Modern Era
The modern era of the St. Michael's Majors began on August 15, 1996, when the College was admitted to the OHL as an expansion team. Players would no longer be required to attend St. Michael's College School in Toronto, although some did. The team would also take part each year in the "Priority Selection" drafting new players, as opposed to relying on the student body for recruits.
Originally owned by St. Michael's College School, the team is now owned by Eugene Melnyk, who is the current owner of the Ottawa Senators and was formerly, CEO of Biovail Corporation. Melnyk has pursued several deals to get a new arena for his team, but none have come to fruition. One of Melnyk's foiled plans included purchasing Maple Leaf Gardens. The revived Majors struggled on the ice, and missed the playoffs in each of their first three seasons. During their second season, the Majors started strong, but traded four of their best players (Sheldon Keefe, Mike Jefferson, Ryan Barnes and Shawn Cation) to the Barrie Colts midway through the season, as a result of controversy surrounding David Frost.
The Majors made breakthroughs in their fourth season. Toronto reached the conference finals four consecutive years from 2001 to 2004. Their closest point to reaching the league finals was in 2003, leading 3 games to 2 versus the Ottawa 67's and losing game six on home ice in overtime.
The Majors played on the smallest ice surface in the OHL, which tended to have a higher average of shots on goal per game than other arenas. Fittingly, the Majors produced several noted goaltenders in their recent history, including Peter Budaj and Andy Chiodo.
The St. Michael's had strong rivalries with the Mississauga IceDogs and Brampton Battalion, both of which are local Greater Toronto Area teams who came into the OHL within a year of Toronto.
On July 12, 2006, Eugene Melnyk bought the Mississauga IceDogs. After the 2006-07 season, Melnyk sold the IceDogs, and move the Majors to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. The IceDogs, in turn, moved to Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Read more about this topic: Toronto St. Michael's Majors
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