London Nationals

For the team that existed from 1965–1968 with the same name, see London Knights.

London Nationals

City	London, Ontario
League	Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League
Conference	Western
Founded	1950
Home arena	Western Fair Sports Centre
Colours	Blue, White, & Black
General manager	Mike Borrows
Head coach	Pat Powers
Captain	Austin Kemp
Affiliate(s)	Port Stanley Sailors (SOJHL)
Championships	2012, 2013 GOJHL Western Conference Champions 2013 GOJHL Sutherland Cup Champions 1992, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1965, 1964 WOJHL Champions
Website LondonNationals.on.ca
Franchise history
1950-1958	London Lou Ball Juniors
1958-1960	London Diamonds
1960-1961	London Athletics
1961-1965	London Nationals
1965-1966	Ingersoll Nationals
1966-1967	London Bees
1969-1973	London Squires
1973-1976	London-Glencoe Squires
1976-1991	London Diamonds
1991-Present	London Nationals

The London Nationals are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in London, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Ken Eansor is the current owner of the London Nationals. The teams General Manager is Mike Borrows. The Assistant General Manager is Tim Simmons, and the Head Coach of the Nationals is Pat Powers. The Nationals play their home games at the Western Fair Sports Centre. The arena's seating capacity is 1,800, and features an international-sized ice surface measuring 100' X 200'.

History

Nationals player during 2013-14 season.

The team's life began in 1950, playing in The Big '10' Western Division out of the Ontario Arena at the Western Fair grounds. They won the Western Division title in 1952 as the London Lou Ball Juniors, after sponsor Lou Ball's clothing store. In 1956 the 'Big 10' was divided, and London became a member of the Western Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League.

The team's name changed to London Diamonds in 1958, then to Athletics in 1960. in 1961 the team was renamed again. They were called the Nationals, after sponsor Canadian National Recreation Association, an organization of Canadian National Railways employees.

In 1963 the Toronto Maple Leafs began sponsoring the Nationals. The Maple Leafs traditionally had affiliations with the Toronto Marlboros and St. Michael's Majors, however with the withdrawal of the Majors from the OHA, and the collapse of the Metro Junior A League, the Leafs were left with only one team. They decided to sponsor the junior team in London, which they wanted to play at the new London Gardens and be promoted to the Ontario Hockey Association.

The OHA initially balked at the proposition however, and so the Nationals continued to play in the Junior B league, winning the London Free Press Trophy as league champions in 1964 and 1965. For the 1965–66 season, the team was finally admitted to major junior hockey, and London's Junior B franchise moved to Ingersoll to make room for the Junior A Nationals. The Junior A team was renamed as London Knights in 1968, and the Nationals name disappeared from the London sports landscape.

Nationals player during 2013-14 season.

The Junior B team returned to London under the name Bees for the 1966-1967 season, but then fell dormant for two seasons. The team was revived in 1969 as the Squires, and played under that name until 1976. The team was then known as the Diamonds from 1976-1991, before the Nationals name was revived after a long-lasting sponsorship with a diamond jeweler dissolved.

The team's time under the Diamonds name was successful, as they claimed the Southwestern Junior B Hockey League title in 1977, and the Western Ontario Hockey League title in 1981, 1983, and 1984.

The team's most recent championship came in 2012 as Western Conference Champions. In 2013, the Nationals defeated the Cambridge Winterhawks to win their first Sutherland Cup.

2014-2015 coaching staff

General Manager - Mike Borrows
Assistant Manager - Tim Simmons
Head Coach - Pat Powers
Assistant Coach - Matt Pepe
Assistant Coach - Reggie Thomas Jr.
Assistant Coach - Steve Benedetti
Goalie Coach - John Pearce
Trainer - Joe Gowers

