The Walpole Island Wild are a Canadian Junior ice hockey club based in Walpole Island, Ontario. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.
History
The Wallaceburg Thunderhawks have made the All-Ontario Final once since 1972, in 1999 they lost the Clarence Schmalz Cup to the Glanbrook Rangers. From the 1997-98 season to the 2000-2001 season the Lakers made it to the Great Lakes Junior C Finals. Winning the League Championship in 1998-99 season. The Lakers Revamped themselves in the 2006-2007 season, with Head Coach Mark Davis returning to the club, as they knocked off the 4th seeded Dresden Jr. Kings in a 6 game series for their first series win in 5 years, They would lose in the League Semi-finals to the League Champion Essex 73's in a hard fought 5 game series. In 2007-2008 The Lakers won the north division title and breezed past the Blenheim Blades in the first round 4-0. Round 2 brought on the Mooretown Flags which also brought a 4 game sweep. The Lakers would then face their rivals from Essex the 3 time defending League champions. The Lakers battled their hearts out right to the end but were no match for the 73's as Essex swept the finals in 4 games and claimed their 4th straight League Title.
On December 28, 2008, tragedy struck the Wallaceburg Lakers organization as they lost a valuable member of their team. 19-year-old Tristan Carswell (Forward, #16) died suddenly in his sleep. In the first game the Wallaceburg Lakers played following the death of Carswell, the Lakers coach asked in a pre-game speech for Tristan to send down a message to let them know he's still with them. The Lakers proceeded to score a goal 16 seconds into the game, and then again with 16 seconds remaining in the game. His jersey was retired at a ceremony February 4, 2009 in a game against Dresden.
During a tumultuous off-season in 2019, the ownership group of the Lakers dubiously applied to the Ontario Hockey Association for relocation to Tilbury, Ontario. The move was rejected by the OHA.
Season-by-season record Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs1972-73 42 20 19 3 - 197 179 43 4th GLJHLWon semi-final 3-0 (Kings)Lost final 1-4 (Flyers)1973-74 43 16 22 5 - 233 258 37 7th GLJHLLost semi-final 1-4 (73's)1974-75 42 26 13 3 - 249 167 55 3rd GLJHLLost quarter-final 1-3 (Bulldogs)1975-76 42 19 19 4 - 215 211 42 4th GLJHLLost semi-final 1-4 (73's)1976-77 42 13 25 4 - 203 249 30 6th GLJHLDNQ1977-78 42 20 19 3 - 259 266 43 4th GLJHLLost semi-final 0-3 (73's)1978-79 40 24 14 2 - 275 232 50 3rd GLJHLLost quarter-final 1-2 (Kings)1979-80 42 17 20 5 - 257 219 39 4th GLJHLLost quarter-final 1-4 (73's)1980-81 40 17 19 4 - 183 244 38 5th GLJHLLost quarter-final 1-3 (Flyers)1981-82 38 12 26 0 - 195 240 24 7th GLJHLLost quarter-final 2-3 (Kings)1982-83 39 27 7 5 - 234 157 59 2nd GLJHLWon semi-final 4-1 (Kings)Lost final 1-4 (Flyers)1983-84 40 6 31 3 - 144 288 15 7th GLJHLDNQ1984-85 40 13 22 5 - 187 197 31 8th GLJHLLost quarter-final 0-3 (73's)1985-86 40 11 23 6 - 183 224 