The Greatest Comeback in OHL History

[OHLFan90]

To start off, this is not my article. It's Anthony C's from the Collective.

I am just the guy who runs the site and posts the link.

But it gives up something for debate.

For me, I said no this was not the greatest. It has potential to be depending on how Guelph finishes these playoffs however.


Where do you stand personally? Some guys on here have been around the league for years. What are some of the greatest come backs you can think of?


http://theohlcollective.com/the-greatest-comeback-in-ohl-history/

 

[OHLTG]

I'm going to put two out there - one playoff and one Memorial Cup.

2005 Spitfires v. Hounds. Windsor down 3-0 in the series, win three-straight one-goal games, and then win in doublt OT on the road in SSM after (I believe) being down in the game. That's going to be tough to beat.

The other one I'm including, because it was historic - the Spitfires starting the 2009 Memorial Cup down 0-2, then winning a squeaker against Kelowna, scoring four-straight against Rimouski (incl. a natural hatty by Dale Mitchell) in the tiebreaker, then an OT thriller in the semi-final before finally beating the Rockets again in the final.

That Memorial Cup comeback was the first time a team had ever started 0-2 and won the entire thing. Plus they won two key games (Kelowna/tiebreaker) in come-from-behind fashion. To me, that's as clutch as winning four-straight in the playoffs.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

I would say 2010 Windsor over Kitchener being down 3-0. Surprised OHLTG didn't mention that one.

 

[OHLTG]

The Spitfires were a much better team in 2010. Nobody expected them to be down 3-0, so the comeback wasn't as big of a surprise as the 2005 series.

 

[EvenSteven]

Easy for me. Spits in 05. For the very reason OHLTG stated above.

Not to mention they were decided underdogs in the series. Soo were heavy favorites. Windsor had no business coming back from down three games to nothing.

 

[OMG67]

1988 - Ottawa comes back against Oshawa. Sucked for me because I was a Generals fan back then! The year after the OHL Championship and Memorial Cup hosting.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Easy for me. Spits in 05. For the very reason OHLTG stated above.

Not to mention they were decided underdogs in the series. Soo were heavy favorites. Windsor had no business coming back from down three games to nothing.

Shouldn't you be more than a footnote though as a team after you do something like that? Yes 05 was nice but they got squashed by London afterwards. In 2010 once the Spits beat Kitchener in game 4, they ran off 11 straight after it. To state that what Guelph did was the greatest comeback without seeing how the story ends kind of ruins a story. Shouldn't the round and competition you did it against matter a lot as well?

There also might be a bit of revisionist history in 05. The Spits were only 11 points behind the Soo that year, they won the division with a paltry 76 points.

 

[EvenSteven]

Shouldn't you be more than a footnote though as a team after you do something like that? Yes 05 was nice but they got squashed by London afterwards. In 2010 once the Spits beat Kitchener in game 4, they ran off 11 straight after it. To state that what Guelph did was the greatest comeback without seeing how the story ends kind of ruins a story. Shouldn't the round and competition you did it against matter a lot as well?

There also might be a bit of revisionist history in 05. The Spits were only 11 points behind the Soo that year, they won the division with a paltry 76 points.

I hear where you're coming from. But this is the greatest comeback of all time. I take that to mean in one series. And an unexpected highly unlikely come back at that.

The greatest post season story of all time? Might be that Windsor team in 2010.

 

[ohloutsider]

I hear where you're coming from. But this is the greatest comeback of all time. I take that to mean in one series. And an unexpected highly unlikely come back at that.

The greatest post season story of all time? Might be that Windsor team in 2010.

The greatest post season story line may be in the making this year with Ottawa.

 

[EvenSteven]

The greatest post season story line may be in the making this year with Ottawa.

No disrespect to Sudbury and Oshawa, but has Ottawa played an elite team yet in this post season?

Guelph or Saginaw seems to be the closest thing to an elite team that they may run into. I would've thought Niagara would've been had they not crapped out against Oshawa.

What would be so great about this year's storyline in Ottawa if they run the table all the way to a championship?

That's been done before.

 

[ohloutsider]

No disrespect to Sudbury and Oshawa, but has Ottawa played an elite team yet in this post season?

Guelph or Saginaw seems to be the closest thing to an elite team that they may run into. I would've thought Niagara would've been had they not crapped out against Oshawa.

What would be so great about this year's storyline in Ottawa if they run the table all the way to a championship?

That's been done before.

True - done before but could go farther. Yet to be done that I am aware of? If they don't it is just another year.

