By Adrien Leduc
In the days before the return of NHL hockey to the national capital (1992), an OHL game was the hottest hockey event in town.
This was especially true on the eve of March 1, 1991 when more than 9,500 Ottawa fans packed the Civic Centre to watch their beloved 67’s take on the visiting Oshawa Generals.
The Generals (named after General Motors who were the major sponsors of the team’s 1937 reincarnation) were not only unbeaten in 13 games, but also featured Eric Lindros, dubbed “The Next One” and widely considered the best junior hockey player in North America. (He was selected number one in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.)
While Oshawa were heavy favourites to win the game, the third contest between the two teams that season (1990-1991), Ottawa was a worthy opponent.
Coming off four straight wins, and possessing the scoring talents of Kris Draper (who played just one season in the OHL), the boys in white, red, and black surely weren’t going to go down without a fight.
Prior to the game, reporters asked 67’s coach and GM Brian Kilrea (who coached his Ottawa West Midget AA team to a 4-4 draw against a touring Soviet All-Star contingent in 1990), how his team planned to handle the 6’5″, 220 lb. Lindros.
Kilrea was adamant that assigning one or two players to check him wasn’t an option as “[Oshawa] double shift him a lot,” but that he would “try to have either Kris Draper’s line or Brett Seguin’s [line] playing against him.”
Both lines were well-suited to the challenge, with Draper being paired with Chris Simon (who currently plays in the KHL) and Jamie Allan, and Seguin skating with Peter Ambroziak and Ryan Kuwabara (a Hamilton native who played for Japan at the ’98 Olympics in Nagano).
From the moment the puck was dropped that evening, fans were treated to exciting, end-to-end action, the game a spectacle of hard, glass-rattling hits, quick passing, and the frequent ping of errant shots striking posts and crossbars.
In their two previous meetings, the Generals had come out on top, hammering the 67’s 12-4 in September and handling them 7-5 in February. But this game was different. This time it was Ottawa’s turn.
Line change after line change, hit after hit, goal after goal. The game was tied four times by the third period, neither team being able to gain a comfortable lead.
In the end though, despite Lindros’ four assists and a hat-trick by Rob Pearson, the Generals fell 5-4 to the hometown 67’s.
It was the Generals’ first loss in a month and Ottawa’s fifth straight win. To mark the winning goal, Claire Turcotte, 67’s organist, serenaded the happy crowd (rather cheekily) with Bobby McFerrin’s, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
Asked afterwards what he thought of the game, Oshawa Generals coach, Rick Cornacchia (who coached Italy at the 2010 IIHF Men’s World Championship), said: “They (Ottawa) get three power plays and we get none in the third – but I can’t comment on the officiating. We don’t want to get into trouble.”
The Ottawa 67’s would finish the 1990-1991 OHL season sixth overall with a record of 39-25-2.
Eric Lindros finished the season as League MVP with 71 goals and 78 assists in just 57 games played.