North Bay Centennials

North Bay Centennials
founding	1982
resolution	2002
history	St. Catharines Falcons 1943–1947 St. Catharines Teepees 1947–1962 St. Catharines Black Hawks 1962–1976 Niagara Falls Flyers 1976–1982 North Bay Centennials 1982–2002 Saginaw Spirit since 2002
Stadion	North Bay Memorial Gardens
Location	North Bay , Ontario
Team colors	black, gold, white
league	Ontario Hockey League
Memorial Cups	no
J. Ross Robertson Cups	1993/94

The North Bay Centennials were a Canadian ice hockey team based in North Bay , Ontario . The team played from 1982 to 2002 in one of the top three Canadian junior ice hockey leagues, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

history

Centennials old logo

The North Bay Centennials were founded as a franchise of the Ontario Hockey League in 1982 after the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association had previously been relocated from Niagara Falls , Ontario to North Bay , Ontario. Previously, the new owners of the Flyers did not manage to get a new arena for their team. The Centennials were named after the 100th anniversary of the North Bay railway line. The team had their first success with reaching the final of the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1987, in which they were subject to the Oshawa Generals . Two years later they lost to Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds . In the third attempt North Bay won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in the 1993/94 season after the Detroit Junior Red Wings were defeated in the final . As an OHL champion, the team qualified for the Memorial Cup , the championship of the Canadian Hockey League , in which it finished fourth and last place.

After the franchise suffered losses, it was sold to a group of American investors in 2002, led by Dick Garber. The new owners finally relocated the team to Saginaw , Michigan , where it has since participated in OHL gaming under the name Saginaw Spirit .

Former players

The following players who were active for the North Bay Centennials played in the National Hockey League during their careers :

Jonas Andersson Shawn Antoski Alex Auld Drake Berehowsky Paul Bissonnette Jeff Bloemberg Dennis Bonvie Brad Brown Adam Burt Tony Cimellaro Troy Crowder Rob Davison

Andy Delmore Jeff Eatough Todd Elik Trevor Gillies Paul Gillis Trevor Halverson Mike Hartman Derian Hatcher Kevin Hatcher Bill Houlder Nick Kypreos Bob LaForest

Mark LaForest Mark LaVarre Mark Lawrence Brett MacDonald Jason MacDonald Mark Major Andrew McBain Steve McLaren Dave McLlwain Ron Meighan Steve Montador

Chris Neil Keith Osborne Chad Penney Geoff Platt John Purves Joe Reekie Jeff Shevalier Chris Thorburn Tom Thornbury Darren Turcotte Vitaly Yachmenev

Team records

Career records

Games: 265 Ryan Armstrong

Goals: 162 Nick Kypreos

Assists: 221 John Spoltore

Points: 342 John Spoltore

Penalty Minutes: 766 Brad Brown

Web links

• The Internet Hockey Database Statistics North Bay Centennials
• The Internet Hockey Database - Player List North Bay Centennials