The 1982–83 OHL season was the third season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Niagara Falls Flyers move to North Bay, Ontario, becoming the Centennials. The Guelph Platers are granted an expansion franchise. Fifteen teams each played 70 games. The Oshawa Generals won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Expansion and Relocation
Guelph Platers
The Guelph Platers were approved to join the Ontario Hockey League for the 1982-83 season as the league approved an expansion team for the city of Guelph. The Platers would play in the Guelph Memorial Gardens and join the Emms Division.
The Platers previously played in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League since the 1977-78 season. The club won the 1978 Centennial Cup, defeating the Prince Albert Raiders of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in a four game sweep. In the 1981-82 season, Guelph finished with a 40-4-6 record, earning 86 points and first place in the OPJHL. At the 1982 Centennial Cup, Guelph lost to Prince Albert in four games.
The Belleville Bulls, who played in the OPJHL from 1979-1981, joined the OHL one year earlier, in the 1981-82 season.
Niagara Falls Flyers to North Bay Centennials
The Niagara Falls Flyers relocated to the city of North Bay and were renamed the North Bay Centennials. The club's nickname was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the railroad in North Bay.
The Centennials remained in the Emms Division, and would play out of the North Bay Memorial Gardens.
Regular season
Final standings Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched first round bye; z = clinched division title & first round bye
Leyden Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 z-Ottawa 67's 70 46 21 3 95 395 278 2 y-Peterborough Petes 70 46 22 2 94 367 278 3 x-Oshawa Generals 70 45 22 3 93 380 255 4 x-Toronto Marlboros 70 36 29 5 77 325 311 5 x-Cornwall Royals 70 36 33 1 73 370 335 6 x-Belleville Bulls 70 34 36 0 68 342 332 7 Kingston Canadians 70 24 45 1 49 351 425
Emms Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 z-Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 70 48 21 1 97 363 270 2 y-Kitchener Rangers 70 45 23 2 92 393 292 3 x-North Bay Centennials 70 44 23 3 91 352 285 4 x-Brantford Alexanders 70 34 33 3 71 275 282 5 x-London Knights 70 32 37 1 65 336 339 6 x-Windsor Spitfires 70 19 50 1 39 289 394 7 Sudbury Wolves 70 15 50 5 35 269 422 8 Guelph Platers 70 7 63 0 14 246 555
Scoring leaders Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Doug Gilmour Cornwall Royals 68 70 107 177 62 Ron Handy Kingston Canadians 67 52 96 148 64 Dan Quinn Belleville Bulls 70 59 88 147 27 John Tucker Kitchener Rangers 70 60 80 140 33 Ian MacInnis Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds/Cornwall Royals 68 59 74 133 29 Keith Knight Kingston Canadians 70 56 75 131 18 Wayne Groulx Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 67 44 86 130 54 Steve Driscoll Cornwall Royals 64 49 77 126 34 Kevin Conway Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 67 57 65 122 30 John Ollson Ottawa 67's 68 46 76 122 41
Playoffs
Division quarter-finals
Leyden Division
(3) Oshawa Generals vs. (6) Belleville Bulls
(4) Toronto Marlboros vs. (5) Cornwall Royals
Emms Division
(3) North Bay Centennials vs. (6) Windsor Spitfires
(4) Brantford Alexanders vs. (5) London Knights
Division semi-finals
Leyden Division
(1) Ottawa 67's vs. (5) Cornwall Royals
(2) Peterborough Petes vs. (3) Oshawa Generals
Emms Division
(1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (4) Brantford Alexanders
(2) Kitchener Rangers vs. (3) North Bay Centennials
Division finals
Leyden Division
(1) Ottawa 67's vs. (3) Oshawa Generals
Emms Division
(1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (2) Kitchener Rangers
J. Ross Robertson Cup
(E1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (L3) Oshawa Generals
Awards J. Ross Robertson Cup: Oshawa GeneralsHamilton Spectator Trophy: Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsLeyden Trophy: Ottawa 67'sEmms Trophy: Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsRed Tilson Trophy: Doug Gilmour, Cornwall RoyalsEddie Powers Memorial Trophy: Doug Gilmour, Cornwall RoyalsMatt Leyden Trophy: Terry Crisp, Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsJim Mahon Memorial Trophy: Ian MacInnis, Cornwall RoyalsMax Kaminsky Trophy: Al MacInnis, Kitchener RangersJack Ferguson Award: Trevor Steinberg, Guelph PlatersDave Pinkney Trophy: Peter Sidorkiewicz and Jeff Hogg, Oshawa GeneralsEmms Family Award: Bruce Cassidy, Ottawa 67'sF.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy: Dan Burrows, Belleville BullsWilliam Hanley Trophy: Kirk Muller, Guelph PlatersBobby Smith Trophy: Dave Gagner, Brantford Alexanders
See also List of OHA Junior A standings List of OHL seasons 1983 Memorial Cup 1983 NHL entry draft 1982 in sports 1983 in sports
References
HockeyDB