The St. Catharines Black Hawks were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1962 to 1976. The team was based in St. Catharines, Ontario,

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 ...

History

In 1962 the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

sponsored the financially troubled St. Catharines Teepees, and renamed the team St. Catharines Black Hawks. Chicago continued to do so until NHL sponsorship ended in 1968. From 1968 until 1972, the Hawks were owned by Fred Muller and Ken Campbell. St. Catharines made it to the OHA finals in 1969, 1971 and 1974. They were beaten in the 1969 OHA finals by the Montreal Junior Canadiens 4 wins to 0 with 2 ties. The Black Hawks won 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 ...

in 1971 versus the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

& 1974 versus the

Peterborough Petes The Peterborough Petes are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team has played at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, since 1956, and is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. ...

. The 1971 Richardson Trophy series between St. Catharines and the

Quebec Remparts There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...

is one of the most storied ever, featuring riots and two future Hall of Famers,

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

and

Marcel Dionne Marcel Elphège "Little Beaver" Dionne (born August 3, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. Marcel Dion ...

. In the 1974

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

tournament the Black Hawks would square up against the

Regina Pats Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to: Places Canada * Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province ** Regina (electoral district) ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina France * Régina, French Guiana, a commune United States * ...

and a rematch versus the Quebec Remparts.

Hap Emms Leighton Alfred Emms (January 12, 1905 – October 23, 1988) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, team owner, and general manager, during nearly 60 years in hockey. Emms played 17 seasons of professional hockey as a left winger and a defenc ...

bought the Black Hawks in 1972 and for the next four years attendance declined to the point that Emms refused to suffer any more losses and moved the club to Niagara Falls in 1976, rejuvenating the name of the previous

Niagara Falls Flyers The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982. ...

team which Emms had also owned. Many blamed the poor support for the clubs on Emms’ failure to promote the team, but there were extenuating factors such as the attraction of the nearby Buffalo Sabres, expanded TV coverage of hockey and Tier II hockey in the area.

Richardson Cup 1971

The Eastern Canadian championship of 1971 was the most controversial of the series ever played for the Richardson Cup. It was also the last Eastern Canadian championship to be played before the

tournament began in 1972. The series that featured future NHL stars

and

, never lived up to the potential on ice brilliance that could have been. Disputes off the ice and erupting violence abruped the series before it was finished. The Black Hawks and Remparts series was intense on many levels. Besides the strong rivalry between

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

and Francophone hockey teams and Canadian citizens in general, there was unfinished business between Marcel Dionne and the Remparts coach Maurice Filion. Dionne had been coached by Filion in 1968 as a member of the

Drummondville Rangers The Drummondville Rangers were a junior ice hockey team that played in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. They originally played in the Quebec Junior Hockey League, but became a founding member of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1969. They w ...

of the Quebec Junior Hockey League. When the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League formed in 1969, Dionne departed to play in the OHA, which was seen as a higher-calibre level of competition, to hone his skills. Filion vowed revenge against his OHA team. This rivalry was further fueled by the desire of Francophone nationalists to have a Canadian champion from a Quebec team in a Quebec-based league. The Remparts won the first game 4-2 played in St. Catharines and televised by closed circuit to over 8,000 spectators in Quebec arenas. Despite the win, Filion complained about the referee bias against his players, calling it anti-Francophone. The Black Hawks won game 2 by a score of 8–3, to tie the series at 1 game each. Game 3 was played in the

Colisée de Québec Colisée de Québec (later known as Colisée Pepsi) is a defunct multi-purpose arena located in Quebec City, Quebec. It was the home of the Quebec Nordiques from 1972 to 1995, during their time in the World Hockey Association and National Hockey ...

to an overflow crowd, seeing the Remparts win 3–1. There were a total of 102 penalty minutes called, 77 of those were against the Black Hawks. Brian MacKenize of St. Catharines would be suspended for one game after confronting a linesman. The next game of the series was uglier than the last game. Another overflow crowd saw the Remparts win game 4 by a score of 6–1. As the game wore on, more and more fights broke out on the ice, involving players leaving the penalty box to join the fray. The St. Catharines players were escorted off the ice by police amidst the hurling of debris from Quebec fans. After the game an

angry mob Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majorit ...

surrounded the St. Catharines team bus on its way to the motel, and was given a police escort to safety. The mob circled the motel until the early hours of the morning. Game 5 was played on neutral ice at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

in Toronto, which the Black Hawks won 6–3 to narrow the series 3 games to 2 for Quebec. That was the last game played. The parents of the St. Catharines players refused to send their children back to Quebec City for fear of the violence that occurred after game four. The Remparts refused to play anywhere else but their home rink, including any neutral ice in the province of Quebec. The problem was further confounded with threats surfacing from the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) against St. Catharines players. CAHA president Dawson declared the series to be over when no further compromise could be reached, and he had received official notice from St. Catharines that the team would not return to the Colisée. As a result, the Remparts went on to compete for the

by default, which they won, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Memorial Cup 1974

In the 1974

tournament the Black Hawks would square up against the Regina Pats and a rematch versus the Quebec Remparts. St. Catharines was undefeated through the OHA playoffs to reach the Memorial Cup, eliminating the Oshawa Generals,

and

in the process, with a tie against Peterborough in the finals being the only blemish on their record. The entire cup series would be played in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

at the

Stampede Corral The Stampede Corral was a multi-purpose venue (ice hockey, professional wrestling, rodeo, tennis) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located on the grounds of Stampede Park, the arena was completed in 1950 at a cost of C$1.25 million ($ million tod ...

