Aurora Tigers

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Aurora Tigers

City:	Aurora, Ontario
League:	Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League
Division:	North
Founded:	1969
Home Arena:	Aurora Community Center
Colours:	Black, Yellow, and White
Head Coach:	Jerome Dupont
General Manager:	Craig Evans

The Aurora Tigers are a Tier II Junior "A" ice hockey team from Aurora, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League but also used to be a part of the Metro Junior A Hockey League.

Aurora Tigers 1969 - 1985

Aurora Eagles 1987 - 1992

Aurora Tigers 1992 to Present

1 History
2 Season-by-Season Results
3 Notable Alumni
4 External links

[edit] History

The Aurora Tigers were first formed in 1969 as a member of the Metro Junior "B" league. In 1972, the most viable teams were pulled from the Metro and into the OHA Junior "A" league. The Tigers stayed on board until 1985, and as the financial situation of the league changed and became less viable, the Tigers folded.

In 1987, Aurora's financial interests were intrigued into coming back. With the OHA Jr. "A" now folded, the Central Junior "B" and Metro Junior "B" were consistently being judged as the hiers to the Junior "A" title. The Aurora Eagles joined the Central Junior "B" league and stayed their until 1992.

In 1991, tired of the indecisiveness of the Ontario Hockey Association in creating the next Junior "A" league, the now renegade Metro Junior "B" league declared themselves Southern Ontario's only Tier II Junior "A" league. The league even helped form the Canadian Junior A Hockey League in 1993. The forwardness of the new Junior "A" league drew the interest of the Aurora franchise. They joined the league in 1992, reverting back to the old "Tigers" nickname. The Tigers won the Metro league title in 1997 and moved to the OPJHL -- a year before the Metro folded.

A new era of the Tigers started in 1997. The old Central Junior "B" league was promoted to Tier II Junior "A" in 1993 and became the OPJHL. Since 1997, the Tigers have had winning seasons 8 out of 9 seasons. In 2002-03, the Tigers had an amazing season (only losing 3 times) but came away with no hardware in the playoffs. In 2003-04, the Tigers had an unbelievable season. With a 47-2-0-0 record, the Tigers won the Buckland Cup as OPJHL Playoff Champions, the Dudley Hewitt Cup as Central Canadian Champions, and the Royal Bank Cup as Canadian Junior "A" National Champions.

[edit] 2004 Dudley Hewitt Cup

The Tigers gained a ticket to the Dudley Hewitt Cup by winning the Buckland Cup as OPJHL champions. The Tigers started out against the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. Soo failed to win their league but gained a ticket to the DHC as their competitor in the final was the DHC Host. The game proved to be close, but the Tigers prevailed 3-1. In the second game, the Tigers faced the Fort William North Stars, Champions of the Superior International Junior Hockey League. The Tigers shutdown their tough opponents with a 4-0 win. The North Stars, of a relatively new league, are the elite of the Thunder Bay area. Their third game saw them defeat the NOJHL Champion North Bay Skyhawks 5-3, which earned them a bye to the DHC final.

The North Bay Skyhawks defeated the Fort William North Stars in the Semi-final to meet the Aurora Tigers in the DHC final. The Final, to determine a birth to the Royal Bank Cup 2004, ended up in a decisive 5-1 victory for the Tigers.

[edit] 2004 Royal Bank Cup

The Aurora Tigers started of their Royal Bank Cup 2004 tournament against a well-rested host team, the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The Storm defeated the Tigers by a score of 4-2, their last loss of the season. Game two was against the Nanaimo Clippers of the British Columbia Hockey League, the Doyle Cup Champions, defeateding them 4-2. The next game pitted the Tigers against the Anavet Cup Champions Kindersley Klippers from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Tigers won by a score of 5-0. The forth round robin game saw the Tigers defeat the Fred Page Cup Champion Nepean Raiders of the Central Junior A Hockey League by a score of 3-1.

The Tigers finished tied for first in the round robin, but second by tie breaker. In the Semi-final, they drew the Nepean Raiders again but this time beat them in convincing fashion 7-2. Kindersley upset the hosts in the other Semi-final, drawing a lopsided 7-1 victory for the Tigers against the Klippers in the Final, earning them their first Royal Bank Cup.

[edit] After 2004

Since 2004, the Tigers have remained strong but have yet to garner the any further playoff success.

The 2006-07 Season started off with the Tigers dominating their competition with amazing efficiency. The Tigers started off the season with a 20-game undefeated streak. With 19 wins and 1 tie in 20 games, the Tigers were ranked 2nd in all of the Canadian Junior A Hockey League behind the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League despite have a better record. The Tigers were the last Tier II Junior "A" team in all of Canada to lose a game in the 2006-07 Season. Their first loss of the season finally came against the Collingwood Blues, 4-3, on November 10, 2006.

At the halfway point of the season, the Tigers garnished a 23-1-1-0 record, top in the North Division, the OPJHL, and the CJAHL.

[edit] Season-by-Season Results

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	P	Results	Playoffs
1972-73	44	20	20	4	-	194	190	44	5th OPJHL
1973-74	44	24	12	8	-	221	180	56	5th OPJHL
1974-75	44	20	16	8	-	192	178	48	7th OPJHL
1975-76	44	15	21	8	-	175	203	38	11th OPJHL
1976-77	44	19	17	8	-	198	188	46	5th OPJHL
1977-78	50	23	22	5	-	278	278	51	5th OPJHL
1978-79	50	17	29	4	-	212	267	38	8th OPJHL
1979-80	44	26	14	4	-	291	224	56	3rd OPJHL
1980-81	44	15	29	0	-	221	280	30	11th OPJHL
1981-82	50	31	15	4	-	310	252	66	3rd OJHL
1982-83	48	9	33	6	-	197	319	24	9th OJHL
1983-84	42	4	34	4	-	168	370	12	8th OJHL
1984-85	48	34	11	3	-	358	210	71	2nd OJHL
1985-86	Did Not Participate
1986-87	44	25	15	4	-	270	225	54	2nd OJHL
1987-88	44	25	13	6	-	248	194	56	4th CJBHL
1988-89	42	17	22	3	-	207	214	37	9th CJBHL
1989-90	42	11	24	7	-	160	207	29	13th CJBHL
1990-91	42	22	15	5	-	205	170	49	5th CJBHL
1991-92	42	22	15	5	-	201	185	49	6th CJBHL
1992-93	48	24	22	2	-	227	221	50	6th Metro A
1993-94	50	20	26	4	-	235	268	44	10th Metro A	DNQ
1994-95	50	26	17	7	-	232	177	59	4th Metro A
1995-96	52	28	18	6	-	255	206	62	6th Metro A	Lost Quarter-final
1996-97	50	42	5	3	-	342	138	87	1st Metro A	Won League
1997-98	51	27	17	6	1	226	196	61	9th OPJHL
1998-99	51	31	12	6	2	216	155	70	9th OPJHL
1999-00	47	27	15	5	0	150	130	59	13th OPJHL
2000-01	49	18	29	0	2	189	271	38	29th OPJHL
2001-02	49	30	15	3	1	193	150	64	10th OPJHL
2002-03	49	43	3	2	1	265	103	89	2nd OPJHL
2003-04	49	47	2	0	0	290	79	94	1st OPJHL	Won League, Won DHC, Won RBC
2004-05	49	33	13	2	1	222	136	69	8th OPJHL
2005-06	49	35	8	4	2	210	112	76	4th OPJHL	Lost Conf. Final
2006-07	See "The Teams" for up-to-date 2006-07 standings.