The North Bay Centennials were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), who played from 1982–2002. The team was based in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, at the North Bay Memorial Gardens. The Centennials placed first overall during the 1993–94 OHL season, winning the Hamilton Spectator Trophy, and won that's season playoffs for the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Competing at the 1994 Memorial Cup, the Centennial placed fourth. At the end of the 2001–02 OHL season, the team relocated to Michigan becoming the Saginaw Spirit.
History The Niagara Falls Flyers relocated in 1982, to play home games at the North Bay Memorial Gardens. The team displaced the North Bay Trappers who played in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. The Centennials were named for the 100th anniversary of the railroad in North Bay. The team traces its roots back to St. Catharines, Ontario, where it played from 1943–1976, as the Falcons, Teepees and Black Hawks, winning the Memorial Cup in 1954 and 1960.
The Centennials wore a white, black and gold colour scheme. The team logo from 1982 to 1998 featured the Centennials name and four wheels to form the shape of a locomotive engine. Shoulder patches featured a front view of a locomotive on tracks. The Centennials were originally owned by Reg Quinn. The team played its first home game in North Bay on September 23, 1982, defeating the Kingston Canadians by a 7–4 score. During the summer of 1986, Quinn sold the team to local automotive dealer John Hopper.
The Centennials won back-to-back Emms division titles in 1986 and 1987. In 1987 the OHL organized a Super Series for the right to host the Memorial Cup tournament between the Leyden Division champions Oshawa Generals, and the Emms Division champions North Bay Centennials. The super series was played while both teams had a first-round playoffs bye. North Bay came within one game of hosting the national junior championship, losing game seven to the Oshawa Generals. In the OHL championship series that year the Centennials and Generals faced off again with the same result, Oshawa defeating North Bay 4 games to 3.
Determined to return to the Memorial Cup, coach and general manager Bert Templeton began building his team for another championship run. In 1991–92 North Bay returned to the OHL finals, losing to their northern counterparts, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in seven games. Templeton was awarded the OHL Executive of the Year for the 1991–92 season.
Two years later in 1994, North Bay was on top of the league winning the Hamilton Spectator Trophy. They entered the playoffs as the top-ranked junior team in Canada. The Centennials prevailed in the finals by defeating the Detroit Junior Red Wings in seven games, winning the final game on an overtime goal by Jason Campeau. Injuries began to take their toll on the team as they headed to the 1994 Memorial Cup, played in Laval, Quebec. North Bay dropped all three games on the round-robin; losing 5-4 to the Laval Titan, 3-1 to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, and 5-1 to the Kamloops Blazers.
In the summer of 1994, Ted Thomson bought a 50 percent share of the team from John Hopper. In 1998, Thomson bought the remaining 50 per cent share of the team from Hopper, then later brought in Bill Finnis as a minority partner. An updated team logo was used from 1998 to 2002, which featured an angry-looking railroad engineer holding a hockey stick. In December 2001, Thomson and Finnish sold the team to Michigan businessman Richard Garber. At the end of the 2001-02 OHL season, the Centennials relocated to Michigan becoming the Saginaw Spirit.
Championships SeasonTrophyRecognitionSource 1985–86 Emms Trophy Regular season Emms Division champion 1986–87 Emms Trophy Regular season Emms Division champion 1993–94 Leyden Trophy Regular season Leyden Division champion 1993–94 Hamilton Spectator Trophy Regular season OHL champion 1993–94 J. Ross Robertson Cup OHL playoffs champion
Coaches In twenty years of operation, the North Bay Centennials had four coaches. Bert Templeton carried over from Niagara Falls and guided the team for its first twelve years. He later became the team's general manager in addition to coaching. He was awarded the OHL Executive of the Year for the 1991–92 season. When the Centennials won the championship in 1994, Templeton was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year, and the CHL Coach of the Year Award. Templton had worked the 1993–94 season without a contact, and resigned as coach and general manager in August 1994, stating a desire to relocate to Toronto and spend more time with family. Team owner John Hopper declined Templeton's offer to remain as only as general manager.
Shane Parker took over for two and a half seasons, replaced by Greg Bignell for a year and a half. Mike Kelly became the coached and general manager after leading the University of New Brunswick Reds to a national championship.
