A look back at Petes teams from the first seven decades
The Petes’ first season in their eighth decade of play was cut short by COVID-19.
As we await the resumption of play, we look back at the team’s seven decades of existence.
1956-59
The team’s first three years had three coaches (Calum MacKay, Ted Kennedy, Scotty Bowman), won an OHA championship and played in the 1959 Memorial Cup final, losing to the Winnipeg Braves.
Noted players were Wayne Connelly, Chuck Adamson, Bill Mahoney, Barclay Plager, Irv Spencer, Jim Roberts, Wayne Boddy, Doug Senior, Jacque Caron and Gary Darling.
1960-69
The teams of this decade finished in first place once and missed the playoffs once. They went through five coaches (Bowman, Neil Burke, Frank Mario, Roger Bedard, Roger Neilson). Three times they made it to the second round of playoffs. The first NHL amateur draft was held in 1969 and five Petes were drafted.
Noted players were Chuck Goddard, Mickey Redmond,
Danny Grant, Jim Paterson, Bob Jamieson, Keith Wright, Andre Lacroix, George Godson, Claude Larose, Tony Featherstone, Bryan Watson, Rick MacLeish and John Vandenburg.
1970-79
This was the team’s most successful decade.
They won the OHL title three times, missed the playoff once but also won 14 playoff rounds.
In 1974 the Petes represented Canada at the world junior championships in Leningrad, Soviet Union. They won three games, lost two and ended up with the bronze medal.
Of course, this was the decade of their only Memorial Cup victory. The team went through four coaches (Neilson, Garry Young, Gary Green, Mike Keenan) and had 54 players drafted by NHL teams.
Noted players were Doug Gibson, Doug Jarvis, Mark Kirton, Bob Gainey, Keith Acton, Colin Campbell, Jim Turkiewicz, Paul McIntosh, John Garrett, Ron Lalonde, Jim Mahon, Tim Trimper, Craig Ramsay and Greg Millen.
1980-89
The teams of the 1980s placed first five times, won 15 playoff rounds and two OHL titles.
They had three different coaches (Keenan, Dave Dryden, Dick Todd) and 48 players drafted to the NHL.
In 1980 they represented Canada at the world junior championships for the second time. In Helsinki, Finland, they finished out of the medal round. Noted players were Doug Evans, Mark Freer, Kris King, Scott Tottle, Ken Strong, Dave Morrison, Kay Whitmore, Jody Hull, Larry Murphy, Mark Teevens, Luke Richardson, Randy Burridge, Dallas Eakins, Mike Ricci, Steve Yzerman and Bob Errey.
1990-99
This decade the Petes finished first twice, won two OHL championships and 12 playoff series.
They had five coaches (Todd, Dave MacQueen, Brian Drumm, Jeff Twohey, Rick Allain) and 36 players drafted to the NHL.
Noted players were Scott Barney, Jason Dawe, Mike Harding, Cory Stillman, Mike Williams, Cameron Mann, Brent Tully, Andrew Verner, Jamie Langenbrunner, Mike Martone, Chris Pronger, Kevin Bolibruck and David Roche.
2000-09
These teams ended up first once, missed the playoffs twice, won six playoff series and went through five coaches (Allain, Darren Keily Todd, Vince Malette,
Ken McRae). Twenty-two players were drafted into the NHL.
Noted players included Jamie Tardif, Daniel Ryder, David Shantz, Eric Staal, Liam Reddox, Jordan Staal, Patrick Kaleta, Lukas Krajicek, Zach Bogosian, Jeff McDougald, Steve Downie, Joey MacDonald, Jason Williams, Mark Flood and Greg Chambers.
2010-20
These teams ended up first once, missed the playoffs four times, won three playoff series and had last season, really the first of their eighth decade, stopped by COVID-19.
They had five coaches (McRae, Mike Pelino, Jody Hull, Andrew Verner, Rob Wilson) and 19 players drafted.
Noted players were Andrew D’Agostini, Nick Robertson, Nick Ritchie, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Matt Puempel, Hunter Garlent, Nikita Korostelev, Joey West, Ryan Spooner, Alan Quine, Zack Kassian, Jonathan Ang, Eric Cornel, Steven Lorentz and Slater Koekkoek.