Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts

Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts
CityGrand Falls-Windsor, NL
LeagueCentral West Senior Hockey League
Founded1966 (1966)
Home arenaJoe Byrne Memorial Stadium
ColoursGreen, white, red      
Franchise history
1928–48Grand Falls
1948–55Grand Falls All-Stars
1956–65Grand Falls Andcos
1966–91Grand Falls Cataracts
1991–presentGrand Falls-Windsor Cataracts

The Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts are a senior ice hockey team based in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Central Division of the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League.

Since it was founded in 1966, the Cataracts hockey club has been awarded the Herder Memorial Trophy eight times as all-Newfoundland senior hockey champions, including three consecutive championships from 2014 to 2016. The Cataracts were awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy on four occasions for finishing first overall in the NSHL regular season. The Cataracts won the Allan Cup in 2017 in Bouctouche, NB.

The Cataracts have played all their home games at the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium, formerly known as the Grand Falls Stadium until 1991.

History

The Grand Falls Cataracts were founded in 1966 by a group led by Leo Murphy, Al Dwyer Jr., Jim Temple and Walter Davis and supported by the Cataracts Booster Club whose members were ex-hockey players and hockey fans. The Cataracts joined the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NSHL) for the 1966–67 season. The previous papertown entry in the provincial senior league, the Grand Falls Andcos, had folded at the end of the 1964–65 season. Winnipeg native Nick Mickoski was hired as the Cataracts' first head coach. At the end of the 1967-68 regular season, the Cataracts finished in first place and were awarded the Evening Telegram Trophy. The Cataracts won back-to-back all-Newfoundland senior hockey championships in 1981 and 1982 but did not join the NSHL in 1983–84. The club re-joined the NSHL in 1984–85 to make it a four-team league.

At the end of the 2010–2011 season, after finishing first place in the league, the Cataracts defeated the Conception Bay North Cee Bee Stars 4–0 in the finals series to win the Herder Memorial Trophy. It was the hockey club's first provincial senior hockey championship since 1982. From 2011 to 2014 the club was part of the re-formed Newfoundland Senior Hockey League. In 2012 Herder finals, the Cataracts were runners-up to the Clarenville Caribous who took the Provincial title.

On March 8, 2015, Cataracts' import Rob Hennigar scored the OT winner to win the CWSHL finals series four-games-to-two. The Cataracts were awarded their second straight all-Newfoundland senior championship and the home town received its thirteenth Herder Memorial Trophy.

The Cataracts won their first Allan Cup on April 15, 2017 in Bouctouche, NB after defeating the Lacombe Generals 7–4 in the final.[1]

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Led league in points† Herder Trophy champions‡

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, DNQ = Did not qualify

NSHL = Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (1962-1989) or Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (2011-2014), NSHL-C = Newfoundland Senior Hockey League - Central Division, CBIHL = Central Beothuck Intermediate Hockey League, WCSHL = West Coast Senior Hockey League, CWSHL = Central West Senior Hockey League

Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts regular season and postseason statistics and results, 1966–present
Season League Regular season League Postseason Herder Playoffs
GP W L T OTL GF GA PTS Finish GP W L GF GA Result GP W L GF GA Result
1966-67 NSHL 40 15 22 3 - 146 162 33 5th - - - - - Did not qualify
1967-68 NSHL 40 21 15 4 - 197 156 46† 1st 7 3 4 31 30 Lost Herder semi-finals 3–4 to Corner Brook Royals
1968-69 NSHL 40 17 16 7 - 153 150 41 3rd 6 2 4 19 36 Lost Herder semi-finals 2–4 to Gander Flyers
1969-70 NSHL 40 17 18 5 - 173 185 39 4th 7 3 4 30 29 Lost Herder semi-finals 3–4 to Gander Flyers
1970-71 NSHL 36 14 17 5 - 148 149 33 3rd 7 4 3 27 16 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. St. John's Capitals, 4-3‡
1971-72 NSHL 36 25 8 3 - 188 98 53† 1st 12 12 0 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. St. John's Capitals, 4-0‡
1972-73 NSHL 36 17 18 1 - 158 149 35 3rd Lost Herder finals to St. John's Capitals, 0-4
1973-74 NSHL 32 17 11 4 - 171 136 38 2nd 10 5 5 64 54 Lost Herder finals to St. John's Capitals, 1-4
1974-75 NSHL 16 8 6 2 - 84 66 18 2nd 2 0 2 11 13 Lost Herder semi-finals to Corner Brook Royals, 0-2
1975-76 NSHL 20 12 6 2 - 111 71 26 2nd 8 4 4 43 37 Lost Herder finals to St. John's Capitals, 1-4
1976-77 NSHL 32 11 19 2 - 161 179 24 3rd, West 3 1 2 21 21 Lost Herder quarter-finals to Gander Flyers, 1-2
1977-78 NSHL 32 19 12 1 - 200 163 39 3rd, West 3 0 3 8 25 Lost Herder quarter-finals to Gander Flyers, 0-3
1978-79 NSHL 30 8 15 7 - 135 172 23 5th - - - - - Did not Qualify for playoffs
1979-80 NSHL 34 17 15 2 - 191 170 36 3rd 4 1 3 Lost semi-finals 1–3 to Labatt BlueCaps
1980-81 NSHL 32 20 9 3 - 198 138 43† 1st 11 8 3 47 33 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Corner Brook Royals, 4-2‡
1981-82 NSHL 32 19 10 3 - 212 148 41 2nd Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Gander Flyers, 4-3‡
1982-83 NSHL 31 18 11 2 - 174 134 38 2nd Lost Herder finals 3–4 to Stephenville Jets
1983-84 CBIHL 24 13 8 3 29 3rd 13 9 4 Won Central Beothuck League Championship n/a
1984-85 NSHL 36 7 28 1 - 170 258 15 4th Lost Herder semi-finals 0–3 to Corner Brook Royals
1992-93 CBIHL
1993-94 CBIHL
2002-03 WCSHL
2003-04 WCSHL
2004-05 WCSHL
2005-06 WCSHL
2006-07 WCSHL
2007-08 WCSHL
2008-09 WCSHL 24 12 12 110 116 25 3rd lost 1–4 to Clarenville Caribous
2009-10 WCSHL 24 16 8 124 83 33 2nd lost 2–4 to Clarenville Caribous
2010-11 NSHL 24 15 6 - 3 134 95 33† 1st Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. CBN Eastlink CeeBee Stars, 4-0‡[1]
2011-12 NSHL 24 15 7 - 2 109 77 32 2nd Lost Herder finals to Clarenville Caribous 1-4
2012-13 NSHL 24 20 3 - 1 114 78 41† 1st Lost Herder semi-finals
2013-14 NSHL 24 19 5 - 0 124 70 38† 1st Won Herder Memorial Trophy‡
2014-15 CWSHL 24 13 10 - 1 99 82 27 2nd Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Corner Brook Royals, 4-0‡
2015-16 CWSHL 22 15 6 - 1 98 72 31† 1st 10 8 2 45 17 Won CWSHL championship vs. Corner Brook Royals, 4-1[2] 3 3 0 23 4 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. St. John's Toyota Plaza Caps, 3-0‡
2016-17 CWSHL 18 13 2 - 3 76 52 29† 1st Lost CWSHL championship in OT to Clarenville Caribous, 3-4 Did not qualify
2017-18 CWSHL 16 6 10 - 0 55 65 12 3rd Lost CWSHL semi-final in OT to Clarenville Caribous, 1-4[3] Did not qualify
2018-19 NSHL-C 17 10 5 - 2 65 48 22 2nd 6 4 2 23 18 Won Central Division championship vs. Gander Flyers, 4-2[4] 5 4 1 16 10 Won Herder Memorial Trophy vs. Southern Shore Breakers, 4-1‡ [5]
2023-24 CWSHL 18 13 4 - 1 118 74 27 2nd 9 5 4 40 31 Lost CWSHL championship vs. Deer Lake Red Wings, 1-4 Did not qualify

