Petes honour ’96 OHL Championship team
Saturday February 27, 2016
The Peterborough Petes recognized one of the best teams in the storied history of the franchise on Saturday night at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
The Petes celebrated the 20th anniversary reunion of their 1996 OHL Championship team, one that would reach the MasterCard Memorial Cup final on home ice during the Petes’ 40th anniversary season that year.
WATCH: 1996 Peterborough Petes Championship video montage
The ’96 Petes finished second in the East Division with a record of 35-22-9 under head coach Dave MacQueen before claiming playoff series victories over Kingston, Sarnia and reigning OHL champion Detroit to set up a date with the Guelph Storm in the OHL finals.
The series would require overtime of game 7 to decide a winner as Jason MacMillan found defenceman Mike Martone joining the rush, threading a pass through the middle as Martone proceeded to beat Guelph’s Dan Cloutier to give the Petes an 8-7 victory with one of the biggest goals in franchise history.
Peterborough would go 2-1 in round robin play at the MasterCard Memorial Cup, defeating Guelph 2-1 to punch their ticket to a semi-final matchup with the Brandon Wheat Kings where they avenged an earlier 3-2 overtime loss with a 4-3 victory.
Peterborough was blanked 4-0 by the Granby Predateurs in the MasterCard Memorial Cup final, drawing an end to one of the most memorable seasons in Petes franchise history.
Despite the loss, star winger Cameron Mann earned the Stafford Smythe Trophy as MasterCard Memorial Cup MVP as a result of his four goals, two assists and six points in five games.
Mann’s 27 goals in 24 games during the 1996 playoffs remain an OHL record today.
The Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame held a special 1996 MasterCard Memorial Cup and OHL Championship exhibit on display during the Petes recent games on Thursday and Saturday in commemoration of the reunion.
For more information on the reunion, please visit gopetesgo.com.