Notre Dame Hounds

The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior B Hockey League, but the team folded after the 2005–06 Season. The team plays its homes games in Duncan McNeill Arena, which has a seating capacity of 1,200. The team colors are red and white.

History

The Hounds entered the SJHL in 1970 until 1976 when, after a dismal season, they left the SJHL. Not much is known about the franchise between 1976 and 1987. It is known that they operated as a Midget "AAA" minor hockey team until 1987 and lost the final of the Canadian Midget Championship, the Air Canada Cup, to the Quebec seed in the tournament. The AAA team has continued and all parts of the Notre Dame Hounds are affiliated with Athol Murray college of Notre Dame.

In 1987, the Hounds came straight into Tier II Junior "A" from minor hockey. The team came out of the regular season with a series of tight victories, but enough of them to earn them a berth in the playoffs. The Hounds, operating well as a unit which had stayed mostly intact for the previous three seasons, found little trouble winning the SJHL Championship, with only the Yorkton Terriers taking the Hounds as far as six games before the Terrier were eliminated. The Hounds moved on to the ANAVET Cup to face the Winnipeg South Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Hounds swept the series in four games and moved on to face the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for the Abbott Cup. The Hounds initially trailed in the series 3-games-to-1 before coming back in games five and six. In game seven with a 3-2 lead, future National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Curtis Joseph led the team to a victory and a berth into the Centennial Cup. In the first game, the Hounds played the Halifax Lions of the Metro Valley Junior Hockey League, defeating them 6–5. In the second game, they played the Thunder Bay Flyers of the United States Hockey League, resulting in a 9–7 win. The Hounds then played the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Junior A Hockey League and lost in triple overtime by a score of 4–3. The semi-final re-matched them against the Lumber Kings, and avenged the previous loss with a 7–3 win, setting up a final between the Hounds and the Lions. The Hounds trailed 2–1 after two periods of play. The score was evened in the third period until future NHL player Rod Brind'Amour assisted on Dwayne Norris' game winning goal for the Hounds. Brind'Amour won awards for being the Top Scorer, Most Valuable Player, and Top Centre, while another future NHL player, Joby Messier, won Top Defenseman.

Perhaps the team's best known contribution to the NHL is the Toronto Maple Leafs Hound Line of the 1985–86 season, when Gary Leeman, Wendel Clark and Russ Courtnall played on the same forward line. Although those individuals played for the AA midget team and not on the same line; Wendel Clark was actually a defenceman until he played with the world junior team.

From the 1987–88 championship team, 19 players graduated to the National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey teams, and some, like Rod Brind'Amour, Curtis Joseph, Joby Messier, Dwayne Norris, Jason Herter, and Scott Pellerin, made it all the way to the National Hockey League.

Since 1995, the Hounds have only failed to make the SJHL playoffs three times, but have yet to win their second league title.

Season-by-season standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Lose, T = Tie, OTL = Overtime Lose, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, P = Points

Playoffs

*1971 ''DNQ''
*1972 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Saskatoon Olympics defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*1973 ''DNQ''
*1974 ''DNQ''
*1975 ''DNQ''
*1976 ''DNQ''

*1988 ''Won League, Won Anavet Cup, Won Abbott Cup, Won 1988 Centennial Cup''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Weyburn Red Wings ''4-games-to-none''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Nipawin Hawks ''4-games-to-none''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Yorkton Terriers ''4-games-to-2'' SJHL CHAMPIONS
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Winnipeg South Blues (MJHL) ''4-games-to-none'' ANAVET CUP CHAMPIONS
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Calgary Canucks (AJHL) ''4-games-to-3'' ABBOTT CUP CHAMPIONS
:Second in 1988 Centennial Cup round robin (2-1)
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Pembroke Lumber Kings ( CJHL) ''7-3'' in semi-final
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Halifax Lions ( MVJHL) ''3-2'' in final CENTENNIAL CUP CHAMPIONS
*1989 ''Lost Semi-final''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Minot Americans ''4-games-to-2''
:Nipawin Hawks defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-2''
*1990 ''DNQ''
*1991 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*1992 ''DNQ''
*1993 ''DNQ''
*1994 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Estevan Bruins ''3-games-to-1''
:Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-1''
*1995 ''DNQ''
*1996 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Weyburn Red Wings ''2-games-to-1''
:Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*1997 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Lebret Eagles defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-2''
*1998 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Melville Millionaires ''2-games-to-1''
:Lebret Eagles defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-2''
*1999 ''Lost Semi-final''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Yorkton Terriers ''4-games-to-3''
: Estevan Bruins defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-1''
*2000 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:First in round robin (3-1) vs. Melville Millionaires and La Ronge Ice Wolves
:Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-2''
*2001 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*2002 ''Lost Semi-final''
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Weyburn Red Wings ''4-games-to-2''
: Humboldt Broncos defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-1''
*2003 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Melville Millionaires defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-2''
*2004 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-1''
*2005 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Second in round robin (1-3) vs. Yorkton Terriers and Estevan Bruins
:Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*2006 ''Lost Semi-final''
:First in round robin (2-1-1) vs. Yorkton Terriers and Melville Millionaires
:Notre Dame Hounds defeated Melville Millionaires ''4-games-to-none''
:Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*2007 ''Lost Preliminary''
:Weyburn Red Wings defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-1''
*2008 ''DNQ''
*2009 ''DNQ''
*2010 ''Lost Quarter-final''
:Kindersley Klippers defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-none''
*2011 ''DNQ''
*2012
:''Preliminary Round'' Estevan Bruins defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''3-games-to-none''
*2013
:''Quarter Finals'' Melville Millionaires defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-3''
*2014
:''Preliminary Round'' Notre Dame Hounds defeated Nipawin Hawks ''3-games-to-1''
:''Quarter Finals'' Yorkton Terriers defeated Notre Dame Hounds ''4-games-to-1''

NHL alumni

*Rod Brind'Amour
*Wendel Clark
*Braydon Coburn
* Scott Daniels
*Jason Herter
*Curtis Joseph
*Vincent Lecavalier
* Brooks Macek
*Curtis McElhinney
*Joby Messier
*Mitch Messier
* Scott Munroe
*Tyler Myers
*Dwayne Norris
*Scott Pellerin
*Teddy Purcell
*Brad Richards
*Jaden Schwartz

See also

* List of ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan
* Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, the home of the Notre Dame Hounds

References

External links

Notre Dame Hounds Website

{{Saskatchewan Sports

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams