The Kitchener Dutchmen were a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Dutchmen turned into the Ayr Centennials.

History

The Kitchener Dutchmen franchise was founded in 1956 when the Junior A Kitchener Canucks were moved to become the Peterborough Petes. With the Canucks gone, the new Kitchener Greenshirts were founded as members of the Central Junior B Hockey League to fill the void left by their Junior A counterparts.

The Greenshirts changed their name to the "Ranger B's" in 1969 to better reflect their relationship with their parent club, the Kitchener Rangers who entered the market in 1963. The team started in the Central Junior B league, but as part of the 1971 geographic realignment, moved to the Western Junior B league. In 1973, the team joined the "Southwestern Junior "B" Hockey League", which became the "Waterloo-Wellington Junior "B" Hockey League" and then the Midwestern "B" in 1977. The team was a long-standing member of the league but relocated to Ayr in 2020.

An original charter member team, in 1992 the franchise became the first team in Mid-Western "B" history, other than the Waterloo Siskins and the Stratford Cullitons, to win the league and the Sutherland Cup. They won a second consecutive league title in 1993, but failed to come away with another Ontario Hockey Association title. The team did not miss the playoffs from 1979 until they relocated. The Dutchmen were a long time farm team for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.

On April 26, 2020, it was announced that the OHA had given approval for the Ayr Centennials to purchase the Dutchmen and move them to Ayr in order to promote the Centennials from Junior C to Junior B, effective starting in the 2020-21 season. This thus brought an end to the 63 years of Dutchmen hockey in Kitchener.

Season-by-season record

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts Results Playoffs1956–57 27 11 14 2 — 77 97 24 4th CJBHL 1957–58 30 20 10 0 — 148 109 40 2nd CJBHL 1958–59 30 7 23 0 — 83 175 14 6th CJBHL 1959–60 30 4 25 1 ——— 9 5th CJBHL 1960–61 30 15 15 0 — 168 175 30 3rd CJBHL 1961–62 30 25 4 1 — 231 121 51 1st CJBHL 1962–63 36 14 22 0 — 144 184 28 4th CJBHL 1963–64 34 13 20 1 — 146 170 27 4th CJBHL 1964–65 42 31 11 0 — 236 138 62 1st CJBHL Won League, won Sutherland Cup1965–66 38 30 8 0 — 281 149 60 1st CJBHL Won League1966–67 32 26 5 1 — 230 114 53 1st CJBHL Won League, won Sutherland Cup1967–68 40 19 17 4 — 197 186 42 3rd CJBHL Won League1968–69 36 24 7 5 — 246 130 53 1st CJBHL 1969–70 40 23 13 4 — 243 191 50 2nd CJBHL 1970–71 42 20 18 4 — 229 184 44 3rd CJBHL 1971–72 40 28 8 4 — 242 158 60 1st WOJHL 1972–73 41 12 22 7 — 191 235 31 7th WOJHL 1973–74 40 23 13 4 — 242 172 50 2nd SWJBHL 1974–75 40 25 11 4 — 264 176 54 2nd WWJHL 1975–76 42 17 20 5 — 252 233 39 4th WWJHL Lost semi-final1976–77 40 20 17 3 — 216 207 43 3rd WWJHL 1977–78 40 9 28 3 — 159 251 21 5th MWJBHL Did not qualify1978–79 42 12 23 7 — 167 229 31 6th MWJBHL Did not qualify1979–80 42 15 20 7 — 186 219 37 3rd MWJBHL Lost semi-final1980–81 42 21 20 1 — 217 206 43 4th MWJBHL Lost final1981–82 42 29 13 0 — 266 177 58 3rd MWJBHL Lost final1982–83 42 23 19 0 — 257 228 46 4th MWJBHL Lost semi-final1983–84 42 18 25 0 — 200 223 36 5th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1984–85 42 22 18 2 — 202 192 44 5th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1985–86 40 18 20 2 — 229 206 38 4th MWJBHL Lost semi-final1986–87 41 22 18 1 — 222 206 45 4th MWJBHL Lost semi-final1987–88 48 23 24 1 — 236 249 47 5th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1988–89 48 11 35 2 — 184 290 24 8th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1989–90 48 21 26 1 — 225 224 43 6th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1990–91 48 24 23 1 — 190 200 49 6th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1991–92 48 39 6 3 — 270 134 81 1st MWJBHL Won League, won Sutherland Cup1992–93 48 41 7 0 — 339 168 82 1st MWJBHL Won League1993–94 48 17 29 2 — 178 220 36 7th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1994–95 48 17 27 4 — 203 229 38 8th MWJBHL Lost semi-final1995–96 48 28 16 4 — 269 178 60 5th MWJBHL Lost semi-final1996–97 48 30 13 5 — 256 165 65 3rd MWJBHL Lost semi-final1997–98 48 30 15 3 — 259 128 63 4th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1998–99 48 20 22 6 — 216 219 46 6th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final1999–00 48 27 20 1 — 218 185 55 5th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final2000–01 48 26 19 3 — 235 179 55 6th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final2001–02 48 17 28 3 — 160 178 37 7th MWJBHL 2002–03 48 29 14 5 2 231 148 65 2nd MWJBHL Lost final2003–04 48 31 12 3 2 188 153 67 2nd MWJBHL Lost final2004–05 48 31 13 2 2 178 118 66 1st MWJBHL 2005–06 48 24 24 0 — 169 161 48 7th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final2006–07 48 21 23 2 2 158 162 46 5th MWJBHL Lost quarter-final2007–08 48 21 21 1 5 167 163 48 6th GOJHL-MW Lost Conf. Quarter-final2008–09 52 34 14 — 4 240 172 72 2nd GOJHL-MW Lost Conf. Final2009–10 51 16 34 — 1 153 231 33 8th GOJHL-MW Lost Conf. Quarter-final2010–11 51 25 24 — 2 179 164 52 6th GOJHL-MW 2011–12 51 10 33 — 8 148 223 28 8th GOJHL-MW Lost Conf. Quarter-final2012–13 51 28 19 — 4 175 172 60 3rd GOJHL-MW Lost Conf. Semi-final2013–14 49 36 8 — 5 180 103 77 1st GOJHL-MW Lost Conf. Semi-final2014–15 49 34 11 — 4 201 157 72 2nd GOJHL-MW Won Conf. Quarters, 4–1 (Cyclones)Lost Conf. Semis, 1–4 (Cullitons)2015–16 50 44 4 1 1 244 123 90 1st of 9-MW1st of 26-GOJHL Won Conf. Quarters, 4–1 (99ers)Lost Conf. Semis, 1–4 (Siskins)2016–17 50 30 15 2 3 196 155 65 3rd of 9-MW9th of 27-GOJHL Won Conf. Quarters, 4–1 (Cullitons)Lost Conf. Semis, 2–4 (Sugar Kings)2017–18 50 24 23 1 2 160 163 51 5th of 8-MW15th of 26 GOJHL Lost Conf. Quarters, 3-4 (Siskins)

Sutherland Cup appearances

1965: Kitchener Greenshirts defeated Etobicoke Indians 4-games-to-2 1967: Kitchener Greenshirts defeated Dixie Beehives 4-games-to-2 1992: Kitchener Dutchmen defeated Milton Merchants 4-games-to-1 1993: Barrie Colts defeated Kitchener Dutchmen 4-games-to-none

George S. Dudley Trophy Super "C" appearances 1971: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Kitchener Ranger B's 4-games-to-2 1973: Woodstock Navy-Vets defeated Kitchener Ranger B's 4-games-to-3 with 1 tie

Notable alumni

Chris Ahrens Braeden Bowman Jerry Byers Jonathan Cheechoo Dave Cressman Jack Egers Mike Hoffman Jim Krulicki Gary Kurt Don Maloney Joe McDonnell Rich Peverley Mike Robitaille Mark Scheifele Dan Seguin Scott Stevens Walt Tkaczuk Scott Walker Bennett Wolf

References

External links Dutchmen Webpage