The Corner Brook Royals are a senior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team based in

Corner Brook Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and a member of the

West Coast Senior Hockey League The West Coast Senior Hockey League (WCSHL) was a senior ice hockey league with teams based in Newfoundland and Labrador. The WCSHL was founded in 1996 as a senior B intermediate league and developed into a senior A league. It operated until the ...

(WCSHL).

History

The Corner Brook Royals have their roots in picked teams from the local senior league beginning in 1927. Hockey in Corner Brook was first organized in 1925 following the completion of the pulp and paper mill. The first team of Corner Brook's best players, picked from the local league, was in February 1927 for a series with a visiting team from

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissol ...

. That same year, a picked Corner Brook team played the first inter-papertown home-and-home series with a Grand Falls team in what would be an annual competition for the Tuma Cup. In 1935 the St. John's league sent an invitation to the western champions for a series at the Prince's Rink to determine the first Newfoundland hockey champions. After winning its intertown series with Grand Falls, it was agreed that Corner Brook would represent western Newfoundland. The Corner Brook team defeated the Guards in the final game and was presented the recently donated Herder Memorial Trophy as the first all-Newfoundland champions. The Corner Brook All-Stars were renamed the Royals in 1955 after the opening of the new Humber Gardens. The Royals' first provincial playoff action was in the all-Newfoundland section 'B' semi-finals in February 1956 against the Grand Falls Bees for the

Evening Telegram Trophy The Evening Telegram Trophy is presented to the team with the best record in the senior A hockey leagues operating in Newfoundland and Labrador. History The owners of the Evening Telegram newspaper originally donated a trophy in 1954 to be prese ...

. In 1958 and 1959, the Royals entered teams in both the section A and section B provincial playoffs. In 1985, the Royals were the first Newfoundland team to win the G. P. Bolton Memorial Cup as Eastern Canadian senior hockey champions and hosted the 1985 Allan Cup championship. The series went to seven games but the Royals lost the series to the Thunder Bay Twins. The following season, the Royals repeated as all-Newfoundland and Eastern Canadian champions. In the 1986 Allan Cup final, the Royals defeated the Nelson Maple Leafs in four straight games to become the first team from Newfoundland and Labrador to win the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are th ...

, the symbol of Canadian senior hockey supremacy. Until 2012, the team's home arena was the Pepsi Centre, formerly the Canada Games Centre when it was built for the 1999

Canada Games The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...

. In August 2012, the team was renamed the Western Royals, and moved to Deer Lake due to increased cost of using the Pepsi Centre, and low turnout at games. Due to the low attendance at games, live radio broadcasts on CFCB ceased, hoping to get more people at the game. Before the start of the 2014–15 season, the club were renamed the Corner Brook Royals and their home ice was the

Corner Brook Civic Centre The Corner Brook Civic Centre (previously named the Canada Games Centre and the Pepsi Centre) is a 3,100-seat multi-purpose arena in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was home to the ice hockey, figure skating, judo, and squas ...

, the former Pepsi Centre.

Seasons and records

Season by season results

''This is a list of the last five seasons completed by the Royals. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Corner Brook Royals seasons.'' ''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against'' ''WCSHL = West Coast Senior Hockey League, NSHL =

Newfoundland Senior Hockey League The Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NSHL) was a senior ice hockey league in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada founded in 2011. The NSHL operated for three seasons from 2011–2012 to 2013–2014. The league competed for the Herder Memorial T ...

, CWSHL = Central West Senior Hockey League''. WCSHL =

*Notes: The Royals relocated to Deer Lake for the 2012–13 and 2013–2014 seasons and were known as the Western Royals.

Allan Cup results

Current roster

The current team roster is on the West Coast Senior Hockey League website
'

Leaders

Captains

*Craig Kennedy (1985–86) *Darren Colbourne (2007–08) * Morgan Warren (2008–09) *Michael Hynes (2014–16)

Coaches

*Jim Grant (1979–80) *Terry Gillam (playing-coach 1979–80) *Forbes Kennedy (1980–81) *Steve Robson (playing-coach 1983–84) *Bobby Clarke (1984–85) *Mike Anderson (1985–87) *Gus Greco (playing-coach 1987–89) *Terry Gillam (1989-1990) *Rob French (2007–08) *Angus Head (2008–09) * Darren Langdon (2014–16)

Trophies and awards

Team awards

*Awarded the Allan Cup in 1986 as Canadian Senior hockey champions. *Two Eastern Canadian hockey championships (G.P. Bolton Memorial Cup): 1985, 1986. *Ten all-Newfoundland senior hockey championships ( Herder Memorial Trophy): 1935, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1977, 1985, 1986, 1988, 2001 *First place in the

(Evening Telegram Trophy): 1964, 1966, 1973, 1977, *First place in the Central West Senior Hockey League: 2015

Individual awards

S.E. Tuma Memorial Trophy (Top scorer in the regular season) *Frank Dorrington, 1970, 1973, 1974 *Robbie Forbes, 1986 *Craig Jenkins, 1988 T.A. (Gus) Soper Memorial Award (MVP in the regular season) *Bruce Campbell, 1981 *Dave Matte, 1986 *Dan Cormier, 1988 Albert "Peewee" Crane Memorial Trophy (Senior league rookie of the year) *Bram Pike, 1971 *Dave Oxford, 1974 *Rob Brown, 1984 *Kev McCarthy, 1985 *Ken Mercer, 1986 *Brent Jenkins, 1989 Howie Clouter memorial Trophy (Most sportsmanlike player in the regular season) *Robbie Forbes, 1987 *Craig Jenkins, 1988 *Darren McWhirter, 1989 Top Goaltender Award (Top goaltender in the regular season) *Bert Brake, 1964, 1966 *Ted McComb, 1977 *Dave Matte, 1986

Honoured Members

Retired Numbers

''Note:(the date of the jersey # retirement is noted)'' *''#2'' Joe Lundrigan *''#2'' Craig Kenned
(November 2017)
*''#5'' Danny Cormier (2011) *''#15'' Jimmy Gu
(2015)
*''#17'' Frank (Danky) Dorrington *''#20'' Terry Gillam (January 11, 2019) *''#24'' Shawn Near
(January 5, 2018)
*''#25'' Darren Colbourne (January 2015) *''#30'' Dave Matt
(November 6, 2011)

NL Hockey Hall of Fame

The following people associated with the Royals have been inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame.
''Note:(the year of induction into NLHHOF is noted)''
Doug Grant (1994)Joe Lundrigan (1995)Claude Anstey (1996)Frank (Danky) Dorrington (1996)Ernest Hynes (2003)Jim Guy (2004)Mike Anderson (2007)Ed Lawrence (2010)Eddie O’Quinn (2011)Bert Brake (2012)Todd Stark (2013)Clobie Collins (2014)Darren Colbourne (2015)James Critch (2008)

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website for the Royals
{{Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Ice hockey in Newfoundland and Labrador Ice hockey teams in Newfoundland and Labrador 1935 establishments in Newfoundland Corner Brook Ice hockey clubs established in 1935