Belle River Canadians

The Lakeshore Canadiens are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Belle River, Ontario. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. The Canadiens are 6 time Clarence Schmalz Cup Winners as Provincial Junior C Champions and the defending Schmalz Cup Champions. The team was known as the Belle River Canadiens from 1978 until 2014.

History

From 1985 until 2001, the Canadiens were one of the most feared teams in all of Ontario Junior "C" hockey. Within those 17 years, the Canadiens won 11 GLJHL Championships and 4 Clarence Schmalz Cups as All-Ontario Junior "C" Champions in 8 trips to the All-Ontario Finals. After 9 years The Canadiens once again won the Great Lakes Junior "C" Title in 2010 defeating the Wallaceburg Lakers in 4 Games. In the Schmalz Cup Semi-finals they defeated the Grimsby Peach Kings 4 Games to 1 to advance to their first Ontario Final in 9 Years. The Canadiens then Lost the Schmalz Cup in 6 Games to the Alliston Hornets. In 2011 The Canadiens won their 2nd Consecutive Great Lakes title. They once again faced the Grimsby Peach Kings in the Ontario Semi-finals. Grimsby would win the series 4 games to 1.

The Canadiens franchise has won 18 Junior C League Championships, they have also won 6 Ontario Championships.

On June 6, 2014, the team announced it was changing its name to the Lakeshore Canadiens.

The Canadiens moved into the brand new Atlas Tube Centre in the fall of 2014. In their first game at the new Atlas Tube Centre Sebastian Kanally scored the first ever goal 38 seconds into the game as the Canadiens defeated their rivals from Essex by a score of 3–1. The Canadiens would finish 24–13–0–3 in their first full season in their new rink.

The summer of 2016 saw the GLJHL become the Bill Stobbs Division of the new Provincial Junior Hockey League, which resulted from the amalgamation of the eight junior "C" hockey leagues in Southern Ontario.

In 2017-2018 long time General Manager Mark Seguin hired Anthony Iaquinta as Head Coach, under Iaquinta the Canadiens finished First Place in the Stobbs division finishing with a record of 27-8-2-3, the Canadiens would sweep the Blenheim Blades and Mooretown Flags in the first 2 rounds, they would face their rivals from Essex in the division finals. In front of 3 straight sell out crowds on home ice the Canadiens would knock off the 73's in 5 games to claim their 14th League Championship.

2018-2019 would be another successful season for the Canadiens, finishing with a regular season record of 28-7-2-3 good enough for 2nd place in the Stobbs Division. In the playoffs the Habs would eliminate the Wheatley Sharks in 4 games, in the semi-finals they would face a very good Dresden Kings team. The Canadiens would defeat the Kings in 6 games in a hard-fought series setting up a rematch with the Essex 73's for a third straight season. The result would be the same as the previous season, the Canadiens once again defeating the 73's in 5 games in front of huge crowds at the Atlas Tube Centre to claim their 2nd straight Stobbs title and 15th League Championship in total. The Exeter Hawks would defeat the Canadiens in 7 games in the All Ontario playoffs.

The 2019–2020 season would be one of the most successful seasons in Canadiens history as the Canadiens finished with a record of 36 wins and 4 losses. The Canadiens were headed to the Stobbs Finals after knocking the Essex 73's in the semi-finals and set to face the Mooretown Flags however COVID would shut down the remainder of the season and cancel the 2020–2021 season.

The Canadiens returned to the ice in 2021-2022 after a year off due to the COVID. Once again the Canadiens would finish in first place with a 28-2-2 record in the regular season. The Canadiens swept the Wallaceburg Thunderhawks in round one. In the semi-finals the Canadiens were pushed to six hard fought games against the Wheatley Sharks to set up a finals matchup with the Essex 73's. For the fourth consecutive season the Canadiens got the best of the 73's and defeated them in six games. Trevor LaRue would score the league championship winning goal in Game 6 overtime as the Canadiens won their 16th league title. The Canadiens would move on to defeat the North Middlesex Stars in the Western Conference Finals in four close games. Next up was the Schmalz Cup tournament where the Canadiens would go 2 wins and 1 loss in the round robin to set up a semi finals matchup with the Grimsby Peach Kings. The Canadiens came away with a 5–0 victory to set up a showdown with the Clarington Eagles in the finals. In an instant classic, Dylan Weston would score 41 seconds into overtime to give the Canadiens a 3–2 victory to become Schmalz Cup Champions for the 5th time in team history and the first time since 1995.

