Theoretically, the Ontario Hockey League is a cyclic league where each team should run a four year span from bad to good and then start all over again. The reason for this is that it is a developmental league where players enter the league at the age of 16 or 17 and graduate at 20 or 21. As the young talent develops, so should the team and then when these players move on to bigger and better things, the team should have to start all over again.

This is not the way it is. Whether it be economic factors, differing program quality and management connections or just plain luck, some teams are simply more consistently successful than others in the OHL. The total regular season points of each of the twenty teams in the Ontario Hockey League over the past decade prove that there definitely is an inequality. What follows is the top ten teams of the 2000’s.

10. Belleville Bulls. Over the past ten years, the Bulls have totalled 750 regular season points. Considering the economic impact of having one of the smallest capacity arenas in the OHL at just 3,257 seats for hockey, the Bulls have fared well. 167 points away from the top team of the decade but 153 from last place, Belleville is able to produce an entertaining squad each season.

9. Brampton Battalion. Stan Butler’s troops are consistent each year despite their lack of fan support. The team has totalled two more points than Belleville over the past ten years with 752. Only three times over the past ten seasons did Brampton have a below .500 season. Only once did they miss the playoffs and they made it to the Robertson Cup final against Windsor in 2008-09.

8. They were the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors until the start of the 2007-08 season when they moved to Mississauga. The team combined for 756 points over the past ten years. Their last year in Toronto, 2006-07, was the only time in the decade they did not qualify for the playoffs.

7. The Ottawa 67’s had 771 points during the 2000’s. The team won the Robertson Cup in 2000-01 as the OHL’s playoff champions. 2001 brought an unsuccessful visit to the Memorial Cup. They returned to the Memorial Cup in the 2004-05 season after losing to the London Knights in the Robertson Cup final. Ottawa qualified for the Memorial Cup tournament as the OHL and London were the hosts.

6. The Guelph Storm finished the decade with 780 points. They won the Robertson Cup in 2003-04 and appeared in the Memorial Cup tournament twice, 2001-02 and 2003-04. Both visits to the Mem were unsuccessful.

5. It is probably a surprise to much of the hockey world that the Windsor Spitfires finished the decade as low as fifth place. The team finished off the decade with rare back-to-back Memorial Cup victories as Canadian Hockey League champions. The team also won back-to-back Robertson Cups and a Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the top regular season team in the OHL. Windsor finished the decade with 796 points, still over 100 points less than the number one team.

4. The Barrie Colts won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy in 2009-10 with an impressive 116 points during the regular season. This great season helped boost their decade total to 813 points. The Colts twice went to the Robertson Cup final before bowing out during the 2000’s, 2001-02 and 2009-10.

3. The Plymouth Whalers sit quietly in the far southwest corner of the league and consistently punch out great seasons. The Whalers added up 840 points for the decade, reaching the Robertson Cup finals twice in ten years. In 2000-01, the Whalers lost out in the finals and in 2006-07 they were Robertson Cup champs followed by an unsuccessful visit to the Memorial Cup.

2. The Kitchener Rangers are arguably the most successful team in OHL history. The past decade proved to be no exception. The Rangers totalled 850 regular season points. They won two Hamilton Spectators, two Robertson Cups and one Memorial Cup. The Rangers won the Memorial Cup in 2002-03 and lost in the final game in 2007-08. Believe it or not, the Rangers twice did not qualify for the playoffs during the past ten years.

1. The London Knights set the Canadian Hockey League record for regular season futility in 1994-95 with just three wins and three ties in 66 games. Things changed when the Hunter Brothers bought the team. Over ten years, the Knights have accumulated 917 points. Six times over the decade, the team surpassed the 100 point mark. They won the Hamilton Spectator four times from 2003-04 to 2006-07. In 2004-05, the smashed record after record as they won the Hamilton Spectator, Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup with the best single season points total in league history.

The Oshawa Generals were the 20th place team over the ten years with just 597 points. The Generals have had a great start to the next decade and hope to bring the team back to the greatness they once knew.