Ottawa 67's

History

The Ontario Hockey Association granted the city of Ottawa an expansion franchise on February 16, 1967. Four months later, the team was given the nickname 67's, in honour of Canada's centennial year. Three local businessmen—Bill Cowley, Howard Darwin and Bill Touhey as well as Alderman Howard Henry—helped bring junior hockey back to Canada's capital. The 67's filled the hockey void left by the departure of the junior Hull–Ottawa Canadiens and the semi-professional Hull-Ottawa Canadiens. However, before the team played a game Touhey left the ownership group and Jack Kinsella became one of the owners in his stead.

Bill Long was the team's first head coach. The 67's played their first game on October 6, 1967, losing 9–0 on the road to the Niagara Falls Flyers. The first 11 home games of the season were played in the Hull Arena, Hull, Quebec, as their new home arena was still under construction. They played their first game at their own arena, the Ottawa Civic Centre, on December 29, losing to the Montreal Junior Canadiens 4–2. The first season for the 67's was terrible at best, with the team posting a final record of six wins, 45 losses and three ties. They made the playoffs in their second season, but lost in the quarter-finals to the Niagara Falls Flyers. They won their first playoff series over the Hamilton Red Wings in 1970–71, led by future Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin on defence. The 67's reached the OHA finals during the following season in 1971–72. They lost to the Peterborough Petes 3–0, with two ties. The 67's came close to playing at home in the Memorial Cup, as the Ottawa Civic Centre hosted the tournament that year.

Brian Kilrea joins the 67's

Darwin announced in May 1972 that he would resign as team president in June 1972 and this was quickly followed by Bill Long's departure as general manager and head coach in June as well. Howard Henry was announced as the team's new president. Leo Boivin was named as Long's successor as head coach of the 67's and Ross Tyrell as general manager on June 18. After a rebuilding season in 1973–74, after which both Boivin and Tyrell were let go by the team after a surprise loss to the Peterborough Petes in the playoffs the 67's hired a young up-and-coming coach named Brian Kilrea as both coach and general manager. Kilrea coached the team to three successive improved winning records, culminating in a victory in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals in 1977, versus the London Knights, who were coached by former 67's bench boss Bill Long. During the late 1970s, Ottawa was led by scoring champions Peter Lee, Bobby Smith and Jim Fox and future Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman Doug Wilson.

The 67's moved on to compete for the 1977 Memorial Cup versus the champions of the other Canadian major junior leagues, the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Canada Hockey League, and the Sherbrooke Castors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The 1977 Memorial Cup tournament was the first to be held in British Columbia and the first to use a double round-robin format. Ottawa lost the first game 7–6 to the Bruins, then won three in a row, 6–1 over the Castors, 4–3 in overtime versus the Bruins, and then 5–2 against Sherbrooke. However, Ottawa lost to the host Bruins 6–5 in the championship game. Bobby Smith and goaltender Pat Riggin were named to the tournament's all-star team.

Ottawa finished first in their division the following season, and were tipped to go all the way to the Memorial Cup tournament again, but struggled to finish off the Wayne Gretzky-led Soo Greyhounds in the first round and lost to the rival Peterborough Petes in the semi-finals. The 67's rebuilt during the 1978–79 season, and returned to play for a second J. Ross Robertson Cup versus the Kitchener Rangers at the end of the 1981–82 season. They were swept by the Rangers, but that season marked the first of three consecutive division titles from 1982 to 1984.

First Memorial Cup victory

In 1984, the 67's reached the OHL championship series in a rematch from the 1982 OHL finals, against the Kitchener Rangers. As the team with the most points in the league, Kitchener had been chosen to host the 1984 Memorial Cup tournament. In the OHL itself, however, Ottawa had unfinished business, having lost to Kitchener two years earlier. The 67's, who finished second overall to Kitchener in the OHL, defeated the Rangers and won their second J. Ross Robertson Cup and earned a place in the Memorial Cup tournament.

