By Larry Feist /
In 1999, every game at the Ottawa-hosted Memorial Cup was sold out. Some very interesting names were competing 10 years ago for the championship. The four teams competing were Acadie-Bathurst from the QMJHL, Belleville Bulls from the OHL, the host Ottawa 67’s and the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen.
The Hitmen were coming off a dominant season and were led by what would become their top four all-time leading scorers: Brad Moran, Pavel Brendl, Matt Kinch, and Kris Beech. Also in support was future Stanley Cup winner Brad Stuart. That season still stands as the third best season in Hitmen history.
The host 67’s were no slouches either. Although they lost to Belleville in the second round, Brian Campbell was a force along with Nick Boynton and Mark Bell. Brian Kilrea was the coach and was just named to the all-time CHL team.
Belleville Bulls won the OHL Championship over the London Knights in seven games. The Bulls also had a few future NHLers of their own: Justin Papineau, Jonathan Cheechoo, Branko Radivojevic and Branislav Mezei.
Acadie-Bathurst Titan won the league title in their first season in Bathurst. Roberto Luongo was by far their most high profile name. A few others went on to some pro time such as Ramzi Abid and Jonathan Girard, but the list is small.
The Hitmen won the round robin and waited for the winner of Ottawa and Belleville. The Hosts got their revenge for the OHL playoff loss with a 4-2 win and a spot in the final. Ottawa had beaten Calgary in the round robin 4-3 so the stage was set for an exciting final. The hosts won the game in front of a sellout arena 7-6 in OT on a goal by Matt Zultek.
Interesting that it is not always the team with the most future NHLers that wins the Memorial Cup.
The winner needs some luck, some bounces, and sometimes the host wins even if they lost in league play.
It will be intriguing to watch Kelowna, Windsor and Drummondville take on Rimouski. 10 years later, sometimes alot changes and sometimes nothing changes. |
