Ottawa Jr. Canadiens

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The Ottawa Jr. Canadiens were a minor ice hockey team affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens. The team was based in Ottawa, ON & Hull, QC. The team was coached by Scotty Bowman, managed by Sam Pollock and captained by Ralph Backstrom.

The team did not belong to any major junior league. Instead its games were exhibition matches against amateur senior teams, minor professional teams, Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) junior teams, and Quebec Junior Hockey League (QJHL) teams. The team played the majority of their games in the "Quebec Hockey League", a senior league that incorporated Ottawa's games into their schedule. At the end of 1957, the QHL folded leaving the Canadiens to find a new "foster" league.

1957 Memorial Cup

In the 1957 season with the senior level Quebec Hockey League, Ottawa put together a record of 7 wins, 12 losses, and a tie, with 57 goals for and 74 goals against. The Canadiens, on average, were about 5-8 years younger than their opponents and held up well. Later, Ottawa won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters to win the Richardson Trophy as Eastern Canadian representatives.

The Junior Canadiens were runners-up to the Memorial Cup in 1957. They were defeated by the Flin Flon Bombers 4 games to 3 in a best-of-seven series.

Game 1  Flin Flon 3 vs. Ottawa 1
Game 2  Flin Flon 3 vs. Ottawa 4
Game 3  Flin Flon 2 vs. Ottawa 5
Game 4  Flin Flon 3 vs. Ottawa 1
Game 5  Flin Flon 3 vs. Ottawa 2
Game 6  Flin Flon 2 vs. Ottawa 4
Game 7  Flin Flon 3 vs. Ottawa 2

1958 Memorial Cup

In 1958 the team was known from that year on as the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, not to be confused with the senior team of a similar name. The Junior Canadiens defeated the Toronto Marlboros to win the Richardson Trophy.

Hull-Ottawa's opponent for the Memorial Cup would be another farm team of NHL Montreal team, the Regina Pats.

Game 1  Ottawa 3 vs. Regina 4
Game 2  Ottawa 4 vs. Regina 2
Game 3  Ottawa 6 vs. Regina 2
Game 4  Ottawa 3 vs. Regina 4 OT
Game 5  Ottawa 6 vs. Regina 3
Game 6  Ottawa 6 vs. Regina 1

For more information on the team beyond this point, please see the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.

NHL Alumni

Hockey Hall of Fame members in bold.

Ralph Backstrom
Murray Balfour
Gilles Boisvert
Billy Carter

Claude Cyr
Bruce Gamble
Terry Gray
Don Johns

Jacques Laperriere
Keith McCreary
Bobby Rousseau
Irv Spencer

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