At the Memorial Cup in Kitchener, Ottawa faced the Laval Voisins, featuring Mario Lemieux, of the QMJHL and the Kamloops Jr. Oilers of the now renamed Western Hockey League (WHL). The 67's were led by Gary Roberts, Brad Shaw, and Bruce Cassidy. The 67's won against Laval and Kamloops before losing to Kitchener in the round-robin series. In the semi-final game, Ottawa beat Kamloops again and in the finals versus Kitchener, Ottawa scored a victory, winning their first Memorial Cup. Adam Creighton was named the tournament's most valuable player and goaltender Darren Pang was named the tournament's top goalie. Creighton, Pang, Shaw, Cassidy, Jim Camazzola and Don McLaren of the 67's were all named to the tournament's all-star team. After the season ended, Kilrea left Ottawa to become an assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Islanders.

Kilrea returns from the NHL

Cliff Stewart was hired to replace Kilrea in August 1984 as the 67's graduated many of their star players following their cup win. Stewart lasted until November, replacing him with Bob Ellett. The rebuilding team suffered through two dismal seasons after winning the cup, finishing third-last in the OHL in 1985 and second-last in 1986. Ellett resigned at the end of the season and Brian Kilrea, out of contract with the Islanders, returned for the 1986–87 season. The second Kilrea era was not as superb as his first coaching stint. The 67's finished as high as second place in their division two times, and reached the league's playoff semi-finals three times. The highlight of this era was Andrew Cassels, the rookie of the year in 1986–87, and scoring champion in 1987–88. Kilrea went into coaching retirement after the 1993–94 season, remaining as the general manager. For the 1994–95 season, the 67's were coached by former scoring champion Peter Lee.

The third Kilrea era

Brian Kilrea came out of coaching retirement in 1995 and replaced Lee. On June 10, 1998, Jeff Hunt purchased the team from Howard Darwin and Earl Montagano. Kilrea was asked by Hunt to remain as coach for three more years, but would remain as coach until the end of the 2008–09 season, retaining his duties as general manager until 2011. He was replaced by Chris Byrne, first as coach, then as general manager. The Kilrea-coached 67's resurged to the top of the OHL, winning five consecutive east division titles from 1996 to 2000. In 1996–97, Ottawa finished with the most points in the league with 104, however, lost in the finals 4–2 to their division rivals, the Oshawa Generals. The 67's reached the finals again in 1998, losing to the Guelph Storm in five games.

Memorial Cup hosts, 1999

In 1999, 67's owner Jeff Hunt led the team's bid to host the 1999 Memorial Cup tournament. Despite the fact that in 1997 the tournament had been hosted across the river in Hull, he was able to convince the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) to host the event in Ottawa and guarantee his team a berth in the tournament. The 67's did not disappoint, as every game of the series was sold out. In the 1998–99 season, the 67's lost to the eventual OHL champion Belleville Bulls in the second round of the playoffs. As hosts, they still took part in the Memorial Cup tournament and faced the Bulls, the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL and the Acadie–Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL. The 67's beat the Belleville Bulls in the Memorial Cup semi-finals and went on to defeat the Calgary Hitmen in the final in a thrilling over-time game that saw Matt Zultek score the winning goal. Nick Boynton was named the tournament most valuable player.

Memorial Cup, 2001

After winning their fifth division title, the 67's were bounced in the second round of the playoffs by the Belleville Bulls in 2000. However, it was not long before the 67's went to the Memorial Cup again. Ottawa defeated the Plymouth Whalers in the league championship capturing their second J. Ross Robertson Cup. The 2001 Memorial Cup was played in Regina, Saskatchewan. Ottawa had tougher luck in this tournament, winning just one game in the round robin versus the hometown Regina Pats, then ultimately losing to Regina 5–0 in the tie-breaker game. In the 2002–03 season, the 67's reached the OHL finals again, but fell to the eventual Memorial Cup champions Kitchener Rangers in five games. Ottawa, which won the division in 2003–04, suffered a surprise first round defeat in the playoffs to the Brampton Battalion.

