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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Venue(s) | Copps Coliseum Hamilton, Ontario |
| Dates | May 5–13, 1990 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Host team | Dukes of Hamilton (OHL; did not participate) |
| TV partner(s) | TSN |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Oshawa Generals (OHL)(4th title) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 8 |
The1990 Memorial Cup occurred May 5–13 at theCopps Coliseum inHamilton, Ontario. It was the 72nd annualMemorial Cup competition and determined themajor junior ice hockey champion of theCanadian Hockey League (CHL). Participating teams were theOntario Hockey League championOshawa Generals and runner-upKitchener Rangers, as well as the winners of theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League andWestern Hockey League which were theLaval Titan andKamloops Blazers. The original host team, the short-livedDukes of Hamilton, were forced to drop out after only winning eleven games in the1989–90 OHL season. Oshawa won their 4th Memorial Cup, defeating Kitchener in the final game.
TheKamloops Blazers finished the1989–90 season with the best record in theWestern Hockey League, finishing the season with a 56-16-0 record, earning 112 points, clinching theScotty Munro Memorial Trophy. The Blazers led the league with 484 goals, and finished the season with the second fewest goals allowed at 278. In the West Division semi-finals, Kamloops defeated theSpokane Chiefs fives games to one, followed by beating theSeattle Thunderbirds five games to one in the West Division finals, setting up a matchup against theLethbridge Hurricanes for thePresident's Cup. The Blazers defeated the Hurricanes four games to one to secure a berth in the 1990 Memorial Cup.
The Blazers were led byLen Barrie, who scored a league high 85 goals and 185 points in 70 games to win theBob Clarke Trophy. Barrie followed up his spectacular regular season with 14 goals and 37 points in the post-season to lead the Blazers to the WHL championship.Phil Huber finished fourth in league scoring as he scored 63 goals and 152 points in 72 games, whileMike Needham scored 59 goals and 125 points in 60 games. Seventeen year old defensemanDarryl Sydor led the defense with 29 goals and 95 points in 67 games as he was one of the top prospects heading into the1990 NHL Entry Draft. Sixteen year old rookieScott Niedermayer scored 14 goals and 69 points in 64 games in his first season of junior hockey.Corey Hirsch was the Blazers starting goaltender, as in 63 games, he earned a record of 48-13-0 with a 3.82 GAA and a save percentage of .876. Head coachKen Hitchcock was awarded theDunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year.
The 1989-90 season was the third time in team history that the Blazers had won thePresident's Cup. The team had previously won the championship in 1984 and 1986. The Blazers did not win theMemorial Cup in their previous appearances, as in the1984 Memorial Cup, the franchise, known at the time as theKamloops Jr. Oilers, finished in third place, while in the1986 Memorial Cup, the Blazers once again finished in third.
TheKitchener Rangers had a record of 38-21-7 in the1989–90 season, earning 83 points and second place in the Emms Division. The high powered Rangers offense led the OHL with 358 goals, while the club allowed 259 goals, the sixth fewest in the league. In the post-season, the Rangers defeated theNorth Bay Centennials four games to one in the Emms Division quarter-finals. Kitchener earned a bye in the Emms Division semi-finals, advancing straight to the Emms Division finals, where they defeated theNiagara Falls Thunder four games to one. By advancing to theJ. Ross Robertson Cup finals, the Rangers were guaranteed a berth in the1990 Memorial Cup as theDukes of Hamilton, the host of the tournament, were forced to dropout of the tournament following a very poor on-ice product. The Rangers faced theOshawa Generals for the OHL championship, however, the team lost in seven games.
Gilbert Dionne led the Rangers offense with 48 goals and 105 points in 64 games, finishing seventh in league scoring.Joey St. Aubin finished just behind Dionne in points, as he scored 36 goals and 104 points in 66 games.Jason Firth also managed to break the 100 point plateau, as he scored 36 goals and 100 points in 63 games.Shayne Stevenson, who scored 28 goals and 90 points in 56 games during the regular season, led Kitchener in post-season scoring, as he had 16 goals and 37 points in 17 games. Kitchener nativeSteven Rice had the second highest goal total on the club with 39, while earning 76 points in 58 games.Cory Keenan led the defense with 13 goals and 48 points in 66 games, whileJason York, acquired mid-season in a trade with theWindsor Spitfires, scored 11 goals and 36 points in only 25 games with Kitchener.Mike Torchia got the majority of playing time in goal, earning a 25-11-2 record with a 3.58 GAA and a .875 save percentage in 40 games.
