The Delhi Travellers were a junior hockey team based in Delhi, Ontario, Canada. The Travellers play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.
History Prior to 1966, the Delhi franchise was a member of the Shamrock Junior D Hockey League. In 1966, they jumped to the Southern Counties Junior D Hockey League. In 1972, the team changed their name from the Rockets to the Flames.
The 1980–81 season saw the Flames raise to the heights of provincial recognition. They finished second overall in the Southern league standings with 21 wins, seven losses, and six ties, a fair distance behind the first place St. George Dukes. Once in the playoffs, the Flames took the Southern league by storm and won their first ever league championship. The victory launched the Flames into the provincial final in competition for the OHA Cup. Their opponents were the Belmont Bombers, the champions of the Western Junior D Hockey League. The Bombers made quick work of the Flames, sweeping the series 4-games-to-none.
In the 1986 playoffs, the Flames once again took the Southern league crown. The victory brought them into line for another crack at the OHA Cup. Once in the provincial final, they found them against the Western league champions Seaforth Centenaires. The Centenaires were battle-hardened from their play in the North Division of the 12-team Western league and kept the Flames at bay for a 4-games-to-1 series victory.
In 1988, Delhi's Southern league folded and merged with the Western league to create a province-wide 18-team super-league. In 1991, the Western league was dropped in favour of the OHA Junior Development League.
From their point of entry into the Western league in 1988, the Delhi Flames found themselves in vast trouble. In 1991, the team changed their names to the Delhi Leafs to honour the towns former Intermediate league representative. The Leafs suffered horrible losing season from 1991 all the way until they opted to change their team name to the Delhi Travellers in 1998. After one season under the Travellers moniker, and one of their worst seasons in franchise history, the team took a leave of absence from the OHAJDL.
In 2000–01, the Travellers were back and finished in thirteenth place overall in the OHAJDL. This marked their best finish since entering the league in 1988. A year later they had a winning record. In fact, as of 2007, every season from 2000-on the Travellers at least matched their previous seasons performance if not bettered it.
After the 2005–06 season, the Travellers found themselves in second place overall in the OHAJDL with 29 wins. In the opening round of the playoffs, the Travellers challenged and defeated the Burford Bulldogs 4-games-to-2. In the conference semi-final, the Travellers then met the Hagersville Hawks and beat them 4-games-to-3. Then Delhi challenged the Tavistock Braves and swept them 4-games-to-none to win their first ever birth into the league final since joining the league eighteen years before. They met the underdog Lucan Irish, a seventh seed berth from the other conference who defied all odds to make it this far. The Irish were not to be denied of the Cinderella story, as they defeated the Travellers 4-games-to-2 to win the OHA Cup.
After 2006, the OHAJDL was disbanded and replaced by the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League. In its first season, the Travellers finished in second place despite winning 32 games—three more than the previous season. In the first round of the playoffs, the Travellers challenged the Port Dover Sailors. The Travellers had no problem with the Sailors and swept them 4-games-to-none. The next round had Delhi faced off against the St. George Dukes. The longtime rivals went to six games with Delhi win the series 4-games-to-2. The next round had the Travellers trying for their second straight conference title against the Tavistock Braves. The series went the distance and the Travellers came out on top in Game 7 winning the series 4-games-to-3. In their second straight final, the Travellers met a tough foe in the Mitchell Hawks. The Hawks and Travellers fought, but the Hawks won Game 6 and took the series 4-games-to-2 to take away Delhi's second straight chance at the OHA Cup.
In the Summer of 2013, after much uncertainty, the Travellers ended up in the new Midwestern Junior C Hockey League. In 2014–15, the team finished an Imperfect Season, losing all 40 games played.
For the 2016–17 season the eight Junior "C" hockey leagues in Southern Ontario amalgamated into one league, the Provincial Junior Hockey League. The Midwestern League were placed in the Central Conference and re-branded the Pat Doherty division.
The playoffs for the 2019–20 season were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the team not being able to play a single game.
