1980 Memorial Cup - Mike Keenan accused of tanking?

[reckoning]

I'm currently reading Mike Keenan's autobiography, and he talks about this tournament. It's something I've heard bits about over the years, and wanted to take a closer look at it.

There is an in-depth recap of the tournament on this blog that I highly recommend The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1980 , but I'll give a brief summary.

The three teams in the Memorial Cup that year were:
Regina Pats, coached by Bryan Murray, top player was Doug Wickenheiser
Peterborough Petes, coached by Mike Keenan, top player was Larry Murphy
Cornwall Royals, coached by Doug Carpenter, top player was rookie Dale Hawerchuk.

Most observers felt that it would come down to Regina and Peterborough. The Pats were the host team and an offensive powerhouse. The Petes were the defending champs who had rolled through the OHL playoffs. The QMJHL champs Cornwall were considered an afterthought.

The format was a round-robin where each team played each other twice. The two teams with best records would then play in the Championship. Peterborough won their first three games, two against Regina and one against Cornwall. Cornwall beat Regina in their first game, but the Pats pounded them 11-2 in their next meeting.

The two Regina-Peterborough games were hard fought affairs, and Bryan Murray was very critical of Mike Keenans tactics, specifically refusing to send his players out for the faceoff until the officials examined Wickenheiser's gloves. Murray felt that Keenan was making a mockery of the game trying to get cheap power-plays from stick measurements or other equipment issues. Keenans response was "the rules are the rules". This was the start of a bad feeling between the two coaches that would extend well into their NHL careers.


The final game of the round-robin was Peterborough (3-0) vs Cornwall (1-2). The Petes had already clinched a spot in the Final. If they won the game they would play Regina, if they lost they would play Cornwall. Peterborough led 4-2 after the second period, but Cornwall scored 3 goals in the third to win. Angry Regina fans littered the ice with debris, and the Petes needed the police to help them leave the arena.

Afterwards, Bryan Murray accused the Petes of losing on purpose to avoid playing Regina in the Final. He called it a disgrace and said Keenan should be kicked out of junior hockey. Keenan refused to comment.

The Championship game was a fiasco. Security was non-existent, and many fans brought eggs to the arena that were hurled at Keenan and the Petes. One fan actually threw a live chicken at the Petes bench. As for the game itself, the supposedly weaker Cornwall team won in OT to take the Championship.

Keenan categorically states in his book that he did not throw the game, and I'm inclined to believe him. Why would they stoop to throwing a game to avoid playing a Regina team they'd already beaten twice? Why would they have a 4-2 lead after the second? And if Regina was such a better team than Cornwall, why did they lose to them in their first game?

The one point Keenan concedes is that it was a nothing game for the Petes, their first in a long time, and there would obviously be a let-down, especially against a Cornwall team facing elimination.

I would compare it to how sometimes on the last weekend of the NFL season, you'll see a team who has already clinched a playoff spot lose to a weaker team. They're more concerned with keeping their star players rested and healthy for the playoffs, but they're not trying to lose.

Does anyone here have any memories of that tournament? There's nothing on YT except for Cornwall's winning goal.

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[Michael Farkas]

One fan actually threw a live chicken at the Petes bench.

I could not stop laughing at this. Then I start picturing the act itself. It's just such a whole 'nother level from throwing eggs at an event to throwing a live chicken haha

 

[Voight]

Which Olympics was it where one of the teams was accused of something similar? I think it was the Swedes in 06?

 

[Dr Robot]

How do you even smuggle a live chicken into a sporting event to begin with? Asking for a friend.

 

[Michael Farkas]

How do you even smuggle a live chicken into a sporting event to begin with? Asking for a friend.

The lack of security part was perhaps an understatement haha

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Which Olympics was it where one of the teams was accused of something similar? I think it was the Swedes in 06?

Yeah, following Canada’s struggles in their group including a massive upset at the hands of Switzerland, Sweden played Slovakia knowing that the prize of winning their group would be facing the winner of Canada v. the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, whereas they could swap out Canada for Switzerland if they elected to mail it in.

Olympic athletes have been disqualified for intentionally trying to lose, but… Sweden had an extended 5-on-3 with Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, Fredrik Modin and Nicklas Lidström failing to get a shot on net.

In a documentary on his career following his retirement, Forsberg called the Slovakia game a “läggmatch” (lit. ‘game where you lay down’; a thrown game), and elaborates that they didn’t see any point in going out balls to the wall trying to win a game, risking injury and facing a tougher opponent. He retracted those words following backlash, from his 2006 Team Sweden HC Bengt-Åke Gustafsson in particular. Fwiw, I actually don’t think Gustafsson coached the team to go out and lose or had his best players rest or whatnot.

 

[JackSlater]

Sportsnet had an interesting article about this.

Which Olympics was it where one of the teams was accused of something similar? I think it was the Swedes in 06?

Yeah it was Sweden, but not close to as negative as what is described here though. It would be Sweden losing and facing Switzerland rather than Canada. A far cry from losing on purpose though and to knock out another team.

Forsberg clarifies talk that Sweden threw game

 

[Voight]

How do you even smuggle a live chicken into a sporting event to begin with? Asking for a friend.

Pre 9/11 it was fairly easy to smuggle stuff into any space that wasn't obvious (i.e the Pentagon or White House for example). It was even easier 20 years before that.

 

[Voight]

I'm currently reading Mike Keenan's autobiography, and he talks about this tournament. It's something I've heard bits about over the years, and wanted to take a closer look at it.

