Ontario Hockey League history The roots of the Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ) began with the Ontario Hockey Association ( OHA ) which formed in 1890 . Since then , there have been four major eras of distinction in levels of junior ice hockey . The OHA first organized a Junior division in 1892 . In 1933 , the Junior division was divided into two levels , Junior A and Junior B . In 1972 , the Junior A level was divided into two more levels , Tier I ( Major Junior A ) and Tier II ( Minor Junior A ) . In 1974 , the " Major Junior A " division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League ( OMJHL ) and began to operate independently of the OHA . Finally in 1980 , the OMJHL became the Ontario Hockey League . Ontario Hockey Association history . Hockey started as a challenge series in the winter of 1889 when a team from Ottawa challenged teams from Lindsay and Toronto . A year later the Ontario Hockey Association was formed on November 27 , 1890 in Toronto at the Queen ' s Hotel . Two years later , junior hockey was first played in 1892 without enforced age limits . OHA Junior hockey ( 1896 – 1933 ) . In 1896 , the OHA re - organized into three divisions , senior , intermediate and junior . Junior hockey now became age - limited to players 20 years of age or younger by January 1 of the season being played . Out of its modest beginnings at the turn of the century , junior hockey quickly grew into an organized and entertaining brand of hockey . The end of World War I marked the beginning of the Memorial Cup , the symbol of junior hockey supremacy in Canada . Teams from all across the province participated in provincial playoffs in the hope of winning the George Richardson Memorial Trophy and representing Eastern Canada in the Memorial Cup finals . As each year passed , the number of communities participating in junior hockey grew and the calibre of play increased . OHA Junior ' A ' ( 1933 – 1972 ) . For the 1933 – 34 season , junior hockey was split into ' A ' and ' B ' divisions . Two new championship trophies were created at the same time . The ' A ' level teams competing for the J . Ross Robertson Cup as OHA champions and the Memorial Cup as national champions . The ' B ' level teams competed for the Sutherland Cup , which is still Ontario ' s Junior B championship trophy . The 1930s gave birth to noted teams such as the Oshawa Generals , St . Michael ' s Majors and the Toronto Marlboros . Other notable teams of that era were the Toronto Young Rangers , Toronto Native Sons , and the Stratford Midgets . The 1940s welcomed new communities to the limelight such as the Barrie Flyers , Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters , Stratford Kroehlers and the St . Catharines Teepees . The first version of the Windsor Spitfires also appeared in the 1940s only to fade away in the early 50 ' s . The OHA awarded its first individual player trophies in 1945 . The Red Tilson Trophy was awarded to the player voted " Most Outstanding " in the league . The Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy was awarded to the league ' s top scorer . The 1950s saw other cities join in . The Kitchener Greenshirts entered the league only to move on to become the Peterborough Petes . Hamilton also joined as the Tiger Cubs ( later the Red Wings ) . The 1950s also saw inter - league play with Quebec - based teams . A divided league ( 1961 – 63 ) . Stafford Smythe , owner the of Toronto Maple Leafs , started the Metro Junior A League in an attempt to rival the OHA . The Toronto Marlboros , who were owned by the Leafs , were withdrawn from the OHA and placed in a league with promoted Junior B teams including the Whitby Mohawks , the Brampton 7 Ups , and the Unionville Seaforths . The other member of the league was the former St . Michael ' s Majors franchise , who would be later transferred to Neil McNeil High School in Scarborough , Ontario . Father David Bauer , the legendary coach and St . Michael ' s teacher , had decided to withdraw the private school from participation following their Memorial Cup win in 1961 . In response , the OHA managed to convince Sam Pollock ' s Montreal Junior Canadiens to join . The league that year consisted of the Guelph Royals , Hamilton Red Wings , St . Catharines Black Hawks , Peterborough T . P . T ' s ( aka Petes ) , Montreal Junior Canadiens and the Niagara Falls Flyers . The rival league was a failure on and off the ice , and it effectively became a second division . Although it was independent from the OHA , the champions of the OHA and the Metro Junior A would play each other in the playoffs each year on the road to the Memorial Cup . For its second season , the Metro League underwent sweeping changes , with the Whitby Mohawks renamed the Whitby Dunlops , the Unionville Seaforths becoming Toronto Knob Hill Farms , and the Majors became the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons . The new sixth team in the league would be the reborn Oshawa Generals . Re - unified league ( 1963 – 67 ) . However , after two seasons of the Metro Junior A League , it failed , and a new unified Junior A league emerged . Unfortunately , this meant the end of Neil McNeil , Brampton , Knob Hill and Unionville . The Marlboros and the re - born Oshawa Generals re - joined the OHA in 1964 . The Guelph Royals also became the Kitchener Rangers . Beginning of NHL Amateur Draft . The first NHL Amateur Draft was held in 1963 for any junior player was not already sponsored by an NHL team . When the NHL expanded in 1969 , the rules of the draft were changed to allow any amateur player under the age of 20 to be chosen . The OHA ceased being a direct farm system and began to compete with other junior leagues to graduate players . Réjean Houle became the first OHA player to be drafted first overall in 1969 by the Montreal Canadiens . The Canadiens took advantage of a grandfather clause the gave them first right to francophone players . In 1970 that clause expired , and Gilbert Perreault was drafted first overall by the Buffalo Sabres . Both Réjean Houle and Gilbert Perreault played