Kitchener Greenshirts
Encyclopedia
| Kitchener Greenshirts | |
| City: | 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... |
| League | 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.... |
| Senior A: | c.1917 to c.1938 |
| Junior A: | c.1922 to c.1938 |
| Junior B: | c.1939 to c.1949 |
| Junior A: | 1951-1954 |
| Junior B: | c.1963 to c.1978 |
The Kitchener Greenshirts name has been used by five separate ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
teams playing 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. These include one 'Senior A' level hockey team, two 'Junior A' level teams
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...
, and two 'Junior B' level teams. The name has also been used for a team in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA).
Senior A (c.1917 to c.1938)
The Kitchener Hockey Club, commonly known as the Kitchener Greenshirts were formed due to the rise of NHL hockey in Canada requiring a feeder system. Kitchener won the Allan CupAllan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...
in 1918 as the national champions of Canada.
Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
goaltender George Hainsworth
George Hainsworth
George Hainsworth 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 Canada Hockey League....
played senior hockey for the Greenshirts from 1917 to 1923. Another Hall of Famer, Earl Seibert played one game with the team in 1928.
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Junior A (c.1922 to c.1938)
The first Junior Greenshirts team played in the OHA the early 1920s to the start of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. 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 their first J. Ross Robertson Cup
J. Ross Robertson Cup
The J. Ross Robertson Cup is an ice hockey trophy awarded annually to the winner of the Ontario Hockey League playoff championship. It was presented by and named for John Ross Robertson, the president of the Ontario Hockey Association who served from 1899 to 1905.Originally it was awarded to the...
as Ontario junior champions in 1923. The Colts eventually advanced to play the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
in a two-game, total-goals series in Toronto to decide the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...
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 was awarded the J. Ross Robertson Cup by default in 1935 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
Sudbury Wolves (disambiguation)
Sudbury Wolves could mean:* Sudbury Wolves, a team in the Ontario Hockey League.* Sudbury Jr. Wolves, a team in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.* Sudbury Wolves , a defunct team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League....
for the right to compete for the Memorial Cup. The Greenshirts were runners-up in the 1936 J. Ross Robertson Cup finals.
Five future Hockey Hall of Famers played junior hockey for the Greenshirts during this era: Bobby Bauer
Bobby Bauer
Robert Theodore Bauer was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins.-Playing career:...
, Woody Dumart
Woody Dumart
Woodrow Wilson Clarence "Porky" Dumart was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame...
, Milt Schmidt
Milt Schmidt
Milton Conrad Schmidt is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach and general manager, mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
, Earl Seibert
Earl Seibert
Earl Walter Seibert was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played for 15 seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.-Playing career:...
& Babe Siebert
Babe Siebert
Albert Charles "Babe" Siebert was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Maroons, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens...
.
NHL Alumni
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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 MeekerHowie Meeker
Howard William Meeker, C.M. is a former right winger in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey and television sports announcer as well as a former Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament...
& 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 AuditoriumKitchener 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...
.
The Greenshirts were granted as an expansion team for the 1951-52 season. The first Junior A season in Kitchener since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was successful in gaining local fan support, and beating out rivals Waterloo Hurricanes
Waterloo Hurricanes
The Waterloo Hurricanes were a junior ice hockey team playing in the Ontario Hockey Association for two seasons between 1950 and 1952. They played at the Waterloo Memorial Arena in Waterloo, Ontario. The team folded after the 1951–52 season due to financial woes...
to be the best team in the twin cities.
Bill Harrington
Bill Harrington
William "Bill" T. Harrington was an American sportscaster, children's television host, and news reporter for WHDH and TV and WCVB-TV in Boston.-Sportscasting:...
won the Red Tilson Trophy
Red Tilson Trophy
The Red Tilson Trophy is an annual award given to the most outstanding player in the Ontario Hockey League. The award is voted on by OHL writers and broadcasters, and is named for Red Tilson, a former played for the Oshawa Generals who was killed in service in the Second World War...
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
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Yearly Results
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | Tied | Points | Pct % | Goals For |
Goals Against |
Standing |
| 1951-52 | 54 | 29 | 22 | 3 | 61 | 0.565 | 231 | 213 | 6th OHA |
| 1952-53 | 56 | 15 | 38 | 3 | 33 | 0.295 | 181 | 239 | 8th OHA |
| 1953-54 | 59 | 27 | 27 | 5 | 59 | 0.500 | 236 | 211 | 5th OHA |
Junior B (c.1963 to c.1978)
The birth of the Kitchener RangersKitchener Rangers
The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that have called Kitchener, Ontario, Canada their home since 1963. The Rangers are a publicly owned hockey team, governed by a 40-person Board of Directors made up of season ticket subscribers. The Rangers hosted...
(OHA Jr.A.
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....
) for the 1963-64 season, meant the need for a local farm team to help produce Junior A players. The affiliated Junior B Greenshirts became that source of new talent, and used the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
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...
as their home. The Junior B Greenshirts became the "Kitchener Ranger B's" in 1969 and are now known as the Kitchener Dutchmen
Kitchener Dutchmen
The Kitchener Dutchmen are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.-History:...
of the Midwestern Junior B Hockey League
Midwestern Junior B Hockey League
The Mid-Western Junior Hockey League was a junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association from 1973 until 2007. As of 2007, the league has become a division of the newly formed Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League...
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Ontario Minor Hockey
There has also been a minor hockey team in the OMHA with the name Kitchener Greenshirts. Its NHL Alumni include: Kevin MiehmKevin Miehm
Kevin Miehm is a Canadian former ice hockey player in the National Hockey League who played two seasons with the St. Louis Blues from 1992 to 1994.-External links:*...
, Paul Reinhart
Paul Reinhart
Paul Gerard Reinhart is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL.Reinhart was drafted 12th overall by the Atlanta Flames in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft...
, Brad Shaw
Brad Shaw
Bradley William Shaw is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. Shaw is currently an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues.-Career:...
and Nick Stajduhar
Nick Stajduhar
Nick Stajduhar is a 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 Kings in the Wayne Gretzky trade.Stajduhar only played two games for Edmonton,...
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