The 1994–95 OHL season was the 15th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Newmarket Royals relocated, and became the Sarnia Sting. The OHL realigned from two divisions, creating the east, central, and west divisions. The Bumbacco Trophy is inaugurated to be awarded to the first place team in the west division, during the regular season. The Leyden Trophy is reallocated to the east division, and the Emms Trophy to the central division. Sixteen teams each played 66 games. The Detroit Junior Red Wings won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Guelph Storm.
Relocation
Newmarket Royals to Sarnia Sting The Newmarket Royals relocated to Sarnia and were renamed the Sarnia Sting after two seasons in Newmarket. The club was sold to the Ciccarelli brothers at the beginning of the 1993-94 season and were relocated to Sarnia for the 1994-95 season.
The club was originally the Cornwall Royals from 1969-1992, in which the franchise won the Memorial Cup three times. Following the 1991-92, the franchise was relocated to Newmarket. In two seasons in Newmarket, the Royals made the playoffs once, losing to the Sudbury Wolves in the first round of the 1993 playoffs.
The Sting will play at the Sarnia Arena and play in the newly created West Division.
Arena Renaming
London Gardens to London Ice House The London Knights home arena, the London Gardens, was renamed to the London Ice House after the team and arena were purchased by new owner Doug Tarry. Tarry upgraded the building, including replacing seats and add more emergency exits to bring the building up to the fire code.
Realignment The OHL announced realignment for the 1994-95 season, as the league would now have three divisions based on geographical location. The three new divisions were the East Division, Central Division and West Division.
East Division Six teams from the Leyden Division would form the newly created East Division. The teams are: Belleville Bulls, Kingston Frontenacs, North Bay Centennials, Oshawa Generals and Ottawa 67's. The winner of the East Division will earn the Leyden Trophy.
Central Division Five teams would make up the newly created Central Division, four teams from the Emms Division and one from the Leyden Division. The teams were: Guelph Storm, Kitchener Rangers, Niagara Falls Thunder, Owen Sound Platers, and Sudbury Wolves. The winner of the Central Division will be awarded the Emms Trophy.
West Division Five teams would make up the newly created West Division, four teams from the Emms Division and one from the Leyden Division. The teams are: Detroit Junior Red Wings, London Knights, Sarnia Sting, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Windsor Spitfires. The winner of the West Division will earn the newly created Bumbacco Trophy.
Regular season
Final standings Note: DIV = Division; 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; z = earned first round bye
East Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 z-Kingston Frontenacs 66 40 19 7 87 284 224 2 x-Oshawa Generals 66 40 21 5 85 300 242 3 x-North Bay Centennials 66 35 27 4 74 272 247 4 x-Belleville Bulls 66 32 31 3 67 295 287 5 x-Peterborough Petes 66 26 34 6 58 255 286 6 Ottawa 67's 66 22 38 6 50 232 276
Central Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 z-Guelph Storm 66 47 14 5 99 330 200 2 x-Sudbury Wolves 66 43 17 6 92 314 208 3 x-Owen Sound Platers 66 22 38 6 50 239 299 4 x-Niagara Falls Thunder 66 18 40 8 44 231 298 5 x-Kitchener Rangers 66 18 42 6 42 216 296
West Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 y-Detroit Junior Red Wings 66 44 18 4 92 306 223 2 x-Windsor Spitfires 66 41 22 3 85 303 232 3 x-Sarnia Sting 66 24 37 5 53 250 292 4 x-London Knights 66 18 44 4 40 210 309 5 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 66 17 45 4 38 228 346
Scoring leaders Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Marc Savard Oshawa Generals 66 43 96 139 78 David Ling Kingston Frontenacs 62 61 74 135 136 Bill Bowler Windsor Spitfires 61 33 102 135 63 Jeff O'Neill Guelph Storm 57 43 81 124 56 Darryl LaFrance Oshawa Generals 57 55 67 122 10 Todd Bertuzzi Guelph Storm 62 54 65 119 58 Dave Roche Windsor Spitfires 66 55 59 114 180 Steve Washburn Ottawa 67's 63 43 63 106 72 Vitali Yachmenev North Bay Centennials 59 53 52 105 8 Lee Jinman North Bay Centennials 63 39 65 104 41
Playoffs
Division quarter-finals
East Division
(2) Oshawa Generals vs. (5) Peterborough Petes
(3) North Bay Centennials vs. (4) Belleville Bulls
Central Division
(2) Sudbury Wolves vs. (5) Kitchener Rangers
(3) Owen Sound Platers vs. (4) Niagara Falls Thunder
