The Thunder Bay Flyers were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
History
The Fort William Gardens
On July 6, 1980, the Degagne Buccaneers and Thunder Bay North Stars were informed by the TBAHA that they would not be permitted to field teams in the 1980–81 City League. On July 10, 1980, the executive of the Thunder Bay Kings was formed and gave life to the city's premier junior squad for the next twenty years.
From 1980 until 1982, the Kings played in the Thunder Bay Hockey League with the Allan Cup-contending Senior "A" Thunder Bay Twins, the Hardy Cup-contending Intermediate "A" Thunder Bay Blazers, and the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union's Lakehead University Nor'westers. Their first season saw them finish in second and meet the Intermediate Blazers in the league semi-final, which the Kings won 3-games-to-2. In the finals, they were swept by the Senior Twins 4-games-to-none. In the second year, the Flyers finished in third and drew the Blazers again. They defeated the Intermediates 3-games-to-1, to meet Lakehead University in the final. Lakehead upset the Twins 3-games-to-1 in the other semi-final. The Kings won the final in seven games to win the City Championship.
In 1982, the Thunder Bay Hockey League was disbanded. The Blazers folded into the Twins, who joined Manitoba's Central Senior A Hockey League. The Kings, the newly formed Thunder Bay Hornets and the Schreiber North Stars Junior "B" hockey teams, formed the Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League. The Kings won the league in 1983. In the 1983-84 season, the North Stars were replaced by the Jr. B Thunder Bay Maple Leafs. The Kings celebrated an 18-game perfect season before winning the city championship for the third straight year.
In 1984, the Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League folded. The Kings changed their name to the Thunder Bay Flyers and jumped to the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Hornets and Maple Leafs merged under the Thunder Bay Hornets banner and jumped to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Dave Siciliano served as head coach of the Flyers from 1986 to 1993.[1] He led the team to 35 wins and a second-place finish during the 1986–87 season.[2] After defeating the Sioux City Musketeers in the first round of the playoffs,[3] the Flyers lost three games to two versus the Madison Capitols in the second round.[4]
The Flyers won 40 games and placed first overall in the 1987–88 season, which gave Siciliano his first Anderson Cup as the USHL's regular season champion.[5] Despite that his team had 13 rookies, the Flyers had the highest scoring offence in the league and the second best goals against average. The Ottawa Citizen credited the team's success to its skating ability, puck control and aggressive forechecking.[6] The Flyers defeated the Madison Capitols by three games to one in the first round of the playoffs,[7] then defeated the Rochester Mustangs by three games to one in the finals to win the Clark Cup as USHL playoffs champions.[8] The Flyers then participated in the Dudley Hewitt Cup playoffs to determine the Central Canada "Junior A" champion, and lost to the Pembroke Lumber Kings in four consecutive games in the final series.[9] Since the Lumber Kings hosted the 1988 Centennial Cup tournament to determine the Canadian Junior A champion and received an automatic berth, the Flyers advanced to the Centennial Cup tournament as the Dudley Hewitt Cup finalists.[10] The tournament was the first appearance for the Flyers at the Centennial Cup,[6] which saw them lose all three games played and finish in fourth place.[11]
The Dudley Hewitt Cup
Siciliano led the Flyers to 40 wins and placed first overall in the 1988–89 season, to win his second Anderson Cup.[12] In the USHL playoffs, the Flyers defeated the Omaha Lancers in three games in the first round, then defeated the North Iowa Huskies in four games in the second round, then defeated the St. Paul Vulcans in five games to give Siciliano his second Clark Cup championship.[1] The Flyers began the Canadian playoffs undefeated in eight games with series victories versus the Sudbury Cubs and the Pembroke Lumber Kings to give Siciliano his first Dudley Hewitt Cup.[1][13] Siciliano recalled that the Flyers were not given respect in advance of the 1989 Centennial Cup, and said that "the host Summerside team commented at the coaches press conference that Thunder Bay couldn't be very strong since they played in an American-based league".[13] During the round-robin stage of the tournament, the Flyers earned wins versus the Vernon Lakers and Moncton Hawks, and lost to the Summerside Western Capitals.[1][13] The Flyers earned a berth in the cup finals based on goal difference among three teams tied for first place, then defeated Summerside by a 4–1 score in the final game to win the Centennial Cup.[13] Siciliano summarized the game by saying, "our team speed and skill over powered Summerside and we were unfazed by the full house and their physical play"; and "believe[d] that team was one of the best junior teams to ever represent Thunder Bay".[13] The Centennial Cup championship was the first for both Siciliano and for any team from Northwestern Ontario.[1]
