The Niagara IceDogs started out as an expansion team in Mississauga in 1998. The club was initially owned by Don Cherry and the name came from his famed dog ‘Blue’. The team was bought by Eugene Melnyk but he didn’t really want the team, he wanted the location. Melynk already owned the Toronto St. Michael’s […]
The current Windsor Spitfires joined the OHL in 1975 as an expansion team. A club by the same name had played at the Tier II Jr’A’ level prior plus the Spits had been part of the top Junior ‘A’ level earlier (1946 – 1953). The club won back to back Memorial Cups in 2009 and […]
The Owen Sound attack started out as the Guelph Platers in 1982. The Platers had been a club at the Tier II Jr’A’ level but there’s no real connection between the two clubs except for name and ownership. The Platers were an OHL expansion team. The name came from the owners (The Holody family) electro-plating […]
The Guelph Storm can trace their roots back to famed Toronto Marlboros who started up in 1904. The Marlies won 7 Memorial Cups over their long run. However, they declined in the 1980’s (largely blamed on Harold Ballard) and team was sold off and relocated to become the Hamilton Dukes in 1989. The name ‘Dukes’ […]
The Flint Firebirds had their inaugural season last year in the OHL after the Plymouth Whalers relocated to central Michigan. The lineage of the club goes back to the expansion Detroit Ambassadors in 1990. The OHL’s first US club was named after the Ambassador Bridge which connects Detroit to Windsor. After two seasons, they became […]
So which OHL club has its roots in the QMJHL? It’s the Sarnia Sting. The Sting can date their lineage back to the Cornwall Royals who left Cornwall in 1992 making a brief two year stop in Newmarket before becoming the Sting in 1994. So what does this have to do with the QMJHL? The […]
The Sudbury Wolves have a long and interesting history. The Wolves name goes back to the 1930’s for both Junior and Senior clubs. The Senior Wolves competed for the Allan Cup up until 1959. The Junior club rose to prominence from 1962-1972 as part of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association Junior ‘A’ which competed for […]
Barrie has a long Junior hockey history. Clubs have participated in the OHA since the late 1890’s. Its Junior clubs would have competed for the Memorial Cup up until 1934 when Junior hockey was split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ levels. The Colts name goes back at least to the early 1930’s. Barrie continued on mostly […]
So what exactly is a Fincup? In 1974, the Junior ‘A’ Hamilton Red Wings changed their name to the Fincups and while the team was successful on the ice winning a Memorial Cup in 1976, they had to move when the old Barton Street Arena was torn down. After spending a season in St. Catharines […]
London joined the Junior ‘A’ ranks in 1965 as the Nationals and were sponsored by the Toronto Maple Leafs playing out of the brand new London Gardens. A few years later they would be renamed the Knights. The club would produce many great players such as Darryl Sittler, Dino Ciccarelli and Brendan Shanahan but never […]