West Division
(1) Detroit Junior Red Wings vs. (4) London Knights
(2) Windsor Spitfires vs. (3) Sarnia Sting
OHL quarter-finals
(C1) Guelph Storm vs. (C3) Owen Sound Platers
(W1) Detroit Junior Red Wings vs. (E5) Peterborough Petes
(E1) Kingston Frontenacs vs. (E4) Belleville Bulls
(C2) Sudbury Wolves vs. (W2) Windsor Spitfires
OHL semi-finals
(C1) Guelph Storm vs. (E4) Belleville Bulls
(W1) Detroit Junior Red Wings vs. (C2) Sudbury Wolves
J. Ross Robertson Cup
(C1) Guelph Storm vs. (W1) Detroit Junior Red Wings
Awards J. Ross Robertson Cup: Detroit Junior Red WingsHamilton Spectator Trophy: Guelph StormLeyden Trophy: Kingston FrontenacsEmms Trophy: Guelph StormBumbacco Trophy: Detroit Junior Red WingsRed Tilson Trophy: David Ling, Kingston FrontenacsEddie Powers Memorial Trophy: Marc Savard, Oshawa Generals Matt Leyden Trophy: Craig Hartsburg, Guelph StormJim Mahon Memorial Trophy: David Ling, Kingston FrontenacsMax Kaminsky Trophy: Bryan Berard, Detroit Junior Red WingsOHL Goaltender of the Year: Tyler Moss, Kingston FrontenacsJack Ferguson Award: Daniel Tkaczuk, Barrie ColtsDave Pinkney Trophy: Mark McArthur and Andy Adams, Guelph Storm OHL Executive of the Year: Mike Kelly, Guelph StormEmms Family Award: Bryan Berard, Detroit Junior Red WingsF.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy: David MacDonald, Sudbury WolvesOHL Humanitarian of the Year: Brad Brown, North Bay CentennialsWilliam Hanley Trophy: Vitali Yachmenev, North Bay Centennials Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy: Bill Bowler, Windsor SpitfiresBobby Smith Trophy: Jamie Wright, Guelph Storm
All-Star teams The OHL All-Star Teams were selected by the OHL's General Managers.
First team Jeff O'Neill, Centre, Guelph Storm Dave Roche, Left Wing, Windsor Spitfires David Ling, Right Wing, Kingston Frontenacs Ed Jovanovski, Defence, Windsor Spitfires Bryan Berard, Defence, Detroit Jr. Red Wings Tyler Moss, Goaltender, Kingston Frontenacs Craig Hartsburg, Coach, Guelph Storm
Second team Marc Savard, Centre, Oshawa Generals Larry Courville, Left Wing, Oshawa Generals Todd Bertuzzi, Right Wing, Guelph Storm Wes Swinson, Defence, Kingston Frontenacs Jamie Rivers, Defence, Sudbury Wolves Mark McArthur, Goaltender, Guelph Storm Paul Maurice, Coach, Detroit Jr. Red Wings
Third team Bill Bowler, Centre, Windsor Spitfires Ethan Moreau, Left Wing, Sudbury Wolves Vitali Yachmenev, Right Wing, North Bay Centennials Rory Fitzpatrick, Defence, Sudbury Wolves Brad Brown, Defence, North Bay Centennials Matt Mullin, Goaltender, Sudbury Wolves Stan Butler, Coach, Oshawa Generals
1995 OHL Priority Selection The Barrie Colts held the first overall pick in the 1995 Ontario Priority Selection and selected Daniel Tkaczuk from the Mississauga Senators. Tkaczuk 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 1995 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.
# Player Nationality OHL Team Hometown Minor Team 1 Daniel Tkaczuk (C) Canada Barrie Colts Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga Senators 2 Joe Thornton (C) Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds St. Thomas, Ontario St. Thomas Stars 3 Nick Boynton (D) Canada Ottawa 67's Nobleton, Ontario Caledon Canadians 4 Adam Colagiacomo (RW) Canada London Knights Rexdale, Ontario Royal York Rangers 5 Boyd Devereaux (C) Canada Kitchener Rangers Seaforth, Ontario Stratford Cullitons 6 Jason Ward (C) Canada Niagara Falls Thunder Oshawa, Ontario Oshawa Legionaires 7 Adam Mair (C) Canada Owen Sound Platers Hamilton, Ontario Ohsweken Golden Eagles 8 Patrick DesRochers (G) Canada Sarnia Sting Penetanguishene, Ontario Barrie Colts 9 Scott Barney (C) Canada Peterborough Petes Courtice, Ontario North York Rangers 10 Ryan Ready (LW) Canada Belleville Bulls Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough Jr. Bees 11 Luc Belliveau (D) Canada North Bay Centennials Dieppe, New Brunswick Wilcox Notre Dame 12 Jay Legault (LW) Canada Oshawa Generals Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough Bantams 13 Jeff Zehr (LW) Canada Windsor Spitfires Tavistock, Ontario Stratford Cullitons 14 Matt Price (LW) Canada Kingston Frontenacs Holland Landing, Ontario Newmarket 87's 15 Tyson Flinn (D) Canada Sudbury Wolves Fredericton, New Brunswick Fredericton Jr. Canadiens 16 Jesse Boulerice (D) United States Detroit Whalers Mooers, New York Hawkesbury Hawks 17 Brian Willsie (RW) Canada Guelph Storm Belmont, Ontario St. Thomas Stars
See also List of OHA Junior A standings List of OHL seasons 1995 Memorial Cup 1995 NHL entry draft 1994 in sports 1995 in sports
References
HockeyDB