Royal Bank Cup

Royal Bank Cup

Royal Bank Cup Logo 1996 - 2007

The Royal Bank Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament held to determine the Canadian Junior A champion. The winner of the tournament wins the Royal Bank Cup. The forerunner to the Royal Bank Cup was the Manitoba Centennial Cup, which ran for 25 years from 1971 to 1995 inclusive.

The Doyle Cup Champion traditionally plays off against the Anavet Cup Champion at the Royal Bank Cup for the Western Canadian Championship, The Abbott Cup. The outcome of the Abbott Cup is determined during the Royal Bank Cup round robin and the outcome of the game is more important in tournament placement than the long history of the award.

The current tournament structure is a five-team round-robin with a playdown. The participating teams are the four regional champions and the host team.

Fred Page Cup: Eastern Champion

Dudley Hewitt Cup: Central Champion

Anavet Cup: Western Champion

Doyle Cup: Pacific Champion

Host Team: Canadian Junior A Hockey League

Royal Bank Cup History

Aurora Tigers' Vincent Bruni with Royal Bank Cup (2007)

In May 1996, the inaugural Royal Bank Cup was held in Melfort, Saskatchewan, continuing the fine tradition of a National Junior ‘A’ championship. Each league across Canada sends their championship club to a regional qualifier, playing for the right to represent the region at the Royal Bank Cup tournament. The first ever winner of the Royal Bank Cup was the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League.

Since the first RBC Cup tournament, every tournament has been executed as a round robin tournament with a host city/team and four regional champions competing. As of the Royal Bank Cup 2007 tournament, the 12th Royal Bank Cup, 5 winners have been Pacific champions, 4 have been the host city, 1 was the Western champion, and 2 were the Central champion. The Eastern champions have yet to win a Royal Bank Cup.

Overtime is a common theme as the Royal Bank Cup, the longest game in RBC Cup history started on May 12, 2007 at Royal Bank Cup 2007 between the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the host Prince George Spruce Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League. The Spruce Kings won the game 3-2 6:01 into the fifth overtime period [1]. The game lasted 146:01, just short of the CJAHL record set by the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and the Pickering Panthers in the 2007 Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League playoffs (154:32) [2].

2009 RBC at Victoria, British Columbia

For details, please see: 2009 Royal Bank Cup.

Royal Bank Cup Winners

Royal Bank Cup Round Robins Year Champion Runner-Up Final Score Location 1996 Vernon Vipers Melfort Mustangs 2-0 Melfort, Saskatchewan 1997 Summerside Western Capitals South Surrey Eagles 4-3 Summerside, Prince Edward Island 1998 South Surrey Eagles Weyburn Red Wings 4-1 Nanaimo, British Columbia 1999 Vernon Vipers Charlottetown Abbies 9-3 Yorkton, Saskatchewan 2000 Fort McMurray Oil Barons Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats 2-1 Fort McMurray, Alberta 2001 Camrose Kodiaks Flin Flon Bombers 5-0 Flin Flon, Manitoba 2002 Halifax Oland Exports OCN Blizzard 3-1 Halifax, Nova Scotia 2003 Humboldt Broncos Camrose Kodiaks 3-1 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 2004 Aurora Tigers Kindersley Klippers 7-1 Grande Prairie, Alberta 2005 Weyburn Red Wings Camrose Kodiaks 3-2 Weyburn, Saskatchewan 2006 Burnaby Express Yorkton Terriers 8-2 Brampton, Ontario 2007 Aurora Tigers Prince George Spruce Kings 3-1 Prince George, British Columbia 2008 Humboldt Broncos Camrose Kodiaks 1-0 Cornwall, Ontario 2009 Vernon Vipers Humboldt Broncos 2-0 Victoria, British Columbia 2010 Dauphin, Manitoba

Manitoba Centennial Trophy History

The Manitoba Centennial Trophy was presented to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) by the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association to commemorate their centennial year of 1970. It was in that year that the CAHA reconfigured their junior tier, creating two separate classifications - Major Junior and Junior "A." The Major Junior class encompassed the teams that made up the "Canadian Major Junior Hockey League" while the Junior "A" section included the remaining junior teams within the association. With the Memorial Cup established as a trophy exclusively for teams in the "Canadian Major Junior Hockey League", the Manitoba Centennial Trophy served as the trophy for the champions of this new Junior "A" division.

The Red Deer Rustlers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League defeated the Charlottetown Islanders of the Island Junior Hockey League in 1971 to claim the inaugural Canadian Junior A Championship and Manitoba Centennial Trophy, often referred to as the "Centennial Cup". The final Centennial Cup was awarded to the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 1995.

