Generals celebrate championship season

(Photos by Ian Goodall/Goodall Media)

By Josh Sweetland/OHL

Wednesday June 3, 2015

The MasterCard Memorial Cup Champion Oshawa Generals took to the streets on Tuesday, celebrating their fifth national title in franchise history with the community in a parade through the city. 

Military vehicles, convertibles and dazzling new pickup trucks led a caravan through masses of red, blue and white jerseys enroute to the General Motors Centre where the club held a rally with fans and supporters with their trophies, including the Memorial Cup, the J. Ross Robertson Cup and the Bobby Orr Trophy, on full display.

“It’s been a crazy few days for us,” said draft eligible defenceman Mitchell Vande Sompel. “You look around here and the overwhelming show of support we’ve received from these fans all season, it’s just an indescribable feeling.”

Overage captain Josh Brown led the parade, carrying the shimmering Memorial Cup trophy in the backseat of a convertible.

“Looking back on the game, we really didn’t want to allow the first goal – one that was kind of my fault,” he said. “I was a little hard on myself after that, but we kept battling, stuck to the things that we’ve done all season and got some big saves from Kenny (Appleby). The energy was still on the bench and in the room and Cirelli came through with the two biggest goals of the year.”

As for the man who scored the final goal in the 66-year history of Quebec City’s Colisee Pepsi 1:28 into overtime, he did his best to recall Sunday’s events that unfolded in the blink of an eye.

“It’s so surreal you know, I remember the goal and it all happened so fast. Carlisle got a low shot on net and the rebound just sat there,” Anthony Cirelli said. “I just reacted and then everyone went crazy. It was the craziest moment of my life.”

The MasterCard Memorial Cup title is the cherry on top of what’s been a historic season in Generals history. In addition to spending 16 consecutive weeks atop the BMO CHL Top 10 Rankings from November 26 to March 18, the team set new franchise records in wins (51), points (108), and goals against (157). The Generals won a second straight East Division title before skating to the 13th Robertson Cup Championship in franchise history and first since 1997. 

Cirelli’s overtime winner comes 25 years after Bill Armstrong lifted the Generals to a MasterCard Memorial Cup title in 1990, scoring the winner in a 4-3 double overtime victory over the Kitchener Rangers in Hamilton.

“If you’d told me a year ago today that I’d be doing this right now, I’d have told you you’re crazy,” Cirelli, the undrafted free agent addition out of training camp last fall said at the parade. “The goal coming into the season was to win it all, and we’re one of 60 teams in the CHL that can say we’ve achieved that.”

The MasterCard Memorial Cup Champion Oshawa Generals close the book on another great season of OHL hockey, adding another accomplishment to an already long list of historic success.

Watch video highlights of the Oshawa Generals parade and celebration here.