St. Catharines Black Hawks

St. Catharines Black Hawks
CitySt. Catharines, Ontario
LeagueOntario Hockey Association (1962–1974)
Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (1974–1976)
Operated1962 (1962)–1976
Home arenaGarden City Arena
Parent clubsChicago Black Hawks
(1962–1967)
Franchise history
1943–1947St. Catharines Falcons
1947–1962St. Catharines Teepees
1962–1976St. Catharines Black Hawks
1976–1982Niagara Falls Flyers
1982–2002North Bay Centennials
2002–presentSaginaw Spirit

The St. Catharines Black Hawks were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1962 to 1974, and the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League from 1974 to 1976. The Black Hawks were based in St. Catharines, Ontario, won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHA junior champions in 1971 and 1974, and played home games at the Garden City Arena.[1]

History

In 1962 the Chicago Black Hawks sponsored the financially troubled St. Catharines Teepees, and renamed the team St. Catharines Black Hawks, until NHL sponsorship ended in 1968. From 1968 until 1972, the Hawks were owned by Fred Muller and Ken Campbell.

St. Catharines made it to the OHA finals in 1969, 1971 and 1974. They were beaten in the 1969 OHA finals by the Montreal Junior Canadiens 4 wins to 0 with 2 ties. The Black Hawks won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1971 versus the Toronto Marlboros and 1974 versus the Peterborough Petes.[2]

Hap Emms bought the Black Hawks in 1972 and for the next four years attendance declined, Emms moved the club to Niagara Falls in 1976, rejuvenating the name of the previous Niagara Falls Flyers team which Emms had also owned.

Richardson Cup 1971

The 1971 George Richardson Memorial Trophy series, was the last Eastern Canadian championship to be played before the Memorial Cup tournament began in 1972. The series that featured future NHL stars Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne,. Disputes off the ice and erupting violence abruped the series before it was finished.

The Black Hawks and Remparts series was intense on many levels. Besides the strong rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone hockey teams and Canadian citizens in general, there was unfinished business between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts coach Maurice Filion. Dionne had been coached by Filion in 1968 as a member of the Drummondville Rangers of the Quebec Junior Hockey League. When the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed in 1969, Dionne departed to play in the OHA, which was seen as a higher-calibre level of competition, to hone his skills. Filion vowed revenge against his OHA team. This rivalry was further fueled by the desire of Francophone nationalists to have a Canadian champion from a Quebec team in a Quebec-based league.

The Remparts won the first game 4-2 played in St. Catharines and televised by closed circuit to over 8,000 spectators in Quebec arenas. Despite the win, Filion complained about the referee bias against his players, calling it anti-Francophone. The Black Hawks won game 2 by a score of 8–3, to tie the series at 1 game each.

Game 3 was played in the Colisée de Québec to an overflow crowd, seeing the Remparts win 3–1. There were a total of 102 penalty minutes called, 77 of those were against the Black Hawks. Brian MacKenize of St. Catharines would be suspended for one game after confronting a linesman.

The next game of the series was uglier than the last game. Another overflow crowd saw the Remparts win game 4 by a score of 6–1. As the game wore on, more and more fights broke out on the ice, involving players leaving the penalty box to join the fray. The St. Catharines players were escorted off the ice by police amidst the hurling of debris from Quebec fans. After the game an angry mob surrounded the St. Catharines team bus on its way to the motel, and was given a police escort to safety. The mob circled the motel until the early hours of the morning.

Game 5 was played on neutral ice at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, which the Black Hawks won 6–3 to narrow the series 3 games to 2 for Quebec. That was the last game played.

The parents of the St. Catharines players refused to send their children back to Quebec City for fear of the violence that occurred after game four. The Remparts refused to play anywhere else but their home rink, including any neutral ice in the province of Quebec. The problem was further confounded with threats surfacing from the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) against St. Catharines players.

CAHA president Earl Dawson declared the series to be over when no further compromise could be reached, and he had received official notice from St. Catharines that the team would not return to the Colisée. As a result, the Remparts went on to compete for the Memorial Cup by default, which they won, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Memorial Cup 1974

In the 1974 Memorial Cup tournament the Black Hawks would square up against the Regina Pats and a rematch versus the Quebec Remparts. St. Catharines was undefeated through the OHA playoffs to reach the Memorial Cup, eliminating the Oshawa Generals, Toronto Marlboros and Peterborough Petes in the process, with a tie against Peterborough in the finals being the only blemish on their record.

The entire cup series would be played in Calgary, Alberta at the Stampede Corral. This venue was much to the liking of St. Catharines players, who were not wanting to relive the Quebec City experience from 3 years ago. St. Catharines played a strong defensive game to open the tournament, getting some vengeance from three years ago. However, the Remparts scored 5 power play goals in the semi-final game and trounced the Black Hawks 11–3.

Game 1St. Catharines4vs.Quebec Remparts1
Game 2Regina Pats4vs.St. Catharines0
Game 3Quebec Remparts5vs.Regina Pats3
Semi-finalQuebec Remparts11vs.St. Catharines3
FinalRegina Pats7vs.Quebec Remparts4

Award winners

SeasonPlayerAward(s)RecognitionSource
1963–64Fred StanfieldMax Kaminsky TrophyOHA humanitarian of the year[3]
1964–65Ken HodgeEddie Powers Memorial TrophyOHA scoring champion[4]
1966–67Peter McDuffeDave Pinkney TrophyOHA lowest team GAA[5]
1969–70Marcel DionneEddie Powers Memorial TrophyOHA scoring champion[6]
1970–71Marcel DionneEddie Powers Memorial TrophyOHA scoring champion[7]
1973–74Dave GormanJim Mahon Memorial TrophyOHA top scoring right winger[8]

Notable players

Two future Hockey Hall of Fame inductees played for the Black Hawks: including two-time OHA scoring champion Marcel Dionne (1968–1971), and Mike Gartner in his rookie year (1975–76).

