The Kitchener Greenshirts name has been used by five separate

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

teams playing in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

, Canada. These include one 'Senior A' level hockey team, two 'Junior A' level teams, and two 'Junior B' level teams. The name has also been used for a team in the

Ontario Minor Hockey Association The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) is a minor ice hockey governing body in Ontario. The OMHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada. History The OMHA was founded on November 30, 1940, after a merger of the Onta ...

(OMHA).

Senior A (c.1917 to c.1938)

The Kitchener Hockey Club, commonly known as the Kitchener Greenshirts were a

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose junior ice hockey, Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate un ...

team. Kitchener 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, an ...

in 1918 and 1928, as the senior champion of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

(OHA). Kitchener also won the

1918 Allan Cup The 1918 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1917–18 season. The final challenge was hosted by the Kitchener Greenshirts and Toronto, Ontario. The 1918 playoff marked the 11th time the Allan Cup had a champion ...

as the national champions of Canada.

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

goaltender

George Hainsworth George Henry Hainsworth (June 26, 1893 – October 9, 1950) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League, and the Saskatoon Crescents in the Western ...

played senior hockey for the Greenshirts from 1917 to 1923. Another Hall of Famer, Earl Seibert played one game with the team in 1928. List of

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) alumni:

Junior A (c.1922 to c.1938)

The first

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

Greenshirts team played in the OHA the early 1920s to the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This Junior A program operated in affiliation to the Senior A team of the same name. The team was known as the Kitchener Colts when they won the

as the OHA junior champions in 1923. The Colts eventually advanced to play the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

in a two-game, total-goals series in Toronto to decide the 1923 Memorial Cup winner. The university won consecutive 7–3 contests to capture the Cup by a total score of 14–6. The team later became the Greenshirts and were finalists for the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1929. The Greenshirts were awarded the J. Ross Robertson Cup by default in the 1934–35 season after winning a protest on the series it had lost to the Oshawa Generals. The decision on the protest came too late for Kitchener to challenge the Northern Champion Sudbury Cub Wolves for the right to compete for the Memorial Cup. The Greenshirts were runners-up in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals in 1936. Five future Hockey Hall of Famers played junior hockey for the Greenshirts during this era:

Bobby Bauer Robert Theodore Bauer (February 16, 1915 – September 16, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins. He was a member of the famed " Kraut Line" with ...

Woody Dumart Woodrow Wilson Clarence Dumart (December 23, 1916 – October 19, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, most notably for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Dumar ...

Milt Schmidt Milton Conrad Schmidt (March 5, 1918 – January 4, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach and general manager, mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), where he was a member of the Kraut Line. He w ...

Earl Seibert Walter Earl Seibert (December 7, 1910 – May 12, 1990) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played for 15 seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings between 1931 and 1946. He was inducted into the Hockey Hal ...

Babe Siebert Charles Albert "Babe" Siebert (January 14, 1904 – August 25, 1939) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Maroons, New York Rangers, Boston ...

. List of

(NHL) alumni:

Junior B (c.1939 to c.1949)

With many high calibre Junior A and NHL players involved in military service, Kitchener was left with a Junior B team to fill the void. Future NHLers

Howie Meeker Howard William Meeker (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian professional hockey player in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey, and a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He became best ...

& Dutch Reibel played for the Junior B Greenshirts during the 1940s. Howie Meeker would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a broadcaster.

Junior A (1951 to 1954)

The second Junior A team in the Ontario Hockey Association known as the Kitchener Greenshirts played from 1951 to 1954 at the

Kitchener Memorial Auditorium The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex (also known as The Aud) is a multi-use municipally-owned facility in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The complex is located on East Avenue, near the Ottawa Street interchange on the Conestoga Parkway. The c ...

. The Greenshirts were granted as an expansion team for the 1951–52 season. The first Junior A season in Kitchener since

was successful in gaining local fan support, and beating out rivals Waterloo Hurricanes to be the best team in the twin cities. Bill Harrington won the

Red Tilson Trophy The Red Tilson Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding player (MVP) as voted by OHL writers and broadcasters. It was donated by ''The Globe and Mail,'' and first awarded in the 1944–45 OHA season by the On ...

as the OHA's Most Outstanding Player while goaltending for the 1951–52 season with the Greenshirts. The team played three years in total from 1951 to 1954, then were renamed the Kitchener Canucks. The Kitchener Canucks later became the Peterborough TPT Petes.

NHL alumni

List of

(NHL) alumni:

Yearly results

List of season-by-season results:

Junior B (c.1963 to c.1978)

Ontario Minor Hockey

There has also been a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team in the

with the name Kitchener Greenshirts. Its NHL alumni include, Kevin Miehm, Steve Seftel, Brad Schlegel,

Paul Reinhart Paul Gerard Reinhart (born January 8, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL). He featured in the 1986 Stanley Cup ...

Brad Shaw Bradley William Shaw (born April 28, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Detroit Red Wings of the Nat ...

and

Nick Stajduhar Nick Stajduhar (born December 6, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, 16th overall, a pick the Oilers received from the Los Angeles ...

References

{{Defunct OHL Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Greenshirts Ice hockey clubs established in 1917 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1978 1917 establishments in Ontario 1978 disestablishments in Ontario