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1995-96 Individual Stats |  Game-by-Game results

PART 4: Oh Captain, my Captain

The Warriors had found success with a hardworking lineup of overachievers, but they also had that one inspired performer; the kind of player who can elevate their game and the games of everyone around them – their captain, John Wynne.

As a defenceman, Wynne lead the team in scoring with 46 points, while often being tasked with shutting down the opposition's best lines. In 1995-96, the special player had a special season, and Wynne became just the second Warrior to win the Sen. Joseph A. Sullivan Award as the National Player of the Year.

Don McKee, Head Coach

I spent a lot of time recruiting John Wynne. He was playing in Stratford, and I had played Jr B in Stratford, and I had coached in that league. I got to know his Dad, and really pushed him to come here. And he became a star. I actually had the chance to do him a favour afterwards for giving us all those good years; I took him to be on the Spengler Cup team that I was coaching, and we won the Spengler Cup in Davos. I thought I owed it to the guy to give as much to him that he'd given me here over the years. His leadership was a big commitment.

Steve Smith, Forward

I'd played with Wynner the previous two years. He was probably a point a game player. But I don't know if it was the responsibility of being captain, or that he knew it was going to be his last year at University, he just took it to another level. He was an awesome leader for us too. When we were struggling, he'd just kind of throw us on his shoulders and carry us along. That last year he was there, he was playing out of his mind.

Peter Brearley, Forward

He had some of the most unreal talent I've ever seen by a defenceman. He coiuld play both ends of the ice really well, skated well, shot the puck well, had the smarts for the game, moved the puck well, he was always in the right spot; even if he did jump up, he was back into the play.

Chris Kraemer, Forward

Oh, he made lots of mistakes with the puck! We could write a small novel about the mistakes he made. But when you're on the ice that much, you have a chance to redeem yourself (laughs). No, but he's a character guy, and he had such a high level of compete, you know. I think he elevated the level of the team and the guys around him, too. You know, you see a guy out there working so hard every night; you wouldn't want to let anyone like that down.

Joe Harris, Goaltender

When he was on the ice, there wasn't much as a goalie that I had to worry about. We had 6 defencemen that year that were just an unbelievable unit. And of course, the leader was Wynner. He was never about personal gain, ever. I never heard him talk about points, and he had a sick amount of points that year. 40-some points as a defenceman. And we'd get on the power play and he'd just take over. 

Jeff Goldie, Forward

We were lucky because Donnie used to play us in 5-man units, so he and Chad Palmer were always together with Peter and Steve and I. So we were always on the ice together a lot, and playing power play and stuff. He was such a great skater, he was able to take off into the rush and still get back in time.

Brian Henry, Defenceman

When you play with a guy that's playing at such an elite level all year, you feel like, you're just glad he's on your team. You've got the best guy on the ice. It was almost a comfort level. Just to be around the guy was fun. He was one of those leaders and players that you just followed.

Sheldon Gilchrist, Forward

It was a great experience. He was a great player and a great leader. He was an exceptional player, and it's good that he got the recognition that he did. I don't know what else to say. It was special playing with a guy like that.

With Wynne at a different level and the team on a roll, the Warriors won a staggering 15 of their final 16 games to finish the season with a 21-5 record. As the top team in the OUA Far West division, they earned a first-round playoff bye, awaiting the winner of a one-game playoff between the Windsor Lancers and the Western Mustangs. They thought that game would be a mere formality, and that they'd meet Western in an epic postseason showdown. But in a season full of them, Waterloo's biggest surprise was about to come in a game they weren't even a part of. The mighty Mustangs had fallen, bested in double overtime of a one-game playoff by the upstart Windsor Lancers.

Jeff Goldie, Forward

That's something I remember really well. There used to be a big arcade downstairs in the student life center, and there was a driving game where four guys could play at the same time. I remember the boys always being there all the time and playing pool, or playing that (racing) game. I remember someone coming in that night to the arcade and saying that Windsor had just knocked off Western in the first round, and you could just see everyone's eyes light up. I think at that point, we knew that if we did what we were supposed to do, we were a tough team to beat.

Joe Harris, Goaltender

I remember we had a tournament scheduled in Alaska that year. It was, I'm going to say, February. But we had already secured first place in our division. So, rather than send the whole team, the coaches decided to hold a few guys back, and not go to Alaska. I know I didn't go, John Wynne didn't go, a couple other guys that were maybe nursing some injuries or had school conflicts didn't go. I think we were at Coach's house for dinner one night, and we were kind of following the scores of the other series. And the rest of our team was still in Alaska, they were on their way back. And we had found out that Windsor had beaten Western, and we couldn't believe it.

Don McKee, Head Coach

Luckily we had lots of extra hockey players to fill the lineup and go, because that trip out there just wastes you. You're flying for a day and a half to get out there, and then you're there two days, and you're flying a day and half to get back.

Sheldon Gilchrist, Forward

You spent more time on airplanes and in airports then you did in Alaska. It was utter chaos. And we got smoked in both games the year I went up there.

You kind of know that the road to anywhere was going to have to go through Western though, at some point. But it ultimately didn't, because Windsor beat them out. Windsor wasn't that bad that year either. I recall they had a pretty decent team. But you always feel Western's going to win.

Chris Kraemer, Forward

You just assume, generally, that you're going to end up playing Western. If you're going to move ahead, you've got to get past Western, so yeah, that was certainly a bit of a surprise I think. And, you know, bittersweet. When you're rolling, it's fun to beat Western, and we weren't really scared of them.

John Wynne, Defenceman

The whole time, we assumed that Western was going to win. They kind of cruised during the regular season, and as soon as we passed them, I think they kind of realized, we're not catching Waterloo now, but we'll see them again. That was my assumption too.

Steve Smith, Forward

We definitely had to be careful of not taking Windsor for granted. I think the one thing that helped us in is that they were the one team to beat us over that stretch. They came in to Waterloo, I think it was a Sunday afternoon, and they beat us.

Mark Cardiff, Defenceman

The only loss we had (in the second half) was to Windsor, 7-6. This is the stuff I remember from that year. I took a penalty shot with 4 seconds left in the game to tie the game 7-7. And I missed it. I'll never forget the feeling I had, just because of that team that I was part of.

Steve Smith, Forward

And that's one of those things, you know, you have a roll going and someone kind of lays the boots to you a bit…it was our fault as much as it was theirs; we didn't have our greatest game. But they played well and they beat us on the road. So we wanted to make sure we didn't take them lightly, and we didn't.

Mark Cardiff, Defenceman

There was a chance we were going to lose to Windsor in the first game. I think Brearley scored a goal to tie it in the third, and from then on we knew that was going to be it. We went on to beat Windsor in game two.

Do I think we would have had a tougher time with Western? Yes, I think that's easy to assume. But we knew if we played our best game, we might have beaten Western too, but we were more convinced we were going to beat Windsor. But I looked at it like, this is another sign that this is our year.

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