Thorold Blackhawks

Thorold Blackhawks
City Thorold, Ontario, Canada
League Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League
Division Golden Horseshoe
Founded 1963
Home arena Thorold Community Arena
Colors

Black, red, white

              
Owner(s) Ralph Sacco
Tony Gigliotti
General manager Bryan Kelly
Head coach Bryan Kelly
Franchise history
1963-1975 Thorold Jaycees
1975-1979 Thorold Paper Bees
1979-1982 Thorold Paper C's
1982-1986 Thorold Golden Eagles
1986-present Thorold Blackhawks

The Thorold Blackhawks are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Thorold, Ontario. They play in the Golden Horseshoe division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

History

The Thorold Jaycees joined the Niagara District Junior B Hockey League in 1963, three seasons after the folding of the Thorold Mountaineers. The Jaycees became the Paper Bees in 1975 and stayed with the league until 1979 when it folded. From 1979 until 1982, the team was known as the Thorold Paper C's and played in the local Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League. In 1982, the Paper C's became the Blackhawks and joined Golden Horseshoe Junior B Hockey League. The Blackhawks stayed members of the GHJHL until 2007 when it merged into the GOJHL.

The team consists of mostly local players between the ages of 16 and 21. The Blackhawks were League Champions in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, the team went on to capture the Sutherland Cup as the best Jr. B team in Ontario. Many players that started their careers in Thorold went on to play in the Ontario Hockey League, the American Hockey League, and the National Hockey League. Notable alumni include Nathan Horton, John Scott, Zenon Konopka, Dwayne Roloson and Owen Nolan.

The Blackhawks played the longest game in club history on March 26, 2006 in a quadruple-overtime thriller of game 6 of their GHL Semi-final series against their arch-rival, the St. Catharines Falcons. The Blackhawks moved onto the GHL finals with this victory. The final score of this contest was 2-1 after Steve Zmudcynski beat St. Catharines' netminder Sean Hall with 5:06 left in the 4th overtime period. Zmudczynski was criticized for much of the overtime session for not getting back on defense but was rewarded for doing so when he received a long pass from Steve Chappell that set up the winning marker. The game lasted a little over four and a half hours and ended after midnight. An interesting side note from this game is that if there would have been a game seven it would have been played on March 27, the same day Game 6 ended.

In October 2013, a Facebook page called Is The Thorold Blackhawks Logo Offensive? was started,[1] which questioned the use of an aboriginal caricature as the team's logo.[2][3] The page garnered attention from local media and politicians and was brought to the attention of Thorold City Council.[4]

On August 4, 2016, Mayor Ted Luciani announced that the logo would be prohibited from the city's arenas from June 1, 2017.[5] The prohibition would apply to jerseys, signage and marketing materials. Luciani said that the city council had been working with the club since 2013 "to resolve the logo issue amicably" and that the club had been given "more than reasonable opportunity to address the issue." As a result, he said, "The City of Thorold will no longer permit the continued use of a logo that has been deemed offensive."[6]

During a pre-game ceremony at Frank Dougherty Arena on November 3, 2016, the team unveiled their replacement logo, a stylized head of a black bird of prey. Co-owner Tony Gigliotti – who had inherited the controversial logo when he bought the team in 2013 – said: "I understand how the old logo could offend people and that is something we never wanted to be part of. I created [the] new logo with the blackbird theme a few years ago with a graphic design guy in Toronto [James Brandan Walker] and we have tweaked it since then. I actually love the new logo and it is easily identifiable for young children and all our fans so we think it will be part of a good marketing plan in the future."[7][8]

Season-by-season results

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1963-64 30 5 23 2 - 120 263 12 6th NDJBHL DNQ
1964-65 30 10 18 2 - 133 201 22 6th NDJBHL Lost Semi-final
1965-66 30 11 16 3 - 162 220 25 6th NDJBHL Lost Quarter-final
1966-77 Niagara District Jr. B Statistics Not Available
1977-78 40 11 24 5 - 170 240 27 4th NDJBHL Lost Semi-final
1978-79 40 5th NDJBHL DNQ
1979-80 35 17 15 5 - 224 199 37 3rd NJC-E
1980-81 40 26 14 0 - 247 213 52 2nd NJC-E Lost Quarter-final
1981-82 Niagara-Can-Am Jr. C Statistics Not Available
1982-83 42 13 26 3 - 241 293 29 7th GHJHL
1983-84 42 9 28 5 - 178 252 23 8th GHJHL
1984-85 42 2 39 1 - 150 381 5 8th GHJHL
1985-86 40 19 18 3 - 184 215 41 6th GHJHL
1986-87 42 15 18 9 - 202 233 39 5th GHJHL
1987-88 42 17 21 4 - 209 270 38 5th GHJHL
1988-89 42 25 10 7 - 197 148 57 2nd GHJHLLost Final
1989-90 48 31 14 1 2 246 200 65 2nd GHJHLLost Final
1990-91 42 26 14 2 0 236 182 54 4th GHJHL
1991-92 42 15 26 1 0 189 219 31 6th GHJHL
1992-93 42 22 16 1 3 239 219 48 4th GHJHL
1993-94 40 25 12 1 2 270 178 53 2nd GHJHLLost Final
1994-95 42 19 21 2 1 188 220 41 4th GHJHL
1995-96 42 10 26 3 3 190 235 26 7th GHJHL
1996-97 42 14 22 5 1 181 181 34 6th GHJHL
1997-98 49 26 16 4 3 255 213 59 4th GHJHL
1998-99 47 17 24 5 1 167 180 40 5th GHJHL
1999-00 48 32 13 1 2 237 155 67 1st GHJHLLost Final
2000-01 48 31 10 7 0 220 126 69 2nd GHJHL Won League
2001-02 48 31 12 3 2 216 138 67 3rd GHJHLLost Final
2002-03 48 41 4 3 0 282 100 85 1st GHJHL Won League
2003-04 48 34 7 7 0 179 84 75 2nd GHJHL Won League
2004-05 48 37 6 5 0 185 85 79 1st GHJHL Won League, Won Sutherland Cup
2005-06 49 29 18 2 0 192 125 60 3rd GHJHL Lost Final
2006-07 49 30 16 2 1 226 169 63 4th GHJHL Lost Semi-final
2007-08 49 30 12 6 1 227 144 67 1st GOJHL-GH Lost RR Semi-final
2008-09 52 31 18 - 3 217 197 65 3rd GOJHL-GH
2009-10 51 35 12 - 4 211 164 74 3rd GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. SF
2010-11 51 38 11 - 2 251 135 78 2nd GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. Final
2011-12 51 32 17 - 2 197 126 66 3rd GOJHL-GH
2012-13 51 28 19 - 4 192 174 60 5th GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. SF
2013-14 49 28 17 - 4 210 185 60 4th GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. SF
2014-15 49 14 31 - 4 117 203 32 7th GOJHL-GH Lost Conf. Quarter-finals, 1-4 (Falcons)
2015-16 50 21 25 1 3 152 172 46 6th of 8-GH
17th of 26-GOJHL 		Lost Conf. Quarter-finals, 0-4 (Avalanche)

Sutherland Cup appearances

2001: Elmira Sugar Kings defeated Thorold Blackhawks 4-games-to-2
2003: Stratford Cullitons defeated Thorold Blackhawks 4-games-to-3
2004: Stratford Cullitons defeated Thorold Blackhawks 4-games-to-none
2005: Thorold Blackhawks defeated Chatham Maroons 4-games-to-1

References

  1. ↑ Blay, Jeff (October 11, 2013). "Thorold resident takes to Facebook to spark debate on Blackhawks logo". St. Catharines Standard. St. Catharines. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ MtPleasant, Jen (December 18, 2013). "Concerns growing over Thorold Blackhawks logo". Two Row Times. Hagersville. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Mangelsen, Melissa (November 28, 2013). "Thorold needs to decide what kind of city it wants to be, says Baird". The Tribune. St. Catharines. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ Fraser, Don (December 9, 2013). "Logo discussions fail to find solution". St. Catharines Standard. St. Catharines. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  5. ↑ Clinton, Jared (August 23, 2016). "ONTARIO JUNIOR TEAM THOROLD BLACKHAWKS HAVE DEADLINE TO CHANGE 'DISCRIMINATORY' LOGO". The Hockey News. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  6. ↑ Walter, Karena (August 18, 2016). "Thorold says Blackhawks logo has to go". St. Catharines Standard. St. Catharines. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ Cassidy, Joseph (November 10, 2016). "New-look Blackhawks dig out from under Avalanche". St. Catharines Standard. St. Catharines. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Thorold Blackhawks Jr. B". James Brandan Walker. 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
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