The Dukes of Hamilton were a

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

team that represented

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, Canada, in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

for two seasons from 1989 to 1991.

History

In October 1988, with the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, Maple Leaf Gardens Limited reached an agreement to sell the team for a reported $500,000 to a group from Hamilton. The OHL team moved to Hamilton for the 1989-90 season, becoming the Dukes of Hamilton. The name "Dukes" originated as a nickname for the Toronto team coming from its namesake, the

Duke of Marlborough General (United Kingdom), General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an Engl ...

. The Dukes were chosen to host the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

their first season in Hamilton. However when the team finished last overall in the standings, the Dukes declined the automatic invite given to the hosts of the Memorial Cup tournament. The OHL sent the league finalist

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

instead. The second season for the Dukes was only marginally better even after switching from the Leyden Division to the Emms Division. The Dukes qualified for the last playoff spot, but lost in four games straight. Following the 1990–91 season, the team was relocated to

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

where it became the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marlb ...

Players

Three Dukes alumni went on to play brief

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

careers. Alek Stojanov played 107 games, Chris Govedaris played 45 games, and

Shawn McCosh Shawn M. McCosh (born June 5, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in 9 NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers over parts of two seasons. After retiring from hockey, McCosh moved to Phoenix, Ariz ...

played 9 games. Also of note are

Jeff Bes Jeff Bes (born July 31, 1973) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played several seasons with the Laredo Bucks. Bes has played for many minor league teams such as the Dayton Bombers, Chicago Wolves, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Orl ...

(Captain),

Dino Felicetti Dino Felicetti (born December 12, 1970) is an Italian-Canadian retired professional ice hockey winger. Achievements *2005 – Scoring leader in the 2005 Division IB world championship. *2006 - Serie A Champion with HC Milano International p ...

, Rob Leask and Kayle Short for their careers in other professional leagues. Bill Armstrong started the 1989–90 season playing defence for the Dukes, but two mid-season trades later he wound up playing for the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

, and scored the winning goal in double overtime of the

final, played at the Dukes' home arena,

Copps Coliseum FirstOntario Centre (originally Copps Coliseum) is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000. History Hamilton was lef ...

Yearly results

Regular season

Playoffs

*1989–90: Out of

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. *1990–91: Lost to S.S.Marie Greyhounds 4 games to 0 in first round.

Uniforms and logos

The Dukes colours were red, white & blue. The home jerseys had a white background with red & blue trim. The road jerseys were a red background with white and blue trim. Their uniforms were similar to those worn at the time by the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

. The colour of the top of the crown on the logo was either red or white, opposite or the background of the home or away jersey.

Arena

The Dukes played their home games at

, which hosted the

in 1990.

References

External links

Copps Coliseum
The OHL Arena & Travel Guide {{OHL Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Sport in Hamilton, Ontario 1989 establishments in Ontario 1991 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1989 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1991