The arena has hosted many teams and events over the years. The Hamilton Steelhawks of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) began play at the arena in 1985. The 1986 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in Southern Ontario, with Copps Coliseum used as the primary venue. In the decisive game, the Soviet Union defeated Canada 4–1. In the 1987 Canada Cup, the arena was the primary host for the tournament and was the site of Mario Lemieux's famous goal that beat the Soviets 6–5 in the decisive game. The Dukes of Hamilton replaced the Steelhawks as the city's OHL team and played in Copps Coliseum from 1989-1991. Copps Coliseum hosted the 1990 Memorial Cup. The tournament that year recorded the highest attendance for any single Memorial Cup game, on May 13, 1990, with 17,383 spectators. In that same championship game, the Oshawa Generals defeated the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 4–3 in double overtime on a goal by Bill Armstrong. The arena hosted a number of games in the 1991 Canada Cup when Canada defeated the USA in the finals.