in the OHA with the Montreal Junior Canadiens . End of NHL sponsorship . In 1965 the London Nationals ( later Knights ) were added to the OHA as the last NHL - sponsored team . By 1967 , direct NHL sponsorship of teams and individual players had ended . Prior to this time , all of the Original Six NHL teams had involvement in OHA teams : In 1967 the Ottawa 67 ' s were added to the league , named after Canada ' s centennial anniversary . The OHA existed with ten teams until 1972 , upon the creation of a new level of junior hockey , and the folding of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League . Feud between the OHA and the QMJHL . The competitiveness between the Ontario Hockey Association and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League had grown since 1969 when the QMJHL was born . It was further escalated by the incidents of the 1971 Richardson Cup , and the lawsuit over the Montreal Junior Canadiens . 1971 Richardson Cup . The Eastern Canadian championship of 1971 was a controversial series , and would be the last time teams played for the Richardson Cup . It would be replaced the following season in 1972 , with the Memorial Cup tournament , as part of reshaping junior hockey . The 1971 series featured future NHL stars Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne , but never lived up to the potential on ice brilliance that could have been . Disputes off the ice and erupting violence abrupted the series before it was finished . The St . Catharines Black Hawks and Quebec Remparts series was intense on many levels . Besides the strong rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone hockey teams , there was personal rift between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts coach Maurice Filion over Dionne playing in the OHA , which was seen as a higher - calibre level of competition . This rivalry was further fueled by the desire of Francophone nationalists to have a Canadian champion from a Quebec team in a Quebec - based league . The Remparts won the first game 4 – 2 played in St . Catharines and televised by closed circuit to over 8 , 000 spectators in Quebec arenas . Despite the win , Filion complained about the OHA referee ' s bias against his players , calling it anti - Francophone . The Black Hawks won game two by a score of 8 – 3 , to tie the series at 1 game each . Game three was played in the Colisée de Québec to an overflow crowd , seeing the Remparts win 3 – 1 . There were a total of 102 penalty minutes called , 77 of those were against the Black Hawks . Brian MacKenize of St . Catharines would be suspended for one game after confronting a linesman . After this game , the OHA lodged a complaint to the CAHA about QMHL appointed referees . The next game of the series was uglier than the last game . Another overflow crowd saw the Remparts win game 4 by a score of 6 – 1 . As the game wore on , more and more fights broke out on the ice , involving players leaving the penalty box to join the fray . The St . Catharines players were escorted off the ice by police amidst the hurling of debris from Quebec fans . After the game an angry mob surrounded the St . Catharines team bus on its way to the motel , and was given a police escort to safety . The mob circled the motel until the early hours of the morning . After disputes between the teams and leagues , game five was played on neutral ice at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto , which the Black Hawks won 6 – 3 to narrow the series 3 games to 2 for Quebec . That was the last game played . The parents of the St . Catharines players refused to send their children back to Quebec City for fear of the violence that occurred after game four . The Remparts refused to play anywhere else but their home rink , including any neutral ice in the province of Quebec . The problem was further confounded with threats surfacing from the Front de libération du Québec ( FLQ ) against St . Catharines players . CAHA president Dawson declared the series to be over when no further compromise could be reached , and he had received official notice from St . Catharines that the team would not return to the Colisée . As a result , the Remparts went on to compete for the Memorial Cup by default , which they won , defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings . Departure of the Montreal Junior Canadiens . The QMJHL threatened a lawsuit against the OHA to force the Junior Canadiens to return to the Quebec - based league , from which it departed in 1961 in favour of competing in the higher calibre OHA . The QMJHL not only wanted a team in the province ' s biggest city , but also felt the Junior Canadiens had violated the territorial right of the QMJHL . Ironically , the QMJHL had previously granted franchise rights to the Cornwall Royals of the Central Junior A Hockey League in 1969 , when the OHA had denied the Royals bid . To solve the problem , the OHA granted the Junior Canadiens franchise a " one - year suspension " of operations , while team ownership transferred the team and players into the QMJHL , renaming themselves the Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge in the process . The OHA then " re - established " the suspended franchise after a one year hiatus , under new ownership and with new players , calling the team the Kingston Canadians . The new Kingston team was essentially an expansion franchise , that had only common name to share with the departed team , but has some claim to the legacy of the Junior Canadiens . OHA Major Junior ' A ' ( 1972 – 1974 ) . For the 1972 – 73 season , Junior A hockey split again into Tier I and Tier II . The only Tier I league in the province became known as the OHA Major Jr . A . Its winner represented Ontario in a round - robin Memorial Cup with a team from the Western Hockey League and another team from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . The Tier II teams would compete for the newly created Manitoba Centennial Trophy . Communities such as Sudbury ( transfer from Niagara Falls ) and Sault Ste . Marie that had been