 

[PhlyerPhanatic31]

2013..Knights down 3 games to 1 to Barrie in the OHL Final....win game 5....win game 6...then Bo Horvat strikes gold with 0.1 seconds on the clock in game 7

 

[OHLTG]

To chime in on this season's Ottawa - it's pretty impressive given they've beaten a very good Oshawa team and a very good Sudbury team, where opposing goaltenders in both series could easily have stolen a game. Does this make them the best postseason in history? That's tough. They're up there, though, especially if they continue winning.

 

[OHLFan90]

2013..Knights down 3 games to 1 to Barrie in the OHL Final....win game 5....win game 6...then Bo Horvat strikes gold with 0.1 seconds on the clock in game 7

Holy crap I forgot about that one!

That was pretty great.

 

[PhlyerPhanatic31]

Holy crap I forgot about that one!

That was pretty great.

best comeback I've witnessed as a Knights fan.

 

[ohloutsider]

Now if we want to talk best playoff series ever that was the 2009 London/Windsor 5 OT games. They may not have been comebacks but they all went to OT so in a sense they were come back games.

 

[OHLTG]

Now if we want to talk best playoff series ever that was the 2009 London/Windsor 5 OT games. They may not have been comebacks but they all went to OT so in a sense they were come back games.

I'd rather not have another series like that, unless I'm completely neutral haha That was stressful.

 

[EvenSteven]

True - done before but could go farther. Yet to be done that I am aware of? If they don't it is just another year.

1988 Spits ran the table going 12-0 (the bye was in place back then) to win the championship. But they crapped out at the Memorial Cup.

Great team though just the same.

 

[OMG67]

No disrespect to Sudbury and Oshawa, but has Ottawa played an elite team yet in this post season?

Guelph or Saginaw seems to be the closest thing to an elite team that they may run into. I would've thought Niagara would've been had they not crapped out against Oshawa.

What would be so great about this year's storyline in Ottawa if they run the table all the way to a championship?

That's been done before.

Can someone please tell me how anyone could honestly call Guelph elite? Their goalie is horrid. They made a slew of trades at the deadline and didn’t improve their standing. IF anything, considering all their additions, I would call them a mild disappointment. Putting them in the same category as Ottawa is insulting to be honest.

Saginaw, on the other hand, had a great 2nd half post deadline. They made a few shrewd deals and really took off. Perfetti was outstanding and completely robbed of Rookie of the Year. Disgraceful IMO.

All that said, I really don’t feel Saginaw is head and shoulders over Oshawa. The Generals had three very good lines (Serron Noel was playing 3rd line most nights) and a top 3 Goalie in the OHL. They made some shrewd moves at the deadline and easily knocked off niagara in the 2nd round after losing the first two games.

Sudbury actually finished ahead of Guelph in the standings. They were solid all year and backstopped by the best goalie in Junior Hockey worldwide. They aren’t particularly deep and had some injuries on the backend so I will concede they weren’t in a situation to really challenge outside of UPL stealing games.

All that said, Windsor in 1988 was great. They did get the 2nd round bye so their undefeated run to the Finals does have an asterisk beside it. They also went 3-0 in the round robin of the Memorial Cup. They lost by a goal in the Finals for their only post-season loss. I think Ottawa would need to go 16-0 and win the Memorial Cup to secure the best post-season of all-time mantle.

 

[OSA]

The 2009 Memorial Cup is the comeback of comebacks for me. That was special!!

I love the Storm comeback, but I think it has extra significance because it was against the vaunted London Knights organization. Had the comeback been against Saginaw or the Soo, I don’t think it would be talked about as the greatest of all time.

 

[aresknights]

Now if we want to talk best playoff series ever that was the 2009 London/Windsor 5 OT games. They may not have been comebacks but they all went to OT so in a sense they were come back games.

Too lazy to check now, but the winner of each game may have found themselves trailing at one point in each game.



Great series as a hockey fan.

Even the reg season matchups had a tension to them.

One game had 3 fights in the first few seconds ( guessing first game after trade deadline). Teams peacocking and looking for an edge.

Crappy as a Knights fan lol.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Can someone please tell me how anyone could honestly call Guelph elite? Their goalie is horrid. They made a slew of trades at the deadline and didn’t improve their standing. IF anything, considering all their additions, I would call them a mild disappointment. Putting them in the same category as Ottawa is insulting to be honest.

Saginaw, on the other hand, had a great 2nd half post deadline. They made a few shrewd deals and really took off. Perfetti was outstanding and completely robbed of Rookie of the Year. Disgraceful IMO.

All that said, I really don’t feel Saginaw is head and shoulders over Oshawa. The Generals had three very good lines (Serron Noel was playing 3rd line most nights) and a top 3 Goalie in the OHL. They made some shrewd moves at the deadline and easily knocked off niagara in the 2nd round after losing the first two games.