Allan Cup results

Year Location GP W L T OTL GF GA Round-robin results Playoffs Result
1971 Galt, Ontario 5 2 3 - - 16 19 Lost Eastern final to Galt Hornets, 2-3
1972 Spokane, Washington with Kimberley, British Columbia 4 0 4 0 0 7 21 Lost Eastern final to Barrie Flyers, 0-4
1981 Thunder Bay, Ontario 4 1 3 0 0 12 27 Lost Eastern semi-final to Petrolia Squires, 3-6
1982 Sarnia, Ontario 6 2 3 0 1 21 32 Lost Eastern final to Petrolia Squires, 0-3
2012 Lloydminster, Sask 4 1 2 0 1 12 17 3rd Pool One Lost semi-final to South East Prairie Thunder
2015 Clarenville, NL 4 2 1 0 1 14 12 2nd Division One OT loss semi-final to Bentley Generals
2016 Steinbach, MB 3 2 1 0 0 9 8 1st Division One Lost semi-final to South East Prairie Thunder, 3-2
2017 Bouctouche, NB 4 4 0 0 0 17 9 1st Division Two Won Allan Cup vs. Lacombe Generals, 7-4

Current roster

For the current team roster see the Cataracts profile on the league website

Leaders

Team captains

  • Leo Murphy, 1967–68, 1970–71
  • Jim Beckman, 1971–72
  • Al Dwyer, 1973–74
  • Roger Elliott, 1980–81
  • Harold Stanley, 1975–76
  • Gene Faulkner, 1981–82
  • Brian Grouchy, 2002–03
  • Brad Lewis, 2006–13
  • Mike Brent, 2013–19, 2023–24

Head coaches

  • Nick Mickoski, 1966–69
  • Len Haley, Jim Beckman, 1969–70
  • Jean-Marc Pichette [2], 1970–73
  • Leo Murphy, 1973-76 (playing-coach)
  • Joe Grimes, 1977–78
  • Al Dwyer Jr., 1978–79
  • Joe Byrne, 1979-1980, 1980-1981, 1981-1982
  • Gord Gallant, 1982–83
  • Alex Faulkner, Tony Grimes, 1984-1985
  • Mike Brown, John McSween 2002-2003
  • Robert Goulding 2003-2004
  • Robert Goulding, Barry Manual 2004-2005
  • Tony Walsh, Barry Manual 2005-2006
  • Barry Manual, 2006–2007, 2007-2008
  • Walt Lewis, 2008–09
  • Paul Glavine, 2009–10
  • Brian Casey, 2010–11, 2011–2012
  • Shane Lukinchuk, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014–2015
  • Tom Coolen, 2015–2016, 2016-2017
  • Pat Yetman [3], 2017-2018, 2018-2019
  • Paul Whelan, 2023–24

Team awards

Team MVP

(Cataracts most valuable player in the regular season)

  • Tyler Whitehead, 2011
  • Cam Fergus, 2016
  • Jordan Maher, 2024

James "Bucky" Hannaford Jr. Award

(Awarded to the player who shows dedication to the team both on and off the ice)

  • Mike Brent, 2011
  • Sam Hounsell, 2013
  • Nicklas Lindstrom, 2016
  • Nicklas Lindstrom, 2017

The Cohen's Cup

(Awarded to the Cataract receiving the most points on 3-Star selection during the regular season)

  • Andre Gill, 2012–13
  • Andre Gill, 2013–14
  • Cam Fergus, 2014–15
  • Mike Brent, 2015–16
  • Danny Wicks, 2016–17
  • Danny Wicks, 2017–18
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2018–19

League trophies and awards

League individual awards

League MVP (in the regular season)

  • Cam Fergus, 2016
  • Collin Circelli, 2017

Top Scorer (in the regular season)

  • Cam Fergus, 2016
  • Jordan Maher, 2024

Top goal scorer (in the regular season)

  • Chad Earle, 2011
  • Cam Fergus, 2016

Coach of the Year (in the regular season)

