The Kenora Thistles were a

Manitoba Junior Hockey League The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

team playing in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

town of

Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The his ...

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 ...

History

The Kenora Thistles junior hockey club was founded in 1925 in a local Northern league with Keewatin and

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. The Thistles participated in the Thunder Bay regional playoffs as an independent team. In 1927, they moved to 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 ...

-eligible

Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League (TBJHL) was a Canadian junior ice hockey league that existed from c. 1920 to 1980. The TBJHL operated in Northwestern Ontario, primarily in the Thunder Bay region. The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League wa ...

. The 1926 regional playoffs put them up against Fort Frances in the semi-final. Kenora won the games 5-1 and 6-1 to earn a berth into the region finals. In the final, the Thistles lost to the

Fort William Juniors A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

4-2 and 4-0 to end their season. In 1927, the Thistles squared off with the Port Arthur West End Juniors in a two-game series for the region. Port Arthur won 6-5 and 5-1 to take the series. The Thistles first season of league play had them win the regular season crown of the TBJHL. In the playoffs, with a direct berth to the league final, the Thistles played the

. They lost the first game 4-3, but won the second game 5-3 to take the series. In the Memorial Cup Eastern semi-final, the Thistles had to play the

Elmwood Millionaires The Elmwood Millionaires is a now defunct Canadian Junior Hockey team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Millionaires, based in Elmwood, Manitoba, won 5 straight Turnbull Cup Championships as Manitoba Junior ‘A’ Champions, 1927, 1928, 1 ...

. Kenora won both games 3-2 to play in the Eastern final. Up against the

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years of ...

Regina Pats Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to: Places Canada * Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province ** Regina (electoral district) ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina France * Régina, French Guiana, a commune United States * R ...

, the Thistles fell 8-0 in game one but only managed to win game two by a score of 4-3, thus eliminating them from a chance at the

. In their second TBJHL season, the Thistles came in first again. They ended up against the

in the finals, beating them 1-0 and tying them 2-2 to win the regional playoffs. In the Eastern Memorial Cup semi-final, the Thistles again met up with the MJHL's Elmwood Millionaires. They won game one 4-3, but fell 3-1 in game two and were eliminated. Their third and final TBJHL season had them finish in second place behind the Fort William Legion. In the semi-final, the Thistles were up against the Port Arthur Juniors. They won game one 3-2, but objected to the second game's refereeing and were ejected from the playoffs by the league. This would be their last game in the TBJHL. In 1930, the Thistles were accepted into the South Division of the

which would cut back on their travel as all the teams in the South Division were from

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. After winning the division in just their third season, the Thistles were forcefully moved to the more distant North Division. Despite the travel, the Thistles took their first league title in 1934. The Thistles would end up losing the

Abbott Cup The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey pl ...

semi-final to the Port Arthur West Ends 9-goals-to-8 in two games. From 1936 until 1939 the Thistles suffered, three consecutive losing seasons left them financially in trouble. The 1939-40 season was a great season for the Thistles. They won the league by defeating the

Elmwood Maple Leafs Elmwood may refer to: * James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), who used it as a ''nom-de-plume'' Places Canada * Elmwood, Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta *Elmwood (electoral district), provincial electoral district in Manitoba * Elmwood, Winnipeg, Manit ...

3-games-to-none in the league final, then won the

as Western Canadian champions. In the Abbott Cup semi-final, the Thistles defeated the Port Arthur Juniors 2-games-to-1. In the final, they defeated the Edmonton Athletic Club Roamers with 2 wins, 1 loss, and 2 ties. In their first and only

appearance, the Thistles and

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. ...

marked the second time two teams from

would square off for the Memorial Cup. The Generals won game one 1-0, and game two 4-1. The Thistles rebounded and won game three 4-3, but lost game four 4-2 and the series 3-games-to-1 to the Generals. In the summer of 1940, it became apparent that they would not have the numbers or the money to continue competing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and folded.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

Notable alumni

* John Gallagher *

Bill Juzda William Juzda (October 29, 1920 – February 17, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He played with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1940 and 1952 ...

* Doug Lewis *

Jake Milford John Calverley "Jake" Milford (July 29, 1914 – December 24, 1984) was a general manager in the National Hockey League. In the early sixties, Milford built the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League into a powerhouse winning t ...

Babe Pratt Walter Peter "Babe" Pratt (January 7, 1916 – December 16, 1988) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman/left winger who played for the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League between 1 ...

Chuck Rayner Claude Earl "Chuck" Rayner (August 11, 1920 – October 6, 2002), nicknamed "Bonnie Prince Charlie", was a Canadian professional hockey goaltender who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Americans and New York Range ...

Stu Smith Stuart Smith (1915-1969) was a professional American football player who played running back for two seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers com ...

* Bill Thomson * Jimmy Ward * Aubrey Webster

External links

Kenora Thistles Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenora Thistles (1926-40) Defunct Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams Sport in Kenora 1940 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1925 Sports clubs disestablished in 1940 1925 establishments in Ontario Hockey Northwestern Ontario

History

Season-by-season record

Notable alumni

See also

External links