The Prince Albert Mintos are a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 that plays in the

Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League The Saskatchewan Male U18 'AAA' Hockey League (SMAAAHL), formerly the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League,) is a U-18 'AAA' ice hockey league, with teams based in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the highest level of minor hockey in ...

(SMAAAHL). Their home rink is the Art Hauser Centre formerly Comuniplex. The Prince Albert Mintos won the Telus Cup and Western Canadian Regionals back to back years starting in the 2005–2006 season and 2006–2007 year. They won the Telus Cup and Western Canadian Regionals for the third time in 2013–2014 season.

History

1800s–1911

The Mintos team is named after a district in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. But back in the 19th century, the land was controlled by a baron without a proper name of distinction. They decided to call him the Earle of Minto, or

Lord Minto Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The current earl is Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynm ...

. In 1884 the fourth Earle of Minto was working together with General Middleton in the Riel rebellion before being named governor general of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1904. Canada was looking for different ways of showing unification and national identity at that time and as such, sports and past times became very popular. Any of the sports that really started to grow and catch on, a lot of the politicians got behind them and supported them because it helped promote national unity and identity in Canada as a young country. The Stanley Cup was made by

Lord Stanley Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

at around this time period, as well as the Grey Cup. Those politicians through that era tried to promote and support sports and that’s why a lot of our national trophies are connected to high-profile politicians. At this time the

Minto Cup The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada. It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto. Originally restricted to amateurs, within three years the first under-the-table professional ...

was made by Lord Minto, which is still a junior national

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

trophy. The link wasn’t just between politicians and trophies, but between politicians and teams as well. In 1909, there was a senior hockey team in Prince Albert and they called themselves the Mintos. The Mintos were then allowed to compete for the Stanley Cup in 1911 due to being deemed as a professional teams as they had to paid players on the roster. The Mintos went to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

in 1911 and played off against Port Arthur, winners of the New Ontario Hockey League. They fell in defeat in straight games. Port Arthur would go on to lose a challenge series for the Stanley Cup to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association. The Mintos senior team would stay afloat until the 1930s, then changed into a junior team.

1912

The Mintos franchise in 1912 had seven men made up the team that season. They were: Bruce Wright, Archie MacDonald, Jim Sims, Jim Leach, Gordon Forbes, and Alf Holman. They would go on to fight Melville for 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 the ...

. The end result was that the Melville beat the Mintos 9–8 and it was the closest any Prince Albert hockey team would come to winning the Allan Cup.

1928

The Mintos team would make its mark in 1928. It consisted of Larivell, Valois, Ashwin, Woodman, Hoffman, and Sinclair. According to th
city of Prince Albert website
the match to remember was the night they played the Moose Jaw Maroons for the Henderson Cup. Around 1,800 jam packed the old Mintos Arena, which was located on the west end of Prince Albert by the old railroad bridge. Fans unable to get seats inside the stadium almost completely tore down the south wall of the arena in order to watch the memorial struggle. The Mintos would go on to beat the Maroons 6–4 and claim the Henderson Cup.

1932–1933

Four years later in the 1932–1933 hockey season the Mintos consisted of George Freeland, Scotty Milne, Mac MacFee, Red Hemmerling, George Freeland, Al Fowlie, Todd Klein, Bob McQuarrie, Jack Brown, Jack Dundas, Don Deacon, and Fred Mosher. This Minto teams was the third team to represent Prince Albert and area with distinction. This team would win the Northern League but they would fall in defeat to Regina in the playoffs, who would go on to win the

1949–1950

The next Mintos team would see action in the 1949–1950 season. The roster at that time included: Wayne Stephenson, Joe Palyga, Ron Clearwater, Hermie Merkowsky, Jim Wilson, Herb Jeffery, Chuck Holdaway, Harry Harasyn, Jack Drew, Don Crawford, and Bill Hunter. This would be one of the best Mintos teams to date that Prince Albert had. They would go on to win the Northerns by beating

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within M ...

in three straight games. They would even go as far as winning the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

championships.

