PHILADELPHIA -- Ties to the old Cornwall Royals teams of the late 1980s are tough to come by these days.
There is Owen Nolan, who burst onto the OHL scene in the 1988-89 season and racked up 34 goals his rookie season.
Mathieu Schneider went on to put together a nice NHL career after spending time in the OHL with the Royals.
Solid OHLers like Darren Colbourne, Jason Cirone and Rick Tabaracci compiled solid pro careers.
And then there are John Slaney and Steve Maltais, teammates for that one season with the Royals.
Now some 16 years later, the pair are crossing paths one more time in the Calder Cup finals, Slaney with the Philadelphia Phantoms and Maltais captaining the Chicago Wolves. Slaney's Phantoms are one win away from the Calder Cup after Wednesday night's 2-1 win that put Philadelphia ahead three games to none. Game 4 will go on Friday night in Philadelphia.
One more Philadelphia win will give Slaney his first-ever Cup.
Maltais was an OHL force that season in Cornwall, his final season of junior before he moved on to the Baltimore Skipjacks, the Washington Capitals' former AHL affiliate. The power forward piled up 53 goals to go with 70 assists in 58 games with the Royals that season.
Slaney, who turned 33 in February, impressed as well with the Royals, scoring 16 goals in his rookie OHL campaign. He won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL's top defenseman the following season with the Royals.
The pair would share Washington ties as well, with Slaney going to the Capitals as the ninth overall pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Three years older than Slaney, Maltais spent two seasons with the Skipjacks while Slaney finished his OHL career.
Maltais, now 36, left the Capitals' organization a year before Slaney arrived in Baltimore, and the two have weaved long pro careers through the NHL, AHL and old IHL over the past 15 years.
Maltais captained the Royals that season to a 31-30-5 mark, and his memories of Slaney that year remained very clear after Wednesday night's game.
Slaney compared favourably to Nolan that season, Maltais said.
"Johnny was just as good as a 16. A great kid, very composed. (Now) he's a good professional, and he's had a great career."
When the Phantoms and Wolves played the series' opening two games in Chicago, the two former Royals crossed paths.
"Are you still playing?" Maltais recalled kidding Slaney.
"He's very smart and very cool (under) pressure. Smart players tend to stick around. He's just a good individual."
Maltais would not rule out the two playing together to wind up their careers and come full circle.
"Who knows?" Maltais asked. "Maybe you we'll play in Europe together."