The 1990 Memorial Cup was the fourth time in team history that the Rangers earned a berth. Their previous appearance was in the1984 Memorial Cup, as Kitchener lost to theOttawa 67's in the final game. The Rangers also lost in the final game in the1981 Memorial Cup to theCornwall Royals and won theMemorial Cup in the1982 Memorial Cup against theSherbrooke Castors.
TheLaval Titan had a mediocre regular season during the1989–90 season, as the team finished with a 37-30-3 record, earning 77 points and fifth place in the eleven team league. The Titan were the second highest scoring team in the QMJHL, scoring 332 goals, while their 274 goals against was the third fewest in the league. In the QMJHL quarter-finals, the Titan defeatedShawinigan Cataractes four games to two, advancing to the QMJHL semi-finals. In this round of the post-season, Laval defeated theHull Olympiques four games to one, setting up a matchup against the first placeVictoriaville Tigres for thePresident's Cup. The Titan stunned the heavily favoured Tigres with a four game sweep to win the championship for the second consecutive season and earn a berth in the 1990 Memorial Cup.
Denis Chalifoux led the Titan offensively, scoring a team high 109 points during the regular season, including 41 goals in 70 games. In the post-season, Chalifoux won theGuy Lafleur Trophy for the Playoff MVP after he scored 14 goals and 28 points in 14 games. Sixteen year old rookieMartin Lapointe won theMichel Bergeron Trophy, awarded to the Offensive Rookie of the Year, after scoring 42 goals and 96 points in 65 games.Sylvain Naud led the Titan in goals, scoring 55, while earning 95 points in 69 games. On defense,Patrice Brisebois scored 18 goals and 88 points in 56 games to lead the blue line, whileMichel Gingras scored 26 goals and 70 points in 64 games. Rookie goaltenderEric Raymond emerged as the starting goaltender of the Titan, earning a record of 18-13-3 with a 3.57 GAA and a .882 save percentage in 37 games. Raymond followed up with a 10-0 record and a 2.27 GAA and a .917 save percentage in the post-season.
The 1990 Memorial Cup was the third time Laval clinched a berth in the tournament. TheLaval Voisins finished in fourth place at the1984 Memorial Cup, while the Titan again finished in fourth at the1989 Memorial Cup.
TheOshawa Generals had the best record in theOntario Hockey League during the1989–90 season, earning a record of 42-20-4 for 88 points and winning theHamilton Spectator Trophy. The Generals scored 334 goals, the second highest in the league, while they allowed 244 goals, the third fewest in the OHL. In the playoffs, Oshawa defeated theCornwall Royals four games to two in the Leyden Division quarter-finals, earning a bye in the division semi-finals. In the Leyden Division finals, the Generals swept thePeterborough Petes in four games, earning a berth in the 1990 Memorial Cup after the host team, theDukes of Hamilton, were forced to give up their spot following a very poor regular season record. The Generals faced theKitchener Rangers for theJ. Ross Robertson Cup, and defeated the Rangers four games to three to win the OHL championship.
Oshawa was led offensively byIain Fraser, who scored a team high 105 points in 56 games. Fraser was awarded theLeo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the best overage player in the OHL. Oshawa nativeBrent Grieve led the Generals with 46 goals, while his 93 points were the second highest total on the team.Jarrod Skalde scored 40 goals and 92 points in 62 games, whileMike Craig scored 36 goals and 76 points in only 43 games. RookieEric Lindros, acquired by the Generals after a trade with theSault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, scored 17 goals and 36 points in 25 games during the regular season. In the post-season, Lindros led the Generals in scoring with 18 goals and 36 points in 17 games. GoaltenderKevin Butt saw the majority of playing time, earning a record of 25-15-2 with a 3.73 GAA and a .873 save percentage in 49 games. Rookie backup goaltenderFred Brathwaite had a very solid season, as his record was 11-2-1 with a 3.00 GAA and a .897 save percentage in 20 games.
The 1990 Memorial Cup was the Generals tenth appearance. The Generals won theMemorial Cup in1939,1940 and1944. The club made two appearances at the tournament during the 1980s, losing the final game at the1983 Memorial Cup to thePortland Winter Hawks and again losing the final game at the1987 Memorial Cup to theMedicine Hat Tigers.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oshawa Generals (OHL) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 12 | Advanced directly to the championship game |
| 2 | Kitchener Rangers (OHL runner-up) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 15 | Advanced to the semifinal game |
| 3 | Laval Titan (QMJHL) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 13 | |
| 4 | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 19 |
Round-robin
Semi-final
Final
| 1989-90 Oshawa Generals[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goaltenders | Defencemen | Wingers | Centres
| |||
All-star team