Late 1940s–1960s

In the time period of the late 1940s to the 1960s, they were a Junior A hockey team and played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The 1960–1961 roster included the first French speaking Quebecer ever to have played in the SJHL. His name was Jacques Beaulieu and came from

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

, Quebec. Some of his linemates included Pat Donnely, Nick Balon and Jim Neilson, who had a great career with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

1961 fire of Minto Arena

An arena was built in Prince Albert in the mid-20th century and decided to call it Minto Arena. Minto Arena burned down in 1961 and without adequate funds to build another there would be no Mintos in Prince Albert for ten years.

1972

The present day

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

franchise of the

Prince Albert Raiders The Prince Albert Raiders are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The Raiders play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. They are based in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays its hom ...

were formed as a provincial Junior A team in 1972. A contest was then held to pick a name for the name the team. The winner was in fact Mintos. Due to a gentleman buying the original Mintos club, they changed the name to Raiders which was the second name. After a number of years a couple of local men were granted permission to start a team, which they called the Prince Albert Midget Raider Mintos. The reason the Raider name was in there is because the original Midget AAA hockey team was administered by the Junior Raiders team.

1995

In 1995, the minor hockey association of Prince Albert took over the Mintos Midget team and the Raiders name was dropped, making them the Prince Albert AAA Midget Mintos. The Midget AAA Mintos have not been in operation all that long, but the Mintos name has been in Prince Albert since 1909

2005–2006

In the 2005–2006 hockey season, the Mintos finished second in the SMAAAHL with an overall record of 31–9–3–1 en route to their first Saskatchewan Major AAA Hockey League title in franchise history. They lost twice in the playoffs en route to winning the provincial title. At the Western Regional Championships they went undefeated and earned the right to represent Western Canada at the 2006

Telus Cup The Telus Cup is Canada's national under-18 ice hockey club championship. It is an annual event, held by Hockey Canada each April. From 1979 to 2003, the national championship was sponsored by Air Canada. The current champions are the Monct ...

, the Canadian National Midget AAA hockey tournament held in Charlottetown,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. Throughout the round robin and playoff portions of the tournament they finished undefeated and earned a spot in the tournament final. The Mintos defeated the Pacific Regional representatives, the

Calgary Buffaloes The Calgary Centennials were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) from 1966–1977. They played in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the Stampede Corral. History A charter member of the Canadian Major Junio ...

, in triple overtime by a score of 5–4. Ron Myers, the captain during the 2005–2006 season, recorded the overtime game-winning goal. Assistant Mintos captain for the 2005–2006 season Matthew Robertson was awarded the top forward at the Telus Cup. Robertson scored 12 goals, breaking the previous record held by

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed " The Next One", he was selected first o ...

. Crosby scored 11 goals at the 2002 tournament (known as the Air Canada Cup at the time) as a member of the Dartmouth Subways. Robertson scored 33 per cent of the Mintos' 39 goals while Crosby only scored 30 per cent of his team's.

2006–2007

In the 2006–2007 campaign, the Mintos finished the season with a record of 35–7–1–1, an improvement over their record from the previous season. The Mintos finished the playoffs with a 9–4 record and won the provincial Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey title for the second consecutive season. They went on to the Western Regional Championships and once again remained undefeated, leading to a berth in the 2007

, held in

Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and education ...

. The Mintos faced the host Red Deer Optimist Rebels, and won the final game by a score of 3–2 in double overtime, with the goal being scored by forward Ryan Fox, of Creighton, Saskatchewan. With their victory, the Mintos became the first team in the history of the national championship to win in consecutive seasons. They also extended their Telus Cup record undefeated streak to 14 games.

2014

The Mintos won the 2014 Telus Cup. They beat the Chateauguay Grenadiers in triple overtime. It marks the longest game in Telus Cup history at 108 minutes and 36 seconds. This is also the third national championship for the Mintos.

NHL alumni

These are the former Prince Albert Mintos alumni who either signed with a team in or went on to play in the NHL. * Kelly Guard * Connor Ingram *

Josh Manson Joshua David Manson (born October 7, 1991) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey defenceman for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Manson was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the sixth round, 160th overall, of t ...

