Neil McNeil Maroons in 1962. Conn Smythe and the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to keep the St. Michael's team in operation as a source of players, and then created the Metro Junior A League to help alleviate the college's concerns. The St. Michael's team finished in first place in the Metro Junior A league, and competed for the J. Ross Robertson Cup again in 1962. Coached by Ted Flanagan, the team lost in the Cup finals to the Hamilton Red Wings. Despite being the league champions in the 1961–62 season, St. Michael's discontinued its program altogether, and the team was relocated to Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, Ontario, becoming the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons. Father Bauer chose to pursue building a university-educated Canadian National team instead. Modern era The modern era of the St. Michael's Majors began on August 15, 1996, when the college was admitted to the OHL as an expansion team. Players would no longer be required to attend St. Michael's College School in Toronto, although some did. The team would also take part each year in the "Priority Selection" drafting new players, as opposed to relying on the student body for recruits. Founded by St. Michael's College School, the team was now owned by Eugene Melnyk, who was the owner of the Ottawa Senators and was CEO of Biovail Corporation. Melnyk pursued several deals to get a new arena for his team, but none came to fruition. One of Melnyk's foiled plans included purchasing Maple Leaf Gardens. The revived Majors struggled on the ice, and missed the playoffs in each of their first three seasons. During their second season, the Majors started strong, but traded four of their best players (Sheldon Keefe, Mike Jefferson, Ryan Barnes and Shawn Cation) to the Barrie Colts midway through the season, as a result of controversy surrounding David Frost. The Majors made breakthroughs in their fourth season. Toronto reached the conference finals four consecutive years from 2001 to 2004. Their closest point to reaching the league finals was in 2003, leading 3 games to 2 versus the Ottawa 67's and losing game six on home ice in overtime. The Majors played on the smallest ice surface in the OHL, which tended to have a higher average of shots on goal per game than other arenas. Fittingly, the Majors produced several noted goaltenders in their recent history, including Peter Budaj,