Cochrane Crunch

Cochrane Crunch
City Cochrane, Ontario, Canada
League Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League
Founded 2007
Home arena Tim Hortons Event Center
Colours Navy, Grey, White, and Red
              
    
General manager Ryan Leonard
Head coach Ryan Leonard
Franchise history
2007-2014 Elliot Lake Bobcats
2014-Present Cochrane Crunch

The Cochrane Crunch are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based out of Cochrane, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and are former members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. The team formerly known as the Elliot Lake Bobcats of Elliot Lake, Ontario until the 2014-15 season.[1]

History

The expansion of the Bobcats made them the tenth team in the independent GMHL and one of six 2007 expansion teams.

The Bobcats are Elliot Lake's first Junior "A" team since the folding of the Elliot Lake Ice in 1999.

On September 7, 2007, the Elliot Lake Bobcats played their first ever game, at home, against the Espanola Kings. The Bobcats also picked up their first win as they defeated the Kings 3-2.

On January 1, 2008, the Bobcats hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 9-2. This was the third game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMHL clubs.

The Bobcats played against Kazakhstan's Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Under-18 squad on January 8, 2009 in an international exhibition game. The Bobcats won the game 5-3.

In Mid-January 2011, it was announced that the town of Iron Bridge, Ontario and its 500-seat Outdoor Arena would host a regular season game, known as the North Shore Winter Classic, between the Elliot Lake Bobcats and Algoma Avalanche on January 29, 2011. This is the first known regulation outdoor game in Ontario in the modern era. Elliot Lake would win the game 8-2 in front of an estimated 400 fans.

On April 2, 2011, the Bobcats won the 2011 Russell Cup Championship over the South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 with an 8-5 victory. The Bobcats were down 3-games-to-1 in the series, but came back with three straight victories to win their first league title. The Bobcats are the first GMHL team that did not participate in the inaugural 2006-07 season to win the Russell Cup.

In 2011-12, the Bobcats finished 5th in the GMHL. The Bobcats played the Bobcaygeon Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. The Bobcats defeated the Bucks 2-games-to-1. In the league quarter-final, their season ended abruptly losing 3-games-to-1 to the South Muskoka Shield. In April 2012, the Elliot Lake Bobcats became members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, leaving the GMHL after five seasons, two regular season titles, and winning the 2011 championship.[2] On September 7, 2012, the Bobcats played their first game in the NOJHL. They played the North Bay Trappers and lost 8-0.On September 21, 2012 the Bobcats won their first NOJHL game 6-2 over the Blind River Beavers. The Bobcats will be moving to Cochrane, Ontario for the 2014-15 NOJHL season. The team will be called the Cochrane Crunch.[3] In April 2015, the Crunch qualified for the league finals for the first time in franchise history carried over from the Elliot Lake Bobcats from their inception in 2012-13. The Cochrane Crunch swept the Powassan Voodoos 4 games to 0 to become East Division champions. Before game 3 of the series against the Voodoos, Crunch super fan Patrick Novak drove up from his home town of Mississauga to Powassan to help the people of Cochrane cheer on the Crunch to a 10 to 3 victory. The Crunch then recognized Patrick's dedication to the team by presenting him with a game worn, team signed Crunch jersey.

Season-by-Season Standings

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Result Playoffs
2007-08 42 26 13 - 3 203 170 55 5th GMHL Lost Semi-final
2008-09 43 31 8 - 4 276 119 66 4th GMHL Lost Division Final
2009-10 42 35 4 - 3 297 152 73 1st GMHL Lost Semi-final
2010-11 42 38 2 - 2 320 144 78 1st GMHL Won League
2011-12 42 28 11 - 3 236 145 59 5th GMHL Lost Quarter-final
2012-13 48 15 31 0 2 147 238 32 6th NOJHL Lost Quarter-final
2013-14 56 26 24 0 6 200 203 58 5th NOJHL Lost Quarter-final
Cochrane Crunch
2014-15 52 29 21 0 2 226 188 60 2nd of 5 East
5th of 9 NOJHL
Won Div. Semi-final, 4-2 (Eskimos)
Won Div. Final, 4-0 (VooDoo)
Lost League Finals, 1-4 (Thunderbirds)

Playoffs

Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Nipissing Alouettes 4-games-to-1 in bye round
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Deseronto Storm 4-games-to-2 in quarter-final
Bradford Rattlers defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-none in semi-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Minden Riverkings 3-games-to-none in division quarter-final
Received a bye through Division Semi-final
South Muskoka Shield defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-1 in division final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Algoma Avalanche 3-games-to-none in quarter-final
Deseronto Storm defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-2 in semi-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Powassan Dragons 3-games-to-none in quarter-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Toronto Canada Moose 4-games-to-none in semi-final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated South Muskoka Shield 4-games-to-3 in final
Elliot Lake Bobcats defeated Bobcaygeon Bucks 2-games-to-1 in bye round
South Muskoka Shield defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 3-games-to-1 in quarter-final
Sudbury Nickel Barons defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final
Abitibi Eskimos defeated Elliot Lake Bobcats 4-games-to-3 in quarter-final

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, July 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.