It might be called the Canadian Hockey League but teams
based in the United States have participated since the Edmonton Oil Kings became
the Portland Winter Hawks at the start of the 1976-77 WHL season. The CHL is
made up of three leagues across Canada, the WHL, OHL and QMJHL).
Currently, there are three teams from the Ontario Hockey League based in the
U.S. (Erie Otters, Plymouth Whalers, Saginaw Spirit) and five teams from the
Western Hockey League (Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks, Seattle
Thunderbirds, Spokane Chiefs, Tri-City Americans). The Lewiston Maineiacs were
the only U.S. team in the QMJHL and they were relocated back to Canada for the
2011-12 season.
Since Portland entered the league in 1976, on just three
occasions have American teams been crowned Memorial Cup champions. Only twice
has an American team has made an unsuccessful appearance in the final game and
six U.S. franchises have gone to the tournament. The Winterhawks reached the
final in 2013 before falling to the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.
In 1983, the Portland Winterhawks beat the Oshawa Generals
8-3 on home ice in the Memorial Cup final to win their first. The Stafford
Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP was handed out to Alfie Turcotte of
the Winterhawks. Turcotte went on to play 112 games in the National Hockey
League with the Montreal Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals.
Future NHLers Ray Ferraro and Cam Neely led Portland offensively. In fact, the
two were part of a group of six players on the team to reach the 100 point
plateau. Read more about that excitingly offensive team here: 1982-83
Portland Winterhawks.
In 1991, the tournament was held in Quebec City and the
Spokane Chiefs were the victor with a 5-1 win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs
in the final. The Stafford Smythe Trophy went to Pat Falloon of Spokane.
Falloon was the second overall pick of the San Jose Sharks at the 1991 NHL
Entry Draft and played 575 NHL regular season games with the Sharks,
Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Falloon
holds a bit of San Jose
Sharks trivia as the player with the most points in a rookie season for the
National Hockey League club. Trevor Kidd and Ray Whitney were team leaders for
Spokane while NHL veteran Bryan Maxwell was the bench boss.
Portland returned to championship form in 1998 as the
Winterhawks edged the OHL’s Guelph Storm 4-3 in overtime in the final that was
hosted by the Spokane Chiefs in Spokane, Washington. The Smythe Trophy went to
the goaltender on the losing team, Chris Madden. Portland was led by NHLers
Marian Hossa and Brenden Morrow. The team was coached by Brent Peterson,
another NHL veteran.
The latest U.S. teams to qualify for the Memorial Cup
tournament before Portland’s 2013 loss to Halifax were the Lewiston Maineiacs
and Plymouth Whalers in 2007. Despite the 50/50 odds, neither team made it to
the final. The 1995 Detroit Junior Red Wings are the only other American team
to make it to the final and lose. The Erie Otters and Seattle Thunderbirds are
the only other U.S. based teams to qualify for the tournament. Erie went in
2002, while Seattle participated back in 1992 as the host city.
