South Muskoka Shield
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| South Muskoka Shield | |
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| City: | Gravenhurst, Ontario |
| League: | Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League |
| Founded: | 2006 |
| Home Arena: | Gravenhurst Centennial Centre |
| Colors: | Red, Black, and White |
| Head Coach: | Rick Irons |
| General Manager: | Gord Carey |
The South Muskoka Shield are a Tier II junior 'A' ice hockey team based out of Gravenhurst, Ontario. They play in the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League.
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[edit] History
The Shield are a community based team with a number of corporate sponsors helping the team to be a viable club. Based on the attendance at the home opener and since, this club has been successful from a fan support standpoint. Gravenhurst is a proud hockey town that is rich in hockey history. The Shield follow in the tradition of the Gravenhurst Indians and the Gravenhurst Cubs who played out of the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League from 1980 until 1987 and 1994 until 2000 respectively. The Shield also draw their fan support from other centres in the area, such as Bracebridge, Port Carling, Washago and Orillia.
The first game in the Shield's history was on September 9, 2006 against the Deseronto Thunder in Deseronto, Ontario. The end result was a not-so-glorious 8-1 loss. While Frank Agostino started their first ever exhibition game in net, it was 16 year old Steve Brown from Port Carling, ON who played the club's first ever competitive game wearing number 30. Midway through the third and final period, the Shield used its first ever import, when 18 year old Briton Nick Rowe took over from Brown in net. The scorer of the Shield's first goal is not wholly known yet, but he was wearing number 77 when he scored it. Their first home game took place on September 15, 2006 against the eventual league, playoff and national champion Bradford Rattlers. The result was a 10-1 blowout loss.
The Shield's first win came on October 13, 2006 against the struggling Toronto Canada Moose. The final score of the game was 9-6. On November 21, 2006, Shield left winger Garrett Hamel was heavily injured in a car crash. He has since had surgery to repair his arm, hand, wrist, pelvis, and femur. The next game, on November 22 against the Nipissing Alouettes, was cancelled out of respect of the Hanmer, Ontario native.
The Shield finished their inaugural season in dead last with a 4-34-0-4 record. Seventh place out of seven teams, the Shield were forced to face the forth place Deseronto Thunder in the league quarter-final. In game one, the Thunder blew out the Shield 7-1, but in game two the Shield showed a different side to their game. The close back and forth game went all the way to overtime where the Thunder again came out victorious 5-4. Game three saw the Shield on a mission early, leading after the first period 3-1 and the second 5-3. In the third, the Shield fell apart and the Thunder outscored them in the third 6-1. The game was called early due to violence breaking out at the game with both the Shield bench and the crowd involved, final score 9-6 Thunder. Game four was redemptive for the Shield, pushing the game into another overtime showdown. Again the Shield lost, 5-4 in overtime, to complete the four game sweep for the Deseronto Thunder.
On January 3, 2008, the Shield hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 5-1. This was the fifth game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMJHL clubs.
The 2007-08 season saw a vastly improved South Muskoka Shield take the ice. At times, the Shield were ranked amongst the top of the GMJHL, but faltered slightly late in the season to drop to a record of 19 wins, 18 losses, and 5 losses in overtime. The Shield had the best season-to-season record improvement of any of the seven clubs that also participated in the 2006-07 season. The Shield elected to take a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and found themselves in the quarter-finals with the defending champions Bradford Rattlers. The Shield, who managed to be one of the few teams to defeat the Rattlers over the course of the last two seasons, fought a tough series. They kept each game rather tight, but ended up being eliminated 4-games-to-1.
[edit] Season-by-Season Standings
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | P | Results |
| 2006-07 | 42 | 4 | 34 | - | 4 | 110 | 299 | 12 | 7th GMJHL |
| 2007-08 | 42 | 19 | 18 | - | 5 | 207 | 207 | 43 | 7th GMJHL |
[edit] Playoffs
- 2007 Lost quarter-final
- Deseronto Thunder defeated South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-none in quarter-final
- 2008 Lost quarter-final
- Bradford Rattlers defeated South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-1 in quarter-final
[edit] External links
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