The Galt Red Wings were a Canadian

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 based in

Galt, Ontario Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the to ...

, now a part of the city of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. They played in the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

(OHA) from 1944 to 1947 and were operated as an affiliate of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. Their home arena was the

Galt Arena Gardens The Galt Arena Gardens is one of the oldest continuously-operating ice hockey arenas in the world and the oldest operating arena in Ontario. Galt Arena Gardens was built throughout 1921 and opened in January 1922. It was located in the city of Ga ...

History

The team was previously the

Galt Canadians The Galt Canadians were a junior ice hockey team based in Galt, Ontario, now a part of the city of Cambridge. They played in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1943 to 1944. Their home arena was the Galt Arena Gardens. The Canadians had a succ ...

during the 1943-44 season. The team gained NHL sponsorship, becoming the Galt Red Wings. The sponsorship lasted for three seasons, with Galt finishing near the top of the league each year. New ownership renamed the team the

Galt Rockets The Galt Rockets were a junior ice hockey team based in Galt, Ontario, now a part of the city of Cambridge. They played in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1947 to 1949. Their home arena was the Galt Arena Gardens. Originally the Galt Red Wi ...

in 1947. Much of the team's success was due to its coach, Al Murray, who guided the team during its first three years. Murray had played in the NHL with the New York Americans. During the 1944-45 season, future

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

suited up for the team, but only played in one regular-season game due to league rules. That game occurred in Galt, before 1,848 fans on Saturday, Nov. 18, 1944 against Hamilton; Howe scored three points. This has become somewhat of a historical footnote as Howe was deemed ineligible to play for the team following that game. Howe's only points in Galt were thrown out when Hamilton withdrew from the league. A day after that Hamilton game it was reported that both Howe and teammate Terry Cavanagh (later mayor of Edmonton) would he ineligible to play until further notice after their transfers were held up. Howe explained what happened next. "Terry got his (transfer) and I never did. Hamilton got thrown out of the league, and I did too." The Galt Red Wings reached the league finals for the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...

in 1945 and 1947, but lost to

Toronto St. Michael's Majors The Toronto St. Michael's Majors were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The most recent franchise was revived on August 15, 1996. In 2007, the team relocated to Mississauga, Ontario an ...

both times in four consecutive games. Under coach Normie Himes, another former NHLer with the New York Americans, the Red Wings returned to the finals again in 1946-47, led by future Hall of Fame goaltender,

Terry Sawchuk Terrance Gordon Sawchuk (December 28, 1929 – May 31, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kin ...

, but lost the finals again in four games to the Majors. In 1947, Lloyd Pollock who owned the

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

, convinced the Detroit Red Wings to relocate prospect players from Galt to Windsor.

NHL alumni

From the Galt Red Wings, fourteen players graduated to play in 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 ...

. *

Pete Babando Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...

Pete Conacher Charles William "Pete" Conacher, Jr. (born July 29, 1932) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 229 games in the National Hockey League between 1951 and 1957. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1951 to 1966, was ...

Lee Fogolin Lee Joseph Fogolin (born February 7, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League. He played for the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers, appearing in 924 NHL regular season games between ...

* Fred Glover * Warren Godfrey *

Bronco Horvath Bronco Joseph Horvath (March 12, 1930 – December 17, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 434 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1968. Early life Horvath was born to an ethnic Hungarian family t ...

Tom McGrattan Thomas Henry McGrattan (born October 19, 1927) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender who played in one National Hockey League game for the Detroit Red Wings during the 1947–48 season, on November 9, 1947 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. T ...

Marty Pavelich Martin Nicholas Pavelich (born November 6, 1927) is a Canadian former ice hockey left winger. He played ten seasons for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League from 1947 until 1957. Pavelich is the last surviving member of the Red W ...

Nels Podolsky Nicholas "Nels" Podolsky, also spelled Podolski, (December 18, 1923 – March 21, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in one regular season and seven playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit ...

* Jack Price *

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...

Bill Wylie William Vance Wylie (July 15, 1928 — November 24, 1983) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in one National Hockey League game for the New York Rangers during the 1950–51 season, on January 20, 1951 against the Montreal ...

Yearly results

References

* ;Notes

External links

www.cambridgehockey.com
- ''The History of Cambridge Hockey'' by Todd Jones

- OHL Arena & Travel Guide
Ontario Hockey League
Official web site
Canadian Hockey League
Official web site {{Defunct OHL Sport in Cambridge, Ontario Defunct Ontario Hockey League teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1944 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1947 1944 establishments in Ontario 1947 disestablishments in Ontario Detroit Red Wings minor league affiliates