Centennial Cup 1972 was the focus of national attention. The Guelph CMC's of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League were in the final game of a four game sweep in the National Final against the Red Deer Rustlers when their leading scorer Paul Fendley lost his helmet during a body check and struck his head on the ice, knocking him into a coma. The National Hockey League prospect never woke up as he died a couple days later from head trauma. [3]

Manitoba Centennial Trophy Winners

Centennial Cup Final Series Year Eastern Finalist Western Finalist Series Primary Location 1971 Charlottetown Islanders Red Deer Rustlers 2-4 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 1972 Guelph CMC's Red Deer Rustlers 4-0 Guelph, Ontario 1973 Pembroke Lumber Kings Portage Terriers 1-4 Portage la Prairie, Manitoba 1974 Smiths Falls Bears Selkirk Steelers 3-4 Nepean, Ontario 1975 Guelph CMC's Spruce Grove Mets 2-4 Edmonton, Alberta 1976 Rockland Nationals Spruce Grove Mets 4-1 Rockland, Ontario 1977 Pembroke Lumber Kings Prince Albert Raiders 0-4 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan 1978 Guelph Platers Prince Albert Raiders 4-0 Guelph, Ontario Centennial Cups 1979 through 1981 were Round Robins 1982 Guelph Platers Prince Albert Raiders 0-4 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan 1983 North York Rangers Abbotsford Flyers 4-0 North York, Ontario 1984 Orillia Travelways Weyburn Red Wings 3-4 Weyburn, Saskatchewan

Centennial Cup Round Robins Year Champion Runner-Up Final Score Location 1979 Prince Albert Raiders Sherwood-Parkdale Metros 5-4 (OT) Prince Albert, Saskatchewan 1980 Red Deer Rustlers North York Rangers 3-2 North York, Ontario 1981 Prince Albert Raiders Belleville Bulls 6-2 Halifax, Nova Scotia Centennial Cups 1982 through 1984 were playoffs 1985 Orillia Travelways Penticton Knights 4-2 Orillia, Ontario 1986 Penticton Knights Cole Harbour Colts 7-4 Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia 1987 Richmond Sockeyes Humboldt Broncos 5-2 Humboldt, Saskatchewan 1988 Notre Dame Hounds Halifax Lions 3-2 Pembroke, Ontario 1989 Thunder Bay Flyers Summerside Western Capitals 4-1 Summerside, Prince Edward Island 1990 Vernon Lakers New Westminster Royals 6-5 (OT) Vernon, British Columbia 1991 Vernon Lakers Sudbury Cubs 8-4 Sudbury, Ontario 1992 Thunder Bay Flyers Winkler Flyers 10-1 Winnipeg, Manitoba 1993 Kelowna Spartans Chateauguay Elites 7-2 Amherst, Nova Scotia 1994 Olds Grizzlys Kelowna Spartans 5-4 (OT) Olds, Alberta 1995 Calgary Canucks Gloucester Rangers 5-4 (OT) Gloucester, Ontario

Most Championships by Province

Centennial/Royal Bank Cups by Province Rank Region Championships 1 British Columbia 10 2 Ontario 9 - Saskatchewan 9 4 Alberta 7 5 Manitoba 2 6 Nova Scotia 1 - Prince Edward Island 1

Roland Mercier Trophy

The Roland Mercier Trophy is awarded to the Most Valuable Player of the Royal Bank Cup Championship.

• 1971-1974 Unknown
• 1975 Ron Lecuyer - Spruce Grove Mets (AJHL)
• 1976 Gerry Leroux - Rockland Nationals (CenJHL)
• 1977 Barry Archibald - Prince Albert Raiders (SJHL)
• 1978 Terry Cullen - Guelph Platers (OPJHL)
• 1979 Dunston Carroll - Sherwood-Parkdale Metros (IJHL)
• 1980 Brent Sutter - Red Deer Rustlers (AJHL)
• 1981 James Patrick - Prince Albert Raiders (SJHL)
• 1982 Carl Van Camp - Prince Albert Raiders (SJHL)
• 1983 Dennis McCarroll - North York Rangers (OJHL)
• 1984 Ron Amyotte - Weyburn Red Wings (SJHL)
• 1985 Adam Lewis - Orillia Travelways (OJHL)
• 1986 Kevan Melrose - Penticton Knights (BCJHL)
• 1987 Frank Romeo - Richmond Sockeyes (BCJHL)
• 1988 Rod Brind'Amour - Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)
• 1989 Todd Henderson - Thunder Bay Flyers (USHL)
• 1990 Marc Alain Duchaine - Longueuil College Francais (QPJHL)
• 1991 Andrew Backen - Thunder Bay Flyers (USHL)
• 1992 Scott Longstaff - Vernon Lakers (BCHL)
• 1993 Steffon Walby - Kelowna Packers (BCHL)
• 1994 Tyler Graham - Olds Grizzlys (AJHL)
• 1995 Mitch Grant - Winnipeg South Blues (MJHL)
• 1996 Serge Bourgeois - Moncton Beavers (MJAHL)
• 1997 Matt Hartigan - Weyburn Red Wings (SJHL)
• 1998 Peter Wishloff - South Surrey Eagles (BCHL)
• 1999 Dennis Bassett - Yorkton Terriers (SJHL)
• 2000 Serge Dube - Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL)
• 2001 Darrell Stoddard - Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
• 2002 Jeff Tambellini - Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
• 2003 Craig Olynick - Humboldt Broncos (SJHL)
• 2004 Kevin Dziaduck - Kindersley Klippers (SJHL)
• 2005 Travis Friedley - Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
• 2006 David Wilson - Streetsville Derbys (OPJHL)
• 2007 Daniel Michalsky - Aurora Tigers (OPJHL)
• 2008 Darcy Findlay - Cornwall Colts (CenJHL)
• 2009 Kyle Bigos - Vernon Vipers (BCHL)