Hamilton Fincups – A Hockey Card Set of the Hated OMJHL Team

As a kid in London, Ontario during the 1970’s, there was one hockey team that was truly hated. It wasn’t the OHA’s Kitchener Rangers or Windsor Spitfires. It wasn’t the dreaded Montreal Canadiens. Quite frankly, it wasn’t even the Soviet Union Red Army team. London Knights fans hated the Hamilton Fincups at a special level.

When Hamilton showed up at the London Gardens, there would be blood. The Fincups were just a chapter in long and ever-changing OHL franchise. The team was only in existence as the Fincups for four seasons, three in Hamilton and one in St. Catherines. Over the four years, the team was always well over .500 during the regular season, finishing first in the Emms Division in 1975-76 and 1976-77.

In 1974-75, 1975-76 and 1977-78 the team went to the Robertson Cup finals. In 1974-75, they lost to the Toronto Marlboros. The following year, the Fincups beat the Sudbury Wolves to Capture the Robertson. At the Memorial Cup, Hamilton beat the Westminster Bruins in the final to win the national title. In their final season in Hamilton, the Fincups made it the finals again, losing to the Peterborough Petes in seven games.

I was able to get 15 of 18 team issued 1974-75 hockey cards. Unfortunately, one of the cards that was missing belonged to the heart and soul of the Fincups, Dale McCourt. The cards are Plain Jane. I would say the fronts were black and white but that’s not quite true. It’s more browny gray and milky gray. At the bottom of the front in a basic font, the players name and position are printed. ‘Fincups’ is printed just above the name.

The backs, unfortunately, are blank. Some stats and a blurb would have been a cool addition to the cards. I’m not sure you can put a monetary value on this set but if you were a Fincups fan in the 1970’s, these cards would probably be pretty dear to you.

Despite the fact the Fincups existed for just the four years, the franchise began way back in 1946 and still exists today. Originally, the team played out of the Windsor Arena and were known as the Windsor Spitfires. Same barn but different team than the current version of the Spitfires that began play in the 1974-75 OMJHL season. The Spitfires were sold and moved to Hamilton for the 1953-54 season. They were known as the Tiger Cubs until the end of the 1959-60 season.

In 1960-61, the name changed to the Hamilton Red Wings. This nickname remained until they became the Fincups in 1974-75. After the 1977-78 season, the franchise moved down the road to Brantford, where they were known as the Alexanders. The team lasted seven yeasr in Brantford before moving back to Hamilton to become the Steelhawks.

The Steelhawks were the second last major junior hockey experiment in the city of Hamilton. The Toronto Marlboros would become the Hamilton Dukes for two seasons, starting in 1989-90. The Dukes won just 28 games over the two seasons before becoming the current Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League. The Steelhawks played their last season in Hamilton in 1987-88 and became the Niagara Falls Thunder the following season.

The Thunder lasted until 1995-96 when they were moved to their present location in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Erie Otters have plugged away in the OHL since 1996-97.

In the short history of the Hamilton / St. Catherines Fincups, the team produced some decent NHL players, such as: Dale McCourt, Rick Wamsley, Gaston Gingras, Greg Terrion and Al Secord.

What the hell is a Fincup?! One of the most unique team names in the history of sport. The name is a combination of the first three letters of each of the owners’ last names. Joe Finochio, along with Ron and Mario Cupido owned the team and came up with this fantastic name that was hated at a whole different level in the city of London.

Here’s the checklist: