The Sarnia Legionnaires are a junior ice hockey team based in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Hockey League.

History

The Sarnia Bees joined the ranks of the current Western Junior "B" league in 1969. The Bees were an upstart team in direct competition with the historic Sarnia Legionnaires of the Western Ontario Junior A Hockey League. By mid-season, the Bees had stolen away most of the Legionnaires fan base and the team was forced to fold.

Over the next quarter century the Bees had some good teams but the club seldom lived up to the legend of the Sarnia Legionnaires.

After dominating the Western Ontario Junior B Hockey League during the 1970–71 season, the Bees elected to jump to the Legionnaires' old league, the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, but the adventure was not overly successful and the Bees returned to the WOJHL the next season. Their experience in Junior A seemingly fueled the Bees during the 1972–73 season as they won the WOJHL championship and went on to defeat the Metro Junior B Hockey League's Toronto Nationals 4-games-to-2 to win Sarnia's first Sutherland Cup since the Sarnia Legionnaires did it in 1968.

In 1983, the Bees were again WOJBHL champions and pushed all the way to the Sutherland Cup finals. In the final, they met the Metro Junior B Hockey League's St. Michael's Buzzers. After a long battle, the Buzzers finished off the Bees in game 7 to deny the franchise of its second Sutherland Cup.

In 1995, it saw the arrival of an Ontario Hockey League known as the Sarnia Sting to the city. To stay out of the shadow of the OHL team, the Bees changed their name to the Steeplejacks. After another couple name changes, the Sarnia franchise became the Sarnia Blast in 2001. The team is a long-standing member of the Western Junior "B" league (WOHL).

In 2002, the Blast won the WOHL championship and qualified for the Sutherland Cup final. In the final they met the Mid-Western Junior B Hockey League's Elmira Sugar Kings. The series went the distance, but the Blast prevailed in game 7 of the series and brought the Sutherland Cup back to Sarnia for the seventh time and the first time in 29 years.

In 2008, the ownership of the Sarnia Blast was transferred to a consortium of local individuals. In memory of the fabled Sarnia Legionnaires of old, the new owners and the local Royal Canadian Legion allowed for the current team to resurrect the name. The new owners said they will put pictures of the original Legionnaires in their dressing room, hoping that will inspire today's young players.

In their first year back under the Legionnaire name after a 38-year absence, the club finished first in the Western Conference of the Greater Ontario Hockey League. In the playoffs, they won the conference championship by eliminating the St. Thomas Stars 4–1 in games, taking out the Strathroy Rockets 4–3 in games and ousting the London Nationals 4–2 in games to win the Weir Cup.

Tyler Cicchini led the way, scoring 18 goals in 22 post season games. That was one more than the record of 17 playoff goals Don Gordon of the original Legionnaires set in the spring of 1968.

The team set a league record in the 2009 playoffs when it scored three goals in 14 seconds in a game against Strathroy.

Sarnia Jr. 'B' hockey teams named the Legionnaires have now won six Western Ontario championships in 17 years of action, along with four Sutherland Cups.

When head coach Brian Irwin departed the Legionnaires before the 2025–26 season, several veteran players followed suit; as a result, the Legionnaires featured 20 rookie players under new head coach Mike Bondy, with many of them 16 or 17 years of age. The team ultimately made dubious history when they finished with a 0–50–0 record, becoming the first team in the GOHL to finish with a winless season since the league's 2007 founding; they also became the worst team ever fielded in Junior B hockey history by surpassing the record for most losses held by the 1997–98 Ohsweken Golden Eagles, who went 0–47–1.

2026-27 hockey operations General Manager - Tate Philips Head coach - Ryan Foster Associate coach - Assistant coach - Goalie Coach - Equipment Manager - Dave Anger Assistant Equipment Manager - Ty Simmons Scout - Chris Jones Scout - Garry Jordan Scout - Tim Coleman