Season-by-season record Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs1966-67 24 16 8 0 - 118 95 32 1st SCJDHL1967-68 24 17 7 0 - 147 104 34 2nd SCJDHL1968-69 30 20 9 1 - 196 132 41 2nd SCJDHL1969-70 30 15 12 3 - 156 146 33 3rd SCJDHL1970-71 30 13 17 0 - 146 155 26 5th SCJDHL1971-72 28 11 15 2 - 122 133 24 6th SCJDHL1972-73 30 17 13 0 - 133 122 34 4th SCJDHL1973-74 29 16 13 0 - 164 156 32 3rd SCJDHL1974-75 30 17 13 0 - 190 172 34 2nd SCJDHL1975-76 35 23 9 3 - -- -- 49 2nd SCJDHL1976-77 28 9 18 1 - -- -- 19 8th SCJDHL1977-78 34 4 29 1 - 129 261 9 8th SJDHL1978-79 32 14 18 0 - 158 187 28 5th SJDHL1979-80 32 14 16 2 - 160 169 30 6th SJDHL1980-81 34 21 7 6 - 213 115 48 2nd SJDHL1981-82 36 20 14 2 - -- -- 42 4th SJDHL1982-83 36 16 15 5 - -- -- 37 4th SJDHL1983-84 36 22 11 3 - -- -- 47 2nd SJDHL1984-85 35 17 14 4 - -- -- 38 2nd SJDHL1985-86 32 21 6 5 - -- -- 47 1st SJDHL1986-87 40 14 20 6 - -- -- 34 5th SJDHL1987-88 31 12 16 3 - -- -- 27 4th SJDHL1988-89 35 6 22 7 - 137 246 19 17th WJDHL1989-90 35 5 27 3 - 165 255 13 17th WJDHL1990-91 40 9 30 1 0 156 248 19 18th WJDHL1991-92 33 1 31 1 0 117 296 3 17th OHAJDL1992-93 40 10 26 1 3 130 239 24 16th OHAJDL1993-94 40 5 33 2 - 112 283 12 17th OHAJDL1994-95 39 5 31 2 1 122 270 13 18th OHAJDL1995-96 40 14 25 1 0 168 229 29 16th OHAJDL1996-97 39 13 22 2 2 163 216 30 14th OHAJDL1997-98 37 14 19 3 1 160 192 32 14th OHAJDL1998-99 38 5 29 1 3 86 207 14 18th OHAJDL1999-00 Did Not Participate2000-01 40 13 25 0 2 -- -- 28 13th OHAJDL2001-02 40 19 17 1 3 148 147 42 10th OHAJDL2002-03 40 18 17 1 4 156 175 41 11th OHAJDL2003-04 40 18 12 7 3 161 146 46 5th OHAJDL2004-05 40 27 11 0 2 163 114 56 3rd OHAJDL2005-06 38 29 6 3 0 176 92 61 2nd OHAJDL2006-07 42 32 9 0 1 198 120 65 2nd SOJHL2007-08 42 30 6 - 6 183 126 66 2nd SOJHL2008-09 40 31 6 - 3 202 122 65 2nd SOJHL2009-10 36 28 6 - 2 214 119 58 2nd SOJHL2010-11 35 20 14 - 1 155 136 41 8th SOJHL2011-12 35 26 8 - 1 180 136 53 2nd SOJHLSouthern Ontario Junior Hockey League - Jr "C"2012-13 38 17 19 - 2 167 183 36 6th SOJHL-Mc 2013-14 39 6 31 - 2 106 194 14 8th MWJCHL Lost Quarters - 1-4 - (Mounties)2014-15 40 0 40 0 - 52 273 0 9th MWJCHL DNQ2015-16 40 4 35 1 - 92 225 9 9th of 9 MWJCHL DNQ2016-17 40 1 39 0 - 71 304 2 9th of 9-PJHL Doughery Div DNQ2017-18 40 1 39 0 - 55 274 2 9th of 9-PJHL Doughery Div DNQ2018-19 40 4 36 0 - 52 298 8 8th of 9-PJHL Doughery Div Lost Quarters, 0-4 - (Braves)2019-20 40 0 40 0 - 47 532 0 9th of 9-PJHL Doughery Div did not Qualify2020-21 Season Lost due to COVID-19 pandemic2021-22 Requested leave of absence 2020–21 seasonDid not return for current season
Playoffs 1981 Won league, Lost OHA final Belmont Bombers defeated Delhi Flames 4-games-to-none in OHA final 1986 Won league, Lost OHA final Seaforth Centenaires defeated Delhi Flames 4-games-to-1 in OHA final 2006 Lost final Delhi Travellers defeated Burford Bulldogs 4-games-to-2 in conf. quarter-final Delhi Travellers defeated Hagersville Hawks 4-games-to-3 in conf. semi-final Delhi Travellers defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-none in conf. final Lucan Irish defeated Delhi Travellers 4-games-to-2 in final 2007 Lost final Delhi Travellers defeated Port Dover Sailors 4-games-to-none in conf. quarter-final Delhi Travellers defeated St. George Dukes 4-games-to-2 in conf. semi-final Delhi Travellers defeated Tavistock Braves 4-games-to-3 in conf. final Mitchell Hawks defeated Delhi Travellers 4-games-to-2 in final 2009 Lost final Delhi Travellers defeated Burford Bulldogs 4-games-to-none in conf. semi final Delhi Travellers defeated Hagersville Hawks 4-games-to-none in conf. final Delhi Travellers competed against North Middlesex Stars and Thamesford Trojans in semi-final round robin Delhi Travellers advanced to finals against North Middlesex Stars North Middlesex Stars defeated Delhi Travellers 4-games-to-3 in final 2010 Lost semi-final Delhi Travellers defeated St. George Dukes 4-games-to-1 in conf. semi final Delhi Travellers defeated Hagersville Hawks 4-games-to-1 in conf. final Exeter Hawks and Thamesford Trojans defeated Delhi Travellers in semi-final round robin
Notable alumni Ryan Vandenbussche
External links Travellers' Official Webpage