1992-93 Detroit Jr. Red Wings

A NEW NAME AND A MOVE TO THE TOP OF THE HILL

Before the start of the 1992-93 season, Rutherford answered two lingering rumors emphatically.

First, his OHL franchise was staying in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena. Second, the Ambassadors would be re-named the Detroit Jr. Red Wings, wearing the uniforms of their NHL counterparts.

Both moves made sense.

HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

"People (in Detroit) are more aware of us now," Rutherford said April 1, 1992. "We have built a nice fan base. We did draw better in Year 2 over Year 1. But at the same time, there have been other cities (Hamilton, Newmarket) that have come to us and asked if we'd like to move our team and offered us very good deals. It's something we had to take a look at. Ideally, we'd like to stay in Detroit. We think Detroit is a great sports town. Everybody knows that. There is a place here for junior hockey.

"It would be a shame to pull the plug too early. We have a three-year program in place in building this team on and off the ice. Now that we're at that point, we'd like to give it another year or two here to see if we can make it really successful. I think we can."

DRAFT DAY DEALS

At the OHL Draft in Toronto, Rutherford pulled off a steal of a deal.

Windsor general manager Wayne Maxner thought his team was a couple of veterans away from contending for the Memorial Cup. He wanted center Aaron Morrison and defenseman David Benn from Detroit. Rutherford's price? Second year defenseman Jamie Allison.

Rutherford made a fourth move that made a lot of sense, bringing in old friend Tom Webster to coach his up-and-coming team. Webster - fresh from National Hockey League stints with the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings - was returning to his hockey roots.

An outstanding player in the late 1960's for the Niagara Falls Flyers, Webster started coaching for Rutherford when Compuware ran the Windsor Spitfires and was behind the bench when the Spits won the OHL title in 1987-88.

An interesting situation for Webster and assistant coach Paul Maurice was the introduction of six rookies - all from the Detroit area - into the lineup. Goaltender Jason Saal (Sterling Heights), defensemen Joe Harris (Garden City) and Mike Rucinski (Dearborn) and forwards Bill McCauley (Warren), Jeff Mitchell (Wayne) and Kevin Paden (Woodhaven) gave the Jr. Wings fresh legs, talent and a local identity for fans starting to warm to OHL hockey.

THE TRADES

The Jr. Wings got off to their customary slow start, going 0-3-1 before beating Belleville, 8-4, for their earliest win in frachise history.  Something was missing. With 6 days off before a tough Eastern road swing, Rutherford pulled off a trade that stands as the most important deal in franchise history.

He sent starting goaltender Derek Wilkinson and rookie defenseman Steve Carter to Belleville for forwards Sam Oliviera and Kevin Brown.

A funny thing happened when Brown joined the team. Placed on a line with Peake and Wren, the trio exploded on the scene and within a couple of games were dominating the opposition. Brown scored in his first start for the Jr. Wings, a 7-5 victory in Ottawa October 9th. The line of Peake, Wren and Brown were named the Jr. Production Line.

Although the deal gave Detroit even more firepower, it led to one major drawback - the Jr. Wings were going with rookie goaltenders Brian Kent and Jason Saal. Rumors were flying that Rutherford was looking for a veteran goaltender.

London's Fred Brathwaite - a goaltender with Memorial Cup experience with Oshawa in 1990 - was being mentioned as the likely candidate.  Rutherford finally acquired Brathwaite November 1. Brathwaite won his first start for Detroit against his old team when the Jr. Wings hammered London, 9-3. Brathwaite was named the game's third star, stopping 24 of 27 shots.

ROUNDING INTO FORM

Rutherford made a deal for Brown, but the Jr. Wings found an identity.  Led by the Jr. Production Line, Detroit started scoring goals in bunches.

They went 14 straight games scoring 5 goals or more, going 10-2-2 over that period. Fans were beginning to warm up to this team - crowds of 15,534 and 14,555 saw the Jr. Wings hammer the arch-rival Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, 8-4 and 10-5 during the weekend of November 7-8.

The Jr. Wings played a run-and-gun style similar to the Edmonton Oilers and Brathwaite was the OHL's version of Grant Fuhr. Detroit rose to the top of the OHL's Emms Division, battling the Soo and London for first place the rest of the season.

Peake was phenomenal, dominating junior hockey while scoring 58 goals and 78 assists for 136 points in just 46 games. In fact, Peake failed to score in only three games that season. Peake - who idolizes Pat LaFontaine - became the first American player to win the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's Most Valuable Player and the first American since LaFontaine to win the CHL's Player-of-the-Year Award.

Peake wasn't even Detroit's leading scorer. Wren was, with 57 goals and 88 assists for 145 points. Brown was next, with 50 goals and 91 assists for 141 points. And Todd Harvey - playing most of the season on the second line - contributed 50 goals with 50 assists.

Brathwaite did his job as advertised, posting a 23-10-4 record with a 3.67 goals against average.

And remember the deal Rutherford made for Jamie Allison? Allison blossomed into a solid, stay-at-home defenseman who developed into a leader on and off the ice while playing three excellent seasons in Detroit.

TIE FOR FIRST, SOO WINS...TWICE

Morrison played just 6 games for Windsor before moving to North Bay; Benn spent one unhappy season with the Spitfires before retiring.   Despite posting a record of 11-3-1 over the final 15 games, the Jr. Wings managed to tie Sault Ste. Marie for first place in the Emms Division.

The Jr. Wings and 'Hounds each had 81 points, but the Soo was awarded first place based on the first tiebreaker, more victories (38 vs. 37).

Detroit moved into the first round of the playoffs against Guelph.  After defeating the Storm, 3-2 in game 1, Guelph came back to tie the series with a 7-5 victory. More importantly, Detroit lost Peake for the rest of the season when he suffered a broken collarbone.

The Jr. Wings found enough depth to knock out the Storm in five games.  Detroit took a commanding 3-games-to-1 lead in the series after beating Guelph, 5-3, before a sellout crowd of 3,719 at the Memorial Gardens. Darren Hurley scored the game-winner at 9:55 of the third period, while Brown scored a hattrick, including an empty net goal with 10 seconds left. Detroit clinched the series two nights later with a 5-4 victory.

The Jr. Wings met London in the Emms Division semi-finals and it was payback time. The Knights had dominated Detroit over the Jr. Wings' first two seasons. But this series was different.

Brathwaite was the first star in two of the games, the third star in another and Detroit polished off London in five games.

Detroit matched up against the Soo in the Emms Division finals. Even more than London, the Greyhounds had dominated Detroit. Playoff and Memorial Cup tested, the 'Hounds were a good test for the Jr. Wings.

Sure enough, the veteran Greyhounds won the first two games of the series in Sault Ste. Marie, 3-2 and 5-1. Brathwaite was the game's first star in Game 3 before 7,192 at Joe Louis Arena in a 5-2 Detroit victory.

With three seconds left and the Soo net empty, Brathwaite set OHL history when he scored a goal.

But the 'Hounds would come back in game 4 with an 8-2 victory and wrapped up the Division title two nights later in the Soo, overcoming an early 2-0 Detroit lead with three unanswered goals in a 3-2 victory.

Sault Ste. Marie went on to win the Memorial Cup. Although the Jr. Wings lost this year, they were all set for bigger and better things in the near future.

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