From Falcons to Spirit - The Chronology of an Ontario Hockey League Franchise

The Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League are celebrating their tenth year in 2011-12. However, the origins of the franchise date back to 1943 in a city 450km (280mi) to the east.

The St. Catherines Falcons began play in the Ontario Hockey Association for the 1943-44 season. The team enjoyed moderate success for the four years they were dubbed the Falcons but have no accolades to show for it. The franchise played out of Garden City Arena in St. Catherines which is the same outdated rink that the current Niagara IceDogs call home.

For the 1947-48 season, the team changed ownership and name. The St. Catherines TeePees were not named for an Indian hut. The name TeePees was derived from the initials of the new franchise owner, Thompson Products Ltd. The team continued to play out of the Garden City Arena and enjoyed great success.

As the TeePees, St. Catherines went to the Robertson Cup finals on five occasions. On two of those occasions, the TeePees were crowned OHA champions. With those two victories, in 1953-54 and 1959-60, the team continued on to become Memorial Cup champions, beating the Edmonton Oil Kings both times for the Canadian junior hockey crown.

In a six year span from 1953-54 to 1959-60, five times the recipient of the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy for the league’s top point-getter went to a member of the St. Catherines club. The TeePees housed four players that are now members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote and Phil Esposito all were standouts with the TeePees.

For the 1962-63 season, once again there was a name change. The Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League were a major sponsor of the St. Catherines club so the name of the OHA team was changed to Black Hawks. This version of the franchise won the Robertson Cup as OHA playoff champion in 1970-71 and 1973-74. In 1974, the Black Hawks went to the Memorial Cup, held in Calgary, Alberta, but lost both round-robin games. Perhaps the greatest player to wear a St. Catherines Black Hawks jersey was Marcel Dionne, a current member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In 1976, the team moved down the road to become the Niagara Falls Flyers. This version of the Flyers is not to be confused with an earlier team that is the current Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. The team played out of the 3,000 seat Niagara Falls Memorial Arena for six years. In their first season, future Hockey Hall of Famer, Mike Gartner earned the Emms Family Award as OMJHL rookie of the year. The closest the Flyers came to glory was a Robertson Cup finals loss to the Peterborough Petes in 1978-79.

1982 saw the franchise leave the ‘Golden Horseshoe’ region entirely. The team moved north and became the North Bay Centennials. The Centennials remained in North Bay for two decades, playing out of the 4,025 seat North Bay Memorial Gardens. The team made three visits to the Robertson Cup finals, winning in 1993-94 over the Detroit Junior Red Wings. At the 1994 Memorial Cup, held in Laval, Quebec, the Centennials tanked with a 0-3 record in the round-robin. The team’s legacy is the Hatcher brothers, Kevin and Darian.

Just when the Canadian dollar was travelling upwards towards par with its American counterpart, the Centennials fled North Bay for Saginaw, Michigan. The Saginaw Spirit have been quietly enjoying high-level mediocrity for the past decade at the 5,527 seat Dow Event Center. Over the past nine years, the Spirit have yet to go beyond the Western Conference semi-finals, but have made the playoffs every year with exception of their first three. An individual highlight would be Jack Combs’ 100 point performance in 2007-08.

There you have it. Four cities, two countries, six nicknames, three league name changes (OHA, OMJHL, OHL) and you’ve got the long road between the St. Catherines Falcons and Saginaw Spirit covered in a nutshell.