Memorial Cup, 2005

The 67's finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference in 2004–05, but had a veteran-laden team that managed an impressive playoff run. Ottawa upset the Barrie Colts, Sudbury Wolves and Peterborough Petes to reach the finals versus the London Knights. The 67's lost the OHL championship to the Knights, but qualified for the 2005 Memorial Cup by virtue of being the league finalists versus the Knights, who were also hosting the event. In the tournament, Ottawa faced the Knights, the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL, featuring Sidney Crosby, and the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. The 67's won the longest ever game played in the Memorial Cup tournament, when they beat the Rockets in double overtime. Ottawa finished in third place in the round-robin, and then lost to the Océanic in the semi-finals.

Championships

The Ottawa 67's have appeared in the Memorial Cup tournament five times, winning twice. Ottawa has also won the J. Ross Robertson Cup three times, won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy three times, and have won fourteen division titles, the most in the OHL.

Coaches

Brian Kilrea had a long term coaching relationship with the 67's. Kilrea led the team to three OHL Championships and two Memorial Cups. Kilrea briefly moved up to the NHL as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 1984 to 1986, and briefly retired for the 1994–95 season. Kilrea, nicknamed "Killer", has over 1,000 wins coaching junior hockey, all with the 67's. He was named the OHL Coach of the Year five times, and CHL Coach of the Year twice. Kilrea was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003. On September 3, 2008, Kilrea announced that at the end of the 2008–09, he would step down from his head coaching position. He remained with the team as their general manager until the 2011–12 season, after which he was replaced in that post by head coach Chris Byrne.

Andre Tourigny won OHL Coach of the Year award in 2018–19 leading the 67's to a 50–12–6 record and a franchise record-breaking 106 points. Tourigny won a second consecutive OHL Coach of the Year award in 2019–20 going 50–11–1 in a shortened season and earning the CHL Coach of the Year in the process. Dave Cameron is the 67's most recent recipient of the award, taking home the honours after leading the club to their record setting 51-win season in 2022–23. He also won CHL Coach of the Year in that same season.

List of coaches with multiple seasons in parentheses.

Players

Denis Potvin and Doug Wilson are the only Ottawa 67's alumni to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as players.

NHL alumni

The following players have played at least one game in the National Hockey League;

Season-by-season results

Regular season and playoffs results:

Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SL = Shoot-out losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Uniforms and logos

The 67's colours and original uniforms are based on those of the Ottawa Senators from the 1920s and 1930s. The team colours are red, white & black. The 67's dark jerseys, only slightly altered from the original design, have horizontal "barber-pole" stripes with the rectangular 67's logo. The 67's have also used a white background jersey with barber-pole stripes on the shoulders and sleeves.

An alternate jersey was unveiled in 2001. In keeping with their new "Hockey With Bite" slogan, it featured a logo with an angry puck, and a white background body with jagged red and black trim lines along the bottom and arms. It also had an opposite black background style with white & red trim. This third jersey was discontinued in 2012, but the "Angry Puck" motif still features on some 67's merchandise.

Mascots: Riley Raccoon, The Killer Puck

Arenas

The Ottawa 67's played the first half of their 1967–68 inaugural season at the Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Quebec, until completion of the new arena at Lansdowne Park. The Ottawa 67's have played at TD Place Arena since January 1968 when it was known as the Ottawa Civic Centre. The arena has a capacity between 8,000 and 9,500 spectators. However, the guest capacity reached as high as 10,449 for Ottawa Senators games, when the NHL team played in the arena while awaiting the construction of their own rink. TD Place Arena is built into the side of a football stadium and the seating in TD Place Arena is almost all on the north side and ends of the arena, with very few seats on the south side towards the football stadium.

Over the years, the team has hosted events in other local arenas, such as the Corel Centre (now named the Canadian Tire Centre), where in 2004, they played a game against the Kingston Frontenacs that was viewed by an CHL-record crowd of 20,081. In early February 2012, it was announced that the 67's would move to the Canadian Tire Centre for two seasons while renovations were finished at TD Place Arena. This came as a result of delays in construction originally planned to allow the 67's to stay at TD Place through the rebuild but a closed site was needed to meet deadlines for NASL and CFL expansion. The team returned to TD Place Arena in August 2014 ahead of the 2014–15 season.