The Gander Flyers (also commonly known as the Kelly Ford Gander Flyers due to a sponsorship deal that began October 3, 2014) were a senior ice hockey team based in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Central West Senior Hockey League.Royals extend winning streak to five games with sweep of Flyers – Hockey – The Gulf News"Lack of execution causes Gander’s downfall". Advertiser, January 12, 2015
History The Gander Flyers hockey club has its roots in picked teams from the Royal Canadian Air Force hockey league at RCAF Station Gander during the Second World War and from the Gander Hockey League picked team that entered Newfoundland inter-town senior hockey competition in 1947. The RCAF 'Bombers'Western Star (Corner Brook, N.L.), 1943-02-19 and 'Fliers' played exhibition games at other Newfoundland hockey centres during World War II including Corner Brook"R.C.A.F Gander Team" P.6, The Western Star February 26, 1944 and Grand Falls."The Gander", March 1944.
Gander first joined the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association, and the race for the Herder Memorial Trophy, in 1947 as part of the Central Division with teams from Bishop's Falls, Buchans and Grand Falls.
Gander's entry into Newfoundland senior hockey was occasionally nicknamed the 'Flyers' until an official name change in the early 1960s. From 1953 to 1959, Gander entered a team in provincial Section B senior hockey in competition for the Evening Telegram Trophy. The all-stars were finalists in the 1954 all-Newfoundland senior 'B' championships hosted by Grand Falls but lost the close series to the Bell Island All-Stars 2-games-to-1. In 1960, the all-stars became part of the Western Division and in 1963 Gander joined the province-wide Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NSHL). In 1967, Flyers' import goaltender Lyle Carter was invited by the Conception Bay CeeBees to play in the Allan Cup; Carter later went on to play 15 NHL games with the California Golden Seals in 1971-72."Backchecking: Lyle Carter" - The Hockey News 2013-09-08 By David Salter
The Flyers were part of the NSHL, with the exception of a two-year break in the mid-1970s, until the hockey club folded in 1983. The Gander Flyers started the 1982-83 season but folded at the end of November.
Gander didn't enter a team in the NSHL for the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons. In 1975, Flyers alumni formed the Intermediate 'B' Gander Lakers and joined the Central Intermediate B Hockey League. The Lakers team became the re-formed Flyers and joined the Newfoundland Senior League for the 1976-77 season. After the team folded in November 1983, Flyers alumni re-formed the Gander Lakers and joined the Central Beothuck Intermediate Hockey League for the 1983-84 season.
The Flyers made their first all-Newfoundland finals appearance in 1961P.13, The Daily News March 29, 1961] but lost to the Conception Bay CeeBees in four straight games.P. 11, The Daily News April 5, 1961 Gander won its first NSHL championship and Herder Memorial Trophy in 1969 and added a second title in 1980. The club sat out the 1980-81 season but rejoined in 1981-82, making it to another Herder Finals but lost in seven games. It was the Flyers' fourth finals appearance in five seasons.
For the 2009-10 season, the Flyers returned as one of three teams that formed the Central Newfoundland Intermediate Hockey League (CNIHL). The Gander "Rec" Flyers played for three seasons in the CNIHL until 2012. After a 16-year absence from Newfoundland Senior hockey, the Gander Flyers joined the re-formed Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NSHL) in the fall of 2012."Matheson to play in front of hometown this season" . Cumberland News Now. Darrell Cole July 26, 2012 The team's home ice was at the Gander Community Centre.
On June 4, 2014, the Flyers were one of four teams that announced their departure from the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League in order to form a new league to be the Central West Senior Hockey League. That year the Flyers didn't score highly in the league standings, although early 2015 results were better."Five alive Kevin". The Beacon, Kevin Higgins January 05, 2015 Also in 2014, the Flyers were in the news when their goaltender Patrick O'Brien, a trained paramedic, ran from the locker room wearing all of his equipment to give CPR and helped to save the life of a fan in the stands as the game was about to begin."Patrick O'Brien, Gander Flyers Goalie, Helps Save Fan's Life With CPR". The Huffington Post Canada | By Jesse Ferreras 11/24/2014
In 2015, the Flyers signed former National Hockey League player, Arron Asham."Former NHLer Arron Asham signs with Gander Flyers". CBC News Sep 29, 2015
Seasons and records
Season-by-season results For the full season-by-season history, see List of Gander Flyers seasons.
Below is a list of the last three seasons completed by the Gander Flyers.
