The 1963-64 Ontario Hockey Association (predecessor to the Ontario Hockey League) consisted of eight teams with each playing a 56 game regular season schedule. The Toronto Marlboros finished first with 87 points and 40 wins. The Montreal Junior Canadiens followed with 75 points and 35 wins. In third was the St. Catherines Black Hawks at 65 points and 29 wins. Toronto and Montreal met in the league finals and Toronto won the Robertson Cup winning four games and tying one.
The top 4 scorers in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy totalled mored than 100 points – quite an achievement over just a 56 game schedule. All four came from one of the top four teams.
Andre Boudrias – Montreal Junior Canadiens
Andre Boudrias was in his third of three seasons with the Junior Canadiens in 1963-64. He played 55 games and led the league with 135 points on 38 goals and 97 assists. Andre was the Eddie Powers Trophy winner in 1961-62, as well, leading the league with 97 points.
Andre played pro from 1964-65 to 1977-78. In the National Hockey League, he appeared in 662 regular season games with the Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, Chicago Black Hawks, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. In the World Hockey Association, he played 140 games over two years with the Quebec Nordiques, winning an Avco Cup championship with the team in 1976-77.
The Andre Boudrias rookie card appears as number 53 in the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee set.
Yvan Cournoyer – Montreal Junior Canadiens
For Cournoyer, it was also his third of three years with Montreal. In 53 games, Yvan scored 63 goals and assisted on 48 for 111 points. He led the league in goals. Cournoyer played in the NHL from 1964-65 to 1978-79, all with the Montreal Canadiens. He was a member of an amazing ten Stanley Cup winning teams in Montreal and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy recipient in 1972-73. Cournoyer was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982.
The Yvan Cournoyer rookie card appears as number 76 in the 1965-66 Topps set.
Fred Stanfield – St. Catherines Black Hawks
Fred Stanfield was in his third of three years with St. Catherines in 1963-64. Playing the full 56 game schedule, Fred scored 34 goals and assisted on 75 for 109 points. Fred played in the NHL from 1964-65 to 1977-78, starting in Chicago and moving to the Boston Bruins along with Phil Esposito. He enjoyed two Stanley Cup victories with the Bruins before ending his career with the Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabres.
In 1979-80, Stanfield returned briefly to his junior hockey heritage. For part of the 1979-80 OHL season, Stanfield was head coach of the Niagara Falls Flyers. The Flyers were originally the St. Catherines Black Hawks.
The Fred Stanfield rookie card appears as number 63 in the 1965-66 Topps set.
Pete Stemkowski – Toronto Marlboros
In his only year in the OHA, Pete Stemkowski scored 42 goals and assisted on 61 for 103 points over 51 games. Stemkowski went on to play nearly 1,000 regular season games in the NHL between 1964-65 and 1977-78 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings.
Pete played a role in the 1966-67 Stanley Cup championship for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the last in the team’s history. In 1971-72, as a member of the New York Rangers, he got as close as he would get to a second Stanley Cup as the Rangers reached the finals before losing to the Boston Bruins.
The Pete Stemkowski rookie cards appears as number 84 in the 1965-66 Topps set.