. This venue was much to the liking of St. Catharines players, who were not wanting to relive the

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

experience from 3 years ago. St. Catharines played a strong defensive game to open the tournament, getting some vengeance from three years ago. However, the Remparts scored 5 power play goals in the semi-final game and trounced the Black Hawks 11–3. The Black Hawks played two more seasons in the city, but uprooted and moved to nearby

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

at the end of the 1975–76 season, becoming the second incarnation of the

Players

Two future Hockey Hall of Famers played for the St. Catharines Black Hawks. They are: two time OHA scoring champion

(1968–71) and

Mike Gartner Michael Alfred Gartner (born October 29, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leaf ...

in his rookie year (1975–76) before the team moved to Niagara Falls. In total 61 St. Catharines Black Hawks Alumni graduated to the NHL.

Award winners

*''1963–64'' - Fred Stanfield,

William Hanley Trophy The William Hanley Trophy is awarded annually by Ontario Hockey League to the most sportsmanlike player. It is named for Bill Hanley, a former secretary-manager of the Ontario Hockey Association who served in that capacity for twenty-five years. T ...

(Humanitarian of the Year) *''1964–65'' - Ken Hodge,

Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy The Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the player scoring the most points in the regular season. The trophy was donated by the Toronto Marlboro Athletic Club in memory of athlete and coach Eddie Power ...

(Scoring Champion) *''1966–67'' - Peter McDuffe,

Dave Pinkney Trophy The Dave Pinkney Trophy is awarded to the goaltenders of the Ontario Hockey League team that has the lowest goals against average. It has been awarded annually since 1949. Winners List of winners of the Dave Pinkney Trophy. See also * List of C ...

(Lowest Team GAA) *''1969–70'' - Marcel Dionne,

(Scoring Champion) *''1970–71'' - Marcel Dionne,

(Scoring Champion) *''1973–74'' - Dave Gorman,

Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy The Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League since 1972, to the right winger who scores the most points in the regular season. The Peterborough Petes donated the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy in his memory to the top s ...

(Top Scoring Right Winger)

NHL alumni

Yearly results

;Regular season ;Playoffs *1962–63 Out of

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

. *1963–64 Defeated Oshawa Generals 8 points to 4 in quarter-finals.
Lost to Montreal Junior Canadiens 9 points to 5 in semi-finals. *1964–65 Lost to Peterborough Petes 8 points to 2 in quarter-finals. *1965–66 Lost to Oshawa Generals 8 points to 6 in quarter-finals. *1966–67 Lost to Kitchener Rangers 9 points to 3 in quarter-finals. *1967–68 Lost to Montreal Junior Canadiens 9 points to 1 in quarter-finals. *1968–69 Defeated Toronto Marlboros 8 points to 4 in quarter-finals.
Defeated Niagara Falls Flyers 8 points to 6 in semi-finals.
Lost to Montreal Junior Canadiens 9 points to 1 in finals. *1969–70 Defeated Kitchener Rangers 8 points to 4 in quarter-finals.
Lost to Montreal Junior Canadiens 8 points to 0 in semi-finals. *1970–71 Defeated Kitchener Rangers 8 point to 0 in quarter-finals.
Defeated Montreal Junior Canadiens 9 points to 5 in semi-finals.
Defeated Toronto Marlboros 8 points to 0 in finals. OHA CHAMPIONS
Lost to Quebec Remparts by forfeit in Richardson Trophy playoff series. *1971–72 Lost to Peterborough Petes 8 points to 2 in quarter-finals. *1972–73 Lost to Toronto Marlboros 8 points to 0 in quarter-finals. *1973–74 Defeated Oshawa Generals 9 points to 1 in quarter-finals.
Defeated Toronto Marlboros 8 points to 0 in semi-finals.
Defeated Peterborough Petes 9 points to 1 in finals. OHA CHAMPIONS
Lost in Memorial Cup semi-final to Quebec Remparts. *1974–75 Lost to Hamilton Fincups 8 points to 0 in quarter-finals. *1975–76 Lost to Kitchener Rangers 6 points to 2 in first round.

Arena

The St. Catharines Black Hawks played in the Garden City Arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario from 1962 to 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catharines Black Hawks Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Sport in St. Catharines Chicago Blackhawks minor league affiliates