The Kenora Muskies, known as the Kenora Thistles from 1975 to 1982, are a defunct

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 that played in

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 ...

between 1968 and 1982.

History

The Kenora Muskies were granted expansion into 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 Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1968. Two season later, the league was relegated to Tier II Junior A and competed for the

Manitoba Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...

. The Muskies best year in the league came in 1970-71 when they finished first place in the regular season but failed to win the Turnbull Cup as playoff champions. In 1975, the Muskies were renamed to the traditional Kenora namesake, the Thistles. The original

Kenora Thistles The Kenora Thistles, officially the Thistles Hockey Club, were a Canadian ice hockey team based in Kenora, Ontario. Founded in 1894, they were originally known as the Rat Portage Thistles. The team competed for the Stanley Cup, the ice hock ...

were 1906

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champions. In 1982, the Thistles folded after three progressively worse losing seasons.

Season-by-season record

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

Playoffs

*1969 ''Lost Semi-final'' :Kenora Muskies defeated

Selkirk Steelers The Selkirk Steelers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Hockey Canada. History Junior "A" hockey in Selkirk ...

''4-games-to-1'' :

Dauphin Kings The Dauphin Kings are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and Hockey Canada. The Kings were established in ...

defeated Kenora Muskies ''4-games-to-2'' *1970 ''Lost Semi-final'' :Kenora Muskies defeated

Portage Terriers The Portage Terriers are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. History The Portage Terriers were fou ...

''4-games-to-2'' :

defeated Kenora Muskies ''4-games-to-1'' *1971 ''Lost Final'' :Kenora Muskies defeated

''4-games-to-3'' :Kenora Muskies defeated

''4-games-to-1'' : St. Boniface Saints defeated Kenora Muskies ''4-games-to-none'' *1972 ''Lost Quarter-final'' :

defeated Kenora Muskies ''4-games-to-1'' *1973 ''Lost Semi-final'' :Kenora Muskies defeated

''4-games-to-2'' :

defeated Kenora Muskies ''4-games-to-none'' *1974 ''DNQ'' *1975 ''DNQ'' *1976 ''DNQ'' *1977 ''Lost Semi-final'' :Kenora Thistles defeated St. Boniface Saints ''4-games-to-2'' :

Kildonan North Stars The Kildonan North Stars were a Canadian Junior ice hockey Team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League from Winnipeg, Manitoba. History During the summer of 1967, community-minded sports group purchased the Winnipeg Warriors from Ben Hatskin, rena ...

defeated Kenora Thistles ''4-games-to-3'' *1978 ''Lost Semi-final'' :Kenora Thistles defeated

St. James Canadians The St. James Canadians were a Canadian junior hockey team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League until 2003, folding officially in 2004. The Canadians played out of the St. James Civic Centre, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As the Winnipeg Braves, the ...

''4-games-to-1'' :

defeated Kenora Thistles ''4-games-to-2'' *1979 ''Lost Quarter-final'' :

defeated Kenora Thistles ''4-games-to-3'' *1980 ''Lost Quarter-final'' :

defeated Kenora Thistles ''4-games-to-none'' *1981 ''Lost Quarter-final'' : St. Boniface Saints defeated Kenora Thistles ''4-games-to-none'' *1982 ''Lost Quarter-final'' :

Fort Garry Blues The Winnipeg Blues are a Manitoba Junior Hockey League team based in Oak Bluff, Manitoba, Oak Bluff, a suburban area of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The team was founded in 1930 as the Winnipeg Monarchs (MJHL), Winnipeg Monarchs and also formerly ...

defeated Kenora Thistles ''4-games-to-none''

Notable alumni

''Muskies'' * Mitch Babin * Charlie Luksa *

Charlie Simmer Charles Robert Simmer (born March 20, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward, most notably for the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League, who was known for his scoring prowess. Playing career After a junior career w ...

* Rick St. Croix ''Thistles'' * Mike Allison *

Ted Nolan Theodore John Nolan (born April 7, 1958) is a Canadian former professional hockey left winger, former head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and Latvia men's national ice hockey team. From July 2017 until May 2018 he was head coach of the Poland men' ...

External links

Kenora Thistles
Defunct Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams Sport in Kenora 1968 establishments in Ontario 1982 disestablishments in Ontario Ice hockey clubs established in 1968 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1982 Ice hockey teams in Ontario Hockey Northwestern Ontario {{Ontario-icehockey-team-stub

History

Season-by-season record

Playoffs

Notable alumni

See also

External links