28 8th GLJHLLost quarter-final 2-3 (Kings)1986-87 39 8 28 2 1 153 235 19 8th GLJHLDNQ1987-88 38 23 13 1 1 215 180 48 4th GLJHLLost quarter-final 1-4 (Jets)1988-89 40 10 26 3 1 148 246 24 9th GLJHLLost Div quarter-final 1-4 (Jets)1989-90 40 15 19 3 3 182 165 36 9th GLJHLDNQ1990-91Did Not Participate1991-92 41 1 37 2 1 97 367 5 11th GLJHLDNQ1992-93 40 0 40 0 0 104 341 0 11th GLJHLDNQ1993-94 38 8 26 2 2 128 238 20 10th GLJHLDNQ1994-95 42 3 34 3 2 111 286 11 11th GLJHLDNQ1995-96 39 12 25 1 1 121 197 26 10th GLJHLDNQ1996-97 39 19 12 6 2 167 161 46 4th GLJHLLost quarter-final 2-4 (Sharks)1997-98 46 21 17 7 1 173 140 50 5th GLJHLWon quarter-final 4-0 (Flyers)Won semi-final 4-1 (Canadiens)Lost final 1-4 (73's)1998-99 40 32 7 0 1 209 109 65 2nd GLJHLWon quarter-final 4-1 (Flags)Won semi-final 4-2 (73's)Won League 4-3 (Canadiens)Won CSC semi-final 4-1 (Bulldogs)Lost CSC Final 0-4 (Rangers)1999-00 39 29 7 3 0 191 110 61 2nd GLJHLWon quarter-final 4-1 (Sharks)Won semi-final 4-1 (Comets)Lost final 3-4 (Canadiens)2000-01 40 24 14 1 1 152 138 50 3rd GLJHLWon quarter-final 4-2 (Kings)Won semi-final 4-2 (73's)Lost final 0-4 (Canadiens)2001-02 40 15 18 6 1 131 143 37 7th GLJHLLost quarter-final 1-4 (Sharks)2002-03 40 5 27 4 4 125 208 18 9th GLJHLDNQ2003-04 40 8 29 1 2 107 192 19 9th GLJHLDNQ2004-05 40 4 34 1 1 69 215 10 9th GLJHLDNQ2005-06 40 3 35 1 1 83 287 8 9th GLJHLDNQ2006-07 40 19 17 2 2 168 142 42 5th GLJHLWon quarter-final 4-2 (Kings)Lost semi-final 1-4 (73's)2007-08 39 24 11 2 2 187 127 52 3rd GLJHLWon quarter-final 4-0 (Blades)Won semi-final 4-0 (Flags)Lost final 0-4 (73's)2008-09 40 18 19 - 3 166 179 39 6th GLJHLLost quarter-final 2-4 (Flags)2009-10 40 27 10 - 3 191 128 57 3rd GLJHL Won quarter-final 4-0 (Flyers)Won semi-final 4-1 (Kings)Lost-final 0-4 (Canadiens)2010-11 40 30 8 - 2 168 113 62 1st GLJHL Won quarter-final 4-1 (Blades)Lost semi-final 2-4 (Sharks)2011-12 40 9 29 - 2 129 216 20 9th GLJHL DNQ2012-13 40 11 27 - 2 125 210 24 9th GLJHL DNQ2013-14 40 5 34 - 1 94 234 11 9th GLJHL DNQ2014-15 40 6 31 - 3 87 190 15 9th GLJHL DNQ2015-16 40 3 37 - 0 88 251 6 9th GLJHL DNQ2016-17 40 3 36 1 - 78 253 7 9th Stobbs DNQ2017-18 40 3 37 0 0 67 261 6 9th Stobbs DNQ2018-19 40 1 37 0 2 56 226 4 9th Stobbs DNQWallaceburg ThunderHawks2019-20 40 4 35 0 1 69 204 9 9th of 9 Stobbs DNQ2020-21 Season Lost due to COVID-19 pandemic2021-22 32 5 24 2 1 64 184 13 8th of 9 Stobbs Lost Div. Quarter finals 0-4 (Canadiens)2022-23 42 4 35 3 0 91 262 11 8th of 8 Stobbs Lost Div. Quarter finals 0-4 (73's)Walpole Island Wild2023-24 42 6 36 0 0 73 249 12 8th of 8 Stobbs Lost Div. Quarter finals 0-4 (Canadiens)2024-25 42 4 36 2 1 80 264 10 8th of 8 Stobbs16th of 16 Conf61st of 63 PJHL Lost Div. Quarter finals 0-4 (73's)2025-26 42 2 39 1 0 64 296 5 8th of 8 Stobbs16th of 16 Conf61st of 61 PJHL Lost Div. Quarter finals 0-4 (73's)
Clarence Schmalz Cup appearances 1999: Glanbrook Rangers defeated Wallaceburg Lakers 4-games-to-none
References
External links ThunderHawks Web Page Lakers' Sarnia Sports Page