Niagara Falls Flyers

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Niagara Falls Flyers
1960 to 1972 1976 to 1982
City	Niagara Falls, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey Association
1st Franchise	1960-1972
2nd Franchise	1976-1982
Arena	Niagara Falls Memorial Arena

There have been two Niagara Falls Flyers franchises that played in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first from 1960 to 1972, and the second from 1976 to 1982. Both teams played out of the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena.

For the team in the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League from 1972 to 1975, see Niagara Falls Flyers (SOJHL).

1st Franchise Identities:

• Barrie Flyers 1945 to 1960
• Niagara Falls Flyers 1960 to 1972
• Sudbury Wolves 1972 to present

2nd Franchise Identities:

• St. Catharines Falcons 1943 to 1947
• St. Catharines Teepees 1947 to 1962
• St. Catharines Black Hawks 1962 to 1976
• Niagara Falls Flyers 1976 to 1982
• North Bay Centennials 1982 to 2002
• Saginaw Spirit 2002 to present

History

There have been two different franchises known as the Niagara Falls Flyers. Both of which were owned by the Emms Family, and were relocated to Niagara Falls from another city.

The first Flyers team is the relocated Barrie Flyers in 1960. The team was affiliated with the Boston Bruins of the NHL. The Flyers appeared in three Memorial Cups in the 1960's, winning in 1965 and 1968. The Emms Family sold the team in 1972 after it played for 12 seasons. The new owners then relocated the team to Sudbury to become the Sudbury Wolves.

Later the same year, after selling the Flyers, the Emms family bought the St. Catharines Black Hawks team who were the OHA champions the previous year. Four year after buying the Black Hawks, the Emms family relocated them to Niagara Falls in 1976, taking the same name as the previous team. The Emms family later sold this version of the Flyers in 1978.

The second Flyers team played for 4 seasons in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1976 to 1980, and 2 years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1980 to 1982. The Flyers appeared in the OHA finals in 1979, losing to Peterborough. Niagara Falls lost its Flyers team a second time in 1982 when they moved to North Bay to become the Centennials, who have subsequently moved to Saginaw in 2002 to become the Saginaw Spirit.

1963 Memorial Cup

Niagara Falls won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons for the OHA championship, and the Espanola Eagles to win the George Richardson Memorial Trophy as eastern Canadian representatives.

The Flyers were runners up to the Memorial Cup in 1963 played at Edmonton's Arena Gardens. They lost in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven series. Flyers players Dornhoefer and Harmer both suffered broken legs while on the ice.

Game 1  Edmonton 0 vs. Niagara Falls  8
Game 2  Edmonton 7 vs. Niagara Falls  3
Game 3  Edmonton 5 vs. Niagara Falls  2
Game 4  Edmonton 3 vs. Niagara Falls  2
Game 5  Edmonton 2 vs. Niagara Falls  5
Game 6  Edmonton 4 vs. Niagara Falls  3

1965 Memorial Cup

Niagara Falls won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the defending champions Toronto Marlboros for the OHA championship. The Memorial Cup in 1965 was again played at Edmonton's Arena Gardens. They defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 4 games to 1 in a best-of-seven rematch series from two years previous, that was filled with brawls and suspensions, as well as a heavy police presence.

Game 1  Niagara Falls 3 vs. Edmonton 2
Game 2  Niagara Falls 5 vs. Edmonton 1
Game 3  Niagara Falls 1 vs. Edmonton 5
Game 4  Niagara Falls 8 vs. Edmonton 2
Game 5  Niagara Falls 8 vs. Edmonton 1

1968 Memorial Cup

Niagara Falls won the right to play for the Cup by defeating the Kitchener Rangers for the OHA championship, and the Verdun Maple Leafs for the eastern championship.

The 1968 Memorial Cup featured two Boston Bruins farm teams playing one another. The Flyers would play the Estevan Bruins on home ice, except for game two at the Montreal Forum. Game 4 would be the longest in Memorial Cup history, lasting into eight periods. Niagara Falls defeated Estevan in a best-of-seven series in five games.

Game 1  Niagara Falls 7 vs. Estevan 4
Game 2  Niagara Falls 2 vs. Estevan 4
Game 3  Niagara Falls 7 vs. Estevan 4
Game 4  Niagara Falls 4 vs. Estevan 3 (5th OT)
Game 5  Niagara Falls 6 vs. Estevan 0

Championships

The Niagara Falls Flyers are one of a few clubs to win multiple Memorial Cup championships. In total Niagara Falls won the Memorial Cup twice, for a franchise total of four, and the J. Ross Robertson Cup 3 for a franchise total of 6 times. The team finised first overall in 1963 & 1965 during the regular season to the Hamilton Spectator Trophy. The second Niagara Falls Flyers team won the wester conference Emms Trophy in the 1978-79 playoffs.

Memorial Cup 1963 Lost to Edmonton Oil Kings 1965 Champions vs. Edmonton Oil Kings 1968 Champions vs. Estevan Bruins Hamilton Spectator Trophy 1962-63 (69pts) & 1964-65 (81pts)

J. Ross Robertson Cup 1963 Champions vs. Neil McNeil Maroons 1965 Champions vs. Toronto Marlboros 1968 Champions vs. Kitchener Rangers 1979 Lost to Peterborough Petes Emms Trophy 1978-79 (Western Conference)

Coaches

The Flyers from 1960 to 1972 were coached by Hap Emms, Bill Long and Paul Emms. The Flyers coaches from 1976 to 1982 are listed below.

• 1976-78 Paul Emms (2)
• 1978-79 Bert Templeton (2)
• 1979-80 B.Boughner, F.Stanfield
• 1980-81 Paul Gauthier
• 1981-82 Bert Templeton (2)

Players

A combined total of 82 players from the Niagara Falls Flyers franchises would play in the National Hockey League. Two of those would be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Award Winners

• 1962-63 - Wayner Maxner, Red Tilson Trophy (Most Outstanding Player), Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Scoring Champion)
• 1963-64 - Bernie Parent, Dave Pinkney Trophy (Lowest Team GAA)
• 1964-65 - Bernie Parent, Dave Pinkney Trophy (Lowest Team GAA)
• 1966-67 - Derek Sanderson, Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Scoring Champion)
• 1967-68 - Tom Webster, Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Scoring Champion), William Hanley Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike Player)

• 1976-77 - Mike Gartner, Emms Family Award (Rookie of the Year)
• 1978-79 - Nick Ricci, F.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy (Best Rookie GAA)
• 1981-82 - Ron Meighan, Max Kaminsky Trophy (Most Outstanding Defenceman)

Hall of Famers

Bernie Parent (1963-1965), Mike Gartner (1976-1979)

NHL Alumni

1960 to 1972

Mike Amodeo John Arbour Steve Atkinson Don Awrey Doug Brindley Tom Colley Terry Crisp Jim Dorey Gary Dornhoefer Doug Favell George Gardner Jeannot Gilbert Bill Goldsworthy

Larry Gould Gary Holt Randy Holt Wayne King Bill Knibbs Don Lever Rick Ley Jim Lorentz Don Marcotte Gilles Marotte Wayne Maxner Don McLean Brent Meeke

Phil Myre Rosaire Paiement Wilf Paiement Bernie Parent Jean-Paul Parise Jean Pronovost Bob Ring Phil Roberto Wayne Rutledge Larry Sacharuk Derek Sanderson Ron Schock Jim Schoenfeld

Brad Selwood Ted Snell Steve Stone Garry Swain Don Tannahill Dave Tataryn Morris Titanic Eric Vail Tom Webster Ed Westfall Barry Wilkins Butch Williams Dunc Wilson

1976 to 1982

Mark Botell Marty Dallman Mike Dwyer Jeff Eatough Daryl Evans Lou Franceschetti Ron Friest Bob Froese

Mike Gartner John Gibson Paul Gillis Pat Graham Jim Jackson Bob LaForest Mark LaForest Steve Larmer

Steve Ludzik Andrew McBain Kevin McClelland Scott McLellan Ron Meighan Mark Osborne Steve Peters Mark Renaud

Nick Ricci Gerry Rioux Bill Root Andy Schliebener Howard Scruton Bill Stewart Tom Thornbury

Yearly Results

Regular Season

1960-72

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
1960-61	48	22	21	5	49	0.510	165	166	4th OHA
1961-62	50	16	23	11	43	0.430	193	193	4th OHA
1962-63	50	31	12	7	69	0.690	212	146	1st OHA
1963-64	56	26	22	8	60	0.536	207	178	4th OHA
1964-65	56	36	11	9	81	0.723	236	168	1st OHA
1965-66	48	23	15	10	56	0.583	210	162	3rd OHA
1966-67	48	23	15	10	56	0.583	238	195	2nd OHA
1967-68	54	32	15	7	71	0.657	255	169	4th OHA
1968-69	54	28	24	2	58	0.537	223	229	4th OHA
1969-70	54	10	41	3	23	0.213	151	313	10th OHA
1970-71	62	11	44	7	29	0.234	193	350	10th OHA
1971-72	63	27	27	9	63	0.500	280	293	6th OHA

1976-82

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
1976-77	66	15	45	6	36	0.273	254	370	6th Emms
1977-78	68	17	41	10	44	0.324	261	340	6th Emms
1978-79	68	43	21	4	90	0.662	361	243	1st Emms
1979-80	68	29	39	0	58	0.426	325	355	4th Emms
1980-81	68	30	36	2	62	0.456	354	359	4th Emms
1981-82	68	31	34	3	65	0.478	311	338	4th Emms

Playoffs

Results incomplete or unavailable from 1960 to 1972.

• 1976-77 Out of playoffs.
• 1977-78 Out of playoffs.
• 1978-79 Defeated Kitchener Rangers 8 points to 6 in quarter-finals.
  Defeated Windsor Spitfires and London Knights in a semi-final round-robin.
  Lost to Peterborough Petes 8 points to 6 in finals.
• 1979-80 Defeated London Knights 3 games to 2 in first round.
  Lost to Windsor Spitfites 4 games to 1 in quarter-finals.
• 1980-81 Defeated Toronto Marlboros 3 games to 2 in division quarter-finals.
  Lost to Kitchener Rangers 9 points to 5 in quarter-finals.
• 1981-82 Lost to Windsor Spitfires 6 points to 4 in first round.

Arena

The Niagara Falls Flyers played home games at Niagara Falls Memorial Arena from 1960 to 1972, and again from 1976 to 1982. The arena hosted Memorial Cup games in 1968.

• [Niagara Falls Memorial Arena] - The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

Defunct OHA / OHL Teams

Teams defunct since 1963:

Brantford Alexanders | Cornwall Royals | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors | Detroit Jr. Red Wings | Detroit Whalers | Guelph Platers | Hamilton Dukes | Hamilton Fincups | Hamilton Steelhawks | Kingston Canadians | Kingston Raiders | London Nationals |Montreal Jr. Canadiens | Newmarket Royals | Niagara Falls Flyers | Niagara Falls Thunder | North Bay Centennials | Owen Sound Platers | St. Catharines Black Hawks | St. Catharines Fincups | Toronto Marlboros

Teams defunct prior to 1963:

Barrie Athletic Club | Barrie Canoe Club | Barrie Flyers | Berlin Union Jacks | Brantford Lions | Collingwood ACC | Galt Black Hawks | Galt Red Wings | Galt Rockets | Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters | Guelph Royals | Hamilton Red Wings | Hamilton Szabos | Hamilton Tiger Cubs | Kitchener Canucks | Kitchener Empires | Kitchener Greenshirts | Kitchener Redshirts | Kitchener Union Jacks | Niagara Falls Cataracts | Oakville Lions | Oshawa Generals | Oshawa Majors | Oshawa Shamrocks | Ottawa Shamrocks | Owen Sound Greys | Owen Sound Orphans | Paris Greens | Parkdale Canoe Club | Peterborough Juniors | St. Andrews College | St. Catharines Falcons | St. Catharines Teepees | Stratford Kroehlers | Toronto Aura Lee | Toronto Canoe Club | Toronto Lions | Toronto Moose | Toronto Native Sons | Toronto St. Andrews | Toronto St. Mary's | Toronto St. Michael's Majors | Toronto Young Rangers | Waterloo Hurricanes | West Toronto Nationals | Whitby Athletics | Windsor Spitfires

Metro Junior A League teams (1961-1963):

Brampton 7Ups | Oshawa Generals* | Toronto Knob Hill Farms | Toronto Marlboros* | Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons | Toronto St. Michael's Majors* | Unionville Seaforths | Whitby Dunlops | Whitby Mohawks

CHL: | Memorial Cup | OHL | QMJHL | WHL

 

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