The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and is the third of three similarly named trophies he established. His other eponymous trophies for the OHA include, the J. Ross Robertson Cup awarded to the annual champions of Allan Cup Hockey, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup which was awarded to the annual champions of the discontinued intermediate division.
The J. Ross Robertson Cup has continuously been awarded as the playoffs championship trophy for the top tier of junior hockey in Ontario. The cup transitioned from the Ontario Hockey Association to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in 1974, and has been the championship trophy of the Ontario Hockey League since 1980. The winner of the J. Ross Robertson Cup has been eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup as the junior hockey champion of Canada since 1919.
History
The J. Ross Robertson Cup was donated by John Ross Robertson on November 19, 1910, to be awarded annually to the champion of the junior ice hockey division in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). Robertson served as president of the OHA from 1899 to 1905, had founded the Toronto Evening Telegram in 1876, helped establish The Hospital for Sick Children, and was a member of the House of Commons of Canada for Toronto East. He was against professionalism in sports, and felt that "sport should be pursued for its own sake, for when professionalism begins, true sport ends".
The OHA first established a junior hockey division for the 1892–93 season, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup was first awarded during the 1910–11 season. The cup is a sterling silver bowl tall, engraved with a hockey-playing scene and interlaced maple leaves in bas-relief. The cup is the third of three similarly named trophies Robertson donated to the OHA, which included the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the annual champions of the senior division, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the annual champions of intermediate division.Podnieks, Andrew (2005), pp. 8–9
The Memorial Cup was founded in 1919, which gave the opportunity for each season's J. Ross Robertson Cup winner to partake in national playoffs arranged by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association for the junior hockey championship of Canada.Podnieks, Andrew (2005), pp. 26–27 The national playoffs culminated in an east-versus-west final, and the Eastern Canada junior champion was also awarded the George Richardson Memorial Trophy from 1932 to 1971.Podnieks, Andrew (2005), pp. 42–43 In 1972, the Memorial Cup format changed to a round-robin tournament and the J. Ross Robertson Cup winner received an automatic berth in the tournament along with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League champions.
The OHA split junior hockey into A and B levels for the 1933–34 season. The junior-A level competed for the J. Ross Robertson Cup, and the junior-B level competed for the newly established Sutherland Cup.Fitsell, J.W. (Bill) (2012), p. 78 The J. Ross Robertson Cup remained the playoffs championship trophy for the top tier of junior hockey in the OHA. The cup was awarded to the OHA Major Junior A Series champion from 1972 to 1974, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League champion from 1974 to 1980, and has been the championship trophy of the Ontario Hockey League since 1980.2017–18 OHL Media Information Guide, pp. 168–169
The Ontario Hockey League established the Bobby Orr Trophy and the Wayne Gretzky Trophy in 1999, for the respective Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions which compete for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.2017–18 OHL Media Information Guide, p. 145 The Wayne Gretzky 99 Award was established in 1999, and is given to the most valuable player of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs at the conclusion of the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals.
Winners and finalists 1911 to 1932
The OHA's J. Ross Robertson Cup champion was determined by a total-goals series from 1911 to 1932. The number of games played varied by season from one to three games.Ontario Hockey Association (2006), p. W-13Lapp & Macaulay (1997), p. 11
List of winning teams and finalists from 1911 to 1932.
Season Champion Total goals Finalist OHA Champion's subsequent Memorial Cup result 1910–11 Kingston Frontenacs 21–11 Orillia Hockey Club not applicable 1911–12 Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers 16–7 Orillia Hockey Club 1912–13 Orillia Hockey Club 14–8 Woodstock Juniors 1913–14 Orillia Hockey Club 13–7 University of Toronto Schools 1914–15 University of Toronto Schools 16–11 Berlin Union Jacks 1915–16 Toronto Aura Lee 6–4 Berlin Union Jacks 1916–17 Toronto Aura Lee 18–5 Kitchener Union Jacks 1917–18 Toronto De La Salle College 10–8 Barrie Canoe Club 1918–19 University of Toronto Schools 8–7 Woodstock Juniors 1919 Memorial Cup champion 1919–20 Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers 15–8 Stratford Midgets 1920 Memorial Cup champion 1920–21 Stratford Midgets 7–3 Queen's University 1921 Memorial Cup finalist 1921–22 Toronto Aura Lee 6–4 Toronto St. Mary's Eastern Canada finalist 1922–23 Kitchener Colts 7–4 University of Toronto Schools 1923 Memorial Cup finalist 1923–24 Owen Sound Greys 12–7 Kitchener Colts 1924 Memorial Cup champion 1924–25 Toronto Aura Lee 14–11 Owen Sound Greys 1925 Memorial Cup finalist 1925–26 Queen's University 7–4 Owen Sound Greys 1926 Memorial Cup finalist 1926–27 Owen Sound Greys 7–3 Newmarket Redmen 1927 Memorial Cup champion 1927–28 Toronto Marlboros 4–3 Newmarket Redmen Eastern Canada finalist 1928–29 Toronto Marlboros 4–3 Kitchener Greenshirts 1929 Memorial Cup champion 1929–30 West Toronto Nationals 11–9 Niagara Falls Cataracts 1930 Memorial Cup finalist 1930–31 Niagara Falls Cataracts 12–7 West Toronto Nationals Eastern Canada finalist 1931–32 Toronto Marlboros 4–1 Newmarket Redmen Eastern Canada quarterfinalist
1933 to present Since 1933, the J. Ross Robertson Cup champion has been determined by either the most wins in total-games series, or the most points earned in a series.
List of OHA (to 1979) / OHL (since 1980) winning teams and runner-up finalists since 1933.