Current roster

Updated December 19, 2013^[1]^[2]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
21	Canada !	Bauer, JeffJeff Bauer	3.0 !F	R	22	2012	London, Ontario
7	Canada !	Doty, MatthewMatthew Doty	2.0 !D	—	20	2013	London, Ontario
11	Canada !	Elie, TristenTristen Elie	4.0 !C	L	19	2013	Alexandria, Ontario
8	Canada !	Fuller, MattMatt Fuller	2.0 !D	L	23	2011	London, Ontario
15	Canada !	Gazdic, MarkMark Gazdic	2.0 !D	R	22	2012	Toronto, Ontario
1	Canada !	Herbst, LiamLiam Herbst	1.0 !G	L	19	2013	Mississauga, Ontario
14	Canada !	Hopkins, PaulPaul Hopkins	4.0 !C	L	22	2011	London, Ontario
12	Canada !	Kemp, AustinAustin Kemp	3.0 !F	—	19	2013	London, Ontario
4	Canada !	Kotsovos, AnthonyAnthony Kotsovos	2.0 !D	—	19	2013	London, Ontario
39	Canada !	Lombardi, ScottScott Lombardi (C)	4.0 !C	R	22	2009	London, Ontario
18	Canada !	Maton, ChrisChris Maton	3.0 !F	—	23	2013	Lambeth, Ontario
20	Canada !	Ratcliffe, KeatonKeaton Ratcliffe	4.0 !C	L	19	2012	London, Ontario
30	Canada !	Riley, JacobJacob Riley	1.0 !G	L	22	2013	London, Ontario
9	Canada !	Robinson, KyleKyle Robinson	3.0 !F	L	20	2012	London, Ontario
3	Canada !	Russell, WadeWade Russell	2.0 !D	—	20	2012	London, Ontario
44	Canada !	Todosichuk, DerekDerek Todosichuk	7.0 !RW	R	21	2011	Nilestown, Ontario
17	Canada !	Sims, JonathonJonathon Sims (A)	3.0 !F	—	23	2009	Dorchester, Ontario
10	Canada !	Shipley, RyanRyan Shipley	2.0 !D	L	21	2013	Ilderton, Ontario
19	Canada !	Tuffin, RyanRyan Tuffin	6.0 !LW	L	21	2010	London, Ontario
5	Canada !	Wells, RyanRyan Wells (A)	2.0 !D	—	23	2012	London, Ontario
23	Canada !	Wildman, MattMatt Wildman (A)	3.0 !F	—	22	2012	London, Ontario
61	Canada !	Worrad, DrewDrew Worrad	4.0 !C	R	18	2013	Denfield, Ontario

Championships

2013: London Nationals defeated Cambridge Winterhawks 4-games-to-3

NHL alumni

List of alumni who also played in the National Hockey League.

London Nationals Junior B ^[3]

London Diamonds Junior B ^[4]

Retired Numbers

16 – Cardiff
22 – Patrick Dobie
29 – Edwards
39 – Scott Lombardi
96 – Aaron Dartch