  • Brian Casey, 2011
  • Tom Coolen, 2016
  • Tom Coolen, 2017
  • Paul Whelan, 2024

Top Goalie (in the regular season)

  • A.J. Whiffen, 2016
  • Bryan Gillis, 2017
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2019

Top Defenseman (in the regular season)

  • Luke Gallant, 2016
  • Nick Lindstrom, 2019

Rookie of the Year (in the regular season)

  • Chad Earle, 2011
  • Ethan Simms, 2024

Most Gentlemanly and Effective Player (in the regular Season)

  • Cody Drover, 2024

Hockey NL (HNL) Trophies and Awards

HNL team awards

HNL individual awards

S. E Tuma Memorial Trophy (Top scorer in the regular season)

  • Charlie Greene, 1975
  • Gene Faulkner, 1976
  • Dennis Goulding, 1977
  • Bruce Campbell, 1982
  • Ron Hennigar, 2014


T.A. (Gus) Soper Memorial Award (Most valuable player in the Senior "A" leagues in the regular season)

  • Jason Stone, 2006
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2013
  • Ron Hennigar, 2014
  • Cam Fergus, 2016


Albert "Peewee" Crane Memorial Trophy (Senior league rookie of the year)

  • Terry French, 1969
  • Don Howse, 1972
  • Brandon Nicholas, 2008
  • Chad Earle, 2011


Howie Clouter Memorial Trophy (Most Gentlemanly and Effective Player in the regular season)

  • Al Dwyer Jr., 1974, 1975
  • Dan Flynn, 1981
  • Bruce Campbell, 1982
  • Troy Thompson, 2006
  • Andre Gill, 2010
  • Danny Wicks, 2018
  • Danny Wicks, 2019
  • Cody Drover, 2024


President's Goaltender's Award (Top goaltender in the regular season)

  • Fred Janes, 1968, 1969
  • Jean-Guy Morissette, 1972
  • Rocky Martin, 1973
  • Eddie Davis, 1982
  • Mark Yetman, 2012
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2013
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2014
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2016
  • A.J. Whiffen, 2019


Top Defenseman (Top defenseman in the regular season)

  • Rodi Short, 2014
  • Luke Gallant, 2016


Coach of the Year

  • Shane Lukinchuk, 2014
  • Tom Coolen, 2016


Cliff Gorman Memorial Award (Most valuable player of the Herder Playoffs)

  • A.J. Whiffen, 2014
  • Cam Fergus, 2015
  • Luke Gallant, 2016

Honoured members

Note: (the year honoured is noted)

Retired numbers

  • #7 Al Dwyer Jr.
  • #12 Jim Temple
  • #8 Gene Faulkner (2011)
  • #55 Martin Lapointe (2015)
  • #16 Clar Goulding (2017)
  • # Wayne Faulkner (2017)
  • # James "Bucky" Hannaford (2018)
  • # Cec Thomas (2018)

Honoured Builders

  • Walter Davis (2018)

NL Hockey Hall of Fame

The following people associated with the Cataracts have been inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame. Note: (the year of induction is noted)

References

  1. ^ Newfoundland Hockey Scene Issue 9 July 2011 page 8
  2. ^ "Cataracts Win Central West | Newfoundland Hockey Talk". 16 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Caribous win in overtime to eliminate Cataracts in CWSHL semifinals | SaltWire".
  4. ^ "Newfoundland senior hockey: Cataracts advance to Herder final with Game 6 win over Flyers | SaltWire".
  5. ^ "Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts are 2019 Herder champs | SaltWire".

Bibliography

  • Abbott, Bill (2000). Herder Memorial Trophy: A History of Senior Hockey in Newfoundland and Labrador. Breakwater Books.
  • Elliott, Jerry "Stats" (2010). Newfoundland and Labrador Senior Hockey: A Trip Down Memory Lane. Jerry Elliott.
  • Oldford, Roy (2023). Go Cats Go: The History of the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts. Roy Oldford.