1982–1994: Bert Templeton (12 years) 1994–1996: Shane Parker (2.5 years) 1996–1998: Greg Bignell (1.5 years) 1998–2002: Mike Kelly (4 years)
Players Award winners SeasonPlayerAward(s)RecognitionSource 1987–88 Len Soccio Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy Overage player of the year 1991–92 Drake Berehowsky CHL Defenceman of the Year Most outstanding defenceman Max Kaminsky Trophy Most outstanding defenceman John Spoltore Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy Overage player of the year William Hanley Trophy Most sportsmanlike player Sandy Allan F. W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy Lowest rookie goals against average 1993–94 Vitali Yachmenev CHL Rookie of the Year Rookie of the year Emms Family Award Rookie of the year Sandy Allan / Scott Roche Dave Pinkney Trophy Lowest team goals against average Scott Roche F. W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy Lowest rookie goals against average B. J. MacPherson Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy Overage player of the year 1994–95 Brad Brown OHL Humanitarian of the Year Award Humanitarian of the year Vitali Yachmenev William Hanley Trophy Most sportsmanlike player
NHL alumni Forty-six alumni of the Centennials played in the National Hockey League (NHL):
Jonas Andersson Shawn Antoski Alex Auld Drake Berehowsky Paul Bissonnette Jeff Bloemberg Dennis Bonvie Brad Brown Adam Burt Tony Cimellaro Troy Crowder Rob Davison Andy Delmore Jeff Eatough Todd Elik Trevor Gillies Paul Gillis Trevor Halverson Mike Hartman Derian Hatcher Kevin Hatcher Bill Houlder Nick Kypreos Bob LaForest Mark LaForest Mark LaVarre Mark Lawrence Brett MacDonald Jason MacDonald Mark Major Andrew McBain Steve McLaren Dave McLlwain Ron Meighan Steve Montador Chris Neil Keith Osborne Chad Penney Geoff Platt John Purves Joe Reekie Jeff Shevalier Chris Thorburn Tom Thornbury Darren Turcotte Vitali Yachmenev
Season-by-season results Regular season and playoffs results:
OHL playoffs championsOHL playoffs finalists
Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL Points Pct % Goalsfor Goalsagainst Standing Playoffs 1982–83 70 44 23 3 — 91 0.650 352 285 3rd Emms Won first round (Windsor Spitfires) 6–0Lost quarterfinals (Kitchener Rangers) 8–2 1983–84 70 22 43 5 — 49 0.350 236 327 5th Emms Lost first round (London Knights) 6–2 1984–85 66 34 28 4 — 72 0.545 289 254 3rd Emms Lost first round (Hamilton Steelhawks) 9–7 1985–86 66 41 21 4 — 86 0.652 330 240 1st Emms Won first round (London Knights) 9–1Eliminated in round-robin (Guelph Platers and Windsor Spitfires) 1986–87 66 46 18 2 — 94 0.712 357 216 1st Emms First-round byeWon quarterfinals (Kitchener Rangers) 4–0Won semifinals (Windsor Spitfires) 4–2Lost OHL finals (Oshawa Generals) 4–3 1987–88 66 31 30 5 — 67 0.508 284 257 4th Emms Lost first round (Hamilton Steelhawks) 4–0 1988–89 66 24 36 6 — 54 0.409 282 334 6th Emms Won first round (Kitchener Rangers) 4–1Lost quarterfinals (London Knights) 4–3 1989–90 66 23 35 8 — 54 0.409 292 314 5th Emms Lost first round (Kitchener Rangers) 4–1 1990–91 66 40 23 3 — 83 0.629 322 247 2nd Leyden Won first round (Peterborough Petes) 4–0Lost quarterfinals (Ottawa 67's) 4–2 1991–92 66 40 21 5 — 85 0.644 323 259 2nd Leyden Won first round (Belleville Bulls) 4–1Won quarterfinals (Sudbury Wolves) 4–0Won semifinals (Peterborough Petes) 4–1Lost OHL finals (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) 4–3 1992–93 66 22 38 6 — 50 0.379 251 299 7th Leyden Lost first round (Kingston Frontenacs) 4–1 1993–94 66 46 15 5 — 97 0.735 351 226 1st Leyden Division quarterfinals byeWon division semifinals (Belleville Bulls) 4–2Won division finals (Ottawa 67's) 4–1Won OHL finals (Detroit Junior Red Wings) 4–3Placed fourth at 1994 Memorial Cup 1994–95 66 35 27 4 — 74 0.561 272 247 3rd Eastern Lost division quarterfinals (Belleville Bulls) 4–2 1995–96 66 14 45 7 — 35 0.265 242 360 6th Eastern did not qualify 1996–97 66 14 44 8 — 36 0.273 214 337 6th Eastern did not qualify 1997–98 66 15 45 6 — 36 0.273 213 291 6th Central did not qualify 1998–99 68 22 40 6 — 50 0.368 215 48 3rd Central Lost conference quarterfinals (Ottawa 67's) 4–0 1999–2000 68 24 35 6 3 57 0.397 14 253 3rd Central Lost conference quarterfinals (Barrie Colts) 4–2 2000–01 68 32 28 6 2 72 0.515 232 220 3rd Central Lost conference quarterfinals (Ottawa 67's) 4–0 2001–02 68 18 37 8 5 49 0.324 185 247 4th Central Lost conference quarterfinals (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 4–0 Totals 1336 587 632 107 10 — 0.439 — — — —
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