Durham Huskies
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- This article is about the Senior Durham Huskies. for the Tier II Junior "A" team, see: Durham Huskies Jr. A.
| Durham Huskies | |
|---|---|
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| City: | Durham, Ontario |
| League: | Various Senior Leagues |
| Operated: | 1920-1992 |
| Home Arena: | Durham Community Centre |
| Colors: | Blue, Red, and White |
| Head Coach: | Royden Burnett, Irvie Elvidge, Andy Grant, Sr., Mike Murrell, Jim Nixon, Sr. |
| Franchise history | |
| 1920-1952: | Durham Hockey Club |
| 1952-1992: | Durham Huskies |
The Durham Huskies are an ice hockey franchise based in the town of Durham, Ontario, Canada. The team is actually a series of teams that have spanned nine decades and through an uncountable series of leagues. The Huskies have existed under of couple short lived monikers before finding their name by accident in the 1950s. This team has spanned the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior levels of Ontario hockey.
Contents |
[edit] The Beginnings
Founded around 1920, the Durham Hockey Club participated in the Ontario Hockey Association Intermediate League. The league was divided into numerous small divisions in which each club would have two home-and-homes with. The team with the top record after this round robin moved on to the provincial playdowns.
Their inaugural season, 1920-21, had the Durham Hockey Club competing against Markdale, Owen Sound, and Wiarton in OHA Group 14 of the Intermediate division. The season would end with the Club earning their historic first victory but still finishing last tied with Owen Sound.
As members of Intermediate Group 16, the 1928-29 Durham Hockey Club competed against Markdale and Flesherton. In their four game schedule, the Club went undefeated. In the first round of the playoffs they met Walkerton who beat them 7-6 and 5-2 to win the series 12-goals-to-8. In 1930-31, the Club was moved into a division with Walkerton and Owen Sound, still referred to as Group 16. Durham had one win and three losses and was eliminated from playoff contention. At the same, Durham's junior team won the Northern Hockey League's junior hockey championship.
In these infantile years, many OHA clubs played a second season after the OHA season was done. This season was played under the league name: the Northern Hockey League. The Durham Hockey Club played in both leagues.
1935-36 marked the year that the Durham Hockey Club won its first ever Senior OHA Championship. Coached by Dr. Royden Burnett, this team went the distance and took home the last championship this organization would see until the 1950s.
[edit] The 50s and 60s
During the 1951-52 season, the Durham Hockey Club was competing in the newly created WOAA Senior Hockey League. The Club was dominant, but a reporter from the town's local paper, The Chronicle, felt the team was missing a name. He attempted to give them names like the "Hornets" and the "Phantoms", but nothing stuck. Possibly by mistake, near the end of the 1952 playoff run, The Chronicle ran an article calling the Club the "Huskies". The name stuck and the team won its first championship in over a decade. The team repeated their championship run in the 1952-53 season, but at the senior level, again fell dormant. The Intermediate Huskies took over from there, winning the OHA "B" championship in 1953-54 and 1955-56. After the success of the early 50s, even the Intermediates fell off the map for a short while. It took until the 1967-68 season for the Intermediates to win the OHA again. The Huskies repeated the next year, and then disappeared from the history books.
[edit] End of an Era
In the 1970s, the Senior Huskies became the premier "Huskies" team. The 70s also marked the founding of their hometown counterparts, the Durham 72's. The Huskies moved up to Intermediate "A" in 1971 and to Senior "B" in 1972. One year later they joined the upstart Continental Senior "B" Hockey League, which jumped up to Senior "A" in 1975. Durham won the Continental crown in Senior "B" 1973-74 and Senior "A" in 1975-76. The Huskies won the 1974 title by defeating the Stratford Perths 4-games-to-2 in the league and provincial final. Two years later, the Huskies advanced past their league championship to compete in the Allan Cup playdowns for the first time in their history, but did not manage to win the Ontario Hockey Association title, losing to the Barrie Flyers 4-games-to-none. Barrie made it all the way to the Allan Cup final where they were defeated 4-games-to-none by the Spokane Flyers. They Huskies found a great rivalry in the Continent league with the Lucan-Ilderton Jets and the Stratford Perths.
The Continental league took over the OHA Senior "A" name in 1980 when the original Senior "A" league collapsed. Durham dropped down to Intermediate "A" in 1982 and to Intermediate "B" in 1983. When the intermediate class of hockey was eliminated, Durham was regrouped into Senior "B". Later this level became known as Senior "AA" while Senior "A" became Senior "AAA." Through the proficient play of perennial leading scorer Dean Neuman, former NHLer Jim Roberts, and goaltender John Bak, the team won the Senior "B" crown in 1984-85 and Central league titles in 1984, 1985, and 1986.
