Power-laden Rangers claim Memorial Cup in 1982

Can it have been 38 years ago?

Coronavirus restrictions have helped me rediscover long-neglected corners of the house and a few little treasures. Four rubber discs had long been hidden by books and CDs. Rescued from exile, these signed pucks became instant time-travel machines taking me back almost exactly 38 years.

On that Saturday afternoon, May 15, 1982, streets were quiet, movie houses empty and back yards deserted. The TV was on CKCO, radios were tuned to CKKW and both were broadcasting live at Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Que., where the Kitchener Rangers were determined to win their first Memorial Cup. Bitter memories remained from the previous year’s championship loss in Windsor, where the Cornwall Royals crushed the Rangers 8-2.

In Hull, things would be different. A round-robin tournament against the Sherbrooke Castors and Portland Winter Hawks ended tied, with each team posting 2-2 records. Portland was eliminated on goal differential, so Sher- brooke and Kitchener had 60 final min- utes to decide the new champion. Spoil- er here — the Rangers won 7-4. There are several game descriptions on the internet so let’s just add a few memories and remarkable notes about that team.

The Rangers had a 5-2 lead entering the third period — comfy, but not safe — until Mike Eagles’ two short-handed goals just 14 seconds apart quickly wrote

finis to any thoughts Sherbrooke had of rebounding. With a five-goal lead, the Rangers were looking good. Consider the team’s defensive lineup: future NHL Hall of Famers Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens; Dave Shaw (another future NHLer for 769 games); and Robert Savard who had joined the Rangers after playing on the two previous Memorial Cup-winning teams. No club was going to score five goals against that defence especially when behind them was goaltender Wendell Young, who later added two Stanley Cup rings to his portfolio. The forwards, with six goals to their credit — three by Brian Bellows, one by Grant Martin, and two by Eagles — could concentrate on thwarting the Castors’ attack. MacInnis scored the other goal

Dave McLelland, a Rangers director at the time, recalls that he was such a bundle of nerves he had to take a walk under the stands to ease the tension. He was surprised at seeing so many others, including players’ family members, doing the same.

There were 20 players on the roster under coach Joe Crozier and 12 of them went on to the NHL. Collectively they totalled 7,648 NHL games, with Stevens, MacInnis and Bellows each playing more than 1,000.

I mentioned four defencemen earlier, purposely leaving out a fifth who might have also developed into a Hall of Famer.

But Jim Quinn had his sights aimed at higher goals. Setting aside the lure of an immediate pro hockey contract, he devoted his life to medicine, travelling the WLU, UWO and University of Ottawa path before gaining a Master’s Degree in Health Services at Stanford University in California where today he is professor of emergency medicine.

To prompt a few more memory cells, here are the other players who contributed to the championship season: Darryl Boudreau, Kevin Casey, Scott Clements, Louis Crawford, Mike Hough, Jeff Larmer, Joel Levesque, Don McLaren,

Mario Michielli, Mike Moher, Dave Nicholls and Brad Schnurr. Plus, John Tucker, perhaps my favourite Ranger that year. Jim Ralph of the Ottawa 67s, now a commentator on Leafs’ broadcasts, was added to the club as a third goalie in the tournament.

Rangers have been in six Memorial Cups, playing in all six championship games ... winning two.

For many, that first one, 38 years ago, remains the sweetest!

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rych mills is a lifelong resident of Kitchener-Waterloo whose interest in the Twin Cities’ past has appeared in two local history books and numerous articles for the Waterloo Historical Society annual volume for which he is currently editor. Email: rychmills@golden.net rychmills@golden.net

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO LIBRARY S When the Kitchener Rangers returned home following their Memorial Cup win in Hull, the streets were lined by thousands of fans savouring the city’s first major hockey championship since 1960. Mike Moher and Jeff Larmer held the cup high. The cup originally honoured Canada’s dead in First World War but in 2010 was re-dedicated to pay tribute to all of Canada’s fallen soldiers.

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO LIBRARY Grant Martin pours, Brian Bellows drinks and Jim Quinn celebrates in the background after the Kitchener Rangers captured the Memorial Cup in Hull, Que.

RYCH MILLS SPECIAL TO THE RECORD Four pucks signed by five Kitchener Rangers from the 1982 Memorial Cup team recently started memories flowing of a mid-May weekend 38 years ago. Al MacInnis, Brian Bellows, John Tucker, Jeff Larmer and Mike Moher likely signed thousands over the years but these four are special.