Notable Black Hawks players that also played in the National Hockey League or World Hockey Association:[9]

Other notable players include:

Season-by-season results

Regular season and playoffs results:[10]

Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Memorial Cup champions League champions League finalists
SeasonRegular seasonPlayoffs
GPWLTPtsPctGFGAFinish
1962–6350152411410.4101722245th OHADid not qualify
1963–645629207650.5802442153rd OHAWon quarterfinals (Oshawa Generals) 8–4
Lost semifinals (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 9–5[11]
1964–655619289410.4202362537th OHALost quarterfinals (Peterborough Petes) 8–2
1965–664815267370.3851822318th OHALost quarterfinals (Oshawa Generals) 8–6
1966–674819209470.4901751555th OHALost quarterfinals (Kitchener Rangers) 9–3[12]
1967–685421303450.4172002116th OHALost quarterfinals (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 9–1[13]
1968–6954311112740.6852962062nd OHAWon quarterfinals (Toronto Marlboros) 8–4[14]
Won semifinals (Niagara Falls Flyers) 8–6
Lost OHA finals (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 9–1[15]
1969–705430186660.6112682103rd OHAWon quarterfinals (Kitchener Rangers) 8–4
Lost semifinals (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 8–0[16]
1970–716240175850.6853432362nd OHAWon quarterfinals (Kitchener Rangers) 8–0
Won semifinals (Montreal Junior Canadiens) 9–5
Won OHA finals (Toronto Marlboros) 8–0[17]
Forfeited George Richardson Memorial Trophy playoffs (Quebec Remparts) 3–2[18]
1971–726325317570.4522583117th OHALost quarterfinals (Peterborough Petes) 8–2[19]
1972–7363242811590.4682803185th OHALost quarterfinals (Toronto Marlboros) 8–0[20]
1973–747041236880.6293582782nd OHAWon quarterfinals (Oshawa Generals) 9–1
Won semifinals (Toronto Marlboros) 8–0
Won OHA finals (Peterborough Petes) 9–1[21]
Lost 1974 Memorial Cup semifinal (Quebec Remparts) 11–3[22]
1974–757030337670.4792843006th OMJHLLost quarterfinals (Hamilton Fincups) 8–0[23]
1975–7666164010420.3182833665th EmmsLost first round (Kitchener Rangers) 6–2[24]

References

  1. ↑ Jordan, Kevin (August 7, 2023). "Jack Gatecliff Arena, Niagara IceDogs". The OHL Arena Guide. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  2. ↑ Annual Report: Constitution, Regulations and Rules of Competition. Cambridge, Ontario: Ontario Hockey Association. 2006. p. W-13.
  3. ↑ "Stanfield Wins Max Kaminsky Junior Trophy". Evening Tribune. Welland, Ontario. The Canadian Press. April 1, 1964. p. 22.
  4. ↑ "Niagara District Players Win Individual Awards". St. Catharines Standard. March 24, 1965. p. 33.
  5. ↑ "Sanderson Wins Title". Standard-Freeholder. Cornwall, Ontario. The Canadian Press. March 14, 1967. p. 10.
  6. ↑ "Hawks' Dionne Lauded". The Montreal Star. April 1, 1970. p. 27.
  7. ↑ "It's Official Now". St. Catharines Standard. April 19, 1971. p. 23.
  8. ↑ Gatecliff, Jack (May 14, 1974). "Through the Sports Gate". St. Catharines Standard. p. 27.
  9. ↑ "St. Catharines Black Hawks all-time player list". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  10. ↑ "St. Catharines Black Hawks Statistics and History". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Jr. Canadiens Led To Victory By Cournoyer". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. The Canadian Press. April 6, 1964. p. 20.
  12. ↑ "Rangers Will Meet Marlies In Jr. A Series". The Sun Times. Owen Sound, Ontario. The Canadian Press. March 25, 1967. p. 14.
  13. ↑ "Six Teams Battle For Junior Title". The Expositor. Brantford, Ontario. The Canadian Press. March 22, 1968. p. 9.
  14. ↑ "Hawks, Petes advance, reach junior semifinals". North Bay Nugget. The Canadian Press. March 22, 1969. p. 14.
  15. ↑ Whitcomb, Bill (April 21, 1969). "Baby Habs trim St. Catharines". The Montreal Star. p. 48.
  16. ↑ "Jr. Habs Oust Hawks; Win Fourth Straight". The Evening Tribune. Welland, Ontario. The Canadian Press. April 1, 1970. p. 19.
  17. ↑ "1970–71 OHA Playoff Results". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  18. ↑ Lapp and Macaulay (1997), pp. 156–158
  19. ↑ "1971–72 OHA Playoff Results". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  20. ↑ "1972–73 OHA Playoff Results". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  21. ↑ "1973–74 OHA Playoff Results". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  22. ↑ Lapp and Macaulay (1997), pp. 169–172
  23. ↑ "1974–75 OHA Playoff Results". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  24. ↑ "1975–76 OHA Playoff Results". HockeyDB. Retrieved April 4, 2026.

Sources

  • Lapp, Richard M.; Macaulay, Alec (1997). The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship. Madeira Park, British Columbia: Harbour Publishing. ISBN 1-55017-170-4.
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