Sudbury actually finished ahead of Guelph in the standings. They were solid all year and backstopped by the best goalie in Junior Hockey worldwide. They aren’t particularly deep and had some injuries on the backend so I will concede they weren’t in a situation to really challenge outside of UPL stealing games.

All that said, Windsor in 1988 was great. They did get the 2nd round bye so their undefeated run to the Finals does have an asterisk beside it. They also went 3-0 in the round robin of the Memorial Cup. They lost by a goal in the Finals for their only post-season loss. I think Ottawa would need to go 16-0 and win the Memorial Cup to secure the best post-season of all-time mantle.

Guelph didn't improve their seeding prior to the deadline. Of course the best they could possibly move up would be 1 seed. Knights had sown up 1st place right after that 15 game winning streak. They were a better team than London after the deadline as well. So it's not like they weren't improving as a team.

Saginaw on the other hand I wouldn't be surprised if they right up there with Ottawa from the time they fired their coach. I think Saginaw's goalie is extremely underrated he's been terrific in the playoffs and while he may still miss 2 games against Ottawa it would only take Saginaw to steal 1 of the first 2 games to put pressure on Ottawa.

I don't believe Sudbury was a better team than Guelph.
GF 308-254 adv Gue
GA 206-230 adv Sud
PP clear disparity huge advantage Gue
PK slight advantage Sud

So Guelph clearly outperformed Sudbury in 2 of the 4. Sudbury had a slight advantage in 2 of the 4 and you think Sudbury was the better team?

 

[AttackSound]

One of the greatest series comebacks in OHL history has to be the Attack 2011 championship series comeback against Mississauga St. Mike's.

After being down 0-2 in the series to digging themselves back in the series has to be in the top 10 in OHL history for comebacks, especially with Dave Cameron's uncalled for remarks at the press-conference really put a thorn in the side of what has to be one of the best league finals.

Especially winning in overtime in a game 7 and having the 1st round selection at the time Jarrod Maidens scoring the winning goal in a packed Hershey/Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

The smallest city populous against the largest and the smallest winning deserves some a spot in OHL history as one of the greatest comebacks in OHL history

 

[OSA]

One of the greatest series comebacks in OHL history has to be the Attack 2011 championship series comeback against Mississauga St. Mike's.

After being down 0-2 in the series to digging themselves back in the series has to be in the top 10 in OHL history for comebacks, especially with Dave Cameron's uncalled for remarks at the press-conference really put a thorn in the side of what has to be one of the best league finals.

Especially winning in overtime in a game 7 and having the 1st round selection at the time Jarrod Maidens scoring the winning goal in a packed Hershey/Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

The smallest city populous against the largest and the smallest winning deserves some a spot in OHL history as one of the greatest comebacks in OHL history

This was amazing too!!

 

[EvenSteven]

Can someone please tell me how anyone could honestly call Guelph elite? Their goalie is horrid. They made a slew of trades at the deadline and didn’t improve their standing. IF anything, considering all their additions, I would call them a mild disappointment. Putting them in the same category as Ottawa is insulting to be honest.

Saginaw, on the other hand, had a great 2nd half post deadline. They made a few shrewd deals and really took off. Perfetti was outstanding and completely robbed of Rookie of the Year. Disgraceful IMO.

All that said, I really don’t feel Saginaw is head and shoulders over Oshawa. The Generals had three very good lines (Serron Noel was playing 3rd line most nights) and a top 3 Goalie in the OHL. They made some shrewd moves at the deadline and easily knocked off niagara in the 2nd round after losing the first two games.

Sudbury actually finished ahead of Guelph in the standings. They were solid all year and backstopped by the best goalie in Junior Hockey worldwide. They aren’t particularly deep and had some injuries on the backend so I will concede they weren’t in a situation to really challenge outside of UPL stealing games.

All that said, Windsor in 1988 was great. They did get the 2nd round bye so their undefeated run to the Finals does have an asterisk beside it. They also went 3-0 in the round robin of the Memorial Cup. They lost by a goal in the Finals for their only post-season loss. I think Ottawa would need to go 16-0 and win the Memorial Cup to secure the best post-season of all-time mantle.

By elite I meant teams who were the elite of the league this year. Very high end going into the playoffs. Teams who were supposed to go deep in the playoffs who went all in this year to win. If any of these teams made it to the finals, it wouldn't be a surprise.

In the east I had Ottawa and Niagara in that category and in the west I had Saginaw, Guelph and London in that order.

I did not have the Soo, Sudbury or Oshawa on the same level. They were a step below.

Though I did have London beating Guelph due to goaltending and Guelph's penchant for undisciplined play.

I have Guelph's very deep D making up for Popovich' short comings. He's a good goalie with questionable rebound control.

Oshawa is good, but their win over Niagara was an unexpected upset. I compare them to London but just in that they were not totally all in with this year primarily in mind.