Sustainable success the key to the OHL
Consistency. It’s what makes or breaks an organization. It’s the difference between a good market and a bad market, between winning and losing.
It is also one of the hardest things for major junior hockey teams to achieve year in and year out. When one looks at the best organizations in the Ontario Hockey League, it’s all about who can draft the best, develop the best, do the best and still keep the support of their fans all the time.
Nevertheless, it’s easier said than done.
Take the Peterborough Petes, for instance, an organization that leads the OHL in players drafted to the NHL. Even with that prestigious claim to fame, they haven’t won a playoff game since 2008 — even then the eastern Ontario franchise only won a single game.
Currently, their fans disgruntled and attendance is suffering due to their lack of success. In fact, even during their run to the Memorial Cup back in 2006, they still failed to sell out the building on a regular basis. Like stated above, it’s easier said than done.
On the other hand, the Windsor Spitfires have provided fans with one of the best junior hockey teams ever created during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Those two years produced back–to–back Memorial Cup rings, the drafting of their product Taylor Hall first overall and a massive increase in attendance. After all that success, Windsor survived the graduation of two top players, Hall and Cam Fowler, and went on with the loss of their head coach, Bob Boughner, to make the Conference Finals in 2010–11.
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Although the Spits don’t have the tradition and history of a lot of organizations in the CHL, they have established themselves as a legitimate franchise over the past half–decade, making them as good a destination as any in the Ontario league.
Then there are the Kitchener Rangers – a team who hasn’t had the success of Windsor on the ice but has both a strong attendance and draft record. Just to name a few players of late, on top of 2011 second–overall pick Gabriel Landeskog, the team with the third highest amount of players drafted to the NHL has also been the gateway for Jeff Skinner, Mike Richards, Derek Roy, Mikkel Boedker and Matt Halischuk.
Just recently, they locked in their head coach, Steve Spott, for the next five years with a no–out clause. Their last Memorial Cup win was in 2003 and they also lost in the finals in 2008. They may not be the best market in the league but they are clearly nipping at the leaders’ behinds.
Ottawa is another market that players have always been drawn to. Although the 67s haven’t had the playoff or draft success of many other top OHL teams – their last Memorial Cup win was in 1999 and their last first overall draft choice was Bobby Smith in 1978 – they are a well–run organization with a loyal fan base and class throughout their building.
Even though Brian Kilrea is no longer the head coach after leading them from 1974–2009 (with a couple missed years here and there), Chris Byrne is proving to be a worthy replacement thus far and with Kilrea as the club’s GM, it’s all rosy in the nation’s capital. Ottawa hasn’t seen a lot of NHL talent develop from their system lately but Logan Couture, Tyler Cuma, Bryan Bickell and Brian Campbell make up a solid group of players to note, amongst others.
Of course, if consistent OHL markets is the topic, the Oshawa Generals must be included in the conversation. Always hovering close to the top of the attendance scale, Oshawa is also second when it comes to number of players drafted to the big league.
Although they haven’t been overwhelmingly successful lately – their last Memorial Cup victory was in 1990 – they are usually a team in the mix come spring time. The Generals can be proud of many notable alumni of late, including John Tavares, Calvin de Haan, Michael Del Zotto, Cal Clutterbuck and Nathan Horton.
Finally, there are the London Knights – the OHL’s prototypical franchise. The Knights have been thriving ever since the Hunter brothers (GM Mark and head coach Dave) took over their team at the turn of the millennium.
All they’ve done is lead the league in attendance since 2005, win a Memorial Cup, set the record for most points in a season, beat it again the next season, and put together the longest unbeaten streak ever. Their alumni list lately is extremely strong as well with 146 of their players getting drafted over the years. Most notably of late is first overall pick in 2007, Patrick Kane, who won a Cup along with another Knight in Dave Bolland.
This season they even saw one of their own win the Hart Trophy with stud Corey Perry taking home the hardware piece. They play in front of a packed house all the time and are continuing to develop NHL talent — Vladislav Namestnikov the latest London player to be drafted.
In a league where change is so constant, even more so than professional sports, it’s tough to steadily boast a strong organization. But more than the others, these teams come through in doing that for their fans.
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