Robyn Regehr Robyn Regehr (born April 19, 1980) is a Brazilian-born Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was a first round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, selected 19th overall at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, but was traded to the Calgary ...

* Dustin Tokarski

The Rebellion Hockey / Optimist Ice Mania Tournament

Since 1986, Ice Mania has been running in Prince Albert for AAA midget hockey. Teams from all over Western Canada compete in this event.

Ice Mania winners

*1986 –

Notre Dame Hounds The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior ...

*1987 – Edmonton Leafs *1988 – Prince Albert Midget Raiders *1989 – Medicine Hat Tigers *1990 –

*1991 – Sherwood Park *1992 – Pembina Valley Hawks *1993 – Saskatoon Blazers *1994 – Saskatoon Contacts *1995 – Saskatoon Blazers *1996 – Saskatoon Blazers *1997 – Calgary Flames *1998 – Pembina Valley Hawks *1999 – Leduc Autoworld Oil Kings *2000 – Beardy's Blackhawks *2001 – Tisdale Trojans *2002 – Tisdale Trojans *2003 – Tisdale Trojans *2004 –

*2005 –

*2006 –

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centre ...

*2007 – Lethbridge Y's Men

Ice Mania awards

These are the awards given out annually at the Ice Mania tournament. Sponsored By Rebellion Hockey Canada Legend: Name, Number, Team, Year

Top Goaltender

*Jordan Ramstead – 35 – Leduc Oil Kings – 2001 *Mark Kehrig – 25 – Tisdale Trojans – 2002 *Real Cyr – 35 – Prince Albert Mintos – 2003 *Kent Morrison – 35 – Moose Jaw Warriors – 2004 * Kieran Millan – 1 – Edmonton Gregg Dist – 2005 *Matt Weninger – 1 – Lethbridge Titans – 2006

Top Defencemen

*Brett Carson – 6 – Yorkton Parkland Mallers – 2001 *Bretton Stamler – 7 – Sherwood Park Kings – 2002 *Ryan White – 7 – Edmonton CAC Gregg – 2003 *David Filiou – 5 – Notre Dame Hounds – 2004 *Tommy Brown – 10 – Prince Albert Mintos – 2005 *Bo Montgomery – 2 – Moose Jaw Warriors – 2006

Most Sportsmanlike Player

*Josh Sim – 29 – Beardy's Blackhawks – 2001 *Brad Erickson – 10 – Saskatoon Blazers – 2002 *Matt Hill – 10 – Tisdale Trojans – 2003 *Taylor Procyshen – 21 – Moose Jaw Warriors – 2004 *Torrey Lindsay – 20 – Interlake Lightning – 2005 *Pat Sitko – 18 – Notre Dame Hounds – 2006

Top Scorer

*Kurtis Kisio – 11 – Calgary Flames – 2001 *Brad Cooper – 12 – Dallas AAA Stars – 2002 *Jeff Swain – 19 – Beardy's Blackhawks – 2003 *Matthew Robertson – 15 – Prince Albert Mintos – 2004 *Dustyn Clegg – 12 – Interlake Lightning – 2005 *Braden Pimm – 11 – Notre Dame Hounds – 2006

Most Valuable Player

*Tommy Green – 26 – Saskatoon Blazers – 2001 *Brad Cooper – 12 – Dallas AAA Stars – 2002 *Jordan Knackstedt – 20 – Beardys Blackhawks – 2003 *Collin Long – 9 – California Wave – 2004 *Keldon Sanderson – 55 – Beardy's Blackhawks – 2005 *Michael Small – 9 – Edmonton SSAC – 2006

Results

Exhibition results

Legend:
T = Tie, OTL = Overtime Loss

Regular Season results

Legend:
T = Tie, OTL = Overtime Loss, SOL = Shootout Loss

Regionals

Legend: T = Tie

Ice Mania results

Legend: T = Tie

References

External links

Mintos official website
{{Saskatchewan Sports Ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan Sport in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan