The 1995–96 OHL season was the 16th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The league expanded as the Barrie Colts entered into the central division. The Detroit Junior Red Wings become the Detroit Whalers. Seventeen teams each played 66 games. The Peterborough Petes won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Guelph Storm.
Expansion
Barrie Colts On May 6, 1994, The Barrie Colts were approved as an expansion team in the Ontario Hockey League beginning in the 1995-96 season. The Colts began their inaugural season playing in the Barrie Arena, however, on December 31, 1995, the Colts moved into their new home, the Barrie Molson Centre. The Colts joined the Central Division.
Rebranding
Detroit Junior Red Wings to Detroit Whalers At the conclusion of the 1994-95, the Detroit Junior Red Wings severed all ties with the National Hockey League Detroit Red Wings, as Peter Karmanos renamed the franchise the Detroit Whalers.
The Whalers moved out of Joe Louis Arena and into the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association and the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League. The Whalers would play 21 of their 33 home games in the regular season at the Palace of Auburn Hills while playing their remaining 12 home games at Oak Park Ice Arena. The Whalers played all of their home playoff games at the Oak Park Ice Arena.
The club remained in the West Division.
Regular season
Final standings Note: DIV = Division; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; 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-Ottawa 67's 66 39 22 5 83 258 200 2 x-Peterborough Petes 66 35 22 9 79 289 235 3 x-Belleville Bulls 66 35 26 5 75 300 250 4 x-Oshawa Generals 66 30 28 8 68 248 238 5 x-Kingston Frontenacs 66 29 31 6 64 266 267 6 North Bay Centennials 66 14 45 7 35 242 360
Central Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 z-Guelph Storm 66 45 16 5 95 297 186 2 x-Kitchener Rangers 66 35 28 3 73 253 230 3 x-Niagara Falls Thunder 66 29 30 7 65 248 238 4 x-Owen Sound Platers 66 29 32 5 63 274 313 5 x-Barrie Colts 66 28 31 7 63 258 266 6 Sudbury Wolves 66 27 36 3 59 262 288
West Division Rank Team GP W L T PTS GF GA 1 y-Detroit Whalers 66 40 22 4 84 319 243 2 x-Sarnia Sting 66 39 23 4 82 330 276 3 x-Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 66 38 23 5 81 312 254 4 x-Windsor Spitfires 66 21 41 4 46 256 312 5 London Knights 66 3 60 3 9 179 435
Scoring leaders Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Aaron Brand Sarnia Sting 66 46 73 119 110 Daniel Cleary Belleville Bulls 64 53 62 115 74 Sean Haggerty Detroit Whalers 66 60 51 111 78 Trevor Gallant North Bay Centennials 63 47 58 105 36 Richard Uniacke Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 66 48 54 102 38 Cameron Mann Peterborough Petes 66 42 60 102 108 Jonathan Sim Sarnia Sting 63 56 45 101 130 Trevor Letowski Sarnia Sting 66 36 63 99 66 Lee Jinman North Bay Centennials//Detroit Whalers 64 29 68 97 49 Rob Shearer Windsor Spitfires 63 40 53 93 74
Playoffs
Division quarter-finals
East Division
(2) Peterborough Petes vs. (5) Kingston Frontenacs
(3) Belleville Bulls vs. (4) Oshawa Generals
Central Division
(2) Kitchener Rangers vs. (5) Barrie Colts
(3) Niagara Falls Thunder vs. (4) Owen Sound Platers
West Division
(1) Detroit Whalers vs. (4) Windsor Spitfires
(2) Sarnia Sting vs. (3) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
OHL quarter-finals
(C1) Guelph Storm vs. (C3) Niagara Falls Thunder
(W1) Detroit Whalers vs. (C2) Kitchener Rangers
(E1) Ottawa 67's vs. (E3) Belleville Bulls
(W2) Sarnia Sting vs. (E2) Peterborough Petes
OHL semi-finals
(C1) Guelph Storm vs. (E3) Belleville Bulls
(W1) Detroit Whalers vs. (E2) Peterborough Petes
J. Ross Robertson Cup
(C1) Guelph Storm vs. (E2) Peterborough Petes
All-Star teams