There is an in-depth recap of the tournament on this blog that I highly recommend The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1980 , but I'll give a brief summary.

The three teams in the Memorial Cup that year were:
Regina Pats, coached by Bryan Murray, top player was Doug Wickenheiser
Peterborough Petes, coached by Mike Keenan, top player was Larry Murphy
Cornwall Royals, coached by Doug Carpenter, top player was rookie Dale Hawerchuk.

Most observers felt that it would come down to Regina and Peterborough. The Pats were the host team and an offensive powerhouse. The Petes were the defending champs who had rolled through the OHL playoffs. The QMJHL champs Cornwall were considered an afterthought.

The format was a round-robin where each team played each other twice. The two teams with best records would then play in the Championship. Peterborough won their first three games, two against Regina and one against Cornwall. Cornwall beat Regina in their first game, but the Pats pounded them 11-2 in their next meeting.

The two Regina-Peterborough games were hard fought affairs, and Bryan Murray was very critical of Mike Keenans tactics, specifically refusing to send his players out for the faceoff until the officials examined Wickenheiser's gloves. Murray felt that Keenan was making a mockery of the game trying to get cheap power-plays from stick measurements or other equipment issues. Keenans response was "the rules are the rules". This was the start of a bad feeling between the two coaches that would extend well into their NHL careers.


The final game of the round-robin was Peterborough (3-0) vs Cornwall (1-2). The Petes had already clinched a spot in the Final. If they won the game they would play Regina, if they lost they would play Cornwall. Peterborough led 4-2 after the second period, but Cornwall scored 3 goals in the third to win. Angry Regina fans littered the ice with debris, and the Petes needed the police to help them leave the arena.

Afterwards, Bryan Murray accused the Petes of losing on purpose to avoid playing Regina in the Final. He called it a disgrace and said Keenan should be kicked out of junior hockey. Keenan refused to comment.

The Championship game was a fiasco. Security was non-existent, and many fans brought eggs to the arena that were hurled at Keenan and the Petes. One fan actually threw a live chicken at the Petes bench. As for the game itself, the supposedly weaker Cornwall team won in OT to take the Championship.

Keenan categorically states in his book that he did not throw the game, and I'm inclined to believe him. Why would they stoop to throwing a game to avoid playing a Regina team they'd already beaten twice? Why would they have a 4-2 lead after the second? And if Regina was such a better team than Cornwall, why did they lose to them in their first game?

The one point Keenan concedes is that it was a nothing game for the Petes, their first in a long time, and there would obviously be a let-down, especially against a Cornwall team facing elimination.

I would compare it to how sometimes on the last weekend of the NFL season, you'll see a team who has already clinched a playoff spot lose to a weaker team. They're more concerned with keeping their star players rested and healthy for the playoffs, but they're not trying to lose.

Does anyone here have any memories of that tournament? There's nothing on YT except for Cornwall's winning goal.

Its funny you mention this because some people are convinced KC absolutely threw their game this past Sunday (they lost to Denver 38-0, had they beat Denver, Cincinnati would've made the playoffs and they are a conference rival, a much better team than their record indicated and had beaten KC in the playoffs previously). Yes they did rest their starters, but on some plays it seemed like they weren't even trying to stop Denver from scoring.

 

[Crosby2010]

Sportsnet had an interesting article about this.



Yeah it was Sweden, but not close to as negative as what is described here though. It would be Sweden losing and facing Switzerland rather than Canada. A far cry from losing on purpose though and to knock out another team.

Forsberg clarifies talk that Sweden threw game

For years this has been somewhat common knowledge. As a Canadian who was awfully critical of Canada that year I don't see why the Swedes wouldn't want to play us since we were a mess. However, Canada is Canada, and even a lost Canadian team is not one you want to play. Either way, I can remember in between my profanity laced tirades at Team Canada that I found Sweden certainly did their best to not go out and win that game. Oh well, Canada should have done better regardless.

As for the 1980 Memorial Cup. I don't believe Keenan was in on the fix. It isn't his style. Mike Keenan is well known as being one of the fiercest coaches in NHL history. There are plenty of stories about him and not every player liked him but nowhere has anyone said he would try to lose a game, not even the people who loathed playing for him. I can't imagine Keenan being as competitive as he was actually throwing a game. But I do think the players tried. I have never seen a clip of this, but according to an article I read I can recall the reaction one of the Petes' players had when he scored a goal either to go up 3-2 or 4-2 was a reaction of "Oh no what did I do" type of thing. Larry Murphy is a good guy to ask about this, it was his team. And while I think Keenan can read the room pretty well and I figure he likely saw after the game what his team tried to do, I truly don't believe he was trying himself. It just doesn't run parallel with anything you'd think he'd do. Lastly, Keenan had a large cup of Coke dumped on him during the final by one of the Pats' fans. Can you imagine not being part of the fix and having that happen to you and having to deal with that stickiness the rest of the game?

Either way, it worked against the Petes. They lost and it was one of those things that came back to bite them.

 

[The Panther]

One fan actually threw a live chicken at the Petes bench.

Mike Keenan, to his credit, did not chicken out.

He could have cried 'fowl', but didn't.

When the ref asked Keenan what they should do, Iron Mike stoically said, "Let the teams pou-let."

Sadly, the incident's aftermath led to several members of both clubs heading to the penalty bok-bok-box.

 

[Walkenthewalk]

Never heard about this, great story! Keenan and the Petes really ended up with egg on their faces.