MEMORIAL CUP 1990

The City of Hamilton played host to the 1990 Memorial Cup Tournament and for the second time in three years, a host team would not participate. The Ontario Hockey League determined that the host spot would go to the runner up in their league championship rather than to the Hamilton Dukes.

The OHL title would be contested between the Oshawa Generals and the Kitchener Rangers with the Generals winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup title in seven games to earn their third trip to the Memorial Cup in the past eight years. The Rangers would be participating in their first Memorial Cup since 1984 when they lost to the Ottawa 67`s in the final and the 1990 Memorial Cup would be their fourth national final in the past ten years.

From the Western Hockey League the Kamloops Blazers defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes in five games to win the President`s Cup. The Blazers would be participating in their third Memorial Cup since 1984.

The Laval Titan won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title for the second year in a row as they swept the Victoriaville Tigres in four games. For Laval the 1990 Memorial Cup would be their third national final since 1984.

The 1990 tournament might best be remembered as the overtime tournament as four games, including the final, needed extra time to determine a winner. The Blazers lost twice in overtime, 8-7 to Kitchener and 7-6 to Oshawa, and a 4-2 loss to Laval sent Kamloops home winless.

The final game of the round robin had the undefeated Generals meeting the undefeated Rangers with the winner of the game moving directly to the final while the loser would meet Laval in the semi final. Dale Craigwell scored in the second overtime period to give Oshawa a 5-4 win and a perfect 3-0 record in the round robin.

In the round robin, Kitchener defeated Laval 5-3 and they made it two in a row over the Titan as they took a 5-4 lead into the final period and held on to earn a spot in the final.

The final game was the second time that the Memorial Cup final would be an all OHL affair and the game followed the pattern that had been set in the OHL final and in the round robin game. For the second year in a row, overtime would be required to determine the CHL champion, as the Rangers and Generals were tied 3-3 after regulation time. The first overtime period would not solve anything but Bill Armstrong floated a shot in from the point 2:05 into the second overtime period as Oshawa would win their first Memorial Cup since 1944.

Attendance at the final game was 17,383, which set a new record for both attendance at a Memorial Cup game and at a Memorial Cup final game

Tournament Awards:

George Parsons Trophy (Sportmanship) - Jason Firth - Kitchener

Hap Emms Memorial Trophy ( Outstanding Goaltender) - Mike Torchia - Kitchener

All Star Team:
Goal Mike Torchia, Kitchener
Defence Cory Keenan, Kitchener
Defence Paul O`Hagan, Oshawa
Centre Eric Lindros, Oshawa
Left Wing Iain Fraser, Oshawa
Right Wing Steven Rice, Kitchener