An OHL Final Series Like No Other

When Peterborough was awarded hosting rights to the 1996 Memorial Cup the Pete’s had an automatic spot in the tournament as hosts. When the Storm beat Belleville in five games to advance to the final, they too had an automatic berth in the tourney. All that was left to be decided was who would go to the Memorial Cup as league champions and who would be the Ontario representative.

The Storm had home ice advantage in the OHL final by winning the Hamilton Spectator Trophy for being the regular season champions. After going through the first two rounds undefeated at home with five victories and only one loss in four on the road, it was pretty safe to say that home ice advantage would be the key to winning the Robertson Cup. What made this a final series like no other was the fact that neither the Storm nor Pete’s could win a game on home ice.

Fast forwarding to the third with Guelph holding a 7-6 lead when Dwayne Hay took a high sticking penalty and the Pete’s score on the power play to tie the game. Guelph had a chance to win the game late in the third and early in overtime as Jason MacMillan took a penalty but the Guelph power play couldn’t score on Zac Bierk.

Peterborough scored the eventual winner as Mike Martone went in on a breakaway and beat Storm net minder Dan Cloutier. The Gardens emptied rather quickly but those of us who stuck around to watch the cup presentation were able to see former Storm forward, Eric Landry, skate around the ice with the cup hoisted above his head. I will never forget walking down the corridor leading to the front entrance/exit and following a group of young Guelph fans chanting to Peterborough fans, “We’re number two, we’re number two.”

Here is a video clip of the tying and winning goals from game seven.

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