The Flyers won 31 games and placed third overall in the 1989–90 season.[14] They defeated the St. Paul Vulcans in three games in the first round of the playoffs[15] then were defeated three games to two by the Rochester Mustangs in the semifinals.[16] In the Dudley Hewitt Cup playoffs, the Flyers lost 4 games to 2 versus the Sudbury Cubs in the semifinals.[17]
Siciliano won his third Anderson Cup when the Flyers placed first overall in the 1990–91 season with 36 wins.[18] In the playoffs, the Flyers defeated the North Iowa Huskies in three games in the quarterfinals,[19] defeated the Dubuque Fighting Saints in three games in the semifinals,[20] then lost by three games to one versus the Omaha Lancers in the Clark Cup finals.[21] The Flyers reached the finals of the Dudley Hewitt Cup playoffs versus the Sudbury Cubs, which guaranteed them a berth in the 1991 Centennial Cup tournament since Sudbury was scheduled to host the upcoming national finals.[22] Despite missing four players including their goaltender due to suspensions,[22] the Flyers defeated Sudbury by a 5–1 score to give Siciliano his second Dudley Hewitt Cup championship.[23] In his third appearance at the Centennial Cup tournament, the Flyers placed fifth with one win in four games.[24]
The Centennial Cup
The Flyers won 36 games and placed first overall in the 1991–92 season to give Siciliano his fourth Anderson Cup.[25] In the playoffs, the Flyers defeated the Rochester Mustangs in three consecutive games, then lost by three games to one versus the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the semifinals.[1] The Flyers hosted the 1992 Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament in Thunder Bay. They placed second during the round-robin, defeated the Joliette Nationals by a 5–2 score in the semifinals, then defeated the Kanata Valley Lasers by a 5–1 score in the finals, which gave Siciliano his third Dudley Hewitt Cup.[1] At the 1992 Centennial Cup, the Flyers completed the round-robin with two wins and two losses, then defeated the Halifax Mooseheads by an 8–1 score to reach the finals versus the Winkler Flyers.[1] Siciliano recalled in a 2021 interview that, Winkler was "a bigger and more physical team and wanted to wear their black sweaters" as an intimidation tactic. As the home team with the first choice of colours, Siciliano's Flyers wore dark red jerseys and forced Winkler to change into light-coloured jerseys. Siciliano felt that worked in his team's favour as Winkler took penalties early in the game, and his team won by a 10-1 score giving Siciliano a second Centennial Cup championship.[26]
The Flyers placed fourth overall in the 1992–93 season,[27] defeated the St. Paul Vulcans by three games to two in the first round of the playoffs,[28] then were defeated three games to one by the Omaha Lancers in the second round.[29] In the Dudley Hewitt Cup playoffs, the Flyers reached the semifinals but lost to the Chateauguay Elites.[30] Siciliano resigned as coach of the Flyers after the 1992–93 season, but remained as the team's general manager for the next two seasons.[31][32]
The Flyers placed sixth overall in the 1993–94 season,[33] lost in the first round of the USHL playoffs in six games to the Omaha Lancers,[34] and were runners-up to the Chateauguay Elites in the Dudley Hewitt Cup finals.[30] The Flyers placed fifth overall in the 1994–95 season,[35] and lost in six games to the Sioux City Musketeers in the first round of the playoffs.[36] After Siciliano won his fourth Dudley Hewitt Cup when the Flyers defeated the Brampton Capitals in the championship game,[30] his team lost to the Calgary Canucks in the 1995 Centennial Cup semifinals.[37]
1996 to 2000
The Flyers played their last game in 2000. The end of the Flyers resulted in the creation of the Superior International Junior Hockey League in 2001 to continue the tradition of the old Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League as a purely local organization. The league has been successful since its founding with its top team being the Fort William North Stars. The departure of the Flyers also sparked the creation of the very successful Lakehead University Thunderwolves men's hockey program, playing in the Ontario Universities Athletics Conference of the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport).
