Durham Thundercats

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Durham Thundercats

City:	Durham, Ontario
League:	WOAA Senior Hockey League
Division:	North
Founded:	1972
Home Arena:	Durham Community Centre
Colours:	Black, Grey, Red, and White
Head Coach:	Jon Antonopolis
General Manager:	Carl Schafer

The Durham Thundercats, originally the Durham 72's, are a senior hockey team based out of the Town of Durham, Ontario, Canada. The Thundercats date back to the early 1970s, and are an extremely successful team in the Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior "AA" Hockey League.

1 The 72's
2 The Thundercats
3 Controversy
4 Season-by-Season Record
5 List of Championships
6 Related links
7 External links

[edit] The 72's

As of the 1970s, the Durham Huskies Ontario Hockey Association Senior "A" team was the peak of hockey performance in the town of Durham and a contender for the Allan Cup. The Huskies, with former National Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League (then known as the Ontario Hockey Association Junior "A"), and NCAA talent, had a hard line-up to crack. For many years, young, talented, home grown players were forced to play recreation league hockey or retire from hockey all together due to a lack of competitive hockey in the area. The 72's were born out of that need for competitive hockey. The team got its name, not because it was founded in 1972, but because the team was named after the centennial date of the incorporation of Durham as a town. Over the next 15 years, the 72's graduated from WOAA Intermediate "C", to "B", and then up to "A" and won 4 WOAA Championships. It is reputed that Bob Hubbard, a player from the team's inception, holds the team's single season record for goals and points, 50 and 112 respectively. In 1988, the 72's evolved into the Durham Thundercats.

[edit] The Thundercats

Since the name change, the Thundercats were nothing short of dynastic. From the 1988 season until the 1997 season, the Thundercats held the WOAA Senior League hostage with 8 Championships. With the past goaltending of Scott MacMillan, Colin MacMillan, Rob Sturrock, and Rob Nixon, goaltending has always been a strong suit for the T-Cats. The team has seen in their roster: Terry Whiteside, Jim Nixon, Jr., Todd Stoddart, Carl Schafer, Bob Sullivan, and Greg Mighton just to name a few -- all of which are multiple WOAA Champions. The current roster is as strong as ever, finishing first overall in the 2005-06 season. Led by team leading scorer Keith MacMillan (49 points in 25 games), the team includes Jason Howes, John Kollias, and Jim McGillivray. The teams is rounded up by a cast of talented new comers: Bob Kirby, Richard Shearson, and Nick Locking -- all former Mount Forest Patriots of the Western Junior C Hockey League. On April 15, the T-Cats were crowned the 2006 WOAA Senior "AA" Champions after defeating the Elora Rocks in 5 games. The Rocks, historically, eliminated the 1992 Durham Huskies from the OHA Senior Playoffs in the Huskies' final season. The Rocks only joined WOAA Senior recently and took last year's title. The Thundercats finished the playoffs with 15 wins and 2 losses through 4 rounds of hockey, making their overall record for the season 37 wins, 5 losses, with no Overtime Losses. Their MVP in 2005-06 was all-time leading scorer Rob LeBlanc, a former member of the Mount Forest Patriots, the Stratford Cullitons and the Windsor Spitfires. He has scored more than 400 goals since joining Durham in the 1991-92 season; few, if any, have been more memorable than his breakaway goal in the third period of Game 5 against Elora which clinched the championship.

[edit] Controversy

The WOAA has not always been popular with fans of their Senior League. To Durham fans, there is no exception. During the National Hockey League lockout of the 2004-05 season, many players sought alternate places to play to stay in shape while negotiations took place. Chris Neil of the NHL's Ottawa Senators was one of these players. It didn't make as much press as Theo Fleury's fight to play for the Allan Cup with the North Peace Hockey League's Senior "AAA" Horse Lake Thunder, but Neil was interested in playing for the Thundercats. From Flesherton, Neil had seen his brothers play for the Thundercats, and while the NHL was on hiatus he started practising with the team. The Thundercats signed him to a player card, but the WOAA announced that they did not want the Senator tough guy to play in their league. Despite the interests of the WOAA, the Thundercats played Neil in one game versus Mildmay in which they won 5-4 -- Neil had one assist in the game. Soon after, the WOAA banned all NHL players in an active player contract and penalized the Thundercats, taking away their points from the Mildmay game, fining them and suspending one of their coaches. Neil shipped himself off to the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators for the remainder of the season. During the 2004-05 season, the Thundercats finished in a uncharacteristic 9th place in the WOAA although maintaining an impressive record of 15 wins, 6 losses, 2 ties, and 2 overtime losses.

[edit] Season-by-Season Record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS	Finish	Playoffs
1999-00	25	17	5	2	1	--	--	37	2nd WOAA North	Eliminated before FInal
2000-01	24	21	2	1	0	--	--	43	1st WOAA Sr	"AA" Champions
2001-02	24	21	1	1	1	179	79	44	1st WOAA Sr	Lost Final
2002-03	24	22	2	0	0	209	66	44	1st WOAA Sr	Eliminated before FInal
2003-04	24	18	4	2	0	162	69	38	2nd WOAA Sr	"AA" Champions
2004-05	25	15	6	2	2	129	88	34	9th WOAA Sr	Eliminated before Final
2005-06	25	22	3	-	0	171	76	44	1st WOAA Sr	"AA" Champions
2006-07	24	15	8	-	1	124	97	31	8th WOAA Sr	TBA