part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League ( NOJHL ) prior to the Tier I / Tier II split , joined the Major Jr . A ranks to remain part of the Memorial Cup hunt . The 70 ' s also saw the Montreal Junior Canadiens moving back into the QJHL ' s successor , the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . The Kingston Canadians joined the OHL in their place as the Junior Canadiens ' successors , albeit with different ownership and players . The league also witnessed the rebirth of the Windsor Spitfires during this time period . Ontario Major Junior Hockey League history . In 1974 , the " Major Jr . A " ( Tier I ) division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and began to operate independently of the OHA . The new league opened up administration offices and appointed its own commissioner . The OMJHL instituted many rules changes to distinguish itself from Tier II ( Minor Jr . A ) , including allowing one overage player on the roster . The Central Scouting Bureau was started in 1975 to provide teams with more information about players available in the upcoming draft . The same year the league divided into a two division format . Then in 1977 , the OMHJL held its first All - Star game in Sudbury , Ontario . Ontario Hockey League history . In 1980 , the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League sought to gain further independence and more control over its financial policies and gate receipts . The OMJHL separated itself from the Ontario Hockey Association , becoming the Ontario Hockey League . An agreement was struck between the two sides where the OHL would pay the OHA $ 30 , 000 annually in affiliation fees and the right to compete for the Memorial Cup , and the OHL teams would have complete control over finances and ticket sales . The OHA would continue to operate hockey from Junior A Tier II , and below . David Branch has been the only Commissioner of the OHL from this time . Since 1980 , the league has grown rapidly into a high - profile marketable product , with many games broadcast on television and radio . In the 1980s , the league added the Guelph Platers and Belleville Bulls , and welcomed the Cornwall Royals from the QMJHL . North Bay took in the second version of the Niagara Falls Flyers . The former Fincups franchise was recycled through Brantford as the Brantford Alexanders and back to Hamilton , and by the end of the decade it was in Niagara Falls . The end of the decade saw the end of another storied team , the Toronto Marlboros , as they relocated to become the Hamilton Dukes . It also saw the end of the Kingston Canadians name as they were renamed the Raiders , and renamed again to the Frontenacs the following year . During the 1980s , the OHL experimented with Cooperalls as standardized league equipment , but reverted back to hockey shorts . The 1990s saw the league expand into the USA . The first franchise the expansion Detroit Compuware Ambassadors ( later the Detroit Junior Red Wings , Detroit Whalers and Plymouth Whalers ) and the secondly the Erie Otters , who relocated from Niagara Falls . The Otters could trace their heritage back to the Hamilton Tiger Cubs of 1953 . Newmarket also briefly had the Royals before moving on to become the Sarnia Sting . The Dukes became the Guelph Storm ; filling the void left when the Platers relocated to Owen Sound . Barrie rejoined the league in 1995 with the Colts and the Toronto St . Michael ' s Majors also rejoined the league in 1997 after a 34 - year absence . The league continued to expand with two new teams in 1998 ; Don Cherry ' s Mississauga IceDogs and the Brampton Battalion . In 2000 The Owen Sound Platers were renamed to the Attack after being bought by local interests . In 2002 , the Centennials moved to Saginaw , Michigan to become the Saginaw Spirit . There are currently 20 teams in the OHL ; 17 are based in Ontario , 2 teams from Michigan and 1 team from Pennsylvania . Commissioners . David E . Branch was appointed the third commissioner of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League by the Board of Governors on August 11th , 1979 . He previously served as the Executive Director of the List of OHA Intermediate A Seasons ateur Hockey Association ] ] and Secretary - Manager of the Ontario Hockey Association . All - Star Games . The Ontario Hockey League All - Star Game was first played in 1977 in Sudbury with Emms Division vs the Leyden Division . The game ' s winner was awarded the OHL Chrysler Cup . This format continued through 1985 . The OHL / QMJHL All - Star Challenge Series was held from 1986 to 1991 . The game ' s winner was awarded the Chrysler Challenge Cup . Chrysler Canada was the corporate sponsor from 1977 to 1991 . The Canadian Hockey League created the CHL All - Star Challenge in 1992 . For four seasons from 1992 to 1995 , it incorporated the Western Hockey League , the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League into one showcase event . The host league in this case would challenge a combined team from the other two leagues . In 1996 this was replaced with the CHL Top Prospects Game . There was no OHL All - Star game held in 1996 . The OHL All - Star Game was revived in 1997 . It was played for 4 consecutive seasons until 2000 . Officially it was called the OHL All - Star Classic . The games during this period had different corporate sponsors . In 2001 , the three CHL leagues would play a round - robin style All - Star game named the CHL All - Star Series , the winning league being awarded the Hershey Cup . Each league made two Conference All - Star teams . One would play at home versus a Conference All - Star team from another league , and the other conference would visit another league ' s team . This format was played for the 2001 , 2002 & 2003 seasons . The OHL All - Star Classic game has been played every year since 2004 . The game was previously sponsored by Direct Energy , the most recent corporate sponsor is Bell Canada . The 2007 All Star game was played in Saginaw , Michigan , United States , the first time the game has been hosted outside of Canada .