This is the 25th anniversary of OHL Hockey in Owen Sound.
Tonight, the Attack are at Erie to face the Otters and while there have been many memorable activities on the ice and off in Erie through the years, I’ll never forget the first two years we went to Pennsylvania for doubleheaders.
In 1996, the Otters slammed the Attack 11-0 & 9-1 on back to back nights. It was brutal !
Owen Sound had an underage rookie on that 1996 squad named Sean Avery, who regardless of the score, kept up a running verbal battle going with the Otters and during the first game of the weekend series, an Otter underage by the name of Warren Hefford really tuned him in.
Sean’s popularity with his teammates ebbed and flowed during his days in Owen Sound, but I remember coach John Lovell being flabbergasted that nobody from the Platers stepped in when Avery was being abused.
A year later……….back in Erie…..second game of the weekend doubleheader.
Owen Sound won the first game 7-4, but the Otters had a commanding lead in the second match, so much so that Hefford was dispatched from the bench again, and it was obvious he was going to give it to Sean Avery again as soon as the puck dropped.
Unfortunately for Hefford, Ryan Crowther of the Platers took matters into his own hands and battered Hefford without mercy.
In the scrum that formed around the beating, Otters veteran Jeff Paul, yes, the same guy’s who’s coaching at London now, taunted Platers rookie Dave Stephenson. Bad call by Paul who was playing with a bad shoulder that wasn’t about to heal after getting rag-dolled by Stephenson.
So Hefford’s been pounded. Paul’s been embarrassed. Sean Avery is grinning from ear to ear. And the crowd in the Tullio Arena is in an absolute uproar.
After a lengthy delay to sort things out, order is prevailed, the linesman drops the puck and Sean Avery immediately jumps Tim Connolly, Erie’s best player.
And the Erie crowd goes wild again.
This is the 25th year of OHL Hockey in Owen Sound.
I’m Fred Wallace