Iroquois Falls Eskimos

Iroquois Falls Eskimos
City	Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada
League	Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League
Founded	1988
Home arena	Mike Rodden Arena
Colors	Black, Red, and White
Owner(s)	David Beauchamp (2013-14)
General manager	Kelley Millage (2014-15 - midseason)
Head coach	Taurean White (2014-15 - midseason)
Media	www.baytoday.ca
Franchise history
1988-1990	Haileybury 54's
1990-1991	Powassan Passport
1991-1994	Powassan Hawks
1994-2002	Sturgeon Falls Lynx
2002-2009	North Bay Skyhawks
2009-2014	North Bay Trappers
2014-2015	Mattawa Blackhawks
2015-Present	Iroquois Falls Eskimos

The Iroquois Falls Eskimos are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. As the Powassan Hawks, this team won two Dudley Hewitt Cups (1992 and 1993).

History

In 2002, the year after the Ontario Hockey League's North Bay Centennials moved to Saginaw, Michigan, North Bay bought the Sturgeon Falls Lynx. The team was known as the North Bay Skyhawks from 2002-2009.In the summer of 2009, the team was renamed the Trappers in the memory of the NOJHA's North Bay Trappers (1962–1982).

Skyhawks logo 2002-2009.

The North Bay Skyhawks played their first season in the NOJHL in 2002-03. They would win the NOJHL championship and travel to Fort Francis to compete for the Dudley-Hewitt Cup. Despite finishing first overall and a bye to the finals, the Skyhawks lost 4-0 to the OPJHL`s Wellington Dukes who advanced to the Royal Bank Cup in Charlottetown.

North Bay was awarded the Dudley-Hewitt Cup for 2004, and the team had over a dozen 20-year olds (1983-born) on their roster. The Skyhawks were very competitive in the 2003-04 season and won the NOJHL championship over the Soo Thunderbirds, even though both teams were automatically qualified for the Dudley-Hewitt Cup. The Aurora Tigers, a team from the OPJHL had also carried more than a dozen 20-year olds, with half of them OHL experienced. The Tigers were a tremendous challenge for the Skyhawks and the Aurora Tigers won the Dudley-Hewitt Cup.

Despite losing a majority of the 2003-04 dream team, the Skyhawks were left with only 3 returnees. Despite this, the Skyhawks won the NOJHL championship, but failed to win a game at the Dudley-Hewitt Cup in Georgetown. In 2006, the Skyhawks lost to the Sudbury Jr. Wolves (a team who merged with the defunct powerhouse Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats) who won the NOJHL final costing the Skyhawks a potential fourth-consecutive NOJHL championship and a chance to match the Sabrecats record of seven-consecutive NOJHL championships.

North Bay wouldn`t return to the NOJHL finals until 2009, when it was rumoured that the Skyhawks would be playing in their final season in 2008-09 to make way for the Nipissing lakers CIS hockey program who will take up Memorial Gardens. A move that upset many supporters of the North Bay Skyhawks. North Bay would lose the NOJHL finals to the Soo Thunderbirds. Over the summer, a backroom deal was worked out between the Lakers and Skyhawks to share Memorial Gardens.

Before the 2009-10 season, the North Bay Skyhawks were renamed the North Bay Trappers to honour the memory of the NOJHA Trappers.

The Trappers franchise made the NOJHL finals in 2012, but lost to the Soo Thunderbirds.

In March 2014, the team announced it was relocating to become the Mattawa Blackhawks.^[1] Almost a year after the Mattawa Blackhawks became a member of the NOJHL, the Blackhawks announced they were relocating to Iroquois Falls to fill in for the departed Abitibi Eskimos, who are relocating to Timmins for the 2015-16 season.

Season-by-season results

Notable alumni

• Alex Auld (Sturgeon Falls Lynx)

References

1. ↑ http://www.hockeynewsnorth.com/nojhl/trappers-setting-up-in-mattawa/

External links

• Blackhawks Webpage