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, CWSHL = Central West Senior Hockey League, NSHL-C = Newfoundland Senior Hockey League Central Division
+Gander Flyers regular season and postseason statistics and results, 2012–presentSeasonLeagueRegular seasonPostseasonGPWLTOTLGFGAPTSFinishGPWLGFGAResult 2016-17 CWSHL 14 3 9 - 2 45 73 8 3rd 2 0 2 10 14 Lost in CWSHL semi-finals to Clarenville Caribous, 0-2 2017-18 CWSHL 16 9 6 - 1 75 70 19 1st 5 1 4 20 29 Lost in CWSHL finals to Clarenville Caribous, 1-4 2018-19 NSHL-C Lost in Central Division finals to Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 2-4
Allan Cup results Season Location GP W L T OTL GF GA Results Playoffs1969 Galt, ON (Games 1,2), Gander, NL (Games 3,4,5) 5 4 1 0 0 17 28 Lost 1-4 Eastern semi-finals (Galt Hornets)1980 3 0 3 - - 7 29 Lost 0-3 Eastern semi-finals (Thunder Bay Twins)
Current roster For the current team roster see the Flyers profile on the league website
Leaders
Team captains John Murphy, 1958–59 Bill Ireland, 1960-61"Sports DEEtails" The Daily News February 22, 1961 p. 10 Dick Power, 1966–67 Harry Katrynuk, 1968–69 Jack Faulkner, 1971-72 Bruce Sparkes, 1979–80 Peter Campbell, 2013–14 Ray Dalton, 2014–15 Mike Dyke, 2015–16 Mitchell Oake, 2016-18 Jordan Escott, 2018-Present
Head coaches Wes Trainor, 1958–61 Cy Hoskins(playing-coach), 1963 Jacques Allard (playing-coach) Wayne Maxner Bob Sheppard, 1978-79 Jack Faulkner, 1979-1980 Dennis Laing, 2012–14 Chris Peach, 2014–15 Ben Fitzgerald, 2015–16 Ryan Power, 2016 Rick Sheppard, 2017-2019
Team awards Most Valuable Player Tyler Carroll, 2017 Jordan Escott, 2018 Jordan Escott, 2019
Terry Oake Heart & Soul Award Mitchell Oake, 2017 Paul Hutchings, 2018 Thomas Hedges, 2019
Dedication Award Evan Mosher, 2019
League trophies and awards Leading Scorer Jordan Escott, 2018 Jordan Escott, 2019
Rookie of the Year Andrew Ryan, 2016 Brad Power, 2018 Jonathan Coffey, 2019
Most Gentlemanly and Effective Player Jordan Escott, 2017
Coach of the Year Rick Sheppard, 2018
League MVP Jordan Escott, 2018 Jordan Escott, 2019
Hockey NL (HNL) trophies and awards
HNL Team awards Two all-Newfoundland senior hockey championships (Herder Memorial Trophy): 1969, 1980 First place in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (Evening Telegram Trophy):
HNL Individual awards S. E. Tuma Memorial Trophy (Top scorer in the regular season) Mike Kelly, 1966 (91 pts) Mike Kelly, 1967 (92 pts) Jacques Allard, 1968 (131 pts) Jacques Allard, 1969 (126 pts)) Jack Faulkner, 1971 (74 pts) Wayne Maxner, 1972 (111 pts) Denis Goulding, 1977 (91 pts) Edward Philpott, 1979 (126 pts) Zane Forbes, 1980 (94 pts)
President's Top Goaltender Award Lyle Carter, 1967 (3.89 GAA) Kevin Kelly 1980 (3.55 GAA)
Albert "Pee Wee" Crane Memorial Award" (Rookie of the year) Zane Forbes, 1978 Jim Mercer, 1982 Derek Dalley, 1988 Andrew Ryan, 2016
Howie Clouter Memorial Trophy (Most gentlemanly and effective player) Tom Rafuse, 1977 Ted Mercer, 1978 Ed Philpott, 1979 Tom Rafuse, 1980 Jordan Escott, 2017
Cliff Gorman Memorial Award (Most valuable player of the Herder Playoffs) Zane Forbes, 1982
Honoured members
Retired numbers Note: the year of number retirement is noted #16 Ed Philpott (2017)
NL Hockey Hall of Fame The following people associated with the Flyers have been inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame (NLHHOF). Note: the year of induction into NLHHOF is noted
John Murphy (1995) Jack Faulkner (1995) Mike Kelly (1999) Ed Philpott (2000) Jacques Allard (2001) Dick Power (2001) Claude Brown (2004) Harry Katrynuk (2007) Leo Kane (2007) J.C. Garneau (2014)
References
Bibliography