Season-by-season results Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs1969-70 36 19 12 5 - 199 158 43 2nd WOJHL1970-71 42 32 8 2 - 263 143 66 1st WOJHL1971-72 56 15 31 10 - 158 200 40 8th SOJAHL1972-73 41 34 3 4 - 289 144 72 1st WOJHL Won League Won SC1973-74 40 31 6 3 - 275 144 65 1st WOJHL Won League1974-75 40 22 13 5 - 202 161 49 1st WOJHL1975-76 40 26 10 4 - 272 183 56 2nd WOJHL1976-77 40 19 13 8 - 208 158 46 2nd WOJHL Won League1977-78 40 18 17 5 - 213 208 41 3rd WOJHL1978-79 42 20 18 4 - 242 266 44 4th WOJHL 1979-80 42 25 12 5 - 246 163 55 3rd WOJHL1980-81 42 26 10 6 - 236 170 58 2nd WOJHL1981-82 42 36 4 2 - 290 138 74 1st WOJHL Won League 1982-83 42 22 14 6 - 204 172 50 3rd WOJHL Lost final1983-84 48 32 10 6 - 262 172 70 2nd WOJHL Lost final1984-85 48 30 15 3 - 266 211 63 3rd WOJHL1985-86 42 25 16 1 - 257 196 51 3rd WOJHL1986-87 42 26 11 5 - 268 192 57 3rd WOJHL1987-88 42 25 13 4 0 215 158 54 3rd WOJHL Won League1988-89 42 34 8 0 0 312 150 68 1st WOJHL Won League1989-90 39 34 3 1 1 292 147 70 1st WOJHL Lost final 1990-91 48 33 14 1 0 255 185 67 3rd WOJHL Lost final1991-92 50 27 18 4 1 233 221 59 3rd WOJHL West1992-93 52 37 12 3 0 - - 77 1st WOJHL West Won League1993-94 51 30 19 2 0 295 242 62 2nd WOJHL West1994-95 52 22 27 0 3 236 237 47 3rd WOJHL West 1995-96 52 22 23 6 1 229 231 51 4th WOJHL West1996-97 52 11 36 1 4 175 281 27 5th WOJHL West1997-98 52 18 28 3 3 171 233 42 5th WOJHL West1998-99 52 11 35 0 6 144 256 28 5th WOJHL West1999-00 54 37 13 0 4 228 161 78 2nd GOHL2000-01 54 34 18 1 1 220 172 70 4th GOHL2001-02 54 36 15 1 2 274 190 75 3rd WOJHL Won League Won SC2002-03 48 34 12 1 1 250 161 70 2nd WOJHL Lost final2003-04 48 32 10 0 6 215 151 70 1st WOJHL2004-05 48 28 13 3 4 193 150 63 3rd WOJHL2005-06 48 23 22 0 3 171 181 49 6th WOJHLLost quarter-final2006-07 48 31 12 - 5 225 180 67 2nd WOJHLLost final2007-08 48 26 19 - 3 158 149 55 5th GOJHL-W Lost quarter-final2008-09 52 37 11 - 4 228 158 78 1st GOJHL-WLost semi-final RR2009-10 50 21 23 - 6 174 176 48 6th GOJHL-W Lost Conf. QF2010-11 51 24 24 - 3 198 208 51 7th GOJHL-W Lost Conf. QF2011-12 51 32 14 - 5 241 178 69 1st GOJHL-W Lost Conf. SF2012-13 51 22 20 - 9 197 195 53 7th GOJHL-W Lost Conf. QF2013-14 49 29 18 - 2 217 184 60 4th GOJHL-W Lost Conf. QF2014-15 49 33 15 - 1 230 179 67 3rd GOJHL-W Won Conf. Quarter, 4-2 (St. Thomas) Lost Conf. Semi, 2-4 (Lasalle)2015-16 50 23 22 2 3 157 186 51 5th of 9-W19th of 26 Lost Conf. Quarter, 3-4 (Lasalle)2016-17 50 22 22 0 6 163 182 50 6th of 9-W15th of 27 Lost Conf. Quarter, 2-4 (Leamington)2017-18 50 29 15 1 5 204 173 64 4th of 9-W10th of 26 Lost Conf. Quarter, 1-4 (St. Thomas)2018-19 48 23 18 2 5 157 168 53 4th of 9-W13th of 26 Lost Conf. Quarter, 0-4 (Lasalle)2019-20 50 19 29 1 3 137 222 42 8th of 9-W19th of 26 Lost Conf. Quarter, 0-4 (London)2020-21 Season cancelled due to pandemic2021-22 48 11 35 1 1 122 220 24 9th of 9-W23rd of 25 Did not qualify for post season2022-23 50 11 32 6 1 153 275 29 8th of 9-W21st of 25 Lost Conf. Quarter, 0-4 (Leamington)2023-24 50 17 27 4 2 176 249 40 7th of 8-W17th of 23 Lost Conf. Quarter, 0-4 (Lincoln)2024-25 50 17 29 3 1 183 225 38 10th of 12-West19th of 23 Did not qualify for post season2025-26 50 0 50 0 0 83 341 0 12th of 12-West23rd of 23 Did not qualify for post season

Playoffs SOJHL Years 1972 DNQ

Sutherland Cup appearances 1973: Sarnia Bees defeated Toronto Nationals 4-games-to-2 1982: St. Michael's Buzzers defeated Sarnia Bees 4-games-to-3 2002: Sarnia Blast defeated Elmira Sugar Kings 4-games-to-3

Professional alumni Frank Beaton Jerry Butler Dino Ciccarelli Mike Crombeen Mike Dark Scott Garland Matt Martin Tony McKegney Robbie Moore Mike Murray Rumun Ndur Kraig Nienhuis

References

External links Legionnaires Webpage GOJHL Webpage