Frank Eddolls, Bill Ezinicki, Armand (Bep) Guidolin, Nick Knott, Ted Lindsay, Jud McAtee, Norm McAtee, Gus Mortson, Chuck Scherza, Ken Smith, Billy "The Kid" Taylor and Wally Wilson.^[]

Fire (1953)

On September 14, 1953 Hambly's Arena burned down. The city lost their arena, and their OHA team. Donations poured in from many fellow OHA teams and local businessmen. Equipment and other items were dispersed to all the players attending the training camp to cover individual losses. The Generals, homeless so close to the start of the new season, were disbanded.^[]

Salvaged from the disbanded team, General Manager Wren Blair made a Senior B team known as the Oshawa Truckmen, who played in Bowmanville for the 1953–1954 season. The year after, this team became the Whitby Dunlops. The Dunlops were Allan Cup Champions in 1957 & 1959, and World Champions in 1958.^[]

Rebirth of the Generals (1962)

In 1960, Wren Blair began negotiations with Boston Bruins president Weston Adams to begin building the new Oshawa Generals. The agreement was made contingent on a new arena being built in Oshawa. The Oshawa Civic Auditorium would open in 1964.^[]

In the meantime, the Oshawa Generals were reactivated for the 1962–1963 as a team playing in the Metro Junior A League. For this year, the team played its home games at Maple Leaf Gardens. Fundraising for a new arena was well under way at the same time.^[]

The Generals wore red, white and blue jerseys until the 1965–66 season when they adopted the black, gold and white of their parent team, the Boston Bruins.^[]

In 1963 the Metro Junior A league was disbanded, and Oshawa was readmitted in the OHA. Since the Toronto Marlboros used Maple Leaf Gardens as a home rink, the Generals team played out of nearby Bowmanville for one full season, and part of another.^[]

The Bobby Orr years (1962–1966)

The greatest player ever to wear an Oshawa Generals uniform, Bobby Orr, became a legend in the NHL and to be inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame.^[]

Orr was discovered by Wren Blair as a 14-year-old while playing a game in Gananoque, Ontario. He was quickly signed to a contract and invited to training camp for the 1962–63 season. He would commute three hours from Parry Sound for all weekend games he played with the Generals that year. Even so, he was selected to the Metro Junior A League's second all-star team.^[]

During the 1963–64 season (his first full season in Junior A hockey), Bobby Orr scored 29 goals to break the record for most goals by a defenceman, previously held by Jacques Laperriere. Orr was also selected as a first team all-star defenceman.^[]

During the 1964–65 season, the Generals moved into their new home at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium. Orr broke his own record, scoring 34 goals that season.^[]

In the 1965–66 season, Oshawa returned to the Memorial Cup after a 22-year absence. The Generals were coached that year by alumnus Armand "Bep" Guidolin, who played for Oshawa in the 1942 Memorial Cup, and subsequently made the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a 16-year-old. Team captain Bobby Orr scored 38 goals during the season.^[]

The Generals defeated their bitter rivals, the St. Catharines Black Hawks, in the quarter-finals before eliminating the Montreal Junior Canadiens in the semi-finals, and winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup over the Kitchener Rangers.^[]

The Generals then outscored the Northern Ontario Junior A champion North Bay Trappers by a combined score of 43–9 to win the series in four games, and then defeated Shawinigan Bruins in three games to be the Eastern Canadian representative for the Memorial Cup.^[]

In the Memorial Cup series, Orr played injured through most games, but the team lost to the Edmonton Oil Kings in six games.^[]

After the season ended, many players graduated from the team and moved on: Orr went to the Bruins, Blair became general manager of the NHL's Minnesota North Stars and head coach Guidolin returned to coaching in Thorold.^[]

Ninth championship (1983)

After many dismal seasons through the late 1960s and 1970s, the Generals began to rebuild for a run at the Memorial Cup. In 1979, the Generals hired Head Coach Paul Theriault, who would lead the team to nine consecutive winning seasons, including two Memorial Cup appearances.^[]

In 1983, the Generals returned to the Memorial Cup after a 17-year absence, defeating the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for their ninth J. Ross Robertson Cup. The Memorial Cup that year was played in Portland, Oregon. The Generals lost in the finals to the host team, the Portland Winter Hawks, by a score of 8–3. That year's team captain, defenceman Joe Cirella, went on to play 16 years in the NHL.^[]

Tragedy (1985)

During an early season practice, Bruce Melanson left the ice feeling very weak. Within a few minutes he collapsed, succumbing to a congenital heart disorder known as Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome. He was 18 years old at the time. The Generals wore black arm bands for the remainder of the season in memoriam of their teammate they nicknamed "Moose." In his honour, his number 9 was never worn by another member of the Generals and was later retired in 2006 for the late Red Tilson. A memorial scholarship was also set up at his former high school in New Brunswick. The Generals now hand out an award to the most scholarly student, named the Bruce Melanson Scholactic Player of the Year Award. Melanson's hard-hitting and aggressive style led him to be selected by New York Islanders in the second round, 41st overall, in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.^[]