In 2022-23, the Canadiens finished in second place in the Stobbs Division in the regular season with a 32-7-1-1 record and swept the Dresden Kings in the first round of the playoffs. This set up a rematch of the semi-finals from a year ago with the Wheatley Sharks. In a series in which the Canadiens fell behind 2 games to 0, they fought back and won the series in 6 games with Marco Sladoje scoring the series clinching goal, shorthanded, at the 5:32 mark of the 5th overtime in what was the longest game in PJHL history. Nicholas Bolton set a record with 96 saves in the game. The Canadiens now faced their rival, the Essex 73’s in the Stobbs Division final. The Canadiens defeated Essex in 5 games, with Braydin Metcalfe scoring the series winning goal at 9:31 of the 2nd overtime to give the Canadiens their 17th league Championship. In the Western Conference finals, the Canadiens defeated the Thamesford Trojans in 4 games and moved to the Schmalz Cup tournament for the 2nd consecutive year. The Canadiens finished the round robin with a 1-2 record and this set up a semi-final match up with the Wellesley Apple Jacks. It was not to be this time, as Wellesley scored 3:59 into the first overtime to eliminate the Canadiens.

In 2023-24 the Canadiens started slow, but finished very strong taking first place in the division by one point with a 37-5 record. They swept the Walpole Island Wild and the Wheatley Sharks to move into the league final against the Essex 73’s. In an epic battle between the two powerhouses, the Canadiens survived with a 3-1 win in game 7, in front of a full house at the Atlas Tube Center, to win their 18th league title. All 7 games were decided by 1 goal (two games had empty net goals) showing how small the difference was between the two teams. The Canadiens moved to the Western Conference final against the Thamesford Trojans and won the series in 4 games. This set up the Schmalz Cup semi final series against the South Conference Champions, the New Hamburg Firebirds. The Firebirds gave the Canadiens everything they could handle, but the Canadiens eventually won the series with a 5-2 win at home in game 6 to take the series. The Schmalz Cup final featured the East Conference Champions – Clarington Eagles against the Canadiens. In a very tight series, the Canadiens won game 5 on the road to win their 6th Schmalz Cup Championship. The team finished the Championship season with a 61-11 record.

2024–25 team staff

*General Manager - Mark Seguin
*Head Coach - Brent Walker
*Associate Head Coach - J.J. Percy
*Assistant Coach - Colin Moore
*Video/Stats- Conor Jamieson
*Sports Performance Coach- Kyla Seguin
*Team Doctor- Dr. Kim Silvaggio
*Trainer- Brian Prestyko
*Equipment-Ryan Arsenault

Season-by-season record

Clarence Schmalz Cup appearances

:''1985'': Belle River Canadiens defeated Midland Centennials ''4-games-to-1''
:''1990'': Orangeville Crushers defeated Belle River Canadiens ''4-games-to-3''
:''1992'': Belle River Canadiens defeated Stayner Siskins ''4-games-to-2''
:''1994'': Belle River Canadiens defeated Rockton Real McCoys ''4-games-to-none''
:''1995'': Belle River Canadiens defeated Bowmanville Eagles ''4-games-to-none''
:''1997'': Glanbrook Rangers defeated Belle River Canadiens ''4-games-to-2''
:''2000'': Lakefield Chiefs defeated Belle River Canadiens ''4-games-to-2''
:''2001'': Chippawa Riverhawks defeated Belle River Canadiens ''4-games-to-1''
:''2010'': Alliston Hornets defeated Belle River Canadiens ''4-games-to-2''
:''2022'': Lakeshore Canadiens defeated Clarington Eagles ''3-2 OT'' in final
:''2024'': Lakeshore Canadiens defeated Clarington Eagles ''4-games-to-1''

Clarence Schmalz Cup Championships

Notable alumni

*Bob Boughner
*Tie Domi
* Mike Natyshak
* Brad Smith
* D. J. Smith
*Alek Stojanov
* Derek Wilkinson
*Steve Ott

External links

Canadiens Webpage

{{OHA-C

Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League teams
1978 establishments in Ontario
Ice hockey clubs established in 1978
Ice hockey teams in Ontario