The Innisfil Lakers were a

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team based in

Innisfil Innisfil is a town in Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County, immediately south of Barrie and north of Toronto. It has historically been a rural area, but due to being geographically sandwiched in between ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. They played in the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League.

History

The Lakers are one of six expansion teams for the 2007-08 GMHL season. On September 6, 2007, the Innisfil Lakers played their first ever game in franchise history against the

Douro Dukes The Colborne Cramahe Hawks were a Canadian Junior ice hockey team based in Colborne, Ontario. The Hawks were members of the World United Hockey League. Competing in the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League from 2007 until 2014, the Hawks orig ...

in Ennismore, Ontario. The game resulted in a 2-0 loss for the Lakers. The next night, the Lakers played the

South Muskoka Shield The Muskoka Shield are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Gravenhurst, Ontario. The Shield are members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL). History The Shield are a community-based team with a number of corporate sponsors ...

Gravenhurst, Ontario Gravenhurst is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. It is located approximately south of Bracebridge, Ontario. Mayor Paul Kelly was . The Town of Gravenhurst includes a large area of the District of Muskoka, known to Ontarians as ...

and picked up their first win 6-4. On November 30, 2007, the Lakers played their long-awaited first home game. The sixteenth game of the season, the delay was over the late finish of construction on Innisfil's new arena which is the Home of the Lakers. Their opponent was the

Richmond Hill Rams The Richmond Hill Rams were a Junior ice hockey team based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League. History Richmond Hill Rams The Rams were a resurrection of the Richmond Hill Rams of the ...

, which the Lakers defeated by a score of 4-2. On December 29, 2007, the Lakers hosted the Moscow Selects All-star team in an exhibition game. The Selects won the game by a score of 7-3. This was the first game of seven that the Moscow team played against different GMJHL clubs. Despite getting a first round bye, the Lakers found themselves in a battle in the 2008 playoffs. In the first round, they met the 2007 semi-finalist

. The series went the distance with the Lakers taking game seven to win the series. In the league semi-final, the Lakers met the 2nd seed

Temiscaming Royals The Temiscaming Royals were a Junior ice hockey team based in Témiscaming, Quebec, Canada. They were members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, but originated in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. History The announcement of t ...

. In a tough fought series, the Lakers came out winning 4-games-to-2. In the final, the Lakers found themselves pitted against the defending 2007 Russell Cup champion

Bradford Rattlers The Bradford Rattlers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based out of Bradford, Ontario, and members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. The Rattlers, then known as the Bradford Bulls, were bought out towards the end of the 2005–06 ...

. The Lakers challenged the Rattlers in each game, but Bradford was not to be denied. The Rattlers won with a four-game-sweep. On January 4, 2009, the Lakers played

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Torpedo UST-Kamenogorsk Torpedo Hockey Club ( kk, «Торпедо» хоккей клубы, ''«Torpedo» hokkeı klýby''; russian: Хоккейный клуб «Торпедо»), commonly referred to as Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk, formerly known as Kazzinc-Torpedo (1999 ...

Under-18 team. Innisfil, the third team in the GMHL to play Torpedo, defeated them 5-3. On Friday Feb. 20 The Lakers defeated Bradford to clinch the franchise's 1st regular season division title and the top seed in the South division. In the South Division quarter-final, the Lakers would knock off the

Ontario Lightning Rams The Richmond Hill Rams were a Junior ice hockey team based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League. History Richmond Hill Rams The Rams were a resurrection of the Richmond Hill Rams of the ...

3-games-to-1. They elected to take a bye through to the division final. The Lakers met the

Deseronto Storm The Deseronto Storm were a Junior ice hockey team based in Deseronto, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Empire B Junior C Hockey League but are former original members of the Greater Metro Junior 'A' Hockey League. History 2006-07 The Thund ...

in South final, only to lose 4-games-to-2. Innisfil took a leave of absence for the 2010-11 season to restructure the organization, but ceased operations permanently during that season.

Season-by-Season Standings

Playoffs

*''2008'' Lost Final :Innisfil Lakers defeated

''4-games-to-3'' in quarter-final :Innisfil Lakers defeated

''4-games-to-2'' in semi-final :

defeated Innisfil Lakers ''4-games-to-none'' in final *''2009'' Lost Division Final :Innisfil Lakers defeated

''3-games-to-1'' in division quarter-final :''Received bye through division semi-final.'' :

defeated Innisfil Lakers ''4-games-to-2'' in division final *''2010'' Lost Quarter-final :

defeated Innisfil Lakers ''3-games-to-none'' in quarter-final

External links

Innisfil Lakers WebpageGMHL Official Webpage
{{GMHL Ice hockey teams in Ontario 2007 establishments in Ontario 2010 disestablishments in Ontario