Hosting the Memorial Cup (1987)

In the 1986–87 season the Generals set a team record with 101 points for the season. The Generals played on home ice in the Memorial Cup, as the host city and as the OHL champions.^[]

In 1987, the OHL organized a "super series" for the right to host the Memorial Cup tournament between the Leyden Division-winning Generals and the Emms Division-winning North Bay Centennials. The super series was played before the OHL playoffs commenced, and Oshawa defeated North Bay four games to three for the right to host the Memorial Cup. Coincidentally, Oshawa also won the OHL championship series defeating North Bay four games to three. Since Oshawa won both the super series and the OHL championship, only three teams participated in the Memorial Cup. Oshawa reached the finals against the Medicine Hat Tigers, but lost 6–2 in the championship game.^[]

Eric Lindros and a fourth Memorial Cup (1989–1991)

Eric Lindros was drafted by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, but refused to play for them, forcing the Greyhounds to trade him. After arriving in Oshawa, Lindros turned out to be the player the Generals needed to reach the Memorial Cup, in addition to the existing core of players captained by Iain Fraser.^[]

After playing for the Canadian National Team, Lindros started his rookie year with the Generals in 1989–90. Lindros would go on to score 17 goals and 19 assists in only 25 games. The same year in the playoffs, he scored 18 goals and 18 assists in only 17 games.^[]

Copps Coliseum hosted the 1990 Memorial Cup. The Generals played against the Kamloops Blazers, Laval Titan and the OHL runners-up, the Kitchener Rangers. The championship game on May 13, 1990, attracted 17,383 spectators who eventually witnessed the Generals defeat the Rangers 4–3 in double overtime on a goal scored by Bill Armstrong. This was the fourth Memorial Cup in Generals history.^[]

In the subsequent off-season, Lindros was chosen first overall at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques. Entering the 1990–91 season, the Generals were expected to repeat as OHL champions. In 57 regular season games, Lindros again led the team in points after scoring 71 goals and 78 assists. The Generals, however, lost the OHL final that year to Lindros' draft team, the Sault Ste. Marie.^[]

Twelfth OHL Championship (1997)

The Generals set the benchmark for other OHL teams by winning their 12th J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1997.^[]

The Generals upset the first place Ottawa 67's in the OHL final, 4–2. The sixth game ended just eight seconds into the first overtime on a goal from Marc Savard.^[]

The Generals then participated in the 1997 Memorial Cup in Hull, Quebec, in which they finished third in the round-robin and lost in the semi-final to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.^[]

Future NHL players from Oshawa's 1997 roster included Marc Savard, John Tripp, Ian MacNeil, Kevin Colley, Dan Hinote, Jeff Ware, Bryan Allen, Jeff MacMillan and Tyrone Garner.^[]

New ownership, new home (2004 to present)

In 2004, John Davies purchased the team from John Humphreys. This marked the beginning of a new era for the team, as the Humphreys family had owned the team since its resurrection in 1962.^[]

In 2005, the Generals drafted 14-year-old John Tavares first overall in the OHL Priority Selection; he was previously granted Exceptional Player Status by the OHL, which allowing him to be drafted one year earlier than the norm. Following his selection, the Generals worked to build another championship team centered around Tavares. Other building blocks added to the team included Michael Del Zotto, Dale Mitchell, Cal Clutterbuck, Brett MacLean (then one of the youngest players in the OHL), goaltender Anthony Peters and eventually Calvin de Haan.^[]

The new ownership also brought to an end the Generals era playing in the Civic Auditorium. Led by Oshawa Mayor John Gray, the Generals were able to call a new arena in downtown Oshawa their home. The team moved into the General Motors Centre on November 1, 2006, and played the inaugural game on November 3 against the Owen Sound Attack.^[]

After topping scoring boards and points lists with the Generals for three and a half seasons, John Tavares and Michael Del Zotto were traded to the London Knights on January 8, 2009, and a new crop of young talent was brought onto the Generals team. Christian Thomas, Scott Valentine and Michael Zador, along with several draft picks, were part of the Tavares deal. Other additions included Tony DeHart and Lucas Lessio, a result of one of London's draft picks that was traded to Oshawa.^[]

In July 2008, the Generals' executive team announced a change of ownership structure, with Rocco Tullio of Windsor, Ontario, agreeing to terms and conditions with John Davies to acquire his remaining shares of the Generals. In January 2010, Tullio welcomed two new partners as owners – former NHL star and Stanley Cup champion Adam Graves and former championship OHL coach and manager Peter DeBoer.

2015: Return to the Memorial Cup

For the first time since 1997, the Oshawa Generals made it back to the Memorial Cup in 2015. They ended up winning all three of their round robin games, and clinched a spot in the 2015 Memorial Cup final. They defeated the Kelowna Rockets in the final after Anthony Cirelli scored the game-winning goal in overtime.^[]

In the 2014–15 season, the Generals won their 13th J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Erie Otters. They went undefeated at the Memorial Cup in Quebec City to take home their fifth Memorial Cup in club history.^[]