The Kitchener Canucks were a junior ice hockey

Junior ice hockey

Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...

 team in the Ontario Hockey Association

Ontario Hockey League

The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....

 from 1954 to 1956. The team was based in Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

, Canada and played home games at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium

Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex

The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex 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...

.

History

The Kitchener Greenshirts changed names becoming the Kitchener Canucks for the 1954-55 season. The Canucks finished last place in the OHA their first year in operation.

Stan Baliuk helped the team finish second place in the league in 1955-56, winning the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy

Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy

The Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the top scorer in the Ontario Hockey League. The trophy was donated by the Toronto Marlboro Athletic Club in memory of Edward Powers, and was first awarded to Tod Sloan of St...

 as the top scorer that year, with 31 goals, 73 assists, totalling 104 points.

Canuck's defenceman Kent Douglas would go onto win the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in the 1962-63 NHL season, when he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

. Willie O'Ree would become the first black player in the NHL, playing as a winger for the Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

.

Despite moving up in the standings their second year, they did not make enough money to recover from the financial woes of a very poor first season. In 1956 the team moved to Peterborough, Ontario

Peterborough, Ontario

Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...

 becoming the Peterborough TPT Petes.

NHL alumni

Stan Baluik Stan Baluik Stanley Baluik is a former Canadian ice hockey centre and professional golfer.In hockey, Baluik played from 1954 to 1964 in the Ontario Hockey Association, Quebec Hockey League, Western Hockey League, American Hockey League, and National Hockey League... Wayne Connelly Wayne Connelly Wayne Francis Connelly is a Canadian former ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings, St...

Kent Douglas Kent Douglas Kent Gemmell Douglas was a professional ice hockey defenceman and coach.-Early career:Douglas started his career with the Kitchener Canucks in the Ontario Hockey Association... Ted McCaskill Ted McCaskill Edward Joel McCaskill was a professional ice hockey player who played four games in the National Hockey League and 91 games in the World Hockey Association. He played with the Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Sharks.- References :...

Willie O'Ree Willie O'Ree Willie Eldon O'Ree, OC, ONB is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins... Irv Spencer Irv Spencer Irvin James Spencer was a professional ice hockey player who played 73 games in the World Hockey Association and 230 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Philadelphia Blazers, Vancouver Blazers, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings.- References :...

Tom Thurlby Tom Thurlby Thomas Newman Thurlby is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who briefly played in the National Hockey League for the Oakland Seals.-Career statistics:-External links:... Howie Young Howie Young Howard John Edward "Wild Thing" Young was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and actor, best known for his time in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1960s...

Yearly Results

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
1954-55	49	8	39	2	18	0.184	140	248	8th OHA
1955-56	48	26	21	1	53	0.552	222	198	2nd OHA