First team Alyn McCauley, Centre, Ottawa 67's Daniel Cleary, Left Wing, Belleville Bulls Cameron Mann, Right Wing, Peterborough Petes Bryan Berard, Defence, Detroit Whalers Kevin Bolibruck, Defence, Peterborough Petes Craig Hillier, Goaltender, Ottawa 67's Brian Kilrea, Coach, Ottawa 67's
Second team Aaron Brand, Centre, Sarnia Sting Sean Haggerty, Left Wing, Detroit Whalers Jeff Johnstone, Right Wing, Niagara Falls Thunder Sean Brown, Defence, Sarnia Sting Jay McKee, Defence, Niagara Falls Thunder Dan Cloutier, Goaltender, Guelph Storm Bert Templeton, Coach, Barrie Colts
Third team Sean Venedam, Centre, Sudbury Wolves Jamie Wright, Left Wing, Guelph Storm David Nemirovski, Right Wing, Sarnia Sting Marc Moro, Defence, Kingston Frontenacs Ryan Risidore, Defence, Guelph Storm David Belitski, Goaltender, Kitchener Rangers Travis Scott, Goaltender, Oshawa Generals Mark Hunter, Coach, Sarnia Sting
Awards J. Ross Robertson Cup: Peterborough PetesHamilton Spectator Trophy: Guelph StormLeyden Trophy: Ottawa 67'sEmms Trophy: Guelph StormBumbacco Trophy: Detroit WhalersRed Tilson Trophy: Alyn McCauley, Ottawa 67'sEddie Powers Memorial Trophy: Aaron Brand, Sarnia Sting Matt Leyden Trophy: Brian Kilrea, Ottawa 67'sJim Mahon Memorial Trophy: Cameron Mann, Peterborough PetesMax Kaminsky Trophy: Bryan Berard, Detroit WhalersOHL Goaltender of the Year: Craig Hillier, Ottawa 67'sJack Ferguson Award: Rico Fata, London KnightsDave Pinkney Trophy: Dan Cloutier and Brett Thompson, Guelph Storm OHL Executive of the Year: Bert Templeton, Barrie ColtsEmms Family Award: Joe Thornton, Sault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsF.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy: Brett Thompson, Guelph StormOHL Humanitarian of the Year: Craig Mills, Belleville BullsWilliam Hanley Trophy: Jeff Williams, Guelph Storm Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy: Aaron Brand, Sarnia StingBobby Smith Trophy: Boyd Devereaux, Kitchener Rangers
1996 OHL Priority Selection On June 1, 1996, the OHL conducted the 1996 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario. The London Knights held the first overall pick in the draft and selected Rico Fata from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Fata 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 1996 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.
# Player Nationality OHL Team Hometown Minor Team 1 Rico Fata (C) Canada London Knights Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 2 Tyler Rennette (C) Canada North Bay Centennials Powassan, Ontario Waterloo Siskins 3 Norm Milley (RW) Canada Sudbury Wolves North York, Ontario Toronto Red Wings 4 Kip Brennan (D) Canada Windsor Spitfires Toronto, Ontario St. Michael's Buzzers 5 Mike Henrich (RW) Canada Barrie Colts Thornhill, Ontario Wexford Midgets 6 Wes Goldie (RW) Canada Owen Sound Platers London, Ontario St. Thomas Stars 7 Kevin Grimes (D) Canada Kingston Frontenacs Metcalfe, Ontario Cumberland Grads 8 Brett Gibson (C) Canada Erie Otters Gananoque, Ontario Kingston Voyageurs 9 Bryan Allen (D) Canada Oshawa Generals Glenburnie, Ontario Ernestown Jets 10 Wes Jarvis (D) Canada Kitchener Rangers Ottawa, Ontario Gloucester Rangers 11 Justin Papineau (C) Canada Belleville Bulls Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa Jr. Senators 12 Pat Kavanagh (RW) Canada Peterborough Petes Richmond, Ontario Kanata Valley Lasers 13 Nick Robinson (D) Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Cavan, Ontario Lindsay Muskies 14 Abe Herbst (D) Canada Sarnia Sting Harriston, Ontario Listowel Cyclones 15 Mark Bell (C) Canada Ottawa 67's St. Paul's, Ontario Stratford Cullitons 16 Harold Druken (LW) Canada Detroit Whalers St. John's, Newfoundland Noble & Greenough Bulldogs 17 Manny Malhotra (C) Canada Guelph Storm Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga Reps
See also List of OHA Junior A standings List of OHL seasons 1996 Memorial Cup 1996 NHL entry draft 1995 in sports 1996 in sports
References
HockeyDB