The 1984–85 OHL season was the fifth season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds were undefeated in all 33 home games during the regular season. The Brantford Alexanders moved back to Hamilton, becoming the Hamilton Steelhawks. Fifteen teams each played 66 games. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Peterborough Petes.
Relocation/Team Name Change
Brantford Alexanders to Hamilton Steelhawks
The Brantford Alexanders relocated and moved back to the city of Hamilton for the 1984-85 season. The franchise had previously played in Hamilton from 1953-1976 as the Hamilton Tiger Cubs from 1953-1960, and the Hamilton Fincups from 1960-1976. In 1976, the franchise relocated to St. Catharines and played as the St. Catharines Fincups for the 1976-77 season, however, the club returned to Hamilton for the 1977-78 season. The club then relocated to Brantford and was renamed as the Brantford Alexanders for the 1978-79 season.
The Steelhawks would play the 1984-85 season out of Mountain Arena while their new arena, Copps Coliseum, was being constructed and would not open until the 1985-86 season. The team remained in the Emms Division.
Windsor Spitfires to Windsor Compuware Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires were bought by Peter Karmanos, the founder and CEO of Compuware in 1984 and were renamed as the Windsor Compuware Spitfires beginning in the 1984-85 season.
Tragedy On January 4, 1985, Bruce Melanson of the Oshawa Generals collapsed at practice and died from a heart ailment known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome which resulted in him having a rapid heartbeat because of electrical impulses in the heart taking extra pathways. He was 18 years old at the time of the incident. Melanson was a second round draft pick of the New York Islanders at the 1984 NHL entry draft.
The Generals wore black arm bands for the remainder of the season in memoriam of their teammate. In his memory, the club no longer issues the uniform number "9". A memorial scholarship was also set up at his former high school in New Brunswick.
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 division title
Leyden Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 y-Peterborough Petes 66 42 20 4 88 354 233 2 x-Belleville Bulls 66 42 24 0 84 390 278 3 x-Toronto Marlboros 66 35 28 3 73 315 302 4 x-Cornwall Royals 66 34 30 2 70 355 344 5 x-Oshawa Generals 66 32 32 2 66 271 259 6 x-Ottawa 67's 66 20 43 3 43 263 376 7 Kingston Canadians 66 18 47 1 37 239 380
Emms Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 y-Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 66 54 11 1 109 381 215 2 x-London Knights 66 43 22 1 87 340 276 3 x-North Bay Centennials 66 34 28 4 72 289 254 4 x-Hamilton Steelhawks 66 29 35 2 60 313 296 5 x-Windsor Compuware Spitfires 66 28 35 3 59 267 301 6 x-Kitchener Rangers 66 27 35 4 58 282 319 7 Guelph Platers 66 21 40 5 47 230 332 8 Sudbury Wolves 66 17 46 3 37 224 348
Scoring leaders Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Dave MacLean Belleville Bulls 63 64 90 154 41 Wayne Groulx Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 64 59 85 144 102 Steve Linseman Hamilton Steelhawks/Belleville Bulls 61 57 83 140 28 Graeme Bonar Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 66 66 71 137 93 Mark Teevens Peterborough Petes 65 43 90 133 70 Mike Millar Hamilton Steelhawks 63 66 60 126 54 Scott Tottle Peterborough Petes 64 55 71 126 19 Dave Lowry London Knights 61 60 60 120 94 Don Biggs Oshawa Generals 60 48 69 117 105 Mike Bukowski Cornwall Royals 62 53 54 107 72
Playoffs
Division quarter-finals
Leyden Division
(1) Peterborough Petes vs. (6) Ottawa 67's
(2) Belleville Bulls vs. (5) Oshawa Generals
(3) Toronto Marlboros vs. (4) Cornwall Royals
Emms Division
(1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (6) Kitchener Rangers
(2) London Knights vs. (5) Windsor Compuware Spitfires
(3) North Bay Centennials vs. (4) Hamilton Steelhawks
Division semi-finals
Leyden Division
(2) Belleville Bulls vs. (4) Cornwall Royals
Emms Division
(2) London Knights vs. (4) Hamilton Steelhawks
Division finals
Leyden Division
(1) Peterborough Petes vs. (2) Belleville Bulls
Emms Division
(1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (4) Hamilton Steelhawks
J. Ross Robertson Cup
(E1) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. (L1) Peterborough Petes
Awards J. Ross Robertson Cup: Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsHamilton Spectator Trophy: Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsLeyden Trophy: Peterborough PetesEmms Trophy: Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsRed Tilson Trophy: Wayne Groulx, Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsEddie Powers Memorial Trophy: Dave MacLean, Belleville Bulls Matt Leyden Trophy: Terry Crisp, Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsJim Mahon Memorial Trophy: Dave MacLean, Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsMax Kaminsky Trophy: Bob Halkidis, London KnightsJack Ferguson Award: Bryan Fogarty, Kingston CanadiansDave Pinkney Trophy: Scott Mosey and Marty Abrams, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Emms Family Award: Derek King, Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsF.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy: Ron Tugnutt, Peterborough PetesWilliam Hanley Trophy: Scott Tottle, Peterborough PetesLeo Lalonde Memorial Trophy: Dunc MacIntyre, Belleville BullsBobby Smith Trophy: Craig Billington, Belleville Bulls
1985 OHL Priority Selection The Kingston Canadians held the first overall pick in the 1985 Ontario Priority Selection and selected Bryan Fogarty from the Aurora Tigers. Fogarty was awarded the Jack Ferguson Award, awarded to the top pick in the draft.
Below are the players who were selected in the first round of the 1985 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.
# Player Nationality OHL Team Hometown Minor Team 1 Bryan Fogarty (D) Canada Kingston Canadians Brantford, Ontario Aurora Tigers 2 Ken McRae (C) Canada Sudbury Wolves Finch, Ontario Hawkesbury Hawks 3 Lonnie Loach (LW) Canada Guelph Platers New Liskeard, Ontario St. Mary's Lincolns 4 Danny Hie (C) Canada Ottawa 67's Mississauga, Ontario North York Red Wings 5 Mike Wolak (C) United States Kitchener Rangers Utica, Michigan Detroit Compuware 6 Adam Graves (C) Canada Windsor Compuware Spitfires Toronto, Ontario King City Dukes 7 Don Pancoe (D) Canada Hamilton Steelhawks St. George, Ontario Cambridge Winterhawks 8 Marc Laniel (D) Canada Oshawa Generals Scarborough, Ontario Toronto Red Wings 9 Steve Herniman (D) Canada Cornwall Royals Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener Rangers Midget 10 Adam Burt (D) United States North Bay Centennials Detroit, Michigan Detroit Compuware 11 Sean Davidson (RW) Canada Toronto Marlboros Milton, Ontario Toronto Young Nationals 12 Bryan Marchment (D) Canada Belleville Bulls Scarborough, Ontario Toronto Young Nationals 13 Brendan Shanahan (C) Canada London Knights Mimico, Ontario Mississauga Reps 14 Jody Hull (RW) Canada Peterborough Petes Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge Winterhawks 15 Steve Bisson (D) Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa Jr. Senators
See also List of OHA Junior A standings List of OHL seasons 1985 Memorial Cup 1985 NHL entry draft 1984 in sports 1985 in sports
References
HockeyDB