Season-by-season results

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	P	Standing	Playoffs
1950-51	14	8	6	0	-	--	--	18	2nd Big '10' Western
1951-52	16	11	5	0	-	107	68	22	2nd Big '10' Western	Won League
1952-53	18	14	4	0	-	--	--	28	1st Big '10' Western
1953-54	24	6	18	0	-	119	189	12	4th Big '10' Western
1954-55	25	5	20	0	-	110	204	10	4th Big '10' Western
1955-56	27	0	27	0	-	68	249	0	5th Big '10' Western
1956-57	27	9	18	0	-	126	167	18	5th WJBHL
1957-58	30	20	10	0	-	--	--	40	2nd WJBHL
1958-59	36	14	22	0	-	165	224	28	3rd WJBHL
1959-60	25	1	24	0	-	--	--	2	6th WJBHL
1960-61	32	0	32	0	-	86	399	0	5th WJBHL
1961-62	36	10	25	1	-	201	254	21	7th WJBHL
1962-63	35	3	32	0	-	133	348	6	6th WJBHL
1963-64	40	28	11	1	-	260	159	57	2nd WJBHL	Won League
1964-65	40	23	17	0	-	213	181	46	3rd WJBHL	Won League
1965-66	40	25	15	0	-	237	178	50	3rd WJBHL
1966-67	40	5	35	0	-	124	278	10	5th WJBHL
1967-69	Did Not Participate
1969-70	36	16	17	3	-	137	169	35	3rd WOJHL
1970-71	41	10	29	2	-	139	240	22	4th WOJHL
1971-72	39	12	18	9	-	173	185	33	5th WOJHL
1972-73	42	21	15	6	-	224	203	48	2nd WOJHL
1973-74	40	4	32	4	-	114	239	12	5th WOJHL
1974-75	40	19	15	6	-	186	172	44	2nd WOJHL
1975-76	39	11	22	6	-	168	206	28	6th WOJHL
1976-77	38	13	24	1	-	191	274	27	5th SWJBHL	DNQ
1977-78	40	30	8	2	-	261	171	62	1st SWJBHL	Lost Final
1978-79	42	19	18	5	-	227	213	43	5th WOJHL
1979-80	42	22	12	8	-	182	127	52	5th WOJHL	Lost Final
1980-81	42	31	9	2	-	256	147	64	1st WOJHL	Won League
1981-82	42	22	16	4	-	196	180	48	3rd WOJHL	Lost Final
1982-83	42	31	7	4	-	263	138	66	1st WOJHL	Won League
1983-84	48	34	7	7	-	297	148	75	1st WOJHL	Won League
1984-85	48	35	13	0	-	285	164	70	1st WOJHL	Lost Final
1985-86	42	34	5	3	-	275	150	71	1st WOJHL
1986-87	42	28	10	4	-	272	162	60	2nd WOJHL	Lost Final
1987-88	42	13	24	3	2	190	213	31	7th WOJHL
1988-89	41	19	16	4	2	197	193	44	5th WOJHL
1989-90	40	20	18	1	1	205	231	42	4th WOJHL
1990-91	48	15	30	3	0	170	259	33	8th WOJHL
1991-92	48	30	13	3	2	274	191	65	1st WOJHL East	Won League
1992-93	52	25	20	5	2	-	-	57	2nd WOJHL East
1993-94	50	25	21	3	1	273	251	54	2nd WOJHL East
1994-95	52	16	34	0	2	223	281	34	4th WOJHL East
1995-96	51	27	17	5	2	208	184	61	3rd WOJHL East
1996-97	52	23	19	7	3	220	230	56	3rd WOJHL East
1997-98	52	14	35	0	3	205	307	31	5th WOJHL East
1998-99	52	19	32	0	1	213	282	39	4th WOJHL East
1999-00	54	22	27	0	5	189	232	49	8th GOHL
2000-01	54	39	11	1	3	251	143	82	2nd GOHL	Lost Final
2001-02	54	32	21	0	1	251	169	65	6th WOHL
2002-03	48	31	14	0	3	207	182	65	3rd WOHL
2003-04	48	27	18	2	1	172	150	57	5th WOHL	Lost Final
2004-05	48	22	22	1	3	161	173	48	5th WOHL
2005-06	48	22	25	1	0	148	165	45	8th WOHL	Lost Quarter-final
2006-07	48	21	23	-	4	183	178	46	7th WOHL	Lost Quarter-final
2007-08	48	30	14	-	4	214	175	64	3rd GOJHL-W	Lost Conf. Final
2008-09	52	33	10	-	9	221	174	75	2nd GOJHL-W	Lost Conf. Final
2009-10	50	37	10	-	3	244	133	77	1st GOJHL-W	Lost Conf. SF
2010-11	51	34	13	-	4	235	162	72	2nd GOJHL-W	Lost Conf. Final
2011-12	51	28	20	-	3	185	190	59	3rd GOJHL-W	Lost SF Round Robin
2012-13	51	28	17	-	6	196	172	62	4th GOJHL-W	Won League
2013-14	49	29	19	-	1	188	150	59	5th GOJHL-W	Lost Conf. SF
2014-15	49	22	24	-	3	166	166	47	7th GOJHL-W	Lost Conf. SF

Sutherland Cup championships

2013: London Nationals defeated Cambridge Winter Hawks 4-games-to-3

Arenas

Western Fair Sports Centre, 2002–Present

Built : 1995
Capacity : 1,500 including standing room.
Ice Size : 100' x 200'

The Sports Centre at Western Fair District is a state-of-the-art 160,000 square foot multi-use facility known as a leader amongst the many ice facilities available in London and Ontario.

References

↑ "2013/2014 ROSTER". Point Streak. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
↑ "London Nationals". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
↑ www.legendsofhockey.net
↑ www.legendsofhockey.net

External links

Official website of Junior 'B' London Nationals

Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League

Teams	Ancaster Avalanche Brampton Bombers Brantford 99ers Buffalo Regals Caledonia Corvairs Cambridge Winterhawks Chatham Maroons Elmira Sugar Kings Fort Erie Meteors Guelph Hurricanes Kitchener Dutchmen Lambton Shores Predators LaSalle Vipers Leamington Flyers Listowel Cyclones London Nationals Niagara Falls Canucks Pelham Pirates St. Catharines Falcons St. Marys Lincolns St. Thomas Stars Sarnia Legionnaires Stratford Cullitons Strathroy Rockets Thorold Blackhawks Waterloo Siskins Welland Jr. Canadians

Relocated teams	Brantford Eagles Owen Sound Greys Petrolia Jets Stoney Creek Warriors Tecumseh Chiefs Wheatfield Jr. Blades

History	CJBHL MetJHL WJBHL GHL MWJHL WOHL MOJBHL EJBHL NDJBHL

Sutherland Cup Ontario Hockey Association Hockey Canada

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