The Owen Sound Mercurys are a defunct 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 h ...

team. The team played in the City of

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attractio ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada and participated in the

OHA Senior A Hockey League The OHA Senior A Hockey League was a top tier Canadian Senior ice hockey league in Ontario from 1975 until 1987. The league was sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and competed for the Allan ...

, the highest possible level of Canadian Senior hockey.

History

Founded in at least the 1940s as the Owen Sound Mohawks, the team was a member of the OHA Senior A league. The league was highly competitive and littered with teams that were constantly jumping back and forth from semi-pro. In the 1946-47 season, the Mohawks made it to the league final, but were put down by the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

3-games-to-2. For the 1947–48 season, the team donned the Mercurys moniker. The Mercurys made it back to the OHA Senior A final again in 1951, and defeated the Sarnia Sailors 4-games-to-2 to win the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...

. The Mercurys pushed on to the 1951 Allan Cup final where they faced the

Fort Frances Canadians The Fort Frances Canadians were a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Northern Amateur League, from Fort Frances, Ontario. The team was organized following World War II, and led by player-coach Pat Wilson. Local radio station CKFI-AM broadcas ...

. The Canadians drove all the way from

Fort Frances, Ontario Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Champ ...

on the

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

border to compete with the Mercurys at the Centennial Arena. The Mercurys won game one and the Canadians pulled even in game two. Game three went to the Mercurys and again the Canadians answered in game four. With the momentum, the Canadians broke the pattern and won game five to take their first series lead. The Mercurys had their backs to the wall, with one more loss the National Championship would go to Fort Frances. In game six, the Mercurys came out blazing and defeated the Canadians 7-4 to force a game seven. The seventh game was low scoring, but this played to Owen Sound's favour as they took the game 3-1, the series 4-games-to-3, and the Canadian Senior National Championship. The team's championship photo can be seen at the Bayshore Community Centre's Sports Hall of Fame. In 1952, the Mercurys made the finals again. Their opponents were the Stratford Indians. The defending

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 the ...

champions were upset in full seven game battle, 4-games-to-3. A year later, the Mercurys made their third straight league final. Their opponents were the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen. The Dutchmen took the series 4-games-to-2 and went on to win the

as National Champions. The 1953-54 season saw the Mercurys push back to their fourth straight league final. In their way was the Stratford Indians. Unlike 1952, the Mercurys took it to the Indians and swept the series 4-games-to-none to win their second J. Ross Robertson Cup in four seasons. The Mercurys did not make it to the

1954 Allan Cup The 1954 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1953–54 senior "A" season. The event was hosted by the Penticton V's and Penticton, Vernon, and Kelowna, British Columbia. The 1954 playoff marked the 46th time th ...

final, as the Eastern Championship went to the Northern Ontario Hockey Association's Sudbury Wolves. In 1956-57, the OHA Senior A league absorbed many teams from the

Ottawa District Hockey Association Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. The Mercurys floundered in the eleven team league and finished last. The team folded and Senior hockey did not return to Owen Sound until 1969 with the Owen Sound Crescents.

Season-by-season results

{, class="wikitable" , - style="text-align:center; background:#ddd;" , Season , , GP , , W , , L , , T , , GF , , GA , , P , , Results , , Playoffs , - style="text-align:center;" , 1946–47 , , 24 , , 12 , , 10 , , 2 , , 76 , , 88 , , 26 , , 2nd OHA Sr. A , , Lost final , - style="text-align:center;" , 1947–48 , , 36 , , 18 , , 16 , , 2 , , 176 , , 178 , , 38 , , 5th OHA Sr. A, , , - style="text-align:center;" , 1948–49 , , colspan="11", statistics not available , - style="text-align:center;" , 1949–50 , , 42 , , 10 , , 31 , , 1 , , 121 , , 218 , , 21 , , 4th OHA Sr. A, , , - style="text-align:center;" , 1950–51 , , colspan="11", statistics not available—Won league, Won

, - style="text-align:center;" , 1951–52 , , 50 , , 23 , , 26 , , 1 , , 227 , , 231 , , 47 , , 3rd OHA Sr. A , , Lost final , - style="text-align:center;" , 1952–53 , , 47 , , 33 , , 11 , , 3 , , 273 , , 65 , , 69 , , 1st OHA Sr. A , , Lost final , - style="text-align:center;" , 1953–54 , , 56 , , 39 , , 16 , , 1 , , 262 , , 194 , , 79 , , 1st OHA Sr. A , , Won league , - style="text-align:center;" , 1954–55 , , 50 , , 27 , , 19 , , 4 , , 208 , , 177 , , 58 , , 3rd OHA Sr. A, , , - style="text-align:center;" , 1955–56 , , 48 , , 21 , , 23 , , 4 , , 186 , , 181 , , 46 , , 3rd OHA Sr. A, , , - style="text-align:center;" , 1956–57 , , 52 , , 9 , , 42 , , 1 , , 156 , , 314 , , 19 , , 11th OHA Sr. A, ,

Legacy

For the 2010-11 season, the

Owen Sound Attack The Owen Sound Attack are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. Based in Owen Sound since 1989, and operating under the current name since 2000, the Attack play their home games at the J.D. ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

wore the 1951 Mercurys jersey as a throwback third jersey in honour of the 50th anniversary of their 1951 Allan Cup victory.

References

Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Ontario Sport in Owen Sound Senior ice hockey teams

History

Season-by-season results

Legacy

See also

References