In 1990, the Huskies, then members of the Central Senior B Hockey League, were promoted to the top tier of Ontario Senior Hockey as their league merged with the Southern Ontario and Seaway-Cyclone leagues to create the Southwestern Senior A Hockey League. As a member of the league, the Durham Huskies became eligible to compete for the Allan Cup for the second time in their seventy year history. The Huskies left the league in 1992 as they were unable to field a team. Today, the league is now known as Major League Hockey.
The team chose to disband in 1992 due to various reasons, leaving Durham for the first time in seventy years without a team from the franchise originally called the "Durham Hockey Club". But in 1996, the Huskie moniker was once again utilized as the Metro Junior A Hockey League allowed for the expansion of a Durham Huskies Junior "A" Hockey Team. Since 2001, no Durham team above the "Minor" level has been known as the Durham Huskies.
[edit] Season-by-Season Record
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Points | Finish | |||
| 1920-21 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 61 | 2 | 4th Int. Gr. 14 | |||
| 1926-27 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 1st Int. Gr. 18B | |||
| 1928-29 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 6 | 8 | 1st Int. Gr. 16 | |||
| 1929-30 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 15 | 11 | 1st Int. Gr. 12B | |||
| 1930-31 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 3rd Int. Gr. 16 | |||
| 1938-39 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | 11 | 2nd Int. B Gr. 9 | |||
| 1973-74 | 30 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 148 | 107 | 44 | 2nd CSBHL | |||
| 1974-75 | 34 | 15 | 17 | 2 | 163 | 151 | 32 | 5th CSBHL | |||
| 1975-76 | 40 | 28 | 10 | 2 | 215 | 140 | 58 | 1st CSAHL | |||
| 1976-77 | 33 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 121 | 197 | 24 | 6th CSAHL | |||
| 1977-78 | 36 | 22 | 14 | 0 | 171 | 151 | 44 | 2nd CSAHL | |||
| 1978-79 | 39 | 21 | 16 | 2 | 208 | 171 | 44 | 3rd CSAHL | |||
| 1979-80 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 216 | 177 | 46 | 4th CSAHL | |||
| 1980-81 | 36 | 20 | 15 | 1 | 206 | 187 | 41 | 4th OHA Sr. A | |||
| 1981-82 | 36 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 194 | 183 | 47 | 2nd OHA Sr. A | |||
| 1982-83 | 29 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 127 | 198 | 16 | 6th OHA Int. A | |||
| 1983-84 | OHA Int. B Standings Not Available | ||||||||||
| 1984-85 | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 136 | 73 | 33 | 2nd OHA Int. B | |||
| 1985-86 | OHA Int. B Standings Not Available | ||||||||||
| 1986-87 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 232 | 94 | 39 | 1st GBSAHL | |||
| 1987-88 | 25 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 144 | 105 | 34 | 2nd Central Sr. B | |||
More seasons will be added as more information is uncovered.
[edit] List of Championships
A note of interest: the Intermediate level was abolished in the late 1980s as the entire Senior and Intermediate system fell apart. Since then, the Ontario Hockey Association has rewritten the accolades of championship Intermediate level teams to read as Senior level championships. As well, the championship tiers were revised from two classifications with three tiers each (Sr. A, B, C and Int. A, B, C) to one classification with four tiers (Sr. AAA, AA, A, and B) instead. As an example, instead of the Huskies being OHA Intermediate "C" champions in 1985, the OHA now considers them the OHA Senior "A" Champions. The list below is written as close to the original championship classification and tier as possible.
Pre-"Huskies" Era
"Huskies" Era
- 1951-52 WOAA Intermediate Grand Champions
- 1952-53 WOAA Intermediate Grand Champions
- 1953-54 OHA Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1955-56 OHA Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1967-68 Central Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1967-68 OHA Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1968-69 Central Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1968-69 OHA Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1970-71 Southern Counties Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1971-72 League Intermediate "A" Champions
- 1973-74 Continental Senior "B" Champions
- 1973-74 OHA Senior "B" Champions
- 1975-76 Continental Senior "A" Champions
- 1983-84 Northern Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1984-85 Northern Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1984-85 OHA Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1985-86 Northern Intermediate "B" Champions
- 1986-87 Georgian Bay Senior "A" Regular Season Champions
- 1988-89 Central Senior "B" Regular Season Champions
Runner up: 1952-53 OHA Intermediate "B", 1970-71 OHA Intermediate "B", 1971-72 OHA Intermediate "A", 1983-84 OHA Intermediate "B", 1985-86 OHA Intermediate "B"
[edit] National Hockey League Alumni
[edit] External links
