St. Catharines Teepees

St. Catharines Teepees
City St. Catharines, Ontario
League Ontario Hockey Association
Operated 1947 (1947)-62
Home arena Garden City Arena
Championships 1954 & 1960 Memorial Cup Champions
Franchise history
1943-47 St. Catharines Falcons
1947-62 St. Catharines Teepees
1962-76 St. Catharines Black Hawks
1976-82 Niagara Falls Flyers
1982-02 North Bay Centennials
2002-present Saginaw Spirit

The St. Catharines Teepees were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1947 to 1962. The team was based in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

History

The St. Catharines Teepees were born in 1947 when local businessman George Stauffer, president and GM of Thompson Products Ltd., purchased the St. Catharines Falcons team for $2500 from Rudy Pilous and named the team after the company's initials.

During the fifteen years the Teepees played, they developed into a powerhouse in the OHA. St. Catharines finished in first place 5 years in a 6-year span, and won the league championship twice. The team also produced 5 league leading scorers and 3 MVPs in the same period. The Teepees won the Memorial Cup in 1954 and 1960.

In 1961-62 the Teepees, no longer owned by Thompson Products, were in financial trouble and the Chicago Black Hawks came to their rescue. In 1962-63, the Teepees became the St. Catharines Black Hawks and would remain so until the team moved to Niagara Falls in 1976.

1954 Memorial Cup

St. Catharines, still coached by Rudy Pilous, won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Toronto Marlboros in seven games for the OHA championship, and the Quebec Frontenacs to win the Richardson Trophy as eastern Canadian representatives. The Teepees won the Memorial Cup in 1954 played at Maple Leaf Gardens. They defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 4 games to 0 with one tie game, in a best-of-seven series.

Game 1 St. Catharines 8 vs. Edmonton 2
Game 2 St. Catharines 5 vs. Edmonton 3
Game 3 St. Catharines 4 vs. Edmonton 1
Game 4 St. Catharines 3 vs. Edmonton 3
Game 5 St. Catharines 6 vs. Edmonton 2

1960 Memorial Cup

St. Catharines was now coached by Max Kaminsky and Rudy Pilous was the team manager for the 1960 Memorial Cup rematch versus the Edmonton Oil Kings. On the road to the Cup, the Teepees defeated the Toronto St. Michael's Majors for the OHA championship, and the Brockville Canadiens to win the Richardson Trophy as eastern Canadian representatives. The series against Brockville was decided in the 8th game after each team had won three games each with a tie game.

The 1960 Memorial Cup opened up at the Garden City Arena with remaining games played at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Teepees defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings for the second time in the Memorial Cup, 4 games to 2 in a best-of-seven series.

Game 1 St. Catharines 3 vs. Edmonton 5
Game 2 St. Catharines 6 vs. Edmonton 2
Game 3 St. Catharines 9 vs. Edmonton 1
Game 4 St. Catharines 3 vs. Edmonton 9
Game 5 St. Catharines 9 vs. Edmonton 6
Game 6 St. Catharines 7 vs. Edmonton 3

Championships

The St. Catharines Teepees are one of a few clubs to win multiple Memorial Cup championships. In total the Teepees won the Memorial Cup, the George Richardson Memorial Trophy, the J. Ross Robertson Cup and the Hamilton Spectator Trophy twice each.

Memorial Cup
  • 1954 Champions vs. Edmonton Oil Kings
  • 1960 Champions vs. Edmonton Oil Kings
George Richardson Memorial Trophy
  • 1954 Champions vs. Quebec Frontenacs
  • 1960 Champions vs. Brockville Canadiens
J. Ross Robertson Cup
  • 1952 Lost to Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters
  • 1954 OHA Champions vs. Toronto Marlboros
  • 1955 Lost to Toronto Marlboros
  • 1957 Lost to Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters
  • 1960 OHA Champions vs. St. Michael's Majors
Hamilton Spectator Trophy
  • 1957-1958 70 points (32 wins, 6 ties)
  • 1958-1959 83 points (40 wins, 3 ties)

Players

There have been 54 Teepees alumni play in the NHL. Four of those would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. St. Catharines also had three MVPs and five scoring champions with a six-year span.

Award winners

Red Tilson Trophy
(Most Outstanding Player)

  • 1953-54 - Brian Cullen
  • 1954-55 - Hank Ciesla
  • 1958-59 - Stan Mikita

Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy
(Scoring Champion)

  • 1953-54 - Brian Cullen
  • 1954-55 - Hank Ciesla
  • 1957-58 - John McKenzie
  • 1958-59 - Stan Mikita
  • 1959-60 - Chico Maki

Hall of Famers

NHL alumni

Yearly results

Regular Season
Season Games Won Lost Tied Points Pct % Goals
For
Goals
Against
Standing
1947-483619170380.5281371556th OHA
1948-494825203530.5521911984th OHA
1949-504827174580.6042692113rd OHA
1950-515423247530.4912001926th OHA
1951-525430231610.5652492295th OHA
1952-535631205670.5982192344th OHA
1953-545942152860.7293082111st OHA
1954-554932152660.6732601761st OHA
1955-564828173590.6152191971st OHA
1956-575225252520.5001841933rd OHA
1957-585232146700.6732461741st OHA
1958-595440113840.7692571751st OHA
1959-604825194540.5622091912nd OHA
1960-614818246420.4381672045th OHA
1961-625019238460.4601942063rd OHA
Playoffs
Complete results prior to 1960 are currently unavailable.

Arena

The St. Catharines Teepees played in the Garden City Arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario from 1947-1962, as did their predecessors the Falcons.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/24/2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.