The Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats were a Junior "A"

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team from

Rayside-Balfour Rayside-Balfour (1996 census population 16,050) was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000. It is now part of the city of Greater Sudbury. The town was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and took its name ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. This defunct hockey team was a part of the

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Junior ice hockey league with eleven teams in Northeastern Ontario and Upper Michigan. The league is a constituent member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and is governed by the ...

History

A very successful franchise, the Sabrecats won the

Dudley Hewitt Cup The Dudley-Hewitt Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy awarded to the Central Canadian Junior A champion. The trophy is currently decided by round robin tournament format, at the conclusion of the playoffs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League ...

three times (1997, 2000, and 2002) and a dynastic seven straight McNamara Trophies as NOJHL champions (1996–2002). In 2000, they reached the finals of the

Royal Bank Cup Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

, only to lose a heartbreaking 2–1 game to the host

Fort McMurray Oil Barons The Fort McMurray Oil Barons are a Junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada at the Centerfire Place. The Oil Barons have won three AJHL playoff championships, three regular ...

. While still playing for the Sabrecats, goaltender Sébastien Laplante was selected in the 9th round (277th overall) by the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. The team was granted a one-year leave from the NOJHL in 2005, but in Spring 2006 the NOJHL announced that the Sabrecats will not be returning and have officially folded.

Season-by-season results

Past coaches

* Larry Bédard

References

Defunct ice hockey teams in Ontario Sports clubs and teams in Greater Sudbury Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1962 1962 establishments in Ontario 2005 